Traveling back to ancient times to determine the zodiac

"Uncle Zhi, wait a minute," Hong'er stopped Zhi and said, "I suddenly have a strong feeling that Brother Xing and the others are in the cave on the right. Uncle Zhi, let's go to the right cave first."

"Hong'er, I also think they are in the right cave." Lan'er followed.

"Hong'er, how can we take our premonitions seriously? Let's search the middle cave first and then the right cave." Zhi insisted.

"Uncle Zhi, they must be in the right cave. Wouldn't it be the same if we go into the right side first and then into the middle?" Hong'er stamped her feet anxiously.

"Okay! Okay! All up to you, first the right side and then the middle." Zhi knew that he couldn't beat Hong'er, so he nodded and agreed helplessly.

So, everyone turned into the cave on the right and walked slowly. Halfway through, they saw a faint fire flashing deep inside the cave. Zhi shouted excitedly: "Hong'er, Yang, and fellow warriors, look, there is a fire ahead."

"Brother Xing, it's Brother Xing and the others. We finally found them." When Hong'er saw them, her voice suddenly changed with excitement, and she immediately shouted to the front: "Brother Xing, Brother Xing——"

Lan Er followed suit and shouted, "Brother Chen, Brother Chen——"

The two held torches and ran forward, shouting. Xiao Xing and Chen heard the shouting and realized that the people coming were not Dong and Xi, but Hong'er and Lan'er. They became even more excited and also ran forward, shouting.

Soon, the two teams met up. Hong'er and Lan'er dropped the torches in their hands and rushed towards Xiaoxing and Chen respectively.

"Brother Xing, why did you stay in the cave for so long and didn't come out? Woo - you made us so worried!" Hong'er couldn't help but cry for joy, and her heart was finally at ease.

"Hong'er, we are lost. We have been wandering around in this cave but can't find a way out." Xiaoxing patted her shoulder and explained, then asked, "Hong'er, how did you find this place?"

"Brother Xing, since you entered the cave in the afternoon and didn't come out until the evening, I was really worried, so I begged Uncle Zhi to lead everyone into the cave to rescue you. I didn't expect to meet you here." Hong'er replied.

"Hong'er, no wonder I had a hunch just now that I could definitely get out by going through the left hole. I didn't expect to actually meet you. It's really God's blessing." Xiaoxing said in disbelief.

"Brother Xing, I chose the right hole based on my hunch just now, and I didn't expect it to come true." Hong'er also found it unbelievable.

"Hong'er, this should be what they call: telepathic communication." Xiaoxing said while holding Hong'er's hands tightly.

At this time, Zhi came over and asked, "Xing, Chen, how are you all? Are you all okay?"

"Uncle Zhi, we are fine. We are just starving without a torch." Xiaoxing pushed Hong'er away and answered.

Zhi heard this and turned to Old Yang and said, "Yang, quickly distribute the torches and food we brought to Xing Hechen and the others."

"Yes, sir!" After receiving the order, Lao Yang went with Lao Liu and others to distribute food and torches.

After the exhausted Feng, Yun and others received supplies, they immediately became energetic again.

"Xing, Chen, I only see you guys, why can't I see Dong and Xi and the others?" Zhi asked again in confusion.

"Uncle Zhi, didn't Brother Dong and Brother Xi go out either?" Xiaoxing asked anxiously.

"No." Zhi shook his head and replied, "Dong and Xi entered the cave with you, how could they get out first?"

"Uncle Zhi, not long after we entered the cave, we encountered two identical cave entrances. At that time, I suggested that we explore one cave together first, and then come out to explore the other cave. But Brother Dong disagreed and insisted on splitting the troops into two groups. He led half of the people to the cave on the right, and I led the other half to the cave on the left. Whoever eliminated the Nian beast and the dog king would make a great contribution. From then on, there were similar branch caves along the way. We went deeper and deeper, and we felt something was wrong, so we wanted to go back, but we got lost. We wandered around in the maze-like cave for a long time, and came up with a way to mark the way, but because we didn't make any marks when we came, we groped for a long time and were still trapped here." Xiaoxing recounted the experience of entering the cave in detail.

