Traveling back to ancient times to determine the zodiac

"Brother Dong, everything is possible. What's so strange about this?" Xiaoxing certainly did not agree.

The two teams started to argue fiercely, arguing with each other, neither of them could convince the other. They patrolled until night, but not only did they not find anything, but the argument still had no conclusion.

Qiu was surprised to see the crowd coming noisily at the cave entrance. After asking what happened, he stroked his white beard and said seriously, "Although the Rabbit Army didn't attack today, it doesn't mean they will leave. We still need to strengthen our defenses and be careful."

"Yes, Cave Master." Although Dong, Xi, Bei and others agreed, they still disagreed in their hearts.

After dinner, Qiu assigned Lao Zhu, Lao Zhang and Lao Song to guard the cave gate as usual, and the others went back to their dormitories to rest.

It was a hazy night, the moon was half hidden, and the Tianju Cave was quiet. Suddenly, a large group of rabbits came quietly in the middle of the night. The rabbit king, who was leading the group, peeked into the cave through the crack in the door. He saw that only the fire at the entrance was still burning. The other torches had burned out, and the deep inside of the cave was pitch black. Except for the three old men guarding the gate, everyone else in the cave was asleep, and it was quiet.

After spying for a while, the Rabbit King whispered to the rabbit spirits next to him: "My fellow people, the humans in the cave are probably asleep, but there are people guarding the cave entrance. How can we get in?"

"My lord, if we break in directly, we will definitely be discovered, and then it will be difficult for us to escape. I think it would be better for us to quietly dig a hole in the ground from a distance and crawl in." A black rabbit spirit suggested.

"Dig a hole in the ground?" The rabbit king clapped his hands and said, "Great, great. You black rabbit are really smart. Digging a hole in the ground is a brilliant plan that no one can detect."

The black rabbit spirit was not pleased with the compliment and continued, "My king, let's do it right away. After entering the cave, poison all the humans to death and then sneak out from here."

"Well, all the rabbit soldiers listen up: follow me and dig a hole in the ground to sneak into the Tianju Cave. When you see humans, release poison gas one by one. In order to ensure the success of the sneak attack, everyone must be careful and not make any noise to be discovered." The Rabbit King waved his hand and gave the order.

"Yes, my king." The rabbits received the order and nodded in agreement.

So, the rabbit king and his army began to dig a hole outside the cave and marched straight into the Tianju Cave. The three gatekeepers, Lao Zhu, Lao Zhang and Lao Song, looked out of the dark cave from time to time through the crack of the door. They couldn't see anything far away. Then they looked into the cave from time to time. The torches in the cave had long been burned out, and it was also pitch black and nothing could be seen. They were all unaware of the arrival of the rabbits.

The rabbit spirits and rabbit soldiers dug their own tunnels and successfully entered the cave. The rabbit king led the rabbit army to spray poison gas on all the sleeping people. How could those who were already asleep notice it? One by one, they inhaled the poison gas and then fell unconscious.

Just when the rabbit king and his rabbit soldiers were having a great time, something unexpected happened. It turned out that the exit of the hole dug by a rabbit soldier happened to hit Dong's bed. The stupid rabbit didn't care about the good and the bad, and used its two sharp claws to scratch Dong's back. Dong, who was sleeping, screamed in pain and sat up. He grabbed the stupid rabbit who had just come out and caught it.

"Oh no, oh no! The rabbits have broken into the hole." Dong grabbed the rabbit and shouted loudly.

The gray rabbit demon was caught, and it swung its tail and released poison gas towards the east.

Dong hurriedly held his breath, lifted up the rabbit spirit, and threw it to the ground. The gray rabbit spirit screamed "squeak" and was killed on the spot.

Dong's shouting just now was like thunder in the silent cave, waking everyone up immediately. Everyone followed suit and shouted: "Something happened, something happened. The rabbits are attacking us, what should we do, what should we do?" For a moment, everyone was in a mess.

Qiu was also woken up by the noise. He got up in a hurry, groped his way into the chaotic crowd, and shouted loudly: "Everyone, stop arguing! What happened?"

When everyone heard the cave master's voice, they immediately fell silent. Dong quickly replied, "Cave master, it's bad. A rabbit has invaded the cave. Look!"

