"Why tell me? This is the secret of your Sacred Maiden Tribe. "
Ding Ning's heart was beating fast, but his face did not change as he asked indifferently.
Ye Yingying's eyes flickered at first, but soon became firm. She looked into Ding Ning's eyes and said, "My talent is not good. If I want to become stronger quickly, I need the help of the ant serum. I know where the nest of the queen ant is, but with my own ability, it is impossible to get there. But you have this ability, so I want to make a deal with you. I can take you to the nest of the queen ant. After you get the ant serum, I will not be greedy. Just give me three drops."
"Aren't you afraid of asking a tiger for its skin?"
Ding Ning said with a playful expression.
"Without your protection, my senior and junior sisters and I would have been buried in the desert now. My life was picked up. What else do I have to be afraid of? At most, I will give my life back to you. "
Ye Yingying said calmly, as if she had seen through everything.
Ding Ning looked at her with a deep gaze and did not speak, as if he wanted to see through her.
Ye Yingying was not afraid at all. She bravely met his gaze and calmly accepted his scrutiny.
"You are a very ambitious woman."
Ding Ning suddenly said, which made Ye Yingying's heart tremble. She bit her lower lip and gently lowered her head. Her face was a little gloomy.
"But I admire you very much. People are not afraid of ambition, but they are afraid of not knowing themselves. And you, compared to many people in the Sacred Maiden Tribe, know how to judge the situation."
Ding Ning stood up and said lightly, "You have succeeded. We will set off after breakfast."
Ye Yingying raised her head in surprise. When she was about to say something, she saw that Ding Ning had already stood up and walked to the crowd who were preparing.
Pursing her lips and clenching her fists tightly, Ye Yingying's eyes were filled with unconcealable excitement. She had originally planned to work together with Wan He to get the ant serum, but she did not expect to be blinded by the wrong person.
After Wan He's death, she was so disheartened that she gave up the idea of looking for the ant jelly. But after seeing Ding Ning's powerful strength, her heart became active again. That was why she made a desperate gamble. The fact proved that she won the gamble. How could she not be excited?
Although it was still too early for her to be happy, she was willing to believe in her intuition and judgment. The person who had saved them and protected them from the beginning to the end would never do such a despicable, shameless, and vicious thing as the leaders of the race had described.
In fact, she wasn't the only one who felt this way. The other Sacred Maiden Tribe members also had the same feeling. Being described as heinous scourges and ferocious beasts by the higher-ups of the tribe made them feel more at ease and trustworthy than the disciples of the Holy Gate.
With the local leader leading the way, two hours later, the well-fed wolf cavalry left the desert and set up camp in the Gobi Desert.
Meanwhile, Ding Ning brought Ye Yingying, Ling Yun, Angel, and Feng Pianwu, who insisted on following, back to the desert on a sand puppet.
It had to be said that Ye Yingying was very cautious. There were two ant queens' nests marked on the desert map given to her by her master, but she destroyed them after memorizing them. She was afraid that she would be controlled and discover this secret from the map.
In fact, with Black Gold, the traitor of the ant tribe, it was not difficult for Ding Ning to find the ant queen's nest. But because he had never seen what the ant serum looked like, he decided to follow Ye Yingying to see it for himself.
After all, that was the result of the exploration of the Sacred Maiden Tribe for generations. It was definitely safer than the nests of the other ant queens.
The sun was high in the sky. The sun in the desert was very scorching, burning people's bodies as if they were going to peel off a layer of skin. Golden sand dunes reflected strong light under the sun like waves, making people feel like they were in a golden ocean.
Angel, needless to say, had the Heart of the Ocean to protect her. Although the scorching sun made her frown, she was more excited and cheered for the upcoming adventure.
Ding Ning had the water totem, so he did not need to worry about water shortage. In addition, he had completely awakened the Star Bloodline. The strong sunlight provided him with a steady supply of energy, making him feel like a fish in water and full of energy.
Ling Yun, Feng Pianwu, and Ye Yingying were not so comfortable. The rapid loss of water in their bodies made them sweat profusely and their throats dry. They could only keep drinking water to replenish their water.
Ding Ning felt sorry for them. He reached out to hold Ling Yun and Feng Pianwu's slender hands and urged the water totem to continuously transfer water to them. They immediately felt the heat disappear and felt refreshed. Only then did they have the mood to enjoy the rare scenery in the vast desert.
Ye Yingying was suffering. She looked at Ding Ning and the others standing on the back of the sand viper as if they were on a sightseeing tour. Her eyes were filled with envy.
In fact, with the sand viper as a ride, they did not need to rely on their feet to travel long distances. In addition, they had enough water to replenish their lost water, so their lives were not in danger. This kind of treatment was something she did not even dare to think about before.
But as the saying goes, comparisons are odious. There is no harm if there is no comparison. Ding Ning and the others were relaxed and happy as if they were on a holiday. Only she was sweating and sticky all over. In order to prevent the sand and dust in the hot wind from entering her nose and mouth, she had to cover her face with a veil and narrow her eyes. This made her suffer. How could she not be envious of Ding Ning and the others?
In fact, it was not that Ding Ning did not want to help her. It was just that men and women were different. He could not just ignore Ling Yun and Feng Pianwu and hold her hand.
Besides, since Ye Yingying wanted to gain something, she had to pay a price. This was very fair. If she could not even endure this little bit of hardship, how could she get the ant jelly?
