Chapter 108: The South African Bullet Ant (Extra Update)

Huang Xiaotao said, "But we're already surrounded by ants!"

"Don't worry, I've got a secret weapon!" I grabbed a big handful of white sugar and scattered it into the corner. No matter what kind of ant it is, they simply can't resist sugar.

The swarm of bullet ants immediately retreated from us like a tide, rushing straight toward the sugar pile. Right then, a huge swelling formed—just moments ago, I'd seen a hallucination of a woman's head rising from the blood because of that sugar.

I grabbed Huang Xiaotao and fled the room. The entire corridor was crawling with bullet ants, so I tore open the rest of the sugar bag and threw it all to the far end of the hallway to divert their attention.

If Wang Dali hadn't carelessly bought that bag of sugar, we probably wouldn't have made it out alive tonight!

Running downstairs, I saw Wang Dali rolling on the ground, his body covered in bright red bullet ants. I quickly took off my jacket and brushed them off him, then stuffed a "Mingxin Pill" into his mouth. Wang Dali gasped, "So it wasn't fire after all!"

"Hurry, let's go!"

We ran out of the villa in one breath, collapsing on the ground, exhausted.

...

...

Huang Xiaotao looked at her fingers and said worriedly, "Will these scars stay?"

I almost spat blood—after barely escaping death, her first concern was about scars? Wang Dali groaned, "How about me? Look here, here, and here..." He even tried to undo his pants to show us, but I quickly stopped him. Wang Dali was definitely worse off, covered with wounds all over, his face bruised and battered.

I said, "It's okay. It's ant acid. Just wash with alkaline water when you get back. After a few days, scabs will form and you'll heal."

Huang Xiaotao wanted to take photos for evidence, but I said, "Wait until tomorrow. The ants are still aggressive now!" Both of them were curious about how we had seen flames and blood in the bullet ants. I had an inkling already but hadn't confirmed it, so I just said, "Everything will be revealed tomorrow."

The next day, we returned for a thorough investigation. The tech team pried open a wall tile and found it full of densely packed ant nests, though all were semi-dormant. Xiao Zhou took several ants back for testing.

I also had him scrape some wall paint to analyze—this was a major oversight on my part. The house was obviously old and rundown, but the paint was fresh! I hadn't noticed before, which showed that some things can't be learned from books but only through experience.

Xiao Zhou compared the ant acid from the bullet ants with the acidic substance found on the victim's body and confirmed the victim was indeed killed by the bullet ants.

They also found suspicious compounds on the paint, but Xiao Zhou couldn't identify them. I gave him a prescription and told him to collect the corresponding herbs. Once matched, it turned out to be several traditional Chinese medicinal herbs from the prescription.

By the time we finished, it was noon. Huang Xiaotao, hungry after fasting all morning, propped her chin on her hand and asked, "Song Yang, can you reveal the answer now?"

I smiled, "You still owe me a meal."

Huang Xiaotao punched me lightly, "I've gathered everyone here to listen to your insights, but you better make it worth the meal!"

"Deal," I nodded with a smile.

We picked a nearby restaurant. Once everyone was seated, I explained, "Bullet ants live in South Africa and are among the world's top ten most venomous creatures. They secrete a potent form of ant acid. Victims killed by this acid have skin that looks almost indistinguishable from severe burns. This case nearly fooled me because my ancestors never encountered such exotic African insects."

Huang Xiaotao interrupted, "Enough, we all know that. What we want to know is how those hallucinations came about?"

"There's a hallucinogen called 'Ye Bu Si Xiang'," I answered.

"Ye Bu Si Xiang?" everyone gasped.

I explained, "It's an ancient secret perfume used by courtesans. Though called perfume, it's actually colorless and odorless, with strong hallucinogenic effects. It's named 'Ye Bu Si Xiang' because it only activates at night, making the user unable to 'think of home' when darkness falls."

Xiao Zhou added, "Probably its chemical components are unstable. During normal temperatures, it breaks down harmlessly into water and carbon dioxide. It only works in the cold."

Huang Xiaotao scolded, "Stop interrupting!"

I continued, "After the hallucination kicks in, the mind becomes fragile and highly susceptible to psychological suggestion. The ghosts we saw were all illusions. Wang Dali should remember one detail: when I went downstairs earlier, I saw nothing. But after he mentioned it, suddenly a white-clad ghost appeared behind Huang Xiaotao."

The ghosts we saw last night were just our minds tricking us, driven by self-suggestion.

Wang Dali saw fire; Huang Xiaotao saw blood—because each had prior exposure to different information. Wang Dali, like most people, thought the house had burned down. But Wang Yuanchao later investigated and found the fire was just a rumor. Huang Xiaotao and I knew this, but Wang Dali did not.

Those two—an uncle and nephew acting as "haunted house testers"—had checked before, but their sources only confirmed a past fire rumor. So when the bullet ants swarmed, their eyes saw raging flames. They panicked, ran from room to room, trapped at both ends, and eventually were literally burned alive.

Wang Dali sighed with relief, "So the house isn't really haunted?"

I smiled, "Whether it is or isn't, I can't say. But the ghosts we saw last night were fake."

Huang Xiaotao slammed the table, "This was a carefully planned murder. But Song Yang, the killer never showed himself. How do we catch him?"

A gleam of insight flashed in my eyes. "That's simple—let the bullet ants lead us to him!"

"Bullet ants?" Huang Xiaotao looked confused.

I explained, "The killer can control so many bullet ants because they all follow their queen ant. They'll protect her with their lives. The queen must be on the killer. The car parked nearby last night probably held the queen. Once trapped, the queen sent out a distress signal, causing the bullet ants to go berserk."

Huang Xiaotao asked if the team had found that car. Everyone shook their heads, saying no leads yet. The city's 4S car dealerships were all under surveillance.

I said, "Tell the officers on duty to rest. The three of us can handle this."

Wang Yuanchao said calmly, "I'll go too."

Huang Xiaotao stood up, "No time to eat, let's go now!"

I said, "Don't rush. Bullet ants live in Africa where it's too hot during the day, so they're nocturnal. We'll go at night."

Huang Xiaotao worried, "What if they attack us again?"

I said, "You'll help me get something first." Then I whispered something in her ear.

Huang Xiaotao was shocked. "That's illegal! Good thing you told me. If you went alone, I'd have you arrested."

I begged, "Please, please!"

The officers overheard our whispering and smirked maliciously. Huang Xiaotao blushed and slammed the table. "No laughing! We're discussing official business!"

That night, the four of us returned to the villa. To prevent being drugged by Ye Bu Si Xiang again, I gave everyone a "Mingxin Pill" to hold in their mouths. I used a plastic bottle cut into a shovel shape to scoop up several bullet ants from under the pried wall tile.

Without their queen's command, the ants fought back individually but did not swarm in force. Still, after being bitten once, Huang Xiaotao and Wang Dali were understandably nervous watching me handle them.

We went to where the car was parked yesterday and released the bullet ants. They immediately crawled toward one direction.

Huang Xiaotao was puzzled, "One thing I don't get — why don't the ants just leave the villa and find their queen themselves?"

I said, "I wondered the same. I just smelled the surrounding air and detected camphor. That's the killer's doing—to trap them inside."

Huang Xiaotao gasped, "What a cunning killer!"