Traveling back to ancient times to determine the zodiac

The crowd carried the prey and happily returned to Hongmeng. As they were walking, they suddenly saw a small animal jumping out of the road. Chen, who was walking in front, shot an arrow at it. Although the arrow hit the target, it did not penetrate. The little creature was attacked and immediately shrank into a ball, like a pile of cow dung.

Chen Hexia, Xiaoxing and others walked closer and saw that the creature was covered with hard scales. No wonder the arrows could not penetrate it. After looking at it for a while, they did not know what it was. They felt it was very strange and could not help discussing it.

"What kind of animal is this little thing? Why is it curled up and not running away?" Chen asked puzzledly.

"My God! Its armor is harder than stone, otherwise how could the arrows not penetrate it?" he exclaimed in amazement.

"Will this little thing bite people? Everyone be careful!" Xiaoxing reminded hurriedly.

Brothers Dong, Xi and others came over to watch and said they had never seen it before.

"Brother Dong, let me kill it. Maybe the meat will be more delicious!" The greedy tree root wanted to taste everything he saw.

"Brother Tree Root, do you think it would be better to roast it or boil it?" Leaf stared at the little animal and asked excitedly.

"Brother, this little thing is smaller than a rabbit. Of course, we can only have a share if we cook it." The tree root answered while raising the stone axe and pretending to chop it.

Qiu came over to see what was happening in the crowd, and quickly raised his hand to stop Shugen, saying, "Shugen, stop!"

Then Qiu introduced to everyone: "This little animal is called a pangolin. It eats termites and ants, will not attack people, and is gentle and good at digging holes. According to rumors from the older generation, pangolins are very spiritual and are auspicious animals. Don't kill it. I'll take it back as a pet!"

Since the cave owner wanted to take in the pangolin, everyone naturally agreed.

Qiu squatted down and said to the pangolin: "Pangolin, let's be friends! Come back to the cave with me, and I promise I won't hurt you."

The pangolin seemed to understand what Qiu said. It stretched its body and nodded to him, indicating its agreement.

Qiu was overjoyed. He held the pangolin in his arms and took it back home.

In the evening, the hunters just returned to Hongmeng. They were still a mile away from Tianju Cave, and the old men and women had already been waiting there to welcome them.

Chun was the first to rush forward, shouting, "Xing'er, Xing'er! Are you okay?"

"Mom, I'm here. I'm fine." Xiaoxing agreed and walked quickly to Chun.

"Xing'er, I'm glad you're okay." Chun finally let go of her anxious heart.

Hong'er and Lan'er also came. They came to Qiu and Ling respectively, calling their respective fathers in a coquettish manner.

Among all the people, only Heizi's father, Lao Song, felt heartbroken when he saw his son injured.

After everyone greeted them, they went into the cave together. Chen saw Hong'er and pulled her over and said, "Hong'er, come here, I'll show you something.

"What is that? It's so mysterious." Hong'er curiously followed him out of the crowd and came to the side.

Chen raised his right hand and clenched his fist. He said, "Guess what it is?"

"I can't guess, let me see!" Hong'er stretched out her hand and tried to peel Chen's fist. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't pry open even a finger.

Chen looked at Hong'er's eagerness, smiled, then slowly opened his palm and said, "This is the jadeite I picked up. Is it beautiful?"

Hong Er took it and looked at it. She saw that the jade was smooth, round, emerald green and transparent. She couldn't let it go and praised it, "Beautiful, so beautiful!"

"Hong'er, if you like it, I'll give it to you."

"Really? Thank you, Brother Chen." Hong'er said happily.

Chen had actually liked Hong'er for a long time, and took this opportunity to confess his feelings: "Hong'er, I, I——"

Before he finished speaking, someone suddenly shouted, "Chen, Hong'er, what are you doing there?"

Chen looked back and saw that it was Xiaoxing and Lan'er who were chasing after him.

"Brother Xing, Lan'er, Brother Chen just gave me a piece of jade. It's so beautiful!" Hong'er took the jade and showed it to them.

"Wow, so beautiful!" Lan'er screamed.

