One ant is not scary, nor is a group of ants. But if it is an army of tens of thousands of ants, or man-eating ants tamed by wizards, it is no exaggeration to say that they can gnaw a grown man into a pile of bones in minutes.

This isn't an exaggeration. Jane Ning once saw a science fiction film. She didn't believe it before, but now she has to believe it. Thousands of African man-eating ants are not only organized and disciplined, but they also use leaves to cross rivers. Even if you're wearing protective clothing, if there's even a single part of you that's not covered tightly, they'll take advantage and devour you instantly.

It's extremely terrifying!

Jian Ning ran to find Ding Youtian and recounted the science fiction film he had seen in great detail. Finally, he said, "The most effective way to deal with an army of ants is to attack with fire, but our flame guns are limited. If they're just a swarm of man-eating ants, those dozen guns really can't handle them. They crawl very fast. I do have some powder, but I don't have much. I'm afraid even a cannon can't completely eliminate them immediately."

Ding Youtian thought for a moment, "Are the ant army you're talking about Black Horse? If they are, then mixing Black Horse bitter wine with water will be enough to kill them. I saw Master Mo use this method when I was studying at the Academy, and it was very effective. Besides, bitter wine is cheap and available in every shop in the city, and there's plenty of it."

"Yes, it's Xuanju." Jian Ning slapped her forehead. There were many ants in the old house of the Ding family. She had killed them with chemicals at that time. She heard Sanniu pointing at the ants and calling them Xuanju, and she also knew that the bitter wine Ding Youtian was talking about was vinegar.

Vinegar has a strong smell and acidic substances. If it is mixed with water in a 1:1 ratio and sprinkled under the city wall, it can indeed kill ants. Not only is it effective, it is also harmless to the human body and the environment. Why didn't she think of it?

The two men then went to report to King Pingnan. With the experience of the black-armored soldiers as a lesson, King Pingnan did not take the ants lightly because they were small. On the contrary, he took it very seriously and immediately sent people to buy bitter wine, the more the better.

"Fortunately, Madam is smart and was able to get the information out of her. Otherwise, if she was really as powerful as you said, I don't know how many of our soldiers would have been killed." Ding Youtian praised Jian Ning sincerely.

"Ding Gui also contributed to this." Jian Ning is not a person who holds grudges. If she wanted to hold a grudge, she would not have saved Ding Gui in the first place. Otherwise, Ding Gui would still be a useless person today.

Even though she couldn't say she liked Ding Gui now, she still had to accept the reward as a reward for his contribution.

"But your little nephew?" King Pingnan had some impression of Ding Peng and Ding Gui. He knew that they were the two children of Ding Youtian's eldest and third brothers.

"That's right." Ding Youtian bowed to the Prince of Pingnan and said, "I'll just give him some verbal encouragement later. If he does something good later, I'll record it. There's no need to make a big fuss about it now."

Ding Guicai has just become a small soldier. If he is praised and recorded for his military achievements now, he will think that it is easy to make achievements and will quickly become arrogant. This is no different from Feng Qingzi's method of forcing him to grow too fast. Ding Youtian thought it would be better to wait and see his performance in the future and put it aside for the time being.

If he knew that he had made a contribution but was not rewarded, and he still fought bravely, it meant that he was no longer the Ding Gui of the past. He had learned a lesson from his mistakes and had learned a lesson from Feng Qingzi. Only then could Ding Youtian feel at ease to let him continue to stay in the barracks.

That night, Ding Youtian did not go to him to give him verbal praise, because he was afraid that Li Shang would cast a spell and send an army of ants to attack at night. After the bitter wine was bought, the entire army was busy diluting it with water. King Pingnan also ordered everyone to sleep with their clothes on, so that they could immediately engage in battle in case of an emergency without being in a panic.

Ding Youtian and Qin Yifan checked all the protective measures and put them in place. They also took double insurance and divided the flame gun team and the howitzer team into two shifts, taking turns to guard the first and second half of the night to prevent accidents.

Jian Ning also arranged the spirit pets to take their positions and keep watch at night.

Nowadays, ammunition, guns and bullets are taken out and stored directly in the military camp every day, so Maoqiu and his brothers were also brought to the military camp to serve as mobile sentries.

When Ding Youtian was about to return to the tent to rest, Ding Gui came over. He bowed and called him "Fourth Uncle". Ding Youtian asked him, "What's the matter?"

Ding Gui glanced at Qin Yifan, and Ding Youtian's face darkened as he shouted, "The Right Army Officer and I are close friends from school. There's nothing we should say behind his back. If you have something to say, just say it. There's no need to be secretive. You don't want to annoy me. Just speak up."

"Yes." Ding Gui bowed again. "I can't understand. I've heard that the army has always had clear rewards and punishments. Why didn't I get any reward for my meritorious service? And yet Fourth Uncle still has a prejudice against me?"

Ding Youtian narrowed his eyes slightly. "Why don't you go and rest? Why do you come to me just for this?"

Hearing his cold words, Ding Gui was stunned for a moment, and unconsciously straightened his waist, "Yes."

Qin Yifan smiled and said, "He's a man who dares to act and take responsibility. He acts like a man, not bad."

Ding Youtian sneered, "Since you call me Fourth Uncle, I will be your master. If you came to serve in the army this time just for the reward, or just to gain fame, then get out of here as soon as possible!"

"I'm not here just to gain fame! The village head said that when the imperial court is in trouble, all the young and strong people in Dingxian Village should contribute their labor and materials. If the bandits take over our Central Plains, we will have to live a hard life again. I don't want to see my parents and brother go hungry. This is why I came here!"

Although Ding Gui felt wronged, he was not afraid at all and was as tough as he was in his childhood.

"Since it's about this, what else is there to say? I may give you a commendation and praise you, but you're going to transfer, right?" Ding Youtian still spoke coldly.

"I just want to know if Fourth Uncle still has a grudge against me. I'm not here just because he didn't give me any credit."

Ding Youtian flicked his long sleeves and said, "Get out of here!"

After saying that, he ignored him, bowed to Qin Yifan, and left.

Qin Yifan knew about the sutra in his family, so he didn't say anything to Ding Gui and went back to his tent to rest.

Ding Gui was left alone in the mess.

He couldn't figure out whether his fourth uncle had any prejudice against him. Just when he was at a loss, Ding Peng came over and said, "What are you doing here? I've been looking for you. Come with me and rest. There will be a big battle the day after tomorrow."

"Brother, do you think Fourth Uncle still has a prejudice against me?" Ding Gui recounted the whole story to him. "I asked Fourth Uncle, and he told me to get out!"

"Are you stupid?" Ding Peng asked, "Did Fourth Uncle scold you after his family separated?"

Ding Gui shook his head.

"Not only did he not scold us, he ignored us at all. Now that Fourth Uncle tells you to get out, what does that mean? Do you understand?"

Ding Gui thought about it and asked uncertainly, "Does Fourth Uncle treat me as his nephew now? Does he have no prejudice against me?"

Ding Peng clapped his hands on his head. "Can we go and rest now?"

Ding Gui rubbed his head and grinned.