Traveling back to ancient times to determine the zodiac

The moon was in the lower half of the sky and rose very late. Xiao Xing leaned against the tree trunk, looking up at the crescent moon. Suddenly, he sighed. Chen, who was standing next to him, heard him and asked, "Xing, why haven't you fallen asleep yet? What are you thinking about? Why are you sighing?"

"I can't sleep." Xiao Xing looked at Chen and answered slowly, "Chen, I don't know why, I suddenly miss my mother. She has been out for so long, I wonder if she is doing well?"

"Your mother should be fine. There are so many people in the cave. Everyone will help take care of her." Chen comforted.

"But I'm worried that the Nian beast will not give up and will send other beasts to attack us. By then, everyone will be busy taking care of themselves, so how can we help my mother?" Xiaoxing expressed his concerns.

"The Nian Beast has been defeated twice, so it shouldn't come to attack us again. Even if they are still determined to kill us and send another army of beasts, I think it will be fine with the cave master here."

"Well, I hope it's as you said." Xiao Xing smiled and asked Chen: "Then why haven't you fallen asleep yet so late? Who are you thinking about?"

"I, I'm not thinking about anyone." Chen replied embarrassedly, "Actually, I'm thinking about Hong'er."

Xiao Xing was shocked when she heard that and asked, "Are you thinking about her? Are you in love with her?"

"Yes! Hong'er is beautiful and sings beautifully. I have liked her for a long time. Every time I see her, I can't help but feel excited and thrilled."

"You like Hong'er so much, but have you ever asked her if she likes you?"

"I did ask! The night before I came out, I asked her: Are you willing to be my wife? She said she would think about it." Chen answered excitedly.

Xiao Xing let out a long breath and said, "What if she says she doesn't want to after considering it?"

"I think she will definitely agree." Chen said confidently.

"Chen, Lan'er is also very beautiful. I think she likes you very much. She rushes to take your gifts, rushes to pour water for you, and rushes to care about your safety. Why don't you want to marry her?" Xiaoxing asked.

"Hey, hey..." Chen touched his head and said with a smile: "Lan'er is good, but I still like Hong'er more."

"Well, brother, just work hard! Well, let's go to bed! We still have to travel tomorrow!" Xiaoxing said, closing his eyes and dozing off.

"Well, okay, let's go to bed!" Chen immediately fell asleep leaning against the tree trunk.

Xiaoxing still had no sleepiness. Chen just talked about his relationship with Hong'er, which made him feel a little nervous. It turned out that since Xiaoxing traveled through time, he felt that Hong'er was the most beautiful girl in the world, so he decided to marry her. But there were too many things going on during this period, and he didn't have time to pursue her. If Hong'er agreed to be Chen's wife, wouldn't he regret it? Therefore, Xiaoxing made up his mind that after completing the mission this time, he would also go to Hong'er to confess his love.

At dawn the next day, everyone woke up and got down from the tree. After eating some dry food, the group continued on their journey westward. The further west they went, the more desolate it felt. The mountains gradually disappeared, replaced by an endless desert plain. The temperature was getting hotter and hotter, the grass and trees were sparse, and the wind and sand increased. During the rest time, Dian began to complain again: "Why haven't we reached Yanshan yet? If we keep going, I will either die of exhaustion or die of heat."

Xiye said listlessly: "Dian is right. We may never reach Yanshan. I think we should just go back to the cave."

Seeing that everyone looked exhausted and depressed, Zhi quickly encouraged them: "Dianxi, it's getting hotter here, which means we are almost at Yanshan. As the saying goes: Perseverance is victory. Don't be discouraged, cheer up."

"Uncle Zhi is right. If we return empty-handed, how can we face the cave master? Even if we have to walk to the edge of the sky, even if we die of heat, we must get fire before we can go back." Xiaoxing wiped the sweat from his head and said firmly.

"Yes, now that we are here, we should make the best of it. No matter what, we must get the fire before going back. Otherwise, we will never give up." He also encouraged everyone.