After saying this, he picked up the dead rabbit and held it for everyone to see.

"Tell two people to get torches quickly. It's pitch black and we can't see anything." Qiu ordered loudly.

Soon, someone lit a few torches from the fire at the entrance and the cave suddenly became bright. By the light of the fire, Qiu and the others saw that Dong was holding a huge gray rabbit spirit in his hand, with blood still flowing from the corner of his mouth, and he had already died.

"Cave Master, I was sleeping soundly just now, when suddenly, this rabbit grabbed my back from the ground. So I grabbed it and caught it." Dong then described the situation again.

Qiu looked at Dong's back, where several bloodstains were still oozing. He frowned and asked, "Could it be that the rabbits dug a tunnel into the hole and wanted to poison us while we were sleeping?"

"Cave Master, in my fifty years of hunting experience, it is very rare for a rabbit to attack a person on its own initiative." Zhiye felt very strange.

"Cave Master, Zhi, this rabbit king and rabbit spirit must have been forced by the Nian beast, so they dived into the cave and attacked without regard for their lives." Ping said.

"Uncle Ping is right. The Rabbit King must have been forced into doing this." Xiaoxing was also awakened and stood up to speak.

"Everyone, search around quickly to see if there are any rabbits left. If you find any, shoot them immediately." Qiu stared at everyone with a sharp gaze and ordered, "Also check how many people have been poisoned by the gas."

"Yes, Cave Master!" Dong, Xiaoxing and other young men immediately took action as ordered.

Everyone lit more torches to illuminate the cave. They searched everywhere, but found many cave exits, but not a single rabbit. It turned out that the rabbit king and all the rabbit soldiers saw that the crime had been exposed, and hurriedly fled through the tunnel.

They didn't find any rabbits, but they found about 100 to 200 people still sleeping. They were all surprised that they hadn't woken up despite the huge noise. Xiaoxing glanced at the sleeping crowd and suddenly saw Hong'er and Lan'er among them. He hurried to them and shouted, "Hong'er, Lan'er, wake up."

He shouted and pushed hard, but no matter how much he shouted, the two girls remained asleep.

Hong'er's bed was originally next to Qiu's. Because Lan'er wanted to tell her a secret last night, she slept with Lan'er. Unexpectedly, she was poisoned by the rabbit's gas. At this time, Chen also ran over and shouted anxiously: "Hong'er, Lan'er, wake up quickly."

"Don't shout, they must have been poisoned by the rabbit's gas, quickly fetch some water to help them detoxify." Qiu walked over to his daughter and said to Xiaoxing and Chen. Then he waved his hand, pointed at the other unconscious people and said, "They are all poisoned, everyone quickly fetch water to help them."

Xiao Xing and Chen suddenly realized what was going on and rushed to get the ladle to scoop water. After scooping the water, the two of them hurriedly squeezed together and spilled the water in Chen's ladle. Chen looked at the empty ladle in his hand and shouted angrily: "Xing, why are you so impatient? Look, you spilled all my water."

"I'm not impatient. It's you who didn't hold the ladle, and now you blame me." Xiaoxing smiled cunningly and left.

"Hmph! You are a guy who forgets his friends for the sake of beauty." Chen muttered dissatisfiedly at his back, then turned around and hurried to scoop water.

Xiaoxing returned to Honger, took a sip of water, and suddenly sprayed it on her face, and then vigorously massaged her philtrum. At this time, Chen fetched some water and saw Xiaoxing rescuing Honger. He felt jealous and was stunned.

"Chen, why are you still standing there? Why don't you save Lan'er quickly?" Xiaoxing said anxiously, pointing at the unconscious Lan'er beside her.

"I - I'll save her right now." Although Chen wanted to save Hong'er, he was helpless now and had to save Lan'er instead.

Xiaoxing pressed for a while, and Honger finally woke up: "Ouch, ouch! My head hurts."

"Hong'er, are you awake?" Xiaoxing stopped and said excitedly, "Oh, that's great! I was so worried!"

When Hong Er opened her eyes, she saw Xiao Xing's face. She asked in confusion, "Brother Xing, wasn't I sleeping just now? What's wrong with me?"

"The rabbits broke into the hole and attacked us. You were poisoned by the rabbits' gas and fell into coma just now. I saved you by spraying water and massaging you." Xiaoxing explained hurriedly.

