Traveling back to ancient times to determine the zodiac

"Dad, if Brother Xing doesn't go to eat, I won't go either. I want to stay with Brother Xing." Hong'er looked at Xiaoxing who was immersed in sadness, and decided to stay and accompany him.

"Well, Hong'er, please persuade Xing again!" Qiu nodded, agreed to Hong'er's request, and then went to have dinner with Zhi, Chen, and others.

"Hong'er, why don't you go eat something? Be careful not to starve yourself." Xiaoxing saw that Hong'er didn't go to have dinner and advised her worriedly.

"Brother Xing, you should take better care of yourself. Your mother is dead, and the dead cannot be resurrected. There is no point in you being sad." Hong'er has always liked Xiaoxing. She is happy when she sees Xiaoxing happy, and sad when she sees Xiaoxing sad.

"Oh! It's all my fault for going to Yanshan. If I hadn't gone, my mother wouldn't have died. Oh, I regret it so much!" Xiaoxing hit his head in pain.

"Brother Xing, how can you be blamed for this? We can only blame those evil tigers and the Nian beast. As long as they are determined to destroy us, we will have no peace." Hong'er took Xiaoxing's hand and comforted him sympathetically.

"Yes, you are right. It is the Nian beast that caused the current situation. The Nian beast is so abominable and hateful. I swear to defeat the tiger pack and eliminate the Nian beast." Xiaoxing raised his tiger eyebrows and said firmly.

"Brother Xing, I believe you can do it. Because you are the best!" Looking at the resolute Xiaoxing, Hong'er said with admiration and worship. Because Xiaoxing is not only the person that his father Qiu admires and respects the most, but also the person that everyone in the cave is optimistic about. So in Hong'er's mind, Xiaoxing is a great hero and her favorite idol.

Xiaoxing looked at his mother's body and fell into grief again. At this time, Hong'er handed him a jade pendant and said, "Brother Xing, your mother left a will before she died, asking me to give you this jade pendant. Although she is gone, she will always be watching over you."

This is a heart-shaped jade pendant, the color is emerald green. It is a gift made by Xiaoxing's father for her mother. Xiaoxing took the jade pendant and put it in her arms, and tears blurred her vision again.

"Brother Xing, don't be sad anymore. Seeing you like this, I am also very sad. You should cheer up and be happy." Hong'er changed the subject and asked, "Okay, tell me about your trip to Yanshan!"

Xiao Xing had no choice but to put aside her worries and replied, "Hong'er, our trip was really difficult and dangerous. It was not easy for us to get the fire back."

Then, he began to talk about the story of encountering a wolf at night, bumping into a giant python, building a raft to cross the river, catching a firebird, encountering heavy rain on the road, and making fire by drilling wood.

After that, Xiaoxing took out a red and green feather from his body, gave it to Hong'er, and said, "Look, this is the feather of the firebird. Isn't it beautiful?"

After hearing this, Hong'er felt excited and thrilled. She took the feather and looked at it, saying repeatedly, "It's so beautiful. I've never seen such a beautiful feather. Brother Xing, your business is so interesting and exciting. But my father won't let me go. It really pissed me off."

"You don't know how hard and tiring it was for us. And we were almost eaten by a pack of tigers on our way back." Xiao Xing said this, holding up his injured foot, and added: "Look at my foot. I was climbing a tree when I was grabbed by a tiger spirit, and it got injured like this."

"Ah? Brother Xing, you are injured too. I'll ask daddy to find medicine for you." Hong'er felt distressed and stood up to find Qiu.

"Hong'er, don't rush." ​​Xiao Xing heard this and hurriedly pulled Hong'er to his side, saying, "My injury is not serious. Besides, the tigers are trapped in the cave now, so I can't go out to look for medicine!"

"Well, okay then." Hong'er still sat down, and then continued: "Even if going out is hard, tiring and dangerous, it is more fun than staying in this cave. You know, you have been away from the cave for so long, I miss you so much!" Hong'er's eyes were full of tears when she said this.

"You missed me?" Xiao Xing smiled mischievously, "Is it because you like me?"

"I," Hong'er said, shaking off Xiaoxing's hand, "If you ask me this, I will ignore you."