"Emerald?" Xiao Xing took out the jades and said, "Hong'er, I also have jade and bloodstone. Do you think they are beautiful?"

Hong Er took the bloodstone and looked at it. It was indeed as red as blood and more beautiful than jade. She couldn't help but praise it repeatedly: "Brother Xing, this bloodstone is more beautiful than jade."

"Hong'er, if you like it, I'll give it to you too."

"Okay! Thank you, Brother Xing." Hong'er got two pieces of beautiful jade and smiled happily, revealing a row of white teeth and two dimples.

Xiaoxing and Chen were both stunned by the beauty.

"Brother Xing, I want one too." Lan'er begged.

Xiao Xing looked at Lan Er. Although she was petite and cute, she was much inferior to the slender Hong Er. So he said, "Lan Er, I'll give you a piece of jade!"

Lan Er took the jade and was extremely happy. She looked at the jade for a while, then looked at Xiao Xing, and smiled and thanked Xiao Xing: "Thank you, Brother Xing."

Chen's plan was ruined, but he could do nothing about it.

"Brother Chen, Brother Xing! Where did you pick up these things?" Hong'er asked curiously.

"I found this in a ravine when I went hunting at Jade Peak today." Chen replied.

"Where is Yushi Peak? Is it far away?" Lan'er asked.

"Yes. It's a very far place and it takes a long time to walk there." Chen replied.

Hong'er blinked her eyes, looked at the jade in her hand, and said with infinite yearning: "Brother Chen, Brother Xing, I really envy you guys for going out hunting, but my father always won't let me go."

"Hong'er, you are still young and a girl. The cave master is thinking about your safety." Xiaoxing hurriedly explained, "Don't you know how dangerous hunting is? Brother Heizi was attacked by a leopard today and almost died."

"Although going out hunting is dangerous, it is more fun than staying in this cave! You don't know how bored I will be here once you go out." Hong'er said helplessly.

The four people were walking and chatting, when suddenly a one-meter-tall eagle flew down to Xiaoxing's side, calling "coo".

"Where did the eagle come from?" Xiaoxing asked in surprise.

"Xing, this is the eagle you raised!" Chen replied.

"I raised it?" Xiaoxing widened his eyes in disbelief.

"Yeah! You really don't remember anything." Chen then slowly told the story of the eagle:

Two years ago, Xiao Xing accidentally saved the life of this eagle in the back mountain. At that time, this eagle was still a chick. Its mother went out and never came back. The little eagle was hungry in the nest for several days, and it kept crying out of hunger. The cry was heard by a passing falcon, who thought it was a delicious meal, so he flew to the little eagle's nest and wanted to eat it.

The young eagle was not fully developed, so it was no match for the falcon. It struggled to get out of the nest and jumped off the high cliff without caring about its life. The falcon would not let go, so it flew to the ground and attacked the young eagle again. The young eagle had nowhere to escape and screamed in despair. This scene happened to be seen by Xiaoxing who was passing by. He felt very sorry, so he drove away the evil falcon and saved the young eagle. Then, Xiaoxing took it back to the cave and fed it carefully. Later, the young eagle grew up slowly and became good friends with Xiaoxing. As long as Xiaoxing whistled, it would be summoned to his side.

Since he hadn't seen Xiaoxing for a few days, the eagle seemed unusually affectionate and rubbed against Xiaoxing.

Xiao Xing liked animals to begin with, and immediately stroked the eagle's head excitedly, saying, "Eagle, you must have missed me a lot. Come on, I'll take you to find something to eat."

The four returned to Tianju Cave. At this time, someone had already skinned and dissected the prey. Most of the animal's internal organs were not eaten and were discarded outside the cave.

Xiao Xing picked up the internal organs and fed them to the eagle. After a while, the eagle was full and flew away.

At night, everyone returned to the cave and waited for dinner. In this primitive society, it was a collective system. No matter who you were, all food was distributed uniformly. Xiaoxing also discovered that the life of the ancients was not that bad. In addition to the meat brought back from hunting, there were also millet steamed buns, fried beans and peanuts, etc.