Black fire ant country, northern border.
The cold wind is howling outside. I can’t count how many cold waves this year has passed. The world has already been extremely desolate.
Since late October, cold waves have been moving southward. The longer one is about a week apart, and the shorter one comes one after another.
Zhu Jue has been staying in the temporary nest on the front line for more than half a month. Originally, he planned to fly and transfer to [Black Fire City] when the weather was good, but he did not bring his own mount here. Before, he used to ride the mounts of flying knights when he occasionally flew into the sky.
Before and after winter, the flying knights had a heavy task and needed to contact various camps and transportation units within a limited time, so Zhu Jue did not occupy precious mount resources.
As a result, good weather never came. The temperature outside had dropped to the point where it was difficult for flying mounts to move around. The flying knights had to start overwintering. Zhu Jue couldn't leave, so he had no choice but to stay in this simple camp. It’s winter.
This camp is located in the southwest of the previously found Ambush Valley, very close to the front line, but parasites will definitely not be able to get through in winter, so it is still very safe.
The camp is extremely crude and crude, unlike those nest cities in the Ant Alliance that are illuminated by fluorescent fungi and decorated with stones and tapestries everywhere, with no dirty dirt surface exposed. It is very dark here, with no other lighting sources except temporary fires raised deep underground. The ants' vision is almost useless in most places in the camp, and they can only rely on their tentacles to explore.
There is dirty mud everywhere in the camp. The groundwater level here is high, and the room temperature is around 20 degrees. It is damp everywhere. As I walk, my joints are covered with mud, and my tentacles are groping. It also often gets dirty and malfunctions, and needs to be put in the mouth to clean from time to time.
The smell of smoke is often pungent in the camp. Since the combustion chamber is a temporary building, there is no time to build a reasonable smoke exhaust pipe, so the smoke can only be exhausted through the main channel leading to the outdoors, and the main channel extends in all directions. In addition, only the most scarce food was urgently delivered before winter, and there was no fuel such as charcoal. The fuel needed for the fire in the combustion chamber were branches and hay collected near the camp. These fuels are prone to smoke and get damp underground. Finally, it will be filled with pungent smoke when it burns.
There was even a carbon monoxide poisoning incident not long ago, and hundreds of ants died at once. Zhu Jue had to ask his men to step up the construction, sealing the main passage and various branch roads with temporary doors, opening new entrances and exits from bottom to top for ventilation, and building a new longitudinal ant tunnel. Now the main passage has been turned into a large chimney, and it is finally much safer.
Fortunately, after all the initial busyness and accidents, this simple camp has barely become a qualified wintering place. The food is sufficient and distributed according to the amount to survive the winter. The fuel is not in short supply. Although it is humid, it is warmer than those. Ant nests that lack winter preparation are much stronger.
After winter came, after commanding the various armies to prepare for the winter, Zhu Jue rarely left his temporary palace.
This dormitory is a simple hemispherical nest, very close to the combustion chamber, the temperature is very comfortable, and it is relatively dry due to the fire. It is the most comfortable place in the entire camp.
Recently, except for the occasional arrival of Pavement Ant messengers and the small Pavement Ant transport team that brought news, there has been nothing that needs to be handled by Labor Zhu Jue. The internal affairs of the camp have been handed over to the middle-level Divine Envoy King Army generals.
When Zhu Jue was free, he just stayed in the temporary palace with nothing to do every day.
This dormitory is not magnificent, except for a bed made of earth that is raised above the ground, with some hay spread on it, covered with a layer of ant silk cloth to serve as a bed, and a quilt. In addition, there is a set of flat surfaces. Stone tables and chairs. Apart from this, there is no other furniture.
Even when he was commanding the army on the Black Creek front line, his palace was very luxurious and comfortable, no less than the formal palaces in [Xinyang City] and [Tuohuang City], with complete furniture, many servants, exquisite food, and gorgeous decorations.
But all the furniture and decorations that accompanied the army were left behind at Black Creek Fortress. He rushed to the north temporarily and brought nothing but a bedding, so he had to make do with the shabby stuff.
Zhu Jue felt as if he had suddenly returned to the two years he had just traveled back in time. He was struggling to create the Divine Envoy King's Army and the Ant Alliance without caring about improving his own life.
On the wall of the palace, a simple calendar was painted with the word "正". Zhu Jue did not carry a calendar of papyrus or ant silk cloth that he always carried with him, so he could only use this primitive method to record the date with him and wait for the winter to pass.
The drawing method of these "zheng" calendars is quite special. Two "zheng" characters form a group, and the second "zheng" character is missing one stroke. Such a group is nine strokes, which represents the past nine days.
Now 22 days have passed since the first cold wave, and there are two sets of paintings on the wall plus a four-paint version of the word "正".
This is not only a calendar, but also a picture of ninety-nine to relieve the cold. According to the principle of ninety-nine to eliminate cold, Zhu Jue was waiting for himself to finish drawing nine groups of "zheng" characters. After eighty-one days of cold winter, spring should come. Considering that winter has started early this year, ten or eleven groups may be needed, but writing one stroke every day will give me more hope after all.
Zhu Jue was lying on the bed, with his front two limbs holding his head, his back two limbs tilted up, and a pair of middle limbs lying flat, posing in a chic and unrestrained posture that is very common among humans. However, in the eyes of ants, this posture is not only difficult to achieve, but also difficult to achieve. uncomfortable.
There were no other ants in the palace, and the imperial guards were all guarding outside. They would not come in unless something happened. Zhu Jue had just put on such a pose that was laborious but made him feel relaxed. There was no need to consider whether it was majestic or not, and whether it would cause surprise. question.
He was staring blankly at the word "正" on the wall. The almost dark room did not affect his vision. Every time his eyes crossed a stroke, a small piece of vague dream or fantasy would appear in his mind!
Ever since the first cold wave, Zhu Jue felt that he often dreamed, and there were many hallucinations in his dreams. However, when he woke up, he forgot most of the content. He tried his best to recall only some fragments, which were roughly about his hometown and [Dongyang]. City], about [Qingqiu City], about the big banyan tree, and about the swamp, they are all representations of dead things, but there is no content about living things such as ants, as if all the experiences in dreams and illusions are empty ants. scene.
He almost thought that there was another hallucinogenic parasitic brain hidden in the lair. He led the guardsmen to search everywhere and found nothing. Zhu Jue could only attribute it to the fact that he was too tired and too nervous these days, so he just lay down and relax.
But for some reason, Zhu Jue began to have hallucinations with unclear memories even when he was in a daze during the day...