"If you don't want to answer, forget it! Why get angry!" Xiao Xing saw Hong'er was angry and hurriedly coaxed her. After a pause, he looked at Hong'er and said seriously: "Hong'er, during this period of time, I actually missed you a lot. I..."

"Hong'er, Brother Xing, what are you talking about? The cave master is holding a celebration party, let's go together!" Before Xiaoxing could finish his words, he was interrupted by Lan'er who came over.

"Hold a celebration party?" Xiao Xing looked up and asked in surprise, "Tiger King and Elvis haven't been defeated yet, why hold a celebration party?"

"Brother Xing, I heard that it was opened to celebrate your successful retrieval of the fire. Let's go quickly!" Lan'er replied quickly.

"That's great, another celebration party is about to begin. Brother Xing, let's go." Hong'er happily pulled Xiaoxing up and left.

Xiaoxing was just about to confess his feelings to Hong'er, but was interrupted by Lan'er. He had no choice but to stand up and follow her.

It turned out that because of the fire, not only was the cave brightly lit, but everyone also had the delicious barbecue that they hadn't eaten for a long time. The meat was from the evil cat that was killed in the battle two days ago, and everyone picked it up and roasted it.

As they ate, they all praised the benefits of rekindling the fire. Qiu was the first to praise: "All the people in the cave, now that we have fire, we don't have to grope in the dark at night anymore!"

"Yes, Cave Master, now we can eat delicious barbecue again!"

"With fire, we can dry our clothes!"

"With fire, we can also drive away wild beasts."

“With fire, some useless things can be turned into ashes.”

People were talking and cheering excitedly, sweeping away the gloom of the time when there was no fire. Qiu waved to everyone and finally said, "My people, tonight, we are going to hold a grand meeting to celebrate the heroes who have returned victoriously from taking the fire."

"Okay! Let's have a celebration! Let's have a celebration!" Everyone happily applauded in agreement.

So, after dinner, Qiu lit a torch and went to the bottom of the cave. He bowed three times to the image of Nuwa on the stone wall and prayed: "Nuwa, the fire will not be extinguished and the will of heaven will not end. Today we have obtained the fire. I hope Nuwa will bless us to be safe and sound, defeat the tigers, defeat the Nian beast, and enjoy peace forever!"

After the prayer, Qiu returned to the venue and climbed onto the high platform. The stage was already surrounded by a dense crowd. At this time, torches were lit above and below the high platform, illuminating the entire cave as if it were daytime. People were excitedly talking to each other, discussing tonight's celebration.

Qiu glanced at the crowd and said, "First, please invite Zhi, Xing, Dong, Xia, Xi, Chen and all the warriors who are going to take the fire to the stage."

Zhi Hedong, Xiao Xing and other sixty warriors climbed up the platform and lined up in front of the platform. Qiu stroked his white beard and coughed, signaling everyone to be quiet. Then he began to speak: "All people, today is a day worth celebrating, because today is the day when our fire-fetching warriors return victoriously. They traveled thousands of miles and went through untold hardships to finally fulfill their mission and retrieve the fire, so that everyone can see the light at night and eat delicious barbecue again. They have made great contributions on this trip. They are the great heroes of the cave. Let's applaud and celebrate for the heroes on the stage."

At this point, Qiu led the applause. Immediately, the audience followed suit with long and enthusiastic applause. When the applause died down, Qiu asked Zhi to tell everyone the details of how the group got the fire.

Zhi then stepped out of the line and said to the audience with a beaming face: "My fellow warriors, my brothers and sisters, with my hunting experience of more than fifty years, this mission to get fire in Yanshan is truly unprecedentedly difficult. On the first night we went to Yanshan, we encountered a ferocious wolf pack, which forced everyone to stay in the tree for the whole night. The next day, we encountered a giant python. At first, we couldn't see it clearly, and everyone actually thought it was a big tree trunk and sat down. Fortunately, the giant python was well-fed, so it shook us off and left. Then, we were blocked by a big river. Dong wanted everyone to swim across the river, but Xing insisted on stopping us. In the end, Xing came up with a way to cross the river with a raft, and everyone crossed the river safely. After another four or five days, we finally Arrived at Yanshan. As it was getting late, the firebird flew back to its nest on the cliff to sleep. Dong suggested that he and Xing split into two teams to catch the firebird. Dong led everyone to cut wood and build a platform, but Xing ordered the eagle to fly up the cliff with electricity and successfully caught the firebird. The next day, we asked the firebird to peck at wood to make a fire, and finally succeeded in getting the fire. So we each took a torch and returned the same way, but we were hit by a heavy rain on the way, which not only extinguished all the fire, but also made my old bones sick. In this critical moment, it was Xing who came up with the method of drilling wood to make fire, and saved my life. "At this point, Zhila Xing stepped out and thanked again: "Xing, if you hadn't drilled wood to make fire at that time, I'm afraid I would have died on the way. Thank you, Xing."