Hearing this, everyone had to cheer up and continue forward. They walked until dusk, and finally saw a solitary mountain in front of them. The mountain was about four miles in radius and no more than a hundred meters high. Due to severe weathering, the mountain looked very steep. There were still sparse vegetation on the mountain, and there was nothing special about it. Everyone walked and watched, and suddenly, the leader Zhi stopped and shouted excitedly: "Dong, Xing, down, everyone, look, there is a fire on this mountain."

Everyone stopped and looked up at the mountain. As expected, a little fire could be seen faintly on the top of the mountain. The fire flickered like stars in the sky. Everyone couldn't help but shouting: "Oh! Yanshan has finally been found, Yanshan has finally been found!"

Everyone cheered for a while, and Zhigao shouted: "Great, warriors, hurry up and climb up Yanshan before dark."

Everyone's fatigue was instantly swept away, and they couldn't help but speed up. In a moment, they arrived at the foot of Yanshan Mountain.

He looked up at Yanshan Mountain and shouted, "Oh my God! This mountain is too steep!"

Hearing this, everyone looked up and took a closer look at the mountain. The mountain was not high but steep, with strange rocks standing on it. There was a protruding independent peak on the north and south sides of the mountain top. The two peaks were about ten feet high, and they were all cliffs. Except for a few tall fire trees, it was a desolate place. Looking at the fire tree again, it was indeed different from others. Although it was March, it was still bare without a single leaf. The white trunk and branches seemed to be without bark. I could vaguely see a few fire birds perched on its branches, pecking at it from time to time. There was a "dang, dang" sound, and then sparks flashed, and then went out as soon as they stopped.

Xiao Xing looked at the magical scene in front of him and couldn't help but exclaimed: "It turns out that those ancient myths about the firebird and the fire tree are actually true."

Zhi announced loudly: "Listen up, warriors! It is said that to get fire, you must first catch a firebird. It is almost impossible to catch a firebird during the day. Therefore, we must climb up Yanshan Mountain tonight and catch a firebird alive."

"Yes, sir! Uncle Zhi." Everyone responded in unison.

"Uncle Zhi, how can we get the fire after catching the firebird?" Dong asked.

“Once you catch the Firebird, take a branch from a firewood tree and let it peck at it. After a long time, the tree will naturally catch fire,” Zhi explained.

"Oh, that's how it is." Dong said enthusiastically after understanding, "Let's go up the mountain and catch birds with me now."

They found a slightly gentler mountain road and climbed up the mountain with difficulty. After a while, they reached a flat area on the top of the mountain. At this moment, the sun had lost its last rays of light, and the sky was completely dark. Everyone could only use the starry sky to identify objects.

Xiaoxing looked up at the firebirds on the tree, and suddenly they flew up from the tree and disappeared on the two cliffs on the top of the mountain.

Xiaoxing screamed, "Oh no! It's bad. The firebird saw us going up the mountain and got scared and hid."

"No. I saw the firebird going back to its nest to sleep because it was getting dark." Chen said.

"If the firebird is returning to its nest to sleep, we can catch it alive as long as we climb up the cliff," said Dong.

Looking up at the high cliff, the man cried out, "Oh my God! This cliff is so high, how can we climb up and catch the Firebird?"

"Yeah, with such a steep cliff, I don't think it's possible to catch the firebird. This trip is in vain." Xi Yi said, scratching his head.

"Xi, what else can you do besides saying some discouraging words?" Dong scolded again.

Xi was scolded so much that he dared not say a word and stared at the bird's nest on the cliff in a daze. The others were all worried about the several-meter-high cliff and talked about it.

Zhi looked at the steep cliff, then looked at everyone and said, "My fellow warriors, with my hunting experience of more than 50 years, it is very difficult to catch a firebird. Everyone, use your brains quickly. Whoever can catch a firebird alive first will make a great contribution."

“Uncle Zhi, with my five-year-old hunting experience, I also know that it is difficult to catch a firebird.” Chen next to him said sarcastically.

"How dare you imitate me?" Zhi raised his hand and hit Chen on the head. Chen was prepared and ran away with his neck shrunk.

