Traveling back to ancient times to determine the zodiac

"Brother Xing, you showed your power in front of the Nian beast. Moreover, it was because you shot the Nian beast's eyes blind that the Nian beast fled. In fact, you are the real hero!" Hong'er's eyes were full of admiration for Xiaoxing.

"I don't care whether you are a hero or not. As long as you can protect us all from being attacked, I will be satisfied!" Xiaoxing still seemed so indifferent.

"Your battle with the Nian beast today was really dangerous! I was so worried and scared. It would be terrible if any accident happened!" Hong'er still felt scared when she imagined the scene at that time.

"Who are you worried about?" Xiao Xing smiled mischievously and asked, "Are you worried about your dad or me?"

"I, of course I'm worried about my dad! Why would I worry about you?" Hong'er rolled her eyes at Xiaoxing.

"Aren't you worried about me? If I were eaten by the Nian beast, you wouldn't be able to see me tonight..."

"I don't allow you to talk nonsense. You are so strong and so smart, you will never be eaten by the Nian beast." Hong'er stepped forward and covered Xiaoxing's mouth to stop him from saying those unlucky words.

"So, you are still a little worried about me?" Xiaoxing pushed her hand away and asked relentlessly.

"Hey! That's annoying. I won't talk to you anymore! I'm going back to the cave!" Hong'er glanced at Xiaoxing with shame and anger, left him, turned around and ran into the cave.

Xiaoxing looked at Hong'er's figure, smiled and shook his head, then walked into the cave.

Inside the cave, people were still immersed in the joy of victory and talking excitedly. Finally, Qiu announced to everyone: "My fellow citizens, the old people always say: Be prepared for rain when the weather is fine, and be prepared for danger when you are safe. Although the Nian beast was defeated today, it may come back again. In the future, we must be vigilant, prepare for a rainy day, and do a good job of preparation."

"We will follow your orders, Cave Master." Everyone responded loudly.

After the celebration party, everyone started singing and dancing until late at night, and then went back to their dormitories to sleep.

The next day, just after dawn, Xiaoxing got up and heard the unfortunate news. Of the five people injured yesterday, except for Mu and Gui, whose condition had improved, Gu, Tu and Chuan had unfortunately passed away last night.

Qiu led everyone to carry the bodies of the three warriors out of the cave, and their wives sobbed over the bodies.

Except for a few injured people, everyone else in the cave came out of the cave as usual to hold the "Sun Welcoming" ceremony.

In just a few minutes, the fiery red sun rose slowly, and a new day began. Everyone cheered and celebrated in the morning sun.

Xiaoxing looked at the three bodies lying on the ground and suddenly realized something: this daily sun-greeting ceremony was not a superstitious activity of the ancients. The sun rises every day, but you may not be the one who sees it. In the words of the 21st century, it is like an accident or tomorrow, and you don't know which will come first. The ancients lived by hunting, and death was a common occurrence, so every day was worth celebrating.

At the end of the Sun-Welcoming Ceremony, Qiu consoled the wives of the three deceased men: "Li, Tao, and Xing, your husbands died fighting the Nian beast. They were brave hunters in life and glorious heroes in death. Please accept my condolences."

"Yes, Cave Master. Thank you for your concern." Li, Tao and Xing suppressed their grief and thanked Qiu.

After the final farewell ceremony for the three deceased, everyone buried them on a hillside.

Fearing that the Nian beast would invade again, people followed the cave master's orders and stayed out of the cave for no reason. They made defensive preparations in the cave. Xiaoxing was ordered to plant rice, so he led Xiahe, Chen, Yue, Ri, and other warriors to level the fields every day. We won't talk about these for now.

The Nian Emperor was defeated, and he rode his horse with the arrow in his hand, and ran away for 50 to 60 miles. When he saw that the humans behind him had not caught up, he stopped the horse. The Nian Emperor pulled out the arrow with his front paw, and even pulled out the eyeball, causing the horse to scream in pain, and from then on he was blind in one eye.

Due to the fast running, the horse king was exhausted and out of breath. After a few breaths, he said, "I am so tired, so tired! Nian Di, you are getting heavier and heavier. You need to lose weight."

