Traveling back to ancient times to determine the zodiac

"Xing, from the time when the Nian beast began to conquer us until we eliminated it, you have made many achievements that are witnessed by everyone. Moreover, this time we defeated the Nian beast thanks to your firecracker plan. According to the last order of Cave Master Qiu, you are the cave master, and who dares to disobey?" Zhi talked freely.

"Uncle Zhi, it's not that I don't want to be the cave master, but I'm too young and uneducated to handle such a heavy responsibility!" Xiaoxing kept refusing.

"Xing, based on my hunting experience of more than fifty years, among all people, only you and Dong are the best candidates for the next cave master. Now that Dong is dead, the cave master must be you." Zhi persuaded Xiaoxing again.

"Xing, Uncle Zhi is right. Although you are young, you are a smart 'wise star'. We believe that you will lead everyone well." Chen also persuaded.

"Xing, we all agree that you should be the cave master, so just accept it!" Zhong Hefeng also advised.

"Brother Xing, you are the best. Everyone is optimistic about you, so just agree to it!" Hong'er couldn't bear it and started to persuade him.

Seeing everyone so enthusiastic, Xiao Xing knew he couldn't refuse, so he reluctantly took the jade ring and put it on his neck, and promised: "Uncle Zhi, brothers, thank you for your kindness, I will respectfully obey your orders and accept the position of cave master."

"Great! We have a new cave master!" Chen shouted excitedly.

"Cave Master, Cave Master..." Everyone shouted and applauded in celebration.

After Xiaoxing took over as the cave master, Zhi continued with the previous question and asked Xiaoxing: "Xing, now that you are the cave master, you decide how to deal with the bodies of Dong and the other three!"

"Uncle Zhi, brothers, Dong Ge made many contributions to everyone during his lifetime and was a role model for everyone. Dong Ge's death is a very unfortunate thing. I decided to treat Dong Ge's body in the same way as the cave master's body: cut off Dong Ge's hair, take off his clothes, and take the collection back to Hongmeng for burial. His body will be buried on the spot with Brother Qian and Brother Lu."

"Cave Master, you should treat Dong the same way as Cave Master Qiu. This will be fair to Dong." Zhi nodded in praise after hearing this.

So they cut off Dong's hair, took off his leopard skin skirt, and wrapped them up separately. Then they dug a pit next to the camp, buried the bodies of Dong, Qian and Lu, and then piled them up into a grave.

After the burial, everyone returned to the camp. Zhi suggested: "Master, the Nian beast has been exterminated, Dongheqian and Lu have also been buried, now that the major events have been settled, shouldn't we call the brothers Shugen, Yeshu, Heizi and others down the mountain and set off to return home together?"

"Yes, Cave Master, now that the mission is completed, can we go back? I miss my mother and my brother so much." Lan'er quickly begged.

"Cave Master, let's all go back!" At the same time, everyone who was homesick shouted together.

Xiao Xing understood everyone's feelings, but still expressed his concerns: "Uncle Zhi, Lan'er, and all brothers: Although the Nian Beast escaped into the throat of the earth, it is different from being killed by us. Just as Zhong Ge said last night: If the Nian Beast comes out of the throat of the earth again, then all our efforts will be wasted. Therefore, whether we should stay or leave, we need to discuss it with everyone."

"The cave master is extremely worried. It is said that there is no way out of the throat of the earth, but no one has verified it with his own eyes. It is safer to stay here." Zhi thought it was very reasonable when he heard it.

"Xing," Chen just called out, then realized something was wrong and quickly changed his words: "Master, if that's the case, then if the Nian Beast doesn't come out for one day, we'll stay here for one day. If the Nian Beast doesn't come out for one year, we'll stay here for one year, then won't we have to stay here forever?"

"Yes, Cave Master, if you say that, we can never go back. Woo, I miss my mother so much, I want to go back." When Lan'er heard this, she immediately started crying anxiously.

Seeing this, Hong'er couldn't help but plead with Xiaoxing: "Brother Xing, let's go back first!"

"Hong'er, Lan'er, if the Nian beast reappears, it will be another disaster. We should consider the overall situation!" Uncle Zhi advised.

There was a lot of discussion among the people. Some said that for the sake of the overall situation, they should stay here. Some said that for the sake of family reunion, they should go back first and then look. It was really a dilemma.