Angel could help her, but he did not. Firstly, one may know a person's face but not their heart. No matter what, Ye Yingying was an outsider and a very scheming woman. Angel did not want the secret of the Heart of the Ocean to be exposed under her eyes. Secondly, she was the young master of the Atlantis family. Her identity was extremely noble. Except for her closest relatives, no one dared to approach her. In addition, in order to hide her gender, she had been dressed as a man since she was a child. She was instinctively vigilant and repelled any physical contact with strangers.
This caused Ding Ning and the others to be in high spirits. They even had the leisure and mood to give advice. They laughed and sang along the way and enjoyed the vast and beautiful scenery of the desert. Ye Yingying could only hang her head. Her white dress had been dyed brown by the wind and sand. Her face was covered with dust and she looked extremely embarrassed.
Of course, Ding Ning did not forget to collect desert plants along the way. He really found a lot of good things along the way, which made him overjoyed. When Ye Yingying was not paying attention, he secretly transplanted them into the medicine spiritual ring.
After walking and stopping for more than an hour, they finally returned to the safe area marked on the map. Ye Yingying felt refreshed. She took out the map and started to look for the direction of the ant queen's nest.
"Go west."
Ye Yingying's memory was still very good. After comparing with the map, she quickly found the correct direction and shouted at the top of her voice.
Ding Ning nodded and issued an order to Kui Jin who was under his feet through the spiritual connection. Kui Jin then passed the order to the other sand vipers. With a swing of his huge body, he swam towards the west like a fish.
About ten miles later, there was a huge weathered rock lying in the middle of the sea of sand dunes. Ye Yingying shouted to the Sand Viper to head south again, and the Sand Viper obeyed.
Just like this, he made more than ten turns, bypassed a huge weathered stone, and came to a semi-desertified area. Here, there were still some plants surviving tenaciously. It could be seen that this place had not been completely invaded by the desert, and there should be some water underground.
"Here we are. This is the place."
Ye Yingying jumped off the back of the sand viper. Her eyes were solemn and alert. She said cautiously and led the way.
The atmosphere suddenly became solemn. Ding Ning did not dare to be careless. He signaled the three women to follow him and ordered Kui Jin to wait nearby. They followed Ye Yingying closely.
After walking on the sand for about two kilometers, the terrain changed, and a large piece of Gobi Desert appeared in front of him. Ding Ning's eyes flickered, and he had some doubts in his heart. "Is the nest of the ant colony on the edge of the desert?" Did they only enter the desert to hunt? It was impossible. Did Ye Yingying get the wrong place?
With doubts in his heart, Ding Ning was a little more careful. After walking for a few more miles, some yellow ants began to appear on the ground, working hard to carry food.
Ding Ning's eyes brightened. He slowed down and observed carefully. This kind of yellow ant was very similar to a kind of ant on Earth called Mars Ant, but there was a big difference in size. Each of them was as big as a baby's fist, and they didn't seem to be aggressive. They ignored them and carried food in groups, which was several times bigger than them.
There were all kinds of food, such as plant roots, insect eggs, wild fruits, mushrooms … Ding Ning even saw a group of ants carrying a broken beehive-like thing, which emitted a faint fragrance.
Ye Yingying's footsteps slowed down as if she was facing a great enemy. She was extremely careful with every step, afraid of stepping on those ants. She even turned her head and reminded in a low voice, "Everyone, be careful. Don't step on these ants."
"These ants don't seem to be aggressive, do they?"
Feng Pianwu pinched her throat and asked nervously.
Women were born to be afraid of insects, snakes, rats, and ants, even if they were warriors. The three women hid behind Ding Ning nervously, looking as if they were watching a horror movie. Ding Ning didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"These are worker ants. They won't take the initiative to attack their prey, but we must be careful. Don't step on them …"
Ye Yingying explained patiently, but before she finished speaking, Angel accidentally stepped on an ant that was working hard into meat paste because of his nervousness.
Everyone shuddered and stopped in their tracks at the same time. Even though they were already prepared to encounter the ant army, when it really happened, everyone still felt their hair stand on end, and fine beads of sweat seeped out of their foreheads.
"Gulp!"
Angel swallowed, with self-blame and panic on his face. He stammered, "I … I … I didn't mean it."
"I know. It's okay. It will happen sooner or later. Even if you don't step on it, it won't be easy when we get to the ant nest. It may be a good thing to encounter it now. You all stand behind me."
Ding Ning comforted her softly and motioned for Ye Yingying to stand behind him. In exchange, she gave him a grateful look.
"Miss Yingying, please continue. What will happen if you step on an ant to death?"
Ding Ning found that the surrounding worker ants suddenly stopped what they were doing and stared at them with their terrible compound eyes. The oppressive feeling of an impending storm made him feel creeped out. It was not that he was afraid, but the feeling of being stared at by a group of ants made him panic.
"I don't know. It's marked like this on the map, but it didn't say what the consequences will be."
Ye Yingying said with some embarrassment. For fear that everyone would be dissatisfied, she explained, "This map was explored by the ancestors of our Holy-maiden Tribe, and then constantly supplemented and perfected it. There should be detailed instructions on the original map. Unfortunately, the tribe didn't expect that I would come to find the ant serum, so it was not marked on the rubbing."
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