"Uncle Zhi, those are what I should do. You're welcome." Xiaoxing still scratched his head humbly.

Zhi thanked Xing and continued, "Because of the rekindled fire, my health was restored, so I continued to return. As soon as I returned to Hongmeng, I encountered a tiger spirit and a cat spirit attacking. So everyone hid in the trees. Xing was almost caught by the tiger spirit, but he was lucky enough to escape, but his foot was scratched. The cat spirit kept climbing up the tree to attack, causing Xi's neck to be bitten. In desperation, Xing came up with the idea of ​​using a torch to resist the cat spirit's attack, which scared the cat spirit away. Later, it was Xing who came up with the idea of ​​cutting branches and setting up a fierce fire formation, and finally everyone was able to return to the cave safely. In fact, Xing was the one who made the greatest contribution to the acquisition of fire in Yanshan this time. Everyone applauded him."

After hearing what Zhi said, everyone immediately gave Xing an even warmer round of applause.

After the applause died down, Qiu came to Xiaoxing and continued, "Here, I want to praise Xing again. Xing invented the method of drilling wood to make fire, which is truly an immortal achievement that will change the future of mankind. Let's encourage Xing for this great creation!"

"Wow!" The audience applauded again. Xiao Xing touched his head shyly and said, "Master, thank you for your praise. Actually, this is not just my achievement, but the result of everyone's joint efforts."

Chen Hexia also expressed his congratulations to Xiaoxing: "Brother Xing, don't be so modest. Since you recovered from your illness, you have been like a star of wisdom descended to earth, smarter than all of us."

"Chen is right, you are now living up to your name, the brightest star in the sky." Ri and Yue echoed.

"Chen and Yue, I am truly unworthy of your kindness. Thank you, thank you!" Xiaoxing still appeared very humble.

Qiu was very satisfied with Xiaoxing's performance. Everyone looked at Xiaoxing with envy, which naturally made Dong extremely angry and dissatisfied. After the commendation, Qiu announced that everyone should sing and dance around the bonfire and have fun.

Then, everyone danced and sang around the bonfire, venting their frustrations from the tigers. Hong'er was singing around the bonfire again. Her lively figure and sweet voice made everyone cheer. Xiaoxing was still immersed in the grief of his mother's death, so he had no intention of singing. He sat not far from the bonfire, staring at Hong'er who was singing and dancing like an angel, and listened quietly.

After Hong'er sang a few songs, she ran to Xiaoxing, pulled him up and said, "Brother Xing, why don't you sing a few songs too? This way, we won't be troubled anymore!"

Hong'er dragged Xiaoxing to the fireside. Xiaoxing shook her head and said, "Hong'er, my mother is dead. How can I still be in the mood to sing?"

"Brother Xing, your mother is dead, and this cannot be changed. So, you should cheer up quickly. After all, your mother's spirit in heaven would not want to see you so depressed."

Xiao Xing was persuaded by Hong Er so he agreed to sing. He did not sing those popular songs anymore. He composed a song on the spot with sadness and anger and sang loudly:

Water on the ground, clouds in the sky, all living things should live freely

The will of heaven is equality, but the abominable Nian beast wants us to submit to it

We will not yield to the beasts, for we are created by God.

We will not give in to difficulties because we are the embodiment of wisdom.

We will not give in to ugliness, because beauty is our soul

The brave, fearless, kind and hardworking people are the gods who rule the world.

Xiao Xing sang with passion and power, and everyone applauded and praised: "Xing sang so well, and sang so correctly! We humans are the gods of the world."

"Brother Xing, look how well you sing? Everyone is applauding and cheering for you." Hong'er praised excitedly.