Hong Er sat up after hearing this and said in surprise, "I was poisoned? No wonder my head hurts so much."

"Does your head hurt? Then you should lie down and have a rest!" Xiaoxing supported Hong'er and motioned her to lie down again.

"It's okay!" Hong'er refused to lie down again. She blinked her big eyes and said, "Brother Xing, thank you for saving me again."

"You're welcome. Hehe...as long as you're okay, I'll be happier than anything else." Xiaoxing scratched his head embarrassedly.

Chen, who was standing next to him, was jealous and envious, thinking that if he hadn't spilled his water just now, I would have been the one who saved Hong'er, and I would have been the one who thanked him. He was a little angry, and the strength of his hands increased involuntarily. Lan'er, who was being pressed by him, suddenly woke up with a "moan". She opened her eyes and found Chen in front of her, and quickly closed her eyes again, saying, "Am I dreaming? Brother Chen, why are you here?"

"Lan'er, wake up quickly. You were poisoned just now. Are you okay?" Chen called out hurriedly.

"I'm poisoned?" Lan'er opened her eyes again. "No wonder my head hurts. Brother Chen, did you save me? Thank you!"

"You're welcome! Just now a rabbit sneaked into the hole and poisoned many people." Chen explained, pointing at the people who were being rescued nearby.

At this moment, the cave was busy with rescue work. Qiu came to the old bamboo, old camphor and old pine who were guarding the cave gate and asked, "Thin man, didn't you notice the rabbits invaded the cave?"

"Master of the cave, the three of us didn't sleep a wink the whole night, but we didn't see any trace of the rabbit, nor did we hear any unusual sounds," Lao Zhu replied.

"It's not entirely your fault that these cunning rabbits dug holes in the ground to sneak in. Remember to be more careful next time," Qiu warned.

"Yes, Cave Master!" Lao Zhu and the other two nodded and retreated.

"Cave Master, something bad has happened, please come and have a look, Brother Guo is dying!" Dong came running over and reported, sweating profusely.

"What? Is it not working?" Qiu frowned and hurried over with Dong to check.

It turned out that Guo had been lying in bed to recuperate since he was seriously injured by the buffalo last time. However, his condition did not improve but became more serious. After being poisoned by the rabbit, he fainted and suffocated. Although Dong and Xi and others tried their best to rescue him, he did not wake up.

Qiu came to Guo, felt his breath with his hand, and announced sadly: "Guo is dead."

"Ah! My Guo'er! Woo woo--" Upon hearing this, Guo's wife Ying immediately burst into tears, looking heartbroken.

"These rabbits are so hateful! I want to avenge my brother Guo and kill all the rabbits!" Dong was furious and immediately went to get his weapons to find the rabbits.

"Brother Dong, I'll go too. I want to avenge my brother." Guo's younger brother Chong was also filled with anger and stood up with his fists clenched.

"I'll go as well."

"I'll go too."

People in the west, north and center were all extremely angry and responded in unison.

Qiu coughed twice, waved his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and said: "East, West, fellow warriors, the rabbits were defeated the day before yesterday, and they really didn't come back. I guess they must be hiding nearby. As the old saying goes: It's easy to dodge an open spear, but it's hard to guard against an arrow from the dark. The rabbits are so cunning that they dug holes at night to harm us, making us defenseless. Wait until dawn, and then we will go together to find the rabbit king and his army and eliminate them all, otherwise, they will cause endless harm."

"Yes, Cave Master!" Dong and the others had no choice but to give up after hearing this.

After working all night, everyone had no mood to sleep. When it was finally light, the people from the east, west, north, etc. took up their weapons and clamored to set off.

Qiu raised a stone axe and gave the order to everyone: "All warriors, listen up: In order to catch the Rabbit King, everyone must search carefully within a ten-mile radius of Tianju Cave, and not miss any clues. If you find a rabbit, kill it on the spot. Whoever catches the Rabbit King will make a great contribution."

After Qiu finished speaking, he led everyone out of the cave.

Who would have thought that after searching for a long time and walking over a radius of more than ten miles, they did not even find a single rabbit hair. Everyone thought it was strange and finally had to return empty-handed.