Traveling back to ancient times to determine the zodiac

"You evil tigers, aren't you very arrogant and domineering? Now that you are trapped you want to beg for mercy and surrender. Let me tell you, no way! We want to avenge the dead Chun, Bai, Shan, You and Ju." Dong refused angrily.

"Yes! Avenge our dead and wounded brothers! Burn you evil tigers to death." Everyone outside the cave shouted.

The tiger king was horrified when he heard this. He begged again in a low voice, "Great human, we came to conquer you not because of our intention, but because Emperor Nian wanted to avenge the death of Sheyan. If you want revenge, you have to ask Emperor Nian for revenge. If you are willing to spare my life, I promise not to be an enemy of humans anymore, and I will never dare to hurt humans again. I will always be subservient to humans."

"You evil tigers, when your death is imminent, you use the excuse that Emperor Nian forced you to come here. Let me ask you, do you tigers dare not resist a Nian beast?" Dong shouted sternly.

"Resist Emperor Nian?" The Tiger King was terrified upon hearing this, and said in a trembling voice: "Emperor Nian is so powerful that we tigers cannot compare to him. Think about the past..."

The trembling Tiger King told a story: more than a thousand years ago, the Tiger King and his younger brother, the Cat King, lived a carefree life as kings in Tiger King Mountain. One day, the Tiger King, who was resting in the tiger den, was awakened by the Cat King: "Brother Tiger, a huge monster that has never been seen before has come down from the mountain. Do you want to eat it?"

"Big monster?" The Tiger King asked curiously, "What kind of monster is it?"

"The monster was tall and big, with a long tail, two long horns, and a mouth full of sharp teeth. It looked like neither a herbivore nor a carnivore, so it was strange."

"Brother Cat, now all the small animals nearby have been eaten. We haven't had any food in the past few days. No matter what kind of monster it is, catch it and eat it." The Tiger King stretched and said.

"Yes, my lord." After receiving the order, the Cat King led five tiger generals and dozens of cat minions down the mountain.

In just a quarter of an hour, Elvis ran to the top of the mountain and reported: "Brother Tiger, it's terrible, it's terrible, it's terrible!"

"Brother Cat, what happened that scares you so much?" The Tiger King leaned forward and asked in surprise.

"Brother Tiger, just now I and five other tiger brothers were ordered to go down the mountain to catch that monster. We didn't expect that the monster was so powerful. It just turned its head and flicked its tail, and it beat the five tiger brothers to death or injured them. And my kittens were bitten to death by it one by one, more than ten of them. Seeing how powerful it was, I quickly ran away to the mountain. Brother Tiger, you have to go down the mountain yourself to eat this monster."

"Oh! There is such a powerful monster in the world?" The tiger king was very curious and said, "I will go down the mountain to meet it myself."

The tiger king roared, and hundreds of tiger spirits immediately came. A yellow tiger spirit asked, "My king, why did you summon us?"

"My fellow people, a very powerful monster came down from the mountain today and killed and injured several of my people. I want to go and see how powerful it is, and then see if it tastes good." The Tiger King replied.

"My king, no matter how powerful this monster is, we must tear it into pieces. Otherwise, our title as the king of the forest will be ruined." said a yellow tiger demon.

"Yes, you are right." The Tiger King nodded and ordered the tigers: "Now everyone follow me down the mountain!"

The tiger king followed the cat king and ran down the mountain to the monster. The monster had eaten all the dead and injured tigers and cats, and was still licking its front paws, as if it was not full yet.

The tiger king was furious and roared, "What kind of monster is that? How dare you trespass into my territory and eat my people?"

“Hehe——” The monster raised its head and laughed twice, then said, “I haven’t eaten enough yet, and I didn’t expect to have more food delivered to my mouth.”

When the monster didn't answer, the King of Cats shouted, "Monster, the King asked you a question, why don't you answer it quickly?"

The monster then replied: "You little tigers, you don't know me, so listen to me now: I am called Nian, I am the first animal in the world, and I am also the emperor of this world. All animals must worship me as their king and obey me unconditionally."

"You old monster, you actually want me and all my people to bow down to you?" The Tiger King was furious and roared, "You damn monster, do you know what I eat?"

