Traveling back to ancient times to determine the zodiac

Dong looked around and saw some pigs starting to attack humans after eating sweet potatoes. So he shouted to the pig king: "You evil pig, I will accept your surrender today and spare your life for now. Now quickly order your pigs to stop fighting and surrender together."

"Powerful human, if you spare my life, I will order them to surrender." Seeing that the human spared his life, the pig head opened his eyes and felt relieved. After calming down, the pig head shouted at the pig spirits on the field: "My people, I have been captured by humans and have surrendered to them. Now you listen to my command: stop fighting immediately, follow me and surrender to humans, and obey humans forever."

The flower pig demon had just finished eating the sweet potatoes. When he heard the Pig King's order, he looked up in surprise and found that the Pig King was tied up. The flower pig demon cried and ran over and asked, "My King, how did you get caught by humans? Will you die?"

"Xiaohua, although I have been captured, I have surrendered to humans. As long as you follow suit and surrender, humans will agree to spare my life." The Pig King replied.

"Since the king has been captured and surrendered, of course we will surrender as well." The flower pig demon said indifferently.

The same went for the other pig spirits. When they saw the Pig King surrender, they were too lazy to fight, so they stopped fighting and surrendered.

This time, the attack on the Pig King was perfectly defeated by the sweet potato alone, and the battle was won. Seeing that all the pig spirits had withdrawn from the battle, Xiao Xing nodded with satisfaction, and then asked the Pig King: "Pig King, since you have surrendered, tell us where the Nian Beast is? Then take us to destroy the Nian Beast."

"Powerful human, Emperor Nian is in the pigsty. I will lead you there now." In order to survive, Pighead responded to everything.

Upon hearing what was said, Xiao Xing untied the Pig King's limbs and only tied up its long mouth, which allowed it to turn over and get up, leading everyone to look for Emperor Nian.

The group returned to Emperor Nian's residence in the pigsty, but did not see Emperor Nian. Pighead looked around and saw only footprints heading south.

"Emperor Nian, Emperor Nian - where are you?" Pighead shouted into the air.

He shouted several times, but there was no echo in the empty surroundings.

It turned out that Emperor Nian saw that the pig king was determined to bite humans to death, so he followed the pigs to taste human flesh. But the pigs were only interested in eating sweet potatoes and did not fight with humans. Just when Emperor Nian was puzzled, a brown pig came back secretly. Emperor Nian asked the brown pig, "You little pig, why are you the only one back? Did you defeat humans?"

"Emperor Nian, this is bad. This time humans threw a lot of sweet potatoes, and we were so busy eating them that we didn't expect them to capture our king. In order to save his life, the king has surrendered to humans."

"Ah? This damn pig head actually dared to betray me. Next time I see it, I will definitely eat it." Emperor Nian cursed, then thought: Without the Pig King to protect us, humans will attack soon, so he quickly ran away.

Dong saw no response and said to the Pig King, "Pig King, stop shouting. I think the Nian Beast must have escaped."

"Brother Dong is right." Xiao Xing pointed to a row of huge footprints on the snow and said, "These footprints must have been left by the Nian Beast. If we follow these footprints, we will definitely catch up with the Nian Beast."

"Yes!" Dong immediately swung his axe and ordered everyone, "Brothers, the Nian beast should not have escaped far, let's chase it!"

"Yes, Brother Dong." Everyone agreed and followed Dong to follow the footprints.

Everyone followed Dong's footprints out of the mud and then out of the swamp, and found that the snow was becoming thinner and thinner, and finally disappeared completely, and Emperor Nian's footprints were nowhere to be found.

"Oh no, brothers. The footprints of the Nian beast have disappeared. We can't chase it anymore." Dong stopped, looked at the ground, and then looked blankly at the black forest in front of him.

"Brother Dong, let's ask the Pig King. Maybe he knows where the Nian Beast will flee to." Xi said, and then he brought the Pig King over and asked, "Pig King, do you know where the Nian Beast will flee to now?"