After discussing for a long time, they still couldn't come to a conclusion. Xiao Xing frowned and paced back and forth. Suddenly, he saw the imprisoned beast king. He couldn't help but frown and said loudly: "Uncle Zhi, fellow warriors, stop arguing. I have a solution!"

"Cave Master, what solution have you come up with?" Zhihe and the others asked hurriedly.

"Uncle Zhi, you will find out in a moment." Xiao Xing pretended to smile mysteriously, and then ordered Lao Yang, Lao Liu and others who were guarding the Beast King: "Uncle Yang and Uncle Liu, take all the captured Beast Kings to the top of the mountain."

"Yes, sir! Cave Master." After receiving the order, Lao Yang, Lao Liu and others hurriedly escorted the thirteen beast kings up one by one.

Then Xiao Xing gave another order: "Uncle Zhi, fellow warriors, please follow me to the top of the mountain now."

Everyone didn't know what Xiaoxing was up to, so they followed Xiaoxing up the mountain. When they got to the bottom of the cliff, they suddenly heard a "ping-pong-pong" sound coming from the top of the mountain. Lei shouted, "Master, it's bad, the Nian beast has really come out and is fighting with the brothers!"

"Lei, it sounds like a battle with the Nian beast. Everyone, hurry up and take a look." Although Xiaoxing was very confused, he and everyone else quickened their pace.

When they climbed to the top of the mountain, they saw that it was Tree Root, Leaf and Heizi who were leading their brothers to carve three stone statues at the entrance of the throat. Xiaoxing and the others breathed a sigh of relief, walked quickly towards them and asked, "Tree Root, Leaf, why are you carving these stone statues?"

The roots and leaves of the tree answered proudly, "Xing, weren't you worried last night that the Nian beast would come back after we left? After you guys left the mountain, I thought of a solution: why not place a few stone statues here to represent the real people, guarding here forever, so that the Nian beast would not dare to come out. There happened to be three large stones over there, so I carried them over with everyone and carved them into shape."

Xiaoxing looked closely at the three stone statues, holding stone knives and standing there solemnly. From a distance, they looked very lifelike.

"Tree roots and leaves, you carved stone statues to guard against the Nian beast. Although this method is good, have you ever thought about it? No matter how realistic the stone statue is, it is a dead object after all. It can deceive the Nian beast for a while, but it cannot deceive it forever, so it is still unreliable." Xiaoxing waved his hand in objection.

"Xing, since this doesn't work, do you have any better idea?" asked Shugen, scratching his head.

"Shu Gen, Xing has become the cave master now. You should stop calling him Xing and instead call him Cave Master." Chen interrupted.

"Xing has become the cave master?" The roots, leaves, black spots, etc., all asked in surprise when they heard it.

"What Chen said is correct." Zhi was afraid that everyone would not believe him, so he explained to them: "Early this morning, Xing, Zhong, Chen and others came down the mountain to report to me that they had defeated the Nian Beast. After hearing this, the dying Dong recommended Xing to succeed the cave master, and then he passed away. The master of the Zunqiu cave said in his last words: whoever defeats the Nian Beast will succeed the cave master. Therefore, my generation of cave master will step down, and Xing will officially become the new cave master."

"Xing has become the cave master, that's great!" When the tree roots, leaves and others heard this, they all cheered.

"Brothers, everyone, be quiet." Xiao Xing waved his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and then said to everyone: "Uncle Zhi, fellow warriors, in order to prevent the return of the Nian Beast, we can all return to Hongmeng to reunite, so I have an idea: let the thirteen beast kings guard the throat of this place."

Zhi, Chen, Zhong, Feng, Yun, etc., all of them realized Xiao Xing's good intentions, and couldn't help but give him a thumbs up and praised him: "Great idea, great idea, this is indeed a good idea, the cave master is really smart."

"Cave Master, this method is indeed much more clever than my method of guarding with stone statues." Upon hearing this, the tree root said with admiration.

Xiao Xing then ordered all the beast kings to be brought in front of him, lined up in a row, and then pointed at the entrance of the throat and slowly said to them: "My fellow beast kings, I called you here this time because I have great news to tell you: your Nian Emperor was defeated by our fire last night and fled into this throat cave alone!"

"What? Emperor Nian was defeated and escaped into the earth's throat?" The Rat King widened his eyes and asked in disbelief.

"Awooo, humans are so powerful! Emperor Nian is finished." The Tiger King and the Cat King looked at Xiaoxing with admiration.

