Traveling back to ancient times to determine the zodiac

After Xiao Xing finished speaking, he suddenly remembered that he had said this before, and couldn't help but shout again: "Brother Dong, brothers, this big rock seems to be the place where we tripped before."

"Yeah. It looks like that to me too." Dong got up and nodded in agreement, then sighed, "Damn it, we tried so hard to chase it for so long, but we didn't expect that we would come back after all these twists and turns."

"Damn big rock, it's all your fault, otherwise we wouldn't have lost the big spotted dog." Lei was so angry that he bent down and stretched out his hand to lift the big rock.

"Ouch!" Lei's hand just touched the big rock and he suddenly shouted: "My hand is bitten by the big rock. Brothers, save me!"

"Stones can bite people? Lei, you are so funny. Haha——" Everyone burst into laughter when they heard it.

"This stone can really bite people, please save me?" Lei asked for help again in great pain.

"Hey! Dashitou, let my brother go, or I'll chop you in half." Dong shouted, pulled out a stone axe and chopped at Dashitou.

With a "pop" sound, the stone tilted and immediately loosened its mouth. Lei took the opportunity to pull his hand back, and when everyone looked, they saw blood flowing down.

"Brother Dong, this is definitely not a stone, it must be a monster." Xiaoxing looked at Lei's hand, then took the torch and carefully shone the object under his feet, only to see that the object was trying to move away.

"Yes. This is not a stone, it must be a monster. Otherwise, how could it understand what we are saying?" Everyone nodded in agreement.

"You monster, you made us fall twice, and you also bit Lei's hand. I'm going to chop you in half." Dong shouted at the monster again and raised his axe to chop.

"Stop chopping." Suddenly, the monster poked its head out of the water and spoke: "I'm not a monster. I'm just a thousand-year-old turtle. I didn't mean to trip you, and I certainly didn't mean to bite you."

"Brothers, the monster turns out to be a turtle spirit." Xiaoxing shouted.

"Old turtle, although you didn't trip us on purpose, the big spotted dog escaped because of you. You can be exempted from the death penalty, but you cannot be forgiven for this living crime." Dong shouted.

"The big spotted dog ran away. Why not just chase it? Why blame me?"

"That's easy for you to say." Dong said angrily, "This water hole is full of holes. We have been chasing for a long time, but we haven't seen any trace of the dog."

"What kind of animals are you? Why are you chasing the big spotted dog?" asked the turtle spirit.

"We are not animals, we are human beings." Xiao Xing answered seriously, "We originally lived in Tianju Cave in Hongmeng, fishing, woodcutting, herding and hunting, and lived a peaceful life. Unexpectedly, just ten months ago, a beast called Nian came and claimed to be the king of the world. He wanted us to pay tribute, but how could we humans bow to it? We refused and defeated it on the spot. After the Nian beast was defeated and fled, it continued to send beast generals and beast armies to attack us. We rose up to resist and defeated those beast generals one by one, but we also suffered many casualties. So we decided to conquer the Nian beast and destroy it to avenge our dead brothers. When the Nian beast heard about it, it hurriedly fled everywhere. We chased it relentlessly and successively subdued the Horse King, Sheep King, Monkey King, and Chicken King. Now Emperor Nian has fled to this doghouse with the Dog King to hide, so we have to track down the big flower dog, find the doghouse, and destroy the Nian beast and the Dog King together."

"What? Emperor Nian is such a huge monster, but he was defeated by you tiny humans. And you still want to chase him down?" The turtle spirit's two bulging little eyes almost popped out in disbelief.

"You heard it right, we are here to hunt down the Nian beast." Xiaoxing said solemnly, enunciating each word.

"Great!" The turtle spirit said excitedly, "I never thought that the cruel and vicious Emperor Nian would end up like this."

"You old turtle, do you also have a grudge against the Nian beast?"

"That's right." The turtle spirit nodded and said, "When I was a child, I was captured by the Dragon King and brought to Emperor Nian. I almost became Emperor Nian's food. Later, I escaped from his mouth by luck and hid in this Soul-confusing Cave. It's a pity that my brothers and sisters all became Emperor Nian's feast."