"Powerful human, Emperor Nian has no other beast spirits following him now, and I don't know where he will go." The pig-headed man shook his big ears and replied.

Dong, Xi, Chen, Feng and the others all turned their hopeful eyes to Xiao Xing. Chen asked, "Xing, since the Pig King doesn't know where the Nian Beast has gone, then you can guess."

"Chen, Dong Ge, stop looking at me like that. I don't know where the Nian beast will escape to this time." Xiaoxing only knew the ranking of the twelve zodiac animals. As for where the Nian beast escaped to, there was no record in the book, so he didn't know.

"Xing, no way? You guessed so accurately before, why not now?" Chen asked curiously.

Xiao Xing pulled Chen aside and whispered in his ear, "Chen, the future world's book doesn't say where the Nian beast is going, so I don't know either."

Chen then believed what Xiaoxing said was true, so he said to Dong: "Brother Dong, there is no trace of the Nian Beast ahead, and the Pig King and Xiaoxing don't know where it has gone. What should we do now?"

"Brothers, let's chase it a little further. I don't believe that the Nian beast can fly away." Dong waved the axe and was about to move forward.

"Brother Dong, brothers, now that the Nian beast has run far away, I think we should take the Pig King back to the camp first. First, we can report the situation to Uncle Zhi to reassure him; second, we can all make a long-term plan together, and it won't be too late to chase it after some discussion." Xiaoxing stopped Dong and persuaded him.

"Xing is right, let's go back to the Elephant Trunk Cave Camp first!" Chen agreed.

Feng and the others nodded in agreement. Dong had no choice but to give up and return with the others.

The crowd captured the Pig King, dismissed the other pig spirits, sang victory songs, and returned to the Elephant Trunk Hill Cave.

Since everyone set out, Zhi, Hong'er, Lan'er, and others have been waiting outside the Elephant Trunk Hill Cave eagerly. Seeing everyone return, Zhi hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Dong, Xing, you are back. How was the result of this attack? Did you break into the pig sty?"

"Uncle Zhi, this time the plan of throwing sweet potatoes to capture the king was a great success." Xiaoxing drove out the Pig King for Zhi, Hong'er, Lan'er and others to watch, and reported to them with a beaming face: "After we entered the swamp, the Pig King led the pig spirits to meet the enemy as usual. We fed the pig spirits with sweet potatoes, and they really only cared about eating and did not resist. So Dong Ge, Xi Ge, Feng, Chen and more than 30 people and I drove straight in to find the Pig King. Then we surrounded the Pig King, knocked it down and tied it up. The Pig King was captured and begged for surrender. After discussion, we allowed it to surrender, and then ordered it to lead us to destroy the Nian Beast. Unexpectedly, the Nian Beast had already escaped alone. Then we followed the footprints all the way and chased for more than 20 miles, but its footprints suddenly disappeared, so we could no longer chase it, so I came back to report to you."

"Dong, Xing, even though the Nian beast escaped this time, you broke into the pig den and captured the Pig King alive, which can be considered a great achievement." Zhi said happily as he looked at the captured Pig King.

"Uncle Zhi, this time the Nian beast escaped without the beast king following it, so no one knows where it will flee to. Now there is really nowhere to chase it. What should we do?" Dong asked, scratching his head.

"Xing, don't you know how to guess? Try this." Zhi asked Xiaoxing again.

"Uncle Zhi, I just talked to Brother Dong and the others, and we really can’t guess it this time." Xiaoxing spread his hands and answered helplessly.

"Dong, Xing, if the Nian beast is wandering around, with my hunting experience of more than fifty years, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. The hope is slim." Zhi couldn't help but worry again.

"Uncle Zhi, Brother Dong, the Pig King doesn't know where the Nian Beast will escape to, but perhaps other beast kings know. Why don't we bring all the beast kings out and discuss this?" Xiaoxing suddenly had an idea and came up with another plan.

"Xing is right. We can try asking." Zhi nodded in agreement and led everyone into the cave.

