Traveling back to ancient times to determine the zodiac

The next day, just after dawn, Chun woke Xiaoxing up and said, "Xing'er, it's dawn. Get up quickly and let's go greet the sun together."

"Welcome the sun?" Xiaoxing asked curiously.

"Yes, this is a daily ritual. Have you forgotten even this?" Tsubaki replied.

Xiaoxing said "Oh", then got up and followed Chun out of the cave.

Except for the old, weak, sick and disabled, everyone else in the cave got up, about 6,000 people in total, and gathered outside the cave in an orderly manner.

In front of Tianju Cave is a vast plain, and not far away, the Hongmeng River is flowing peacefully.

Everyone came to an open space at the entrance of the cave, facing east, standing quietly and waiting.

A quarter of an hour later, the sun burst out from the horizon, shining brightly and illuminating the world. Qiu raised his hands and led the cheering: "Oh! Sun, sun! The sun is out!"

Everyone then followed suit, waving, shouting, and cheering in celebration.

The sun rises every day, so what is there to celebrate? Xiao Xing couldn't help but smile and said sarcastically, "It seems that the ancients were really ignorant."

After the ceremony, everyone returned to the cave. The women lit a bonfire, set up stone pots and stone slabs, and began to cook breakfast. The men sharpened their knives and guns, made bows and arrows, and prepared hunting equipment.

Xiaoxing had never hunted before because of his disability, but now that he is healthy, he feels embarrassed to eat for free, so he decided to go hunting with them.

He found Xia Hechen who was making arrows and told him about his intention to go hunting. Xia Hechen agreed. Xia threw a stone knife and a bow to Xiaoxing and said, "Xiaoxing, you are going to go hunting. I have a spare stone knife and bow. I'll give them to you."

Xiaoxing took the stone knife and bow and arrow, and went to report to Chun: "Mom, I want to go hunting with the cave master and others."

Chun was a man who understood the greater good and did not object. He advised, "Xing'er, when you go hunting, you must follow the cave master and his men closely. Never act alone. Your father died that way."

"I understand, Mom." Xiaoxing nodded in agreement.

After everyone finished breakfast, Qiu gathered the hunters together, totaling about a thousand people. Qiu stood in front of everyone, stroked his white beard, and announced to everyone in a loud voice: "Warriors, are you ready?"

"Cave Master, we are all ready!" everyone responded.

"Now that we are ready, I declare that we will go hunting at Jade Peak in the northwest today."

"We will follow the cave master's orders!" everyone responded in unison.

Qiu held a stone axe in his hand, carried a bow and arrow on his back, and led his troops to march out of the cave. Although Qiu was over 60 years old, he was still as brave as ever and was still an excellent hunter.

Xiaoxing set out with the other hunters. Before they left, Chun came hurriedly and stuffed a bag of food into Xiaoxing's hand, saying, "Xing'er, this is your first time hunting, so you must be careful. This is a bag of snacks. Eat some when you're hungry."

"Mom, I understand. Bye!" Xiaoxing took the small bag, said goodbye to Chun, and caught up with the troops.

Chun watched Xiaoxing go until he could no longer see her and then returned to the cave.

Qiu led his troops across the plains and across the Hongmeng River. After walking for more than an hour, they finally stopped under a small forest.

Qiu pointed to the mountain and said to everyone: "My fellow warriors, this is Jade Peak. We will hunt here today."

"Yes, Cave Master." Everyone nodded to show that they understood.

"My fellow warriors, before you go up the mountain, let me emphasize to you again: danger is everywhere out there, so be careful and don't act alone." Qiu gave the same old warning.

"I know, I know. This isn't the first time I've come out hunting." The sturdy man following Qiu was named Dong. He was the son of Qiu's eldest brother Shan. He was about thirty years old, with a face full of flesh, a fierce look, a burly figure, and was very brave. There were claw marks all over his face and arms from fighting with wild beasts. He replied impatiently, "Master, let's get started."

So, Qiu led a group of old hunters including Ling, Ping, Chuan, Zhi, Sang, Tong, Yang, Liu, etc. to go up the mountain first. Then came the Donghe brothers Nan, Xi, Bei, Zhong and the middle-aged hunters including Shuye, Shugen, Shusapling, Guo, Heizi, etc. The last came the Xiahe Xiaochen, Xiaoyue, Xiaori, Xiaofeng, Xiaoyun, Xiaolei, Xiaodian, Xiaoyu, Xiaosha, etc. A group of young hunters. Xiaoxing naturally followed in the last group.

These were all primeval forests, with tall trees, dense forests, deep and dark. Since it was early spring, the leaves had not fallen yet and food was scarce, so there were not many prey.

As soon as they reached the top of the mountain, the lower called Zhi: "Uncle Zhi, you have a lot of hunting experience, please teach us younger generations!"

Although Zhi was over fifty years old, he was still energetic. His small eyes were always looking around, and his gaze was sharper than an eagle. When Zhi heard about the teaching, he immediately agreed: "If you don't know anything, just ask. I will tell you everything I know."

"Uncle Zhi, this forest is so quiet, how can we find prey?" he asked in confusion.

"Next, based on my hunting experience of more than fifty years, although there are many animals, they are like birds of a feather flock together. Birds fly in the sky, and fish swim in the water. Jackals often live in groups, and tigers and leopards often walk alone. Carnivores have sharp teeth and claws, and herbivores have long horns and long legs. Snakes have their own paths, and mice have their own paths. If you want to hunt, you must first understand the habits of your prey." Zhiru was reciting, talking endlessly. After saying this, he pointed to the ground and said, "If you want to find prey, you must be alert and learn to observe. First, you must learn to see if there are animal footprints on the ground, and whether there is fresh feces. Are those small grasses and shrubs moving without wind? Second, you must learn to listen to whether there are any unusual sounds around, no matter how small the sound is, you must not let it go. Third, you must alert the snake. For example, if there is prey hidden in a piece of deep grass, we can first throw some stones to test it, so that the prey can be driven out. These three points are essential common sense for a hunter."

"Uncle Zhi, we got it." Xia nodded, said goodbye to Zhi, waved his stone knife and said to the younger brothers behind him: "Chen, Xing, Feng, Yun, brothers, let's go."

"Yes, Brother Xia." Xiaoxing, Chen and the others agreed and followed Xia into the mountains.

Everyone was looking around, searching for prey