"Cut your head off, useless thing, you've only run a short distance?" Emperor Nian cursed angrily. If it wasn't injured now, he would have beaten the Horse King again.

"Emperor Nian, although humans don't have horns or fangs, their weapons are indeed powerful. They can actually shoot you blind. Just give up!"

"Yes, I have lived for tens of thousands of years, and this is the first time I have been injured."

"Emperor Nian, as long as humans don't invade us, why don't we give up the conquest!"

"Give up? Humph! What a joke. Do you think that I can't conquer them? There is no two suns in the sky. I will never coexist with those monkey-like humans." Emperor Nian shouted hatefully.

"Now one of your eyes has been shot blind. If you come to conquer again, I'm afraid the other eye will be shot blind too. Then you will become completely blind." said the Horse King.

"You damned horse, you actually cursed me, don't you want to live?" Emperor Nian was furious, and then said: "This time I was just a little careless, next time I need to be more careful with their bows and arrows, and I will naturally win."

"Blow it, blow it! Just shoot it to death next time!" the Horse King murmured softly.

As he was talking, the dog king came running up from behind. He was seen sticking out his tongue and panting. When he saw Emperor Nian, he hurried forward and asked, "Emperor Nian, aren't you thick-skinned and tough, and not afraid of swords and arrows? How did you get hurt?"

"Although I am not afraid of those arrows, my eyes are fragile, so I was injured." Emperor Nian replied helplessly.

"Although humans don't look impressive, they are indeed quite capable. Fortunately we ran away quickly, otherwise we would have been dead if we were caught by humans." The Dog King said, shaking his head.

"We ran out, the pig guards and the rooster, why haven't the mice escaped yet? Will they be caught by humans?" Emperor Nian said worriedly.

"It's possible!" said the dog-headed man. "Humans are numerous and powerful. The Pig King, Rooster, and Rat King will surely be defeated and captured. They will become human barbecue tonight."

“Alas! Poor Pig King, Rooster and Rat King. I didn’t eat them, but I didn’t expect that they were eaten by humans.” Emperor Nian sighed with emotion.

As the saying goes, when the rabbit dies, the fox mourns. The dog king and the horse king were also very sad. While they were lamenting, they suddenly heard a continuous humming from behind. It turned out to be the pig king coming with his butt sticking up. Accompanying him was the rooster flying in the sky.

When the rooster saw Emperor Nian and the others, he immediately flew down in front of the horse. When the pig king saw Emperor Nian, he stuck his butt out and cried, "Emperor Nian, a human stabbed my butt with a gun and the blood is flowing out. Ouch, it hurts so much!"

"You idiot, you are useless. If you don't work hard in the battle, I'll stab you to death." Emperor Nian glared at the Pig King hatefully.

"Emperor Nian, it's not that I didn't try hard, it's true that humans' weapons are too powerful. If I didn't have thick skin and flesh, I would have been pierced into a hedgehog!" The Pig King argued.

"Yes, yes, human bows and arrows are too powerful. If I am shot, I will die!" Ever since the rooster saw the eagle being shot down, he has been extremely afraid of bows and arrows, fearing that he would be shot, so he always hides behind. Although he has escaped here, he is still in shock. When he heard the pig king say this, he immediately agreed.

"Yes. Human bows and arrows are indeed terrible. I was shot in the eye because I was careless for a moment." Emperor Nian touched his injured left eye, feeling very sad.

"Emperor Nian, the arrows fly so fast and far. It is impossible for you to defeat them." The Pig King rubbed his butt and said with a "humph", "Emperor Nian, don't bother with those monkey-like humans. Just let them be. As long as they don't provoke us, we won't provoke them." The Pig Head advised.

"Bullshit! You pig-headed guy only helps boost others' morale and destroys your own prestige. As the emperor who rules the world, how can I lose to a mere human? Humph! If you three beasts had tried harder to help, you might have defeated the humans and eaten them." Emperor Nian roared.

"Emperor Nian, they have many people and powerful forces. We, the beast kings and rat soldiers and generals, are definitely no match for them. Since Emperor Nian is still determined to conquer mankind, let's return to our old nest in Tianshan for the time being, and then call on some brave soldiers and generals. We will definitely be able to wipe out mankind." said the dog-headed military advisor.