After they entered the cave, Zhi hurriedly ordered the capture of all the beast kings, including those captured earlier and those captured later, to be brought out for questioning. The beast kings were arranged in a circle, totaling thirteen, namely: Rat King, Ox King, Tiger King, Cat King, Rabbit King, Dragon King, Snake King, Horse King, Sheep King, Monkey King, Chicken King, Dog King, and Pig King.

Zhi looked around at all the beast kings and said, "Listen, beast kings: The hateful Nian beast wanted to conquer us humans, and sent the Rat King, Ox King, Tiger King, Rabbit King, Dragon King, and Snake King to attack us, but we humans used wisdom and strength to defeat them one by one and made them surrender. Later, in order to avenge the dead warriors, we decided to eliminate the Nian beast to prevent future troubles. Therefore, we chased the Nian beast thousands of miles away, and defeated and subdued the Horse King, Sheep King, Monkey King, Chicken King, Dog King, and Pig King on the way. Now that the Nian beast has no beast kings with it, it has fled alone. Among the beast kings, which one knows where it will flee to and where it will hide?"

Upon hearing this, the thirteen beast kings looked at each other and shook their heads to indicate that they did not know.

Zhi, Dong, Feng and others saw this and shook their heads in disappointment. Xiao Xing cleared his throat and warned the beast kings sternly: "My fellow beast kings, the Nian beast is vicious and cruel, ruthless and heartless. If we let it escape today, it will definitely seek revenge on us humans and the beast kings one day. So, please think again and guess where the Nian beast is going so that you can continue to chase it and completely destroy it."

Xiaoxing's warning really made the beast kings worried and afraid, so they started to discuss it. After a while, the dog-headed man said loudly, "Awesome human beings, when the Snake King failed in his conquest, the rooster reported to Emperor Nian that humans would come to Tianshan to eliminate it. Emperor Nian was immediately very scared, so he discussed with the Horse King, Sheep King, Monkey King, Chicken King, this Dog King and Pig King in the Tianshan Cave about where to hide for refuge. At that time, I once suggested, "Emperor Nian, there is a mountain in the south called Tree Root Mountain. There is a cave on the mountain called 'Earth Throat'. This cave is unfathomable and is truly a bottomless cave. Throughout the ages, only animals have been seen entering, but never leaving. Even birds are no exception. If Emperor Nian hides in this cave, it will be the safest." After hearing this, the Nian Beast said, "Earth Throat can only be entered but not exited, isn't it the same as being dead? Unless there is really nowhere to escape, it will go there when it is forced to do so." Now Emperor Nian has reached the last moment, and I guess it is very likely that it will go to Tree Root Mountain 'Earth Throat' to avoid you humans."

After the dog head finished speaking, the horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, and pig nodded and said, "The dog king is right. Emperor Nian may have fled to the Tree Root Mountain!"

"My fellow beast kings, since Emperor Nian might have gone to Shuchu Mountain, then we will go to Shuchu Mountain to continue chasing him. But do you know the way?" Zhi asked hurriedly when he heard it.

"Awesome human, Shuchu Mountain is about 500 miles to the south. We all know the way and can take you there." Dog Head answered respectfully.

"Uncle Zhi, now that we have found the whereabouts of the Nian beast, let's hurry to Shuchu Mountain!" Dong was ready to set off.

Zhi looked up and saw that the sun was already setting, so he dissuaded Dong and said, "Dong, it's getting late today, let's have a good rest tonight, and it won't be too late to catch up tomorrow."

"Yes, Uncle Zhi." Dong agreed and stepped aside.

Zhi ordered his men to re-imprison the beast kings and start preparing dinner. After dinner, they held a celebration meeting as usual.

Inside the cave, several bonfires were burning, reflecting people's excited and red faces.

Everyone gathered around the campfire. Zhizheng stood up and spoke slowly, "My fellow warriors, today we used the strategy of throwing melons to capture the king and attacked the Pig King three times. We finally successfully broke through the pig den and defeated the Pig King. Although the Nian Beast managed to escape again, we conquered the Pig King, which is also worth celebrating."