Traveling back to ancient times to determine the zodiac

Dong fought against the big bad wolf, but he couldn't hurt it after a few blows with his axe. He couldn't help but roared in anger and asked Xiao Xing for advice: "Xing, these evil wolves can't be hurt or killed, how can we win?"

"Don't worry, brother Dong, wait for me to find a way." Xiao Xing was dealing with the big black dog while frowning and thinking. At this time, the big black dog stood up and stretched out its front paws to grab Xiao Xing's head. Xiao Xing looked at it kindly and quickly chopped it with a knife, hitting its left front foot.

Dogs have the least amount of flesh on their feet, so although the knife didn't cut the big black dog's feet, it still made it scream in pain and almost fell down. Xiao Xing was overjoyed when he saw this, and shouted to Dong: "Brother Dong, there is a way: these vicious dogs have no flesh on their legs and feet and are afraid of pain, so we just focus on their feet and we will definitely be able to defeat them."

"Okay, let's all give it a try." Dong heard this and immediately swung his axe at the wolf's left front foot. The wolf couldn't dodge in time and was hit with a "wow" sound, retreating six or seven feet.

"Haha," Dong laughed and pointed at the big bad wolf and said, "You evil wolf, it turns out you have weaknesses too. You are dead now."

"Woo--" The wolf was not convinced and pounced on Dong more fiercely. Dong shouted, "Come on, I'll break your legs." He dodged and chopped the wolf's right front foot with another axe.

The wolf couldn't stand it any longer, so he limped back to the Cave of Delusion and ran away. As he ran, he shouted, "Brothers, human weapons are really powerful. Let's run!"

The big black dog over there also had its legs chopped off and was limping. Seeing the big bad wolf defeated and running away, it also fled into the cave.

When the other dogs and wolves saw that their leader had run away, they lost interest in fighting and followed him into the cave.

"Brothers, let's chase them and don't let them run away!" Dong waved the stone axe and shouted.

When they reached the entrance of the Cave of Confusion, they rushed in without thinking twice.

Xi stopped and looked inside the cave. He had a bad feeling and stopped Dong, saying, "Brother Dong, don't rush in. I think this cave is deep and winding, mysterious and unpredictable. I'm afraid it might be dangerous."

"Xi, you are such a coward." Dong laughed: "I think this cave is ordinary, what danger can there be? The Nian beast and the dog king's dogs are all in there, so we can just catch them all in one fell swoop."

"Brother Dong, this cave is indeed unfathomable. We'd better be careful." Xiaoxing stopped Dong and persuaded him.

"Xing, you can't get a tiger cub without risking its den. If you are afraid, just wait outside the cave until I kill the Nian beast and then return in triumph." Dong was determined to kill Emperor Nian and seize the position of cave master, so he acted on his own.

"Brother Dong..." Xiaoxing was about to persuade him, but Zhi came over to stop them and said, "Dong, Xing, wait a minute before entering the cave. Based on my hunting experience of more than fifty years old, when going up the mountain, be prepared for dryness; when going down the water, be prepared for flooding; when entering the cave, be prepared for darkness. When exploring the cave, you must prepare more torches to prevent sudden attacks by poisonous snakes and beasts."

"Uncle Zhi is right." Xiao Xing nodded repeatedly and advised Dong: "Brother Dong, we just arrived, so let's find a place to set up camp first, and then make torches. We should enter the cave only after everything is ready."

"Yes, yes, the Dog King and the Nian Beast are in the cave and can't escape for a while, so why bother chasing them?" Chen followed.

Everyone nodded in agreement. Seeing that everyone was speaking the same language, Dong gave up the pursuit. So the troops set up camp at the foot of Beehive Mountain and imprisoned the rooster, the Rat King, the Ox King and others. After setting up camp, everyone did not take time to rest and went to cut wood to make torches. Beehive Mountain was lush with trees, and soon everyone had finished making torches.

Zhi led everyone back to the entrance of the Mihun Cave. Dong and Xiaoxing rushed to enter the cave. Zhi said to them, "Dong, Xing, the situation in this cave is unclear. Let me go in first to check it out. If there is any accident, I won't regret it."