"Little tiger, I don't care what you eat. If you don't obey me, I will destroy you all." Emperor Nian replied coldly.

"You damn monster, today I'll let you see whether you will eat me or I will eat you!" The tiger king was completely enraged and immediately called out to the other tigers: "My people, come together and tear it into pieces."

"Yes, my king!" All the tiger spirits received the order and quickly attacked Emperor Nian.

A yellow tiger spirit jumped up from the front and pounced on Emperor Nian's neck. Emperor Nian turned his head, and the long horns pierced the belly of the yellow tiger spirit. Then a red tiger spirit attacked from behind and pounced on Emperor Nian's hind legs. Emperor Nian swept it with his tail and sent it flying several feet away.

Seeing that Emperor Nian was indeed powerful, the Tiger King growled, "Emperor Nian is indeed powerful, let's all attack together."

The tigers received the order and attacked Emperor Nian together. Emperor Nian was not panicked, and continued to use his horns to butt and his tail to sweep. The tiger spirits attacked for a long time, but Emperor Nian was not hurt at all, but many of his own people were killed and wounded.

"The time has come for me to take action." After the Tiger King said this, he displayed his divine power, leaped more than ten feet high, jumped directly onto the back of Emperor Nian, opened his bloody mouth and bit towards its neck.

If it were any other animal, it would have bitten off its cervical vertebrae, but the skin of the Nian Emperor was as hard as a thousand-year-old iron wood, and it was not hurt at all. The Tiger King couldn't believe his eyes, and hurriedly bit it again, but it still couldn't hurt its hair. At the moment when the Tiger King collapsed, the Nian Emperor stood up and shook the Tiger King to the ground, then rolled up the huge Tiger King with his long and thick tail and brought it to his mouth.

Just as Emperor Nian opened his mouth wide and was about to bite the Tiger King, the Tiger King's last ambition collapsed. It trembled and begged for mercy from Emperor Nian: "Emperor Nian, you won. I am willing to surrender and worship you as the emperor. I only ask you to spare my life."

“Jiji—little tiger, now you know how powerful I am?” When Emperor Nian saw the tiger king begging for mercy, he laughed triumphantly.

"Emperor Nian, it's all my fault for not recognizing a great man. If you only spare my life, I will obey you and serve you forever." The Tiger King begged for mercy again.

"Well, little tiger, that's good enough." Emperor Nian nodded with satisfaction and let go of the Tiger King with his tail.

Seeing this, Elvis ran over and asked, "Brother Tiger, are we just giving up like this?"

"Brother Cat, Emperor Nian is indeed too powerful. I almost lost my life. What else can I do if I don't admit defeat?" The Tiger King nodded in frustration, and then ordered the tigers to stop attacking.

"Listen, Tiger King and Cat King: since you have surrendered to me, you must return to Tianshan with me, obey my orders, and pay tribute to me every year." Emperor Nian ordered.

"Yes, sir! Emperor Nian." Tiger King and Cat King agreed helplessly.

From then on, Tiger King and Elvis King have been serving under Emperor Nian until now.

After Tiger King finished recounting that bloody history, he continued, "We rebelled against Emperor Nian, and the only outcome was death."

"Evil tigers, even if you dare not resist the Nian beast, you should not invade us." Dong raised a torch and was about to throw it into the cave, shouting: "We will not forgive you, prepare to die!"

"Dong, stop for now!" Qiu stepped forward and stopped Dong in a stern voice, saying, "The evil tigers and cats are here to attack us because they were sent by the beast Nian. Now that the tiger king and cat king are willing to surrender, that's the best. Last time when I surrendered the buffalo, I said that if humans want to grow and develop, they must get help from other beasts. Only in this way can they dominate the world and rule the world."

"Cave Master, if the Ox King surrenders, he can still work to cultivate the land for us humans. What's the point of the Tiger's surrender? Besides, so many brothers were killed and injured because of the Tiger King's attack. Are we just going to let it go like this?" Ping asked unwillingly.

"Ping, since the Tiger King has surrendered, it poses no threat to us. Killing it is nothing more than eating its meat, and keeping it may be of use in the future!" Qiu explained.