"That's bad! So Dong and Xi must have gotten lost in the right cave, so they haven't gotten out yet." Zhi exclaimed in surprise.

"Well, I guess Brother Dong and the others must be trapped in the cave just like us." Xiaoxing nodded.

"Uncle Zhi, Xing, what should we do now? Should we go out first or continue to rescue Dong Ge and the others?" Chen asked.

"Xing, Chen, you all have worked hard. Let us rescue you out of the cave first and let you rest. Then we will come in to rescue Dong, Xi and the others." Zhi replied.

"Uncle Zhi, this cave is complicated and interconnected. It's easy for you to come in, but it may be difficult to get out." Xiaoxing frowned.

"Xing, with my hunting experience of more than fifty years, how could I get lost?" Zhi said proudly: "After we entered the cave, we drove wooden stakes along the way as marks, so we are not afraid of not getting out."

"As expected, age brings wisdom, Uncle Zhi, you're awesome!" Xiaoxing gave him a thumbs up in admiration.

"Xing, this is just a talk of experience, what's so great about it?" Zhi waved his hand modestly, then turned to the crowd and announced: "My fellow warriors, now follow me out of the cave."

"Yes, sir! Uncle Zhi." Everyone responded in unison after receiving the order.

As usual, Zhi led the two teams back along the same route. As they had marked the way along the cave, they did not get lost this time. After about an hour, they successfully exited the Mihun Cave.

After leaving the Cave of Confusion, it was already early morning the next day. Xiao Xing, Chen, Yue, Feng, Yun, and others saw the light of day again, and they felt as if they were in another world. So they thanked Zhi in person and said, "Uncle Zhi, thank you for coming into the cave to rescue us in time, otherwise we would have been trapped to death in the cave."

Zhi Chao waved his hands and said to the crowd: "Xing, Chen, and fellow warriors, you risked your lives to chase after the Nian Beast. Now that you are in trouble, we should save you. Why should we thank you?"

"Uncle Zhi, our team is lucky enough to get out, but Dong's team is still trapped in the cave. Let's go and rescue them as soon as possible." Xiaoxing suggested.

"Xing, you have just escaped, so take a rest first. Let me lead the rescue of Dong, Xi and others." Zhi looked at the tired Xiaoxing, Chen and others, and said reluctantly.

"Uncle Zhi, saving people is the most important thing. We can handle it." Xiaoxing straightened his back and replied.

"Uncle Zhi, I want to go too." Chen said.

"Uncle Zhi, I want to go too." Feng Heyun and others asked at the same time.

"Xing, Chen, fellow warriors, since you are willing to work hard to save Dong and the others, then come with me." Seeing that Xiaoxing and the others were determined to go, Zhi nodded in agreement. Then he turned to Lao Yang and said, "Yang, you and Liu, Hong'er, Lan'er and the others should stay in the camp as usual and wait for us to come out."

"Yes, sir!" Old Yang agreed, and led Hong'er, Lan'er and others back to the camp.

Here, Zhi, Xiaoxing, Chen... and the others changed their torches, took some food, and entered the Cave of Confusion again to look for Dong, Xi and the others.

The group continued to walk and call out as usual, and soon they arrived at the first fork in the cave. Xiaoxing pointed to the cave entrance on the right and said to Zhi: "Uncle Zhi, this fork in the cave is where we split up. Dong Ge and his friends entered from this right cave at that time."

"Xing, in that case, let's go into the right cave and take a look." Zhi said, and led everyone into the right cave.

Everyone followed Zhi and Xiaoxing into the cave on the right. Before they had gone far, they suddenly discovered that the cave on this side was exactly the same as the one on the left, with many branch caves appearing one after another. Zhi ordered everyone to put wooden stakes at the end of the caves they passed as a mark. Then, as they walked, they shouted, "Brother Dong, Brother Xi, we are here to save you. Where are you?"

The crowd searched and shouted. After walking for half a day, passing through many branch tunnels and advancing several miles, they still couldn't find Dong and Xi. Everyone couldn't help but become anxious.

