Traveling back to ancient times to determine the zodiac

"Humph! Rooster, I win in appearance!" Phoenix was victorious and continued, "Let's compare whose nest is more beautiful. What do you think?"

"Good!" All the birds agreed loudly.

The rooster looked up at the phoenix's nest, which was built on a high branch of a paulownia tree. The nest looked like a ball with a hole in the middle for entry and exit. It was very comfortable to stay inside, not afraid of wind or rain.

After seeing the Phoenix's nest, the rooster thought of his own chicken coop and felt ashamed. He flapped his wings and protested, "What's the point of comparing your ability to building a nest? Let's compare ourselves with other things!"

"It's more meaningful than building a nest!" Phoenix insisted: "When we are tired of flying outside, it would be such a pleasure to have a beautiful and comfortable nest!"

The words of the phoenix resonated with all the birds, and they all nodded in agreement: "Yes, yes, it is such a blessing to be able to sleep in a comfortable nest! We agree to compete in building nests, compete in building nests."

"I'm not interested in competing in nest-building." The rooster raised his head, still refusing to accept the challenge.

"Rooster, if you don't dare to accept the challenge, it proves that you lose!" Phoenix announced loudly.

"You damn phoenix, what's the point of comparing these to your abilities? Let's see who can fly higher and faster, and see who is really more powerful?" the rooster shouted angrily.

"Let's compete. I don't believe I can't fly better than you." The phoenix raised its wings and accepted the challenge.

"Phoenix, you have guts. I'll let you fly first." The rooster was sure of himself and full of confidence.

The phoenix didn't hesitate and immediately spread its wings and flew away. The rooster waited until the phoenix flew some distance away before leisurely catching up.

The rooster is worthy of being called the king of birds. It has a wide wingspan and great strength. It catches up with the phoenix in no time.

"Damn Phoenix, where are you going to fly?" The rooster caught up with the Phoenix, stretched out his claws, and grabbed the Phoenix's head.

"Oh my god!" The phoenix lowered its head and flew down. Although it avoided the fatal grab, its beautiful feather crown was still grabbed off.

"You damn Phoenix, you still want to escape?" In order to avenge the humiliation he had just suffered, the rooster chased after the Phoenix and grabbed its back again.

The phoenix tried its best to dodge the grab, but a large piece of its gorgeous feathers was still caught. The phoenix and the rooster chased each other for a while, and finally, the phoenix was intercepted by the rooster and had no way to escape. It could only beg for mercy: "King Rooster, let me go, I give up!"

"You damn phoenix, now you know how powerful I am, do you still dare to betray me?" The rooster pecked the phoenix hard again and asked.

"My Lord Rooster, I know how powerful you are. I will never dare to overstep my authority again!" He nodded continuously like a phoenix pecking at rice.

"In that case, I will let you go for now." The rooster won and returned to the birds triumphantly.

All the birds looked at the defeated Phoenix. Its beautiful feathers had all fallen off and some were scratched and bruised. It looked ugly and miserable. It was truly no better than a chicken.

"Phoenix, don't think you are great just because you are a little clever. This world is ruled by strength." The rooster said to the phoenix contemptuously.

"The Rooster King has won! Why don't you come forward and pay homage?" The turkey spirit shouted at the birds.

When the other birds saw the phoenix's defeat, they followed suit. They gathered in front of the rooster and bowed down in worship, shouting, "Long live the rooster king! Long, long live the rooster king!"

"My fellow citizens: If anyone rebels again, I will never let him off easily. Do you hear me?" the rooster warned.

All the birds nodded and obeyed. Suddenly, a few chicken spirits flew in from the sky, circled around and shouted to the Chicken King: "My King, my King, disaster has happened!"

"You are making such a fuss. What trouble has happened?" asked the rooster.

"My king, on the west bank of the Bihe River, a monster is furious and says that if the rooster king doesn't get them across the river, it will eat you." The chicken spirits replied.

"Oops!" The rooster slapped his head, "I was so busy rehabilitating the Phoenix that I forgot about Emperor Nian and the others!"

"My king, what kind of animal is the Nian Emperor and why are they coming to the Qinwang Continent?" asked the turkey spirit.

