Traveling back to ancient times to determine the zodiac

Not to mention the humans chasing them on the road, Emperor Nian and his entourage fled from Huaguo Mountain in a panic, turning eastward to Qinwangzhou. After more than ten days, the rooster brought Emperor Nian to the bank of a surging river.

This river is called Bijiang. It is unfathomable and hundreds of feet wide. The water is calm and does not wave. It flows slowly down. Emperor Nian looked at the vast river and asked the rooster, "Rooster King, there is no way ahead. Why haven't we reached Qinwang Island yet?"

"We're here, we're here, Emperor Nian. The Bird King Island is right in the middle of this green river." The King Chicken flapped his wings and pointed to the center of the river.

"Rooster, this green river is several miles wide and unfathomable, how can I cross it?" Emperor Nian said worriedly.

"Yes. Chicken King, you can fly, but we can't, so how can we get over there?" Pighead followed with a hum.

"Emperor Nian, Dog-head and Pig-head, don't you all know how to swim? Can't you just swim over there?" said the rooster.

"Rooster, you think we are fish. It's easy for you to say that. Although the river is calm, even if we don't drown if we swim across, we don't know where we will be washed to." The dog shook his head to indicate that it was impossible.

Emperor Nian, Doghead and Pighead were all afraid of the river water. The rooster had no choice but to flap his wings and said, "Since you dare not swim across, wait for me to find some helpers."

"Rooster, humans will catch up with us soon, you have to get us there quickly!" Emperor Nian warned anxiously.

"Don't worry, as soon as my goose and duck friends arrive, they will carry you over directly." After saying this, the rooster flew towards the nest.

It turns out that this Qinwang Island is actually an island in the middle of the river. It is two miles wide and six miles long. There are dense forests on the island, and there are no large carnivores. It is a paradise for birds and all birds. Qinwang Island is surrounded by rivers from top to bottom and from left to right. If you want to reach the island, you must cross the water.

After the rooster flew to its nest, it crowed twice.

"Cuckoo..." After a burst of rooster crowing, thousands of chickens flew in from all directions. The chicken spirits saw the chicken king coming back and surrounded him.

"My king, you are finally back. We thought you had forgotten us." shouted a turkey spirit.

"My king, we haven't seen you come back for half a year and we all thought you were dead." said another black chicken spirit.

"My king, why did you come back just today? Yesterday was an important day, don't you remember?" the turkey spirit said again.

"Yesterday?" The rooster was stunned and asked, "What day was yesterday?"

"My king, why are you so confused? Yesterday was an important day for the King of All Birds. How could you have forgotten?"

"Oh, ah!" the rooster cried out, "I have been fleeing with Emperor Nian for the past few months and have forgotten this important day." Then he looked around and asked, "Why haven't any birds come? Have they forgotten it too?"

It turns out that the Chicken King is the ancestor of all birds. All flying, walking, and waterfowl regard the Chicken King as the king. Every October 10th, they all come to the King of Birds Island to pay homage. Today is the 11th, and they have just missed the date for the homage.

"My king, you don't know that yesterday, a group of birds came to pay homage to you. Because you were not there, they all suspected that you were dead." The turkey spirit angrily recounted what happened yesterday:

Yesterday, all the birds flew to the King of Birds Island. They couldn't find the Chicken King, so they started to chatter. The Phoenix said, "The King is gone. He must have been eaten by other animals or died of old age. We must appoint another King."

As soon as the Phoenix finished speaking, the Magpie shouted, "Appoint another king. I think it must be King Phoenix."

"Yes, yes." The eagle agreed: "Although the King of Roosters is mighty and majestic, he is not as smart and capable as the King of Phoenix."

"Eagle, what makes you say that our king is not as smart and capable as the Phoenix?" When the chicken spirits heard this, they were of course dissatisfied and questioned him one after another.