"Emperor Nian is extremely cruel and vicious, and finally he has met his end." The Horse King and the Sheep King said coldly.

"Great, Emperor Nian has entered the earth's throat and will never come out!" The Dog King and the Pig King shouted excitedly.

The beast kings had been oppressed and abused by the Nian beast for a long time. Now that they learned that the Nian beast had disappeared, they immediately talked about it and applauded.

Xiao Xing waited until the discussion among the beast kings subsided and asked, "Dear beast kings, may I ask whether this throat of the earth can be entered but not exited, is it true or false? Can you confirm it?"

"This..." The beast kings looked at each other, none of them were sure.

Finally, it was the dog head who stepped forward and answered: "Powerful human, this throat can be entered but not exited, but it is just a rumor spread by the beasts, whether it is true or not, we dare not be sure."

Xiao Xing nodded when he heard this, and then asked the beasts: "My fellow beast kings, since you have surrendered to us, are you willing to follow our arrangements and be loyal to our orders?"

"Powerful humans, great humans, we have been spared from death. We will definitely follow your arrangements and be loyal to your orders." The beast kings nodded in agreement.

"My fellow beast kings, it's not enough for you to just agree verbally, you must also swear an oath. If anyone dares to break the oath, we humans will punish him severely." Xiaoxing said again.

"Great human, we all swear: to be forever loyal to humans and obey their orders. If we break our oath, we will be killed and eaten by humans." How dare the beast kings not listen? They swore one by one. "Good, good, good." Xiaoxing nodded with satisfaction, and then emphasized his order: "Dear beast kings, since it is not certain that the Nian Beast can enter but not exit the Throat of the Earth, it is still possible for the Nian Beast to come back. Now, in the name of the human cave master, I order all the beast kings: to prevent the Nian Beast from coming back, you will guard the Nian Beast on this mountaintop, no matter day or night, wind, frost, rain or snow, you must stand firm like the stone portrait. If you find the Nian Beast coming out of the Throat of the Earth, report to us humans immediately."

The beast kings dared not disobey after hearing this. The dog king thought for a while and asked worriedly, "Great human, we are willing to stay here as portraits for our entire lives. But if the Nian Emperor doesn't come out for one day, we have to stay here for one day. If the Nian Emperor doesn't come out for one year, we have to stay here for one year. If the Nian Emperor never comes out, we have to stay here forever. In this way, we will either die of old age or starve to death."

"Yes, yes. What the Dog-Headed Military Advisor said is right. If we stay like that and cannot leave, we will definitely starve to death." The Pig King and the other Beast Kings immediately echoed.

"Yes. What the Dog King said does make sense." Xiao Xing thought for a while and said, "My fellow beast kings, guarding the Nian Beast is a long and arduous task. To prevent you from starving, I think it would be better if the thirteen beast kings took turns guarding one beast per month."

"Powerful humans, the thirteen beast kings are replaced every month, so we will never starve to death. But because the time is too short, we can no longer return to our nest to visit our people and teach them." The Monkey King said sadly.

"Yes, yes, you are so powerful humans. Even if we beast spirits starve for a year, we will not starve to death. My suggestion is: it would be better to change it to a one-year-old rotation and take turns on duty." Dog Head stood up and suggested again.

"Cave Master, Dog-Head's suggestion is very pertinent. Each beast king guards a one-year-old beast at a time, one year at a time, taking turns, in an orderly manner, which is very good." Zhi clapped his hands in agreement.

"One year, one year, one year, good, very good! Uncle Zhi." Xiao Xing nodded to Zhi, and then announced loudly to all the beast kings: "Thirteen beast kings, listen to my order: Based on everyone's opinions, this cave master solemnly declares: All thirteen beast kings will be named the twelve zodiac signs, and they will take turns to guard the Nian beast here one year. Since the Nian beast's attack on humans next time was caused by the Rat King, the Rat King will be the first to be implemented, and then according to the order of surrendering each beast king, the next year will be the Ox King, the next year will be the Tiger King and the Cat King, and then the Rabbit King, Dragon King, Snake King, Horse King, Sheep King, Monkey King, Chicken King, Dog King, and Pig King. After every twelve years, the cycle will repeat until forever."

"Great human, we will obey your orders!" The beast kings answered in unison.

So, except for the Rat King, the other beast kings all dispersed and returned to their nests. The Rat King came to the entrance of the throat of the earth and sat beside the stone statue, staring at the cave like a wooden sculpture, guarding it day and night.