"Cave Master, those evil cats are nothing to be afraid of, but the evil tigers eat meat. If you don't keep your promise and let the tigers go back to the mountains, it will cause endless harm!" Dong then expressed his great worry.

"Dong, what you said makes sense." Qiu stroked his white beard and pondered for a moment, then turned to the tiger king and said, "Listen, evil tigers: Because of your attack, many of us humans have been killed or injured. Now that you have been defeated and surrendered, you can escape the death penalty, but you cannot escape the punishment of living. In order to punish you evil tigers, I will hit you hard with a few sticks, firstly to avenge those who died and were injured, and secondly to prevent you from hurting humans again and set an example. Are you willing to listen?"

When the tiger kings and tiger spirits heard this, they started to discuss it. A yellow tiger spirit said, "My king, although the humans have agreed to surrender, they want to beat us up. Isn't this a disguised way of asking for our lives?"

"Yes! My king, humans must still want to eat our flesh and peel off our skin to make clothes." A red tiger demon shouted.

The Tiger King looked at the corpses of the burned tigers, their limbs facing the sky, as black as charcoal, and said helplessly: "My people, now that things have come to this, they will either be beaten to death or burned to death. I think it's too painful to be burned to death, so it's better to let them be beaten to death."

"Your Majesty is right. We will all listen to you." The tiger spirits all expressed their agreement.

The Tiger King then said loudly to Qiu: "Powerful human, if you can spare my life, I am willing to accept any punishment."

"Tiger thief, are you sure you are not afraid of being beaten to death? You won't regret it and you won't resist?" Qiu asked again.

"My words are as strong as a mountain. No matter how punished you are, I will never regret it." The Tiger King was forced into a corner and was willing to agree to anything as long as he could stay alive.

"Cave Master, how do you plan to punish the Tiger King and the tiger spirits?" Dong asked in confusion.

Qiu found a three-foot-long wooden stick and answered, "I will use this stick to hit them a few times as a revenge and punishment."

Pinghe and Lao Yang were shocked when they heard this and shouted, "Cave Master, although this punishes the Tiger King, it is too dangerous!"

"Yes, cave master, there are a group of tigers in there that will tear you into pieces in one go." Although Dong was brave, he was also shocked by Qiu.

"Ping, Yang, Dong, since I promised to surrender to the Tiger King, I will take the risk. If I am eaten by them, you can set fire to them to death." Qiu said firmly.

After saying this, Qiu used his long stick to clear a path for fire and strode into the cave. Everyone was sweating when they saw him entering the tiger group alone.

Facing hundreds of ferocious tigers, Qiu showed no fear. He walked straight to the Tiger King and repeated, "Tiger King, are you really willing to accept the punishment?"

“Once I have spoken, I will never go back on my word.” The Tiger King straightened his huge body, looking ready to fight to the death.

"Okay!" Qiu waved his stick and said, "Take three of my blows. If you can bear it and not hurt me, I will allow you to surrender."

After saying that, he hit the tiger king on the forehead with a stick. With a "bang", it hit the tiger king hard. Even though it had thick skin and flesh, it still screamed in pain and jumped up. Although the tiger king was in pain and hated Qiu, he endured the pain and did not attack Qiu. Qiu waited for the tiger king to stand still, and then hit it on the forehead twice in succession. The tiger king was dizzy and could not stand steadily. Three big lumps immediately swelled up on his forehead, which looked like a big "king" character from a distance.

Qiu stopped and said to Tiger King, "Tiger King, you have completed your punishment."

"Is this the end?" The tiger king stroked his forehead with his front paw and asked in disbelief. Then he shouted excitedly: "Great, I haven't been killed yet. Thank you humans for not killing me."

Seeing this, the other tiger spirits also felt relieved. They stretched out their heads and waited to be beaten. Qiu hit all the tiger spirits on the head with three bars without hesitation. From then on, all tigers had a "king" character on their foreheads.

After Qiu finished punishing the tigers, he said to the tiger king: "Tiger king, since you have all accepted the punishment, I hope you will not be enemies with humans in the future."