"I only need to tell you one thing, and you will understand." The eagle pointed to the chicken coop under the bushes and continued, "The rooster king only knows how to build a nest on the ground, which is ugly and uncomfortable. The phoenix king will build a nest in a tree, which is comfortable and beautiful. Don't you agree?"

The birds looked at the chicken coop on the ground, which was made of messy firewood and grass, with chicken droppings all over the ground. The crow immediately followed and shouted: "The eagle is right, the chicken coop is really ugly and dirty. The phoenix's nest is built on a tall tree, which is clean and beautiful. We can make the phoenix the king and let it teach us how to build a nest in a tree. How great it is!"

"Eagles, crows, what's so great about the Phoenix being able to build a nest? Is it as powerful as the King Rooster?" the turkey spirit threatened.

"Humph! What's so scary about the cock king?" Phoenix flapped its wings and said, "I'm not bragging. I can fly as high as the cock can fly. I can fly as fast as the cock can fly. I will never lose to it."

"Yes, yes. King Phoenix is ​​also a master of bird combat. If he competes with King Rooster, he will surely win." The sparrows chirped and cheered.

"Eagle, crow, magpie, all of you come with me to Phoenix Mountain. I will be happy to teach you how to build a nest." The phoenix wanted to replace the rooster as the king, so it immediately called on all the birds to follow it to Phoenix Mountain to learn skills.

In order to learn how to build nests, eagles, crows and other birds all followed the phoenix in a swarm of chirps.

Persuasion with turkey essence and black chicken essence was ineffective and we could only watch them leave.

After hearing this, the cock was furious and kept shouting: "Rebellion, rebellion! These birds are really tired of living and dare to declare themselves kings. I will teach them a lesson."

"Your Majesty, not only have the phoenixes collectively rebelled, but the geese, ducks and other waterfowl have also not come to pay homage to you, showing their extreme contempt for you," the turkey spirit warned again.

"I am so angry, so angry!" The cock jumped anxiously, "I will first punish the geese and ducks for their contempt, and then I will put down the phoenix for its rebellion."

After saying this, he was about to lead all the chicken spirits to set off.

"King Rooster, King Rooster! We are here to pay homage to you!" In the distance, a group of geese and ducks were swaying towards the rooster.

"You stupid geese and ducks, why do you despise me?" the rooster said angrily.

"King Rooster, how dare we defy you?" the leading goose asked curiously upon hearing this.

"Yesterday was the day for worship. You guys are disrespecting me, so why are you here today?"

"Was yesterday a worship day?" The leader goose looked at the ducks and said, "Duck, it's all your fault that you were so focused on catching fish that you got the date wrong. Now the king is angry, what should we do?"

The geese and ducks had experienced the rooster's sharp beak, which could peck a large piece of meat. The duck was terrified and hurried forward to explain: "King Rooster, we really remembered the wrong day and thought today was the day of worship. How dare we disrespect you, King? Ouch..."

The fat and bloated duck was so busy talking that he tripped over a vine and fell. He fell on his back and was unable to get up for a long time.

"Cluck, cluck, cluck..." The chickens laughed when they saw the ducks' embarrassed look. The rooster king couldn't help laughing and his anger disappeared. "You stupid geese and ducks, since you remembered the date wrong, I will forgive you for now. If you dare to rebel like the phoenixes and declare yourself king, I will make you pay sooner or later!"

"King Rooster, you are wise and powerful. You are our idol. How dare you rebel?" The King of Goose and the King of Duck said quickly upon hearing this.

"Well, these are still my loyal subjects." The rooster nodded with satisfaction.

"My Lord Rooster, no wonder I didn't see any birds today. It turns out they were rebelling!" The Goose King stretched out his long neck and shouted, "Quack, quack!"

"Goose King, Duck King, come with me to Phoenix Mountain to teach the phoenixes a lesson and let them know how powerful I am." The rooster flapped its wings and flew towards Phoenix Mountain.