"Old turtle, you are so lucky." Xiaoxing and everyone else were amazed when they heard it.

"Powerful humans, since you were chasing into the cave just now, why did you turn back so quickly?" asked the turtle spirit.

"Old turtle, the big dog got lost because you tripped it. Then we chased it inside, and after wandering around for a long time, we ended up back here. I think we must have lost our way again like last time." Xiaoxing explained.

"Powerful human, I am most familiar with this cave. Since you are going to hunt down Emperor Nian, I am willing to be your guide." said the turtle spirit.

"It's great that you are willing to lead the way for us!" Xiao Xing shouted excitedly, "Then please lead us to the doghouse now!"

"Come with me!" the old turtle said, and began to swim forward. As he swam, he introduced: "This Soul-Magic Cave is divided into three levels: the first level is the earth cave, the second level is the water cave, and the third level is the purple crystal cave, which is where the Dog King lives. There are nine thousand caves in this three-level cave, and it is very difficult for strange animals to get out if they come in."

"Old turtle, if you lead us to successfully wipe out the Nian beast and the dog king, you will be the first hero." Xiaoxing relit the torch and said to the turtle spirit.

"I don't care whether I am a hero or not." The turtle spirit replied: "As long as I can eliminate Emperor Nian and eliminate harm to the animal world, I am willing to do anything."

As they walked and talked, the group soon saw the water in the cave gradually disappear, and the view in front suddenly became clear, as if they had entered another world.

Everyone held up torches and looked at the cave, all of them were stunned. This was a super large amethyst cave, more than ten feet high, and the width and depth were endless. Amethyst stones several feet high filled the cave like rolling hills. There were also some huge amethyst pillars that pierced the cave ceiling like big trees. The roads in the cave were crisscrossed like a maze. Under the light of the fire, these amethysts complemented each other, as crystal clear and dazzling as ice sculptures and jade.

"Wow! Brothers, look, this hole is so beautiful!" Xiaoxing couldn't help but exclaimed.

"Yes, this cave is really beautiful!" Dong, Xi, Chen and others exclaimed in admiration after seeing it.

"Amazing human, this is the third level cave - the Amethyst Cave. The Dog King and Emperor Nian are in the doghouse in the Amethyst Valley in front." The turtle spirit introduced.

"Brothers, grab your weapons and prepare for battle." Xiaoxing knew they were close to the doghouse, so he didn't dare to be careless and ordered everyone immediately.

"Yes, Brother Xing." Everyone agreed. Some who used sticks took sticks, some who used knives took knives, they lit torches, and followed the turtle spirit slowly inside.

As the troops walked and looked, they found that the roads in the Purple Crystal Forest also had many forks and were more complicated and winding than the earth and water caves in front. If they took the wrong path, they would be lost. Therefore, although the turtle spirit was slow, everyone did not dare to surpass it by even a step.

After walking for a while, the turtle spirit suddenly stopped and pointed ahead and said, "Awesome human, the open flat ground ahead is the doghouse. I hope you will succeed in one fell swoop and wipe out the Dog King Nian Di."

After saying this, it hid its head and shrank its feet, lying there like a stone.

"You old turtle, you don't dare to go over. Haha, you are indeed scared by the Nian beast." Dong laughed.

The turtle spirit let him laugh and ignored him. Dong turned around and asked Xiaoxing in boredom: "Xing, are we going to attack now?"

"Yes." Xiao Xing nodded seriously and said to everyone: "Brothers, we have arrived at the doghouse. The Nian Beast and the Dog King are just ahead. Everyone cheer up and destroy them in one fell swoop!"

"Defeat the Dog King and destroy the Nian Beast!" Everyone shouted slogans, held up torches, and prepared for battle.

The majestic slogans echoed in the amethyst cave, and the bright torches illuminated the cave like daylight.

Dong held a stone axe and rushed in with a loud "Wow!" But when he rushed into the den, he didn't see a single puppy, let alone the Dog King and the Nian Emperor.