"Uncle Zhi, you are old, how can we let you go exploring? I think you should guard the cave entrance, and Brother Dong and I should lead the team to pursue." Xiaoxing shook his head and waved his hands to stop him.

"Yes, yes, hunting and killing enemies are more suitable for us young men." Dong, Xi and others echoed.

"Okay then!" Zhi patted Dong and Xiaoxing on the shoulders and said earnestly, "You lead the team in, be careful, and get out of the cave quickly if there is any danger."

"Got it, Uncle Zhi." Dong and Xiaoxing nodded at the same time, then sorted out their weapons and led Xi, Bei, Chen, Yue, Feng... and more than 400 people, slowly into the Cave of Confusion.

Zhi watched everyone enter the cave with concern, and then led Lao Yang, Lao Liu, Hong'er, Lan'er and more than 200 people to guard the cave entrance without saying anything.

Everyone entered the first earth cave. The cave was about ten feet high and two feet wide. There was a lot of moss growing at the entrance, but the inside was bare gray walls. Not long after walking, the light became increasingly dim, so everyone lit torches and slowly moved inside with the help of the light. After walking about half a mile, not only did they not find the Dog King and the Nian Beast, they did not even hear a single sound.

"Brother Dong, we've walked so far, why haven't we reached the end yet? Is this a bottomless pit?" Xi asked impatiently.

"Nonsense!" Dong scolded, "Although this cave is deep, it is definitely not a bottomless pit."

"Even if it's not a bottomless pit, we don't have any dry food with us. How can we continue chasing them? I think we should retreat first!" Xi said again.

"Xi, are you scared? I think there is nothing special about this cave. It's ridiculous that you think it is so dangerous and scary. Hahaha——" Dong laughed.

Before the laughter died down, there was a sudden loud "whoosh" like thunder, and a black monster flew towards them from the top of the cave.

The incident happened suddenly and everyone was shocked. Dong and Xi, who were leading the group, were so frightened that their faces turned pale and they fell to the ground with their hands on their heads.

Unexpectedly, the group of monsters did not attack them, but flew straight out of the cave. After about a cup of tea, the noise stopped. The frightened people came to their senses, but they did not dare to go in again.

"Xing, what kind of monsters are these?" Chen asked curiously.

"I don't know what it is either." Xiaoxing answered while looking up and down with a torch.

"I've heard rumors from the older generation: there are mandrills in the mountains and cave monsters in the caves. Did we encounter a cave monster?" Xi guessed in shock.

"Cave monster? Then why doesn't it attack us?" Everyone became even more confused when they heard this.

"I don't know about that." Xi scratched his head and said, "Maybe they don't eat people."

"Brother Xi, stop scaring me. I know what it is." Xiaoxing observed for a while and shouted.

"Xing, what kind of monster is this? Tell me quickly!" Lei asked anxiously.

"There's nothing to be surprised about. They are just a group of bats. They were startled by the bright fire and flew out." Xiao Xing was afraid that people would not believe him, so he pointed at the bat droppings all over the ground and said, "Look at the ground. It's all bat droppings."

When everyone looked at the ground, they saw that it was indeed the case, and they couldn't help but feel relieved.

"Brothers, since it is not a cave monster, let's keep moving forward, eliminate the Nian Beast and the Dog King as soon as possible, and go home early." Dong was also quite surprised just now, but now that the mystery has been solved, he has become bolder.

So everyone shook themselves up and continued to move forward. Not long after they had gone a short distance, Dong suddenly shouted, "Oh! There's a fork in the road ahead. Which way should we go?"

Everyone raised torches to take a closer look. There were indeed two holes in front of them, almost the same size and height. Everyone looked left and right, and couldn't make up their minds. Some said, "We should chase the hole on the left." Others said, "We should chase the hole on the right."

There were many different opinions. Xiao Xing raised his knife and said loudly: "Brother Dong, brothers, since these two caves are about the same size, I think we should search the cave on the left first. If we don't find it, we can go back to the cave on the right."