"Yes, my king!" The Goose King and the Duck King agreed, and followed the chicken spirits to fly towards Phoenix Mountain.

On a big sycamore tree on Phoenix Mountain, the phoenix stood on its nest and taught the birds how to build a nest: "My fellow birds, if you want to build a good nest, you must be patient and not afraid of hard work. For example..." The phoenix pointed to its own nest and continued: "In order to build this nest, I picked up dead branches and flew back and forth more than 500 times, which took a total of ten days."

"Your Majesty is so powerful, Your Majesty is amazing!" When the birds heard that building a nest was so difficult, they couldn't help but praise him.

"Thank you, thank you!" Phoenix was delighted and began to teach: "To build a strong nest, first find a big tree, then choose a three-pronged branch..."

"Why a three-pronged branch? Can't a two-pronged one?" asked the crow.

"Crow, you silly bird, you have no brains at all. This is because branches with three or more forks can support us more stably and prevent us from falling." Phoenix glanced at the crow and explained.

"Oh! I know!" the crow shouted, thinking he was smart. "Building a nest is just finding a three-pronged branch."

After saying this, the crow and its companions flew away in a hurry.

"My class has just begun, how did the crow learn it?" Phoenix looked at the crow as it left, puzzled, and continued: "After finding the three-pronged branch, go around and pick up dead branches, and pile them one by one on the branch..."

"My lord, how long of a dead branch do we need to pick?" asked the magpie.

"It depends on the size of your nest," replied the Phoenix.

"Oh! I understand!" The magpie flapped its wings, "Building a nest is just a pile of dead branches."

After saying this, it and its companions started chattering and stopped listening.

"The bird's nest I just mentioned is stable, but it can't keep out the wind and rain. If you want to build a better bird's nest, you have to choose one under a rock on a cliff or inside a cave..."

The phoenix was speaking excitedly, and the birds were listening intently. Suddenly, a roar came from the sky: "Damn phoenix, you dare to lead the birds to rebel and make yourself king. I will teach you a lesson today."

The phoenix and the other birds looked up and saw that it was the King of Chickens, the King of Geese, the King of Ducks and hundreds of chicken spirits who had come to their doorstep.

The birds were so frightened that they hunched their heads and trembled. Phoenix tried to calm down and stammered, "My rooster king, why are you not dead yet?"

"Damned Phoenix, are you hoping for my death? How can I die so easily?" The rooster landed on the branch opposite the Phoenix and answered coldly.

"Rooster, you have been the king of all birds for many years, it is time for you to abdicate."

"Humph! Damn Phoenix, when I was crowned the King of Chickens, you were nowhere to be found. What right do you have to compete with me for the position of King of Birds?"

"Rooster, why do you think you have been the king of birds for so long?"

"Phoenix, since you don't obey me, let's compete in front of all the birds today."

"Let's have a competition," Phoenix challenged.

"First, let's compare appearances. Who do you think is prettier, me or the phoenix?" The rooster looked at the phoenix, then at himself, and asked loudly.

All the birds looked at the rooster: its bright red crown, gorgeous feathers, shiny neck and golden legs, its whole appearance was very majestic and powerful. Then they turned around and looked at the phoenix: its golden crown, colorful body, long tail feathers and tall legs, it looked so beautiful and noble.

"Phoenix is ​​beautiful, Phoenix is ​​beautiful!" Except for the chickens, other birds couldn't help but shout.

The phoenix was very proud of hearing this, and kept nodding and smiling at everyone. The rooster was angry and shouted: "Nonsense, nonsense! How can I not be as beautiful as it?"

Turning around, he saw the Goose King and the Duck King cheering for the Phoenix, and asked angrily, "Stupid goose and stupid duck, why are you cheering for the Phoenix too? Say that I am beautiful!"

"King Rooster, the Phoenix is ​​really much more beautiful than you. Do you think we are blind?" The King of Goose and the King of Duck cried aggrievedly.