"Nian Emperor is the king of animals in the world. He is very powerful and strong. All animals must obey him. If they disobey, he will conquer them. But now a new kind of smart humans have appeared. Not only did Nian Emperor fail in his conquest, but he also got into trouble and was hunted by humans. Nian Emperor had nowhere to escape and decided to seek refuge in our Bird King Continent. Since they dare not swim across the river, they are still waiting on the west bank for me to bring them over." After the rooster introduced the birds to the others, he ordered: "Phoenix, Goose King, Duck King, and all of their kind, follow me back to Bird King Continent and help bring Nian Emperor and his friends over."

"Yes, King Rooster." The birds dared not disobey and immediately followed the rooster to the Bird King Island.

Soon, all the birds returned to the King of Birds Island. As soon as they landed, the rooster ordered the Goose King and the Duck King: "Goose King, Duck King, quickly lead your people across the river and help Emperor Nian swim across the river."

"Yes, King Rooster." The King of Goose and the King of Duck received the order and gathered thousands of geese and ducks, and swam towards the west bank in a mighty manner.

The rooster led thousands of chicken spirits to fly across the Bijiang River, came to Emperor Nian and said, "Emperor Nian, I am back."

"You dead chicken, you've been gone for so long, leaving me here. If humans come after you, you'll be dead, right?" Emperor Nian said angrily. If he didn't need the rooster's help, he would have thrown it aside long ago according to his previous temper.

The rooster was terrified and said hastily, "Don't worry, Emperor Nian. I will get you across the river right away."

"Rooster, you can't swim, how are you going to get us over there?" Dog Head asked in confusion.

"Although I can't swim, I have helpers who can swim!" The rooster pointed to the river and said, "Nian Di, Dog Head, Pig Head, look, my goose army and duck army are here! Not only can they swim, but they are also the kings of playing in the water."

The Emperor looked towards the river with doubt, and sure enough, a large group of geese and ducks came riding on the waves, crossing the mighty river as if walking on flat ground. After a while, the Goose King and the Duck King led their troops to the shore.

"King Goose, King Duck, come and pay homage to Emperor Nian!" said the rooster.

"Greetings to Emperor Nian, please invite Emperor Nian across the river!" The Goose King and the Duck King went forward to pay homage to Emperor Nian as instructed.

When Emperor Nian saw so many flocks of chickens, ducks and geese, he couldn't help but feel greedy and drooling. He twisted his body, stretched out his tail, and wanted to grab a duck and put it into his mouth.

The Duck King and the Goose King were so frightened that they led their subordinates to retreat. Seeing this, the rooster rushed forward and said, "Emperor Nian, you can't eat it! If you eat the ducks, no one will be willing to help you cross the river!"

"Rooster, you have so many ducks, what's the big deal about eating one?" Emperor Nian was reluctant to throw away the meat that was already in his mouth.

"Emperor Nian, even though you only ate one duck, you frightened all the ducks. In this case, naturally no one will be willing to help you." The rooster advised again.

"Emperor Nian, humans will catch up with us soon, you have to be patient, crossing the river is more important." Dog Head advised.

The Nian Emperor was still hesitating when a thunderous slogan came from behind: "We swear to destroy the Nian beast and will not return until it is destroyed!"

"Emperor Nian, humans are chasing us! Let's put down the duck and cross the river." Pighead was so scared that he shouted hurriedly.

"Well, okay!" Emperor Nian put down the duck angrily and said, "Rooster, tell me how to get me across the river."

"Emperor Nian, Dog Head and Pig Head, I will order the Goose King and the Duck King to lead the troops to pull in front and push in the back, and support on both sides. This way I will definitely help you get through." said the rooster.

"Rooster, can they do it? Don't wash us into the Pacific Ocean." Pighead looked at these little geese and ducks with doubts.

"My dear kings, don't underestimate us because of our small size. Our skills in the water are first-rate and we can definitely help you cross the river." The Goose King patted his chest and assured loudly.

Emperor Nian had no other choice but to go into the river. The rooster and chicken spirits flew in front to lead the way, and the geese and ducks pulled and pushed the three beasts from the front and back, protecting them from left and right. As expected, they were not in danger of drowning and were swimming safely in the river. By the time humans caught up with them, the beasts had already safely crossed the river and reached the shore.