"Xing, there is not even a shadow of a dog in this kennel. Did the old turtle go to the wrong place?" Dong put away the stone axe and said unhappily.

"Brother Dong, the turtle spirit has lived here for thousands of years, there is no way it would be wrong. I guess the dog king and the others must have heard the sound of the attack and moved away in advance." Xiaoxing analyzed with a frown.

"Xing guessed right. There's a terrible stench here, it must be a doghouse." Xidao said.

"What should we do now? Where should we chase?" Dong asked in confusion, looking at the narrow paths around him.

"Let's ask the old turtle again, maybe it knows where the Dog King and the Nian Beast will move to." Xiaoxing replied.

So they went back to look for the turtle spirit, and found it still lying there like a huge rock. Xiao Xing shouted to the turtle spirit, "Old turtle, old turtle!"

Hearing the shout, the turtle spirit raised its head and asked excitedly, "Powerful humans, have you wiped out Emperor Nian so quickly?"

"Old turtle, you are dreaming! Is it that easy to kill the Nian beast?" Dong pointed at the doghouse and answered quickly: "The Nian beast and the dog king are not here. They probably heard the noise and ran away a long time ago."

"They ran away? What should we do?" asked the turtle spirit in surprise.

"Old turtle, do you know where they will escape to?" Xiaoxing asked.

"This amethyst cave is huge. God knows where they will hide?" The turtle spirit rolled his eyes and answered in embarrassment.

"Xing, since the old turtle doesn't know where they are hiding, we can only look for them slowly." Dong said helplessly.

"It's too time-consuming to wander aimlessly like that." Xiao Xing shook his head, frowned, and asked the turtle spirit again: "Old turtle, do you know any other spacious and flat places in this cave?"

"I know that." The turtle spirit nodded and replied, "There is a flat area less than two miles ahead, which is perfect for animals to live in groups. I can take you there."

"That's great! Let's attack that flat land now." Xiaoxing raised the torch and ordered the turtle spirit to lead the way.

Everyone followed the turtle spirit and walked slowly for a long time before they reached the flat ground. The turtle spirit stopped and pointed ahead and said, "Powerful human, the dog king and the Nian beast may be hiding there, go and attack them."

After saying this, he hid his head and feet as usual and lay on the ground.

"Okay, brothers, get ready for battle!" Xiaoxing ordered again.

"Defeat the Dog King and destroy the Nian beast!" Everyone shouted slogans, holding guns and swords, and rushed towards the flat land.

But he rushed to the end of the field, and still didn't see a single dog. Dong said dejectedly: "Xing, I rushed to the end of the field, and still didn't see a single dog. Dong said dejectedly: "Xing, our guess was wrong, and we didn't see a single dog here."

Xiaoxing held the torch and looked around carefully. Suddenly, his feet slipped and he almost fell. Xiaoxing cursed and looked at what he was stepping on. It turned out to be a pile of dog shit that was still steaming.

"Brother Dong, brothers, we were right. The Dog King Nian Beast must have been hiding here." Xiao Xing pointed at the pile of dog shit and shouted happily, "Look, the dog shit on the ground is still hot, which means they just left not long ago."

"It seems we are one step late again." Dong was anxious. Looking at a small stalactite crystal next to him, he swung his stone axe and smashed it. With a loud "bang", the bowl-thick crystal was broken into several pieces. Then he shouted, "Xing, since they just escaped, let's go after them quickly."

"Okay! Brothers, we will never stop until we catch up with the Nian beast." Xiaoxing replied.

The crowd immediately called the turtle spirit and asked it to lead the way as usual. After a few steps, Lei, who was impatient, shouted at the turtle spirit: "Old turtle, can you run faster? If you are so slow, how can you catch up with the dog king and the others?"

It turns out that the turtle spirit was not slow in the water, but after entering the amethyst cave, it became very slow. At first, everyone was busy admiring the scenery in the cave and did not notice its slowness. Now that they have to chase it at high speed, they find that the turtle spirit is maddeningly slow.

"Amazing human! This is already my fastest speed." The turtle spirit replied while trying hard to move his limbs.