"Uncle Zhi, Xing, do you think that Dong Ge and the others might have encountered the Nian Beast and the Dog King, and defeated them, and then chased them in?" Chen had been walking for quite some time and was exhausted all over. He was so sleepy that he could hardly open his eyes, and asked impatiently.

"Impossible." Xiao Xing shook his head and denied it flatly: "If Dong Ge and his men had encountered and fought with the Nian Beast, there should be bloodstains or dead dogs and wolves in this cave. And we didn't find anything along the way, so we definitely didn't chase after the fleeing beast."

"Since they didn't discover the Nian beast, why can't we find them?" Chen was extremely confused.

"Chen, this cave is deep and has many branches. They must be trapped in one of the caves. Please be patient, we will definitely find them." Xiaoxing comforted.

"Brother Dong is missing and trapped. It's all his fault for wanting to split up. He really has it all his own fault." Feng complained dissatisfiedly.

"Feng, you can't say that. Brother Dong took this risk just to kill the Nian beast as soon as possible so that we can return home earlier." Xiaoxing defended Dong.

"Xiaoxing is right." Zhi followed up, "Although Dong was wrong, now is not the time to argue about right and wrong. Let's all work together to rescue them first!"

"Brother Xing and Uncle Zhi are right. We must not lose heart and let Brother Dong and the others die of starvation." Upon hearing this, Chen also cheered up.

Everyone forced their sleepy eyes open, pulled themselves together, and continued to swim and search. After wandering for a long time, they finally heard a response from a cave: "Uncle Zhi, Xing, we are here, come and save us."

"Dong, Xi, are you okay? We are here to save you!" Zhi was overjoyed when he heard this and asked loudly.

Under the firelight, a staggering figure in the cave desperately ran towards the firelight, answering: "Uncle Zhi, we are fine. We are trapped here!"

It turned out that after Dong, Xi and others entered the right cave, they also encountered several similar branch caves not long after they walked. At that time, they did not think much of it and just randomly chose a cave to chase. They passed through cave after cave and walked for a long time, but they did not see the bottom of the cave, let alone the Nian beast, the dog king and his pack. Xi felt something was wrong, so he suggested to Dong: "Brother Dong, we have been chasing for a long time, but we have not seen the Nian beast and the dog king. If we continue to chase, not only will we be extremely hungry, but the torches will also burn out. I think we should turn around first."

"Xi, the Nian Beast and the Dog King must be ahead. If we turn back now, won't all our efforts be in vain? So we must continue chasing them and never give up until we get to the bottom of them." Dong was determined to continue chasing them and would not listen to Xi's advice at all.

After walking for a long time, they still found nothing. Xi couldn't help but persuade Dong: "Brother Dong, there are less than half of the torches left. If you don't turn back, you will really be groping in the dark."

"Xi, you're so annoying today!" Dong waved his hands irritably, still objecting: "As long as we kill the Nian beast, what does it matter if we go back in the dark?"

"Brother Dong, what if we encounter the Nian beast and the torches burn out? Wouldn't that be extremely dangerous?" asked the tree root.

"This--" Dong was speechless for a moment and couldn't answer.

"Yes, Brother Dong, if that happens, we will be eaten by the Nian Beast and the Dog King. Just do as I say and turn back first and make plans later." Xi took the opportunity to persuade him again.

Dong had no choice but to nod and agree to go back.

But on the way back, they also got lost, and they kept turning around but couldn't find a way out. Seeing the torches burning less and less, everyone became anxious.

"Brother Dong, we have been walking for such a long time, why haven't we gotten out yet?" Xi asked worriedly.

"According to calculations, we should have reached the cave entrance. Did we encounter a ghost blocking our way?" Dong frowned and asked in confusion.

"Yeah, it's possible." Xi agreed after hearing this: "I remember one time when we went out hunting, we couldn't get back after walking for a long time. Later, the cave owner said that there was a ghost blocking the way, and we had to turn around and pee to relieve it. So everyone peed, and after peeing, they really walked back."

"In that case, everyone go around in a circle and pee before leaving," Dong immediately gave the order.