"Xing, your idea is good, but it takes too much time. I think we should split into two groups: I'll lead one group to the right cave, and you'll lead the other group to the left cave. Whoever kills the Dog King and the Nian Beast will have made a great contribution. What do you think?"

"Brother Dong, let's join together. There's strength in numbers and we can discuss things easily. Once we separate, not only will our strength be weakened, but we won't be able to discuss things with you, let alone help you." Xiaoxing expressed his concern about dividing the troops.

"Xing, how come you have become as timid as a woman?" Dong said sarcastically, "What else could happen in this cave? Are you afraid that you can't defeat the Nian Beast and the Dog King?"

"Xing, just divide the troops. Why are you afraid of him?" Chen couldn't stand Dong's sarcasm, and spoke up before Xiaoxing could speak.

"Okay, then it's decided." Dong didn't wait for Xiaoxing to express his opinion, and turned to Xi, Shugen and others and said, "Xi, Bei, Shugen, Heizi, let's lead half of the team to the cave on the right to continue chasing."

After saying that, he took the lead and strode towards the cave on the right. Xihe Shugen, Shuye, Heizi and others led half of the group and followed in pursuit.

"Brother Dong, Brother Dong, this is dangerous!" Xiaoxing shouted hurriedly. But no matter how Xiaoxing shouted, Dong still left without hesitation.

"Chen, how could you agree to Brother Dong's idea?" Xiao Xing saw Dong and Xi and the others leaving, and blamed Chen, "It's uncertain whether this cave is good or bad. If something goes wrong, it will be too late to regret."

"Brother Dong and the others are fearless, so how can we be afraid?" Chen argued unconvinced.

"Brother Xing, I also think you are too cautious." Feng followed with confusion: "Let's not talk about the fact that there is nothing scary in this cave. Even if there is, we can just retreat immediately. What damage can there be?"

"That's right, that's right. If it doesn't work, just get out!" Yun Helei and others also echoed.

Seeing that everyone said so, Xiaoxing had no choice but to give up. He reorganized the remaining team, held up torches, and headed towards the cave on the left.

They walked less than 30 meters before they saw three more similar-sized forked caves ahead. They looked left and right, and couldn't help but feel they had trouble making a choice.

"Xing, there are three branch caves ahead. Which way should we go?" Chen asked in confusion, looking at the three cave entrances.

"This..." Xiao Xing was also very confused, pointing to a hole in the middle and said, "These holes are very similar, and I'm not sure which hole is the right one to chase after. Let's just pick a hole at random and take a look first."

The others had no objection, so they all went into the middle cave. After walking a short distance, they saw several similar caves in front of them, so they randomly chose a cave and continued to move forward. In this way, they continued to move forward, and there were branch caves all along the way. After walking for a long time, they not only did not find the traces of the Dog King and the Nian Emperor, but they could not even see the end of the cave.

Finally, after walking through one branch cave after another, Chen asked Xiaoxing in disappointment and confusion: "Xing, there are so many caves in this mountain. It's just like what Xige said: it's like a bottomless pit. We've been walking for half a day and there's still no end. Where can we find the Nian Beast and the Dog King?"

"Chen, you're right." Xiao Xing stopped, frowning, looking at the half-burned torch in his hand and replied, "I think this cave is very strange. If we go deeper, firstly, we don't have any dry food with us, and secondly, the torch will burn out. By then, it will be pitch black, and I'm afraid we won't be able to get out."

"Xing, let's get out before the torch goes out." Feng shouted.

"Yes, yes, let's go out and make full preparations before coming back." Yun and the others followed suit.

"Okay, since everyone agrees, let's get out!" Xiaoxing said, and led everyone to turn around and walk back.

Who knew that after walking through cave after cave for a long time, they still hadn't walked out of the cave. Chen looked at the torch in his hand that was less than one-third burned, panicked, and said, "Xing, we have been walking for such a long time and still haven't walked out of the cave. Could it be that we are lost? If we are lost, we are doomed!"

"Chen, don't panic." Xiao Xing also knew that this cave was strange, but she still calmly comforted him: "Maybe we went to the wrong cave, don't worry, let's think about it carefully."