Dong thought about the last time he crossed the river, and how Xiaoxing stole the limelight. He thought to himself: No matter what, he must find a way to catch the firebird this time and show his ability in front of everyone. Thinking of this, Dong pulled Xi and Bei, Zhongshugen, Shuye and others, and turned to Zhi and said, "Uncle Zhi, there are two cliffs here. I think I will lead some people to the south cliff, and let Xiaoxing lead some people to the north cliff. Whoever catches the firebird first will be the first to make a contribution."

After saying that, he turned to Sun, Moon, Wind, Cloud and others and said, "Brothers, if anyone is willing to follow me, let's go to the southern cliff." As he spoke, he pulled them towards the southern cliff.

Zhi saw Dong leaving Xiaoxing, Xia, Chen and others behind and hurriedly shouted, "Dong, this won't work. There is strength in numbers. How can you succeed if you act like this?"

"Can't succeed? I'm going to try anyway!" Dongtou replied without saying anything.

Zhi was about to say something else when Xiaoxing grabbed him and said, "Uncle Zhi, stop shouting. Since Dong Ge wants to act separately from us, let's do as he says and go to the northern cliff!"

Zhi was persuaded and had to let Dong go. Dong was an expert hunter and had a high reputation. Xiaoxing had only been here for more than two months and had just started to show his talent. Therefore, most of the people who had close relationships with Dong, such as Xi, Bei, Zhong, Shugen, Ye, Heizi, Qian, Hou, Jiang, Hei, Hu, Hai, etc., followed Dong.

Finally, only Zhihe and Chen, Sun, Moon, Feng, Yun, Lei, and Dian were left. Fenghe and Xiaoxing got along well with the three brothers during the construction of the cave gate. As peers, they admired his intelligence and wit, so they stayed. A group of less than ten people followed Xiaoxing to the north cliff. Soon, everyone came to the bottom of the north cliff and looked up at the firebird's nest, which was about 60 to 70 meters high. The cliff was straight on all sides, and there was nothing to climb.

Chen Yang's neck ached, and he said, "Xing, why don't we cut down two fire trees, make a wooden ladder and put it on the cliff, then have people climb up the ladder and capture the fire bird alive. Do you think it's feasible?"

"No, no, even if we can build such a high wooden ladder, we may not be able to lift it up." Zhi waved his hand in objection.

"If we can't make a ladder, what else can we do?" Yun shouted, scratching his head.

Xiao Xing frowned and reached out to touch the cliff wall, which was made of sand and stone. Suddenly, an idea came to him and he said, "I have a way to dig steps around the cliff and climb up."

"Well, digging steps is worth a try." Zhi nodded.

The next person heard it, he immediately took a stone knife and started digging on the cliff. After a while, he dug out a step, and then dug the next step. When he got tired, he would take over and continue digging.

After digging more than twenty steps and climbing more than ten feet high, another problem arose: a huge rock was lying in front of them.

"Uncle Zhi, Xing, there is a huge rock blocking the way ahead. We can't dig anymore." Chen shouted.

"Damn it." Xiao Xing was so angry that he almost vomited blood. He said, "Since we can't dig it, we can only give up."

"If this plan fails, what should we do?" He became anxious.

"Brother Xia, don't be anxious. Let me think about it." Xiaoxing looked up at the cliff, frowning and thinking.

Zhi couldn't stand it anymore and said, "Xing, your team is too small and it's not going to be good. I don't know how Dong is doing over there? How about I call them over to help?"

"Uncle Zhi, I don't think it's necessary. Let me think of a way, it will definitely work." Xiaoxing was unwilling to admit defeat when he heard that Dong was asked for help.

Zhi now understood the differences between Dong and Xiaoxing, which were nothing more than trying to show off their own strength. He said to Xiaoxing earnestly: "Xing, you have to understand that the purpose of our trip is to get fire, not to fight. As the saying goes: unity is strength. You have to put the overall situation first, put aside the unhappiness between each other, work together, and quickly complete the task. This is the main thing."

Xiao Xing suddenly understood what was going on and said, "Uncle Zhi is right. I feel extremely ashamed. Then please ask Uncle Zhi to ask them to come over and do it together."

Zhi then headed towards the southern cliff. There were more than 30 people from the east, west, north and middle areas under the southern cliff, and their progress was not smooth either.