Looking back at the river, Pighead said worriedly, "Rooster, what if humans follow us?"

Looking at the vast river, the rooster said proudly: "Pighead, this deep and wide river is a natural barrier. If humans really swim across, even if they don't drown, they will be washed into the Pacific Ocean."

"The rooster is right. This river is vast and much more difficult to cross than the natural barrier of the Sheep King. Perhaps humans are scared and will go back home. We can just stay here without worry!" The dog head shook his head and agreed with the rooster's statement.

"Rooster, if you help me escape this disaster, I will not treat you unfairly. Not only will you be exempted from the tribute, but you will also be promoted to my senior assistant." Emperor Nian said.

"Emperor Nian, I don't want to be a senior assistant. It would be a great favor if you don't beat me up in the future!"

"Okay, okay! I will never beat you again. Fly to the sky quickly and see what humans are doing," Emperor Nian ordered.

"Yes, sir!" The rooster agreed and led thousands of chicken spirits across the river to investigate the human situation.

As for the humans, after they captured the Monkey King, they followed him all the way east to Qinwangzhou. They traveled through mountains and rivers, stayed at night and walked at dawn, and walked for more than ten days, covering a distance of thousands of miles. One day, they turned from the mountains and forests into a vast wasteland. As they were walking, they were suddenly blocked by a large river in front of them.

"Monkey King, there is no road ahead. Haven't we reached the Chicken King's Qinwang Continent yet?" Zhi asked the Monkey King.

"Great human, the Bird King Continent is right in this green river." The Monkey King replied, pointing to the big river in front.

"Ah? In this big river? Isn't that an island?" Dong opened his mouth in shock when he heard it.

"Yes. Qinwangzhou is actually an island in the middle of a river. To be more precise, it is an isolated island in the river." The Monkey King said again.

"This Bi River is wide and deep. With my hunting experience of over fifty years, it would be difficult to cross the river." Zhi frowned and said worriedly.

"Yes, yes! Although the river is calm, even if you don't drown if you swim across, you don't know where you will be washed away." Feng said worriedly.

"I heard that the end of the rivers is the boundless East China Sea. The sun sets in the west every day, then soaks in the sea for one night and rises in the east the next day. If we are washed into the East China Sea, even if we don't drown, we will be boiled." said Lao Huai, the oldest person in the team.

"Puchi——" Xiao Xing almost laughed out the food he had eaten yesterday and said to Lao Huai, "Uncle Huai, the sun is hundreds of millions of kilometers away from the earth, how could it be immersed in the sea? If it really was immersed in the sea, the sea water would have dried up long ago."

"Xing, you said the sun is not immersed in the sea, so where does it go at night?" asked Lao Huai.

"Uncle Huai, at night, the sun moves to the back of the earth, so it cannot be seen." Xiaoxing replied.

"Stop talking nonsense, both of you. Get down to business." Chen interrupted.

"Chen, in my opinion, swimming over there is definitely not going to work." Xiaoxing said.

"What should we do? If we can't swim over, are we supposed to fly over?" Feng asked.

"We are not roosters and we don't have wings. How can we fly?" Yun followed.

Everyone was talking about it, but no one knew what to do.

"My fellow warriors," Zhi Xiang waved his arms and shouted to the crowd, "Everyone, be patient. Now that we are here, we should make the best of it. In order to destroy the Nian beast and return home as soon as possible, we must quickly find a way to cross the river and reach the island. Now everyone should use their brains and express their opinions."

"Uncle Zhi, although this Bijiang River is wide and deep, the water flows gently. In my opinion, we should just swim across the river and destroy the Chicken King and the Nian Beast." Dong said confidently while looking at the river.

"Yes, swim over. I haven't taken a bath for more than ten days, so it's a good time to get in the water and wash myself clean." Xi immediately agreed when he heard it.

"No!" Xiao Xing shook his head and said, "Although the river is calm, it is unfathomable. To be on the safe side, I think it's better to build a raft and cross the river."

"Build a raft?" Dong Yao pointed to the area along the river and asked, "This area is all barren and rocky. If we want to cut down trees to build a raft, we have to go back to the mountains a hundred miles away to cut down trees. This will not only be troublesome, but will also delay the process for several days."