Chapter 1563: Really Big Ants
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Du immediately questioned the mayor, “Then what are those?”
“They are…” the mayor began as if he had steeled himself to come clean, but then seemed to have caught himself. He opened and shut his mouth a few times before saying, “This is a family heirloom, pa.s.sed down from my grandfather’s grandfather!”
Li Du patted the man’s shoulder and said, “I’m really sorry, mayor. What happened just now was quite unexpected. Perhaps someone was out for me and I ended up inadvertently involving you in this mess.”
Maung Kyaw Zin was not listening to Li Du. He looked dejectedly at the stove and pot that had been shattered into pieces, murmuring something unintelligible under his breath. Because he was speaking so softly, Li Du could not properly hear his words.
There was nothing much to be said, really. The food seemed to taste like wax to him and he left immediately after eating without even packing up his things, looking forlorn. Li Du felt bad for the man but was convinced that Maung Kyaw Zin had brought the stove set up for a reason. He did what he had to do to survive, so he did not feel that he had done something wrong.
Seeing Maung Kyaw Zin walk straight into the little forest without turning back even once, Li Du asked, “Hey, mayor, don’t you want your stove and pot? You might be able to use the set if you get it fixed.”
Maung Kyaw Zin did not respond. He staggered into the forest and eventually disappeared. Li Du retrieved the pieces of the stove set to hand over to his wife. He then spoke to her in Burmese, “Why don’t you bring these back?”
She shook his head and said, “I can’t touch this. No one other than my husband is allowed to touch it, so just leave it here for the time being.”
Li Du had no reason to go against her instructions. He felt some sort of evil energy from the stove set, so he packed it up and left it some distance away from their campsite.
The Markelov brothers helped the mayor’s wife and daughter bring the cutlery and utensils down the mountain. By the time they made their way back up, night had already fallen. Li Du asked the pair, “Did you go to the mayor’s house?”
“We did.”
“Did you notice anything unusual?”
Young Markelov said, “Nothing unusual, but the house was empty. The mayor wasn’t home, but we’re not sure where he went.”
Li Du nodded. “Alright, then. Go to bed early, everyone. Set up a roster for sentry duty and keep your guns close to you at all times.”
After a while, the engineer strolled over and said to Li Du, “Boss Li, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”
“Sure.” Li Du smiled at him.
The engineer rubbed his hands together and said with great constraint, “Well, the guys and I, we didn’t know you were planning to start a mine in Dena Mountain. We’ve heard about the legendary curse of the jade on Dena Mountain, so, we hope you understand, but we’re not really keen on finis.h.i.+ng that—”
The man seemed like he was genuinely struggling to get his words out, so Li Du took pity on him and finished his sentence for him. “You guys don’t want to work here anymore, and you want to settle your salary so you can leave, am I right?”
The engineer’s face colored with embarra.s.sment and he nodded in acknowledgment. “That’s right. Technically we shouldn’t be doing this, since you’re Master Pao’s honored guest, b-but, the Dena Mountain is kind of cursed.”
Li Du gestured for the man to sit before speaking. “Let’s have a chat. What do you mean when you say the mountain is cursed? Are you referring to the fact that everyone who comes looking for jade ends up dying mysteriously?”
The engineer shook his head. “No, not to that extent. The issue isn’t in looking for the jade, it’s in working on the mountain. That’s the more pressing issue.”
Li Du asked, “But why weren’t you afraid before this?”
The engineer blinked at Li Du, obviously at a loss for words.
Li Du probed, “Was it the shooting earlier on that scared you guys?”
The engineer broke down at the mention of the shooting. “It was, it was just too scary! How could someone open fire on us like this? I saw a bullet fly right by me and smash into a boulder. It split the boulder and a chunk hit my head, it really hurt…”
Li Du patted the man’s shoulder and consoled him, “Rest a.s.sured, this is an isolated incident. Such a thing will never happen again.”
Li Du was sure of this. After all, he had been the one to orchestrate the entire shooting scene in order to generate enough chaos for him to destroy the bronze stove and pot. However, the engineer did not believe him. He shook his head vigorously. “Boss Li, please spare us. You’re the big boss, a huge figure, while we’re just regular commoners who have families to feed. We can’t afford to be involved in something like this!”
Li Du was torn between crying and laughing. “What do you mean?”
Tears were pouring down the engineer’s face at this point. He spoke through his sobs, “I saw someone who was on duty just now, and he had a gun with him.”
Li Du a.s.sured the man, “It’s only for self-protection. Don’t worry, this has nothing to do with you guys. All you have to do is focus on digging for another five days at most. I promise you, I will definitely let you off after five days. After five days, I’ll give all of you a bonus, too, okay?”
The engineer was quite open to being persuaded so he could not bring himself to reject Li Du when the man was so active in trying to keep him and his team. He could only acquiesce. “You don’t have to give us a bonus, Boss Li, just promise to keep us safe if we run into trouble again!”
Li Du chuckled. “Of course, I guarantee that all of you will leave this place alive…”
Just as he was still consoling the engineer, someone cried out in alarm. The engineer was spooked by the loud noise and so was Li Du. He stood up hurriedly to ask, “What’s going on?”
Brother Wolf rushed towards the person who screamed, who then pointed ahead of them. Brother Wolf turned to look at what the person was pointing at and saw a miner collapsed on the ground, so he hurried over to help the man up. Li Du and everyone else rushed up to surround the man. At this moment, the little white monkey perched on his shoulder suddenly started screeching, “Chirp, chirp, chirp. Chirp chirp chirp chirp!”
The little white monkey chirped rapidly in succession, extending a foot out to point at the ground. With its other foot, it gripped tightly on to Li Du’s collar and tugged with all its might. It seemed rather anxious.
Li Du immediately looked at the ground but saw nothing apart from boulders and weeds. He turned to look at the miner again and asked, “What happened?”
One worker stuttered, “I d-d-don’t know, h-he said h-he was g-going to go to the, to the toilet, th-then I saw him jump one moment and faint the next—”
Brother Wolf had his dagger in his hand, and he used the sharp blade to make a long cut on the skin of the miner’s leg, before squeezing out the blood with all his might. After he listened to the other miner’s explanation, he spoke in a low tone, “This guy was bitten by some kind of venomous bug. It’s not a big issue, it’s just that the toxin caused numbness in his legs.”
“What kind of bug is so powerful?” Li Du asked.
The miner stared blankly at the ground as he replied, “I don’t know. I think those were ants. I saw a really big ant when I was squatting in the toilet, so I took a blade of gra.s.s to poke at it since I had nothing better to do—”
Li Du’s heart stopped for a brief moment. He asked the man, “What did the ant look like?”
Da Mao chimed in, “Did it look like this?”
He shone his torchlight on the ground. Under the glare of the bright light, several large ants were creeping out from the crevices in the boulders. These were huge ants that were about as long as a grown person’s finger segment. Their bodies were a deep, dark black, save for the red streaks on their abdomen. These red streaks were almost transparent, going around the abdomen in rings. They made for quite a striking sight.
The miner nodded fervently. “Yes, yes, these are the ants! But there weren’t this many before.”
Li Du commanded immediately, “We have to leave this place. Brother Wolf, grab a bottle to store a few of these ants. No, actually, forget it, let’s leave this place first.”