In Xu Lang’s opinion, whether the archeological team dug up the statue or not, they would attract the attack of the desert army ants.
However, because of the black sandstorm, the ant colony dared not come out. Xu Lang was not worried that the smell of blood would attract the ants. As long as they controlled their time tomorrow, they should be able to avoid the desert army ant colony.
To put it another way, Xu Lang had experimented before, and mosquitoes and ants would not come close to him. However, this desert army ant colony with a queen was still uncertain. Maybe they would not mind, maybe they would avoid him and attack others, or maybe they would not even dare to come out.
Not long after, the few who had gone out came back, carrying a lot of firewood and solid fuel, as well as sleeping bags for everyone.
Xu Lang also used his sharp sword to finish processing the yellow sheep, and then went out again, intentionally throwing the viscera and other things far away.
Roasting the sheep would take some time, even though he had processed it into thin slices. So everyone could only eat some jerky to fill their stomachs for now.
The Fat Man, while roasting the sheep leg, said, “Old Man, you don’t have to worry, your camels are all fine. Whatever work needs to be done in the future, just let me do it. I’d rather die than make you move a finger.”
An Li Man glanced at the Fat Man and continued to drink silently.
Seeing that An Li Man ignored him, the Fat Man was immediately a little angry, but thinking that he would still need to rely on the old man to guide the way in the future, he did not tease him anymore.
Professor Chen smiled and said, “Little Wang, even if you let him go out now, he wouldn’t go out. An Li Man, old brother, in the future, we will all rely on you.”
After a while, Xu Lang first gave some of the roasted fresh mutton to Professor Chen and then handed some to Xiao Ye. He then continued to roast it slowly over low heat.
Ye Yi Xin smiled and took it, “Brother Xu, thank you.”
Xu Lang smiled and winked at Ye Yi Xin. At that moment, a crisp sound suddenly came from beside him.
He turned his head and saw that for some unknown reason, Shirley Yang had broken the stick that was holding the roast meat.
This scene inevitably made everyone feel a little surprised, and some people had a playful look in their eyes, as if they had discovered something interesting.
Ye Yi Xin blushed slightly, lowered her head and silently ate the roast meat, not knowing what she was thinking.
Everyone had been tired of eating dry food and jerky for days, and being able to eat fresh roast mutton was undoubtedly a very happy thing, especially after surviving a disaster.
Although there was a terrifying skeleton not far away, everyone had become accustomed to it. They chatted and enjoyed the fresh roast meat.
Everyone drank a few sips of wine during this time. Professor Chen also expressed his gratitude to Lao Hu for saving his life.
He then thanked Xu Lang for finding this place and saving everyone’s lives.
Xu Lang did not expect that even after removing the bones, the mutton was still very plentiful, but everyone had unknowingly finished it all. Ye Yi Xin and Professor Chen had also eaten a lot. Everyone was probably starving.
Being able to eat a good meal was very important to everyone. The most basic way to maintain bodily functions was to eat nutritious food. This meal was particularly important for Professor Chen and Ye Yi Xin.
After eating and drinking their fill, Xu Lang said, “Lao Hu, wake me up when it’s time to keep watch. I’ll take a nap first.”
Opening his sleeping bag, Xu Lang closed his eyes and began to rest. He had hardly slept these past few days. It had been about six or seven days since he last slept. He had been relying on cultivation to replace sleep, but he couldn’t hold out any longer.
He had been a little tired before encountering the sandstorm, but he hadn’t had time to sleep, so Xu Lang could only keep running.
Perhaps Xu Lang was really exhausted, and he quickly fell asleep. He vaguely heard Lao Hu telling stories. At first, Lao Hu seemed to suggest singing a song, but somehow it turned into recounting his war stories.
Seeing that Xu Lang was sleeping soundly, Lao Hu said, “Everyone be quiet. This kid Xu must be exhausted. Every time he reaches a new place, he carefully observes the surroundings, eliminating potential unknown dangers. He’s constantly worried about danger coming.
“Although he hasn’t said anything, he’s always paying attention to everyone’s health. Compared to him, I, the leader, am a bit unqualified. Everyone, clean up and prepare to rest. We’ve been going non-stop since yesterday evening. We’re all very tired.”
“Fatty, let’s bury the bones first. It’s awkward to have them here. We can’t go out now, so let’s bury them in the corner for now.”
The two of them started to dig together. However, they had barely dug a foot deep when they encountered a hard object.
The movement immediately attracted everyone’s attention. Only Xu Lang was still lying there asleep. As Lao Hu dug deeper and deeper, a black stone head emerged from the yellow sand.
This black stone statue was the giant-eyed statue.
Several young people briefly made notes, then listened to Professor Chen and Professor Hao explain the knowledge about the giant-eyed statue. Then, they decided to rest first. They really couldn’t hold on any longer today.
Lao Hu and the Fat Man reburied the bones in a different place, then they both went to rest. Chu Jian was the first one to keep watch.
It’s not clear how long had passed. Perhaps because they felt sorry for Xu Lang, no one had actively woken him up.
When Xu Lang woke up, Lao Hu was keeping watch.
Looking at everyone resting in a haphazard manner, Xu Lang secretly thought that these people were crazy. Who would come to this kind of place to suffer if they weren’t crazy? At the same time, he secretly cursed himself for being crazy too. Who would come to suffer if they weren’t crazy?
Xu Lang patted Lao Hu’s shoulder, pulled out a cigarette and handed it to him, saying, “Have a smoke and go to rest. You’ve been working hard for the past two days. I’ll wake you up later.”
Lao Hu lit the cigarette and said, “There are no outsiders now. You can tell me what you found on the white bone earlier. Are you uncomfortable keeping it to yourself?”
Xu Lang laughed and said, “Go to rest earlier. Trust me, you really don’t want to know. In fact, Fatty should have also figured something out. Look at him. He’s not asking anything. Look how soundly he’s sleeping…”
The Fat Man was pretending to be asleep. He had woken up at some point.
But Xu Lang didn’t care. There was no need to hide anything from him. It would be good for him to hear it too.
“Lao Xu, I actually want to know too. What did you see back then?”
Shirley Yang’s voice suddenly rang out. Then she was seen coming out of her sleeping bag and walking towards the two of them.
Xu Lang looked at the time and smiled, “Why don’t you sleep a little longer? It’s not that I don’t want to tell you. It’s just that after I tell you, even if you can sleep, you definitely won’t sleep soundly.”
Shirley Yang said, “You should know that I’m not a fragile person. I shouldn’t be scared by you.”
Xu Lang said, “Since you insist, then let’s just chat and pass the time. In fact, even if you didn’t ask, I had already decided to tell you. I just didn’t plan to let you know so early.”
“You’ve already seen that skeleton. You thought the body was just bones because some sand wolves or something had gnawed on the body, but the truth is not like that.”
“Those carnivores couldn’t have gnawed on the body like that, nor could they have eaten it so clean. I found some tiny bite marks on the bones. Based on my guess, it must have been desert army ants.”
“Desert army ants?”
Shirley Yang blurted out, and even her voice unconsciously became a little louder. Obviously, she knew about desert army ants.
Lao Hu asked, “Miss Yang, are these ants scary?”
Shirley Yang said, “Desert army ants are bigger than ordinary ants, but they usually appear in groups. These ants are very aggressive. They only survive in special environments. If there are a large number of desert army ants, they can gnaw a person to bones in an instant.”
Xu Lang said, “Since that skeleton appeared here, it proves that there may be a desert army ant colony underground where we are now. Those ants haven’t come out because of the black sandstorm. Once the black sandstorm stops, they may come out to forage.”
“There may be a queen ant in a group of desert army ants. A large ant colony commanded by a queen ant is very terrifying, like a group of disciplined soldiers. That’s why these ants are called desert army ants.”
“Now you know. I’ll stay here and keep watch. On the eve of the black sandstorm stopping, we’ll take this opportunity to leave here immediately. Otherwise, we may be surrounded and gnawed on by the desert army ant colony.”