"Brother Dog is right. Let's go back first and then regroup and start over." said the rooster.

"Well, what Goutou said makes sense. Let's go back to Tianshan first and talk about it later." Emperor Nian nodded and said.

"Oh, yes!" The rooster was about to leave when he heard it. Emperor Nian shouted, "You stupid rooster, you can fly, why are you in such a hurry to leave? Go back to the battlefield and find out what happened to the rats and their soldiers and generals? Have they been wiped out by humans? Find out clearly and come back to report to me."

When the rooster heard that he was being ordered to return to the universe, he was shocked and frightened, but he could do nothing. He could only flap his wings and fly back.

After several days of trekking, Emperor Nian and his four beasts finally returned to the Tianshan Cave Nest. But the cave was deserted, with no animals in sight. Emperor Nian shouted, "You little bastard, you little bastard! Come out to me!"

After shouting for a long time, the Rabbit King did not appear. It turned out that the Nian Emperor had been away for such a long time, and those subordinates who were forced to be slaves by the Nian Emperor finally had a long vacation and all returned to their nests. When the Nian Emperor saw that the rabbit was not there, he was furious and cursed: "You damned rabbit, when I find you, I will beat you to death. Old Horse, go and call the rabbit to me quickly, it really piss me off!"

When the horse king saw that Emperor Nian was angry, he was afraid that he would be in trouble, so he ran out to find the rabbit king. The rabbit king's nest was in the vast grassland under the Tianshan Mountains. At this moment, the rabbit king was sleeping comfortably in his nest. Suddenly, a rabbit spirit came in and shouted, "My king, my king! The horse king outside the cave has conveyed the order of Emperor Nian, ordering you to go and see Emperor Nian as soon as possible."

"What? Emperor Nian is going home! Oh, my long vacation is over." The Rabbit King hurried out of the rabbit cave and went to the Tianshan Cave with the Horse King to meet Emperor Nian.

"You little bastard! I've only been away for a few days and you've already gone to hell. I'll teach you a lesson." Emperor Nian glared with one strange eye, twisted his body, and shot out his long tail, which grabbed the Rabbit King and was about to throw him out.

The Rabbit King was horrified and begged for mercy: "Emperor Nian, please don't throw me. If you kill me, there will be no one to run errands for you!"

"Hmph!" Upon hearing this, Emperor Nian let go of the Rabbit King and said, "Remember this beating. If you dare to leave your post again, I will settle both the old and new accounts."

"Yes, Emperor Nian! I will never dare to do it again next time." The Rabbit King said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Now quickly pass on my order to all beast kings to come to the meeting. There must be no mistakes."

"Yes, Emperor Nian! I'll go right away!" After receiving the order, the Rabbit King ran away.

Emperor Nian walked up the hill and lay down, and said to the dog-headed military advisor: "I wonder how the rat is doing? Why hasn't this damn stupid chicken come back yet?"

"The rats have no attack power at all. I think they will all be wiped out and turned into roasted rat meat for humans." said the Dog King.

"It can't beat humans, so it might as well run away," said Pighead.

Everyone was guessing and discussing, when suddenly, something came in from outside the cave. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the rooster returning.

The rooster was ordered to return to the battlefield to see the outcome of the battle. It did not dare to show up and fly high, but hid in the distance and watched. After it knew the result, it returned to Tianshan Cave along the same route.

When Emperor Nian saw the rooster coming back, he asked hurriedly, "You stupid rooster, you finally came back. I thought you were shot to death by humans. What happened to the rat king? Did he die and turned into a roasted rat?"

"Reporting to Emperor Nian, when I flew back to the battlefield, I saw that nearly half of the rat soldiers had been wiped out. Later, the Rat King, seeing that the situation was not good, fled to a hill alone. Unexpectedly, he was closely chased and captured by humans. In order to save his life, the Rat King surrendered to humans. Humans initially refused to let him surrender, but later the Rat King offered to offer food to humans, and humans agreed to accept his surrender. Now humans and rats have become one family, and are no longer enemies." The rooster recounted the details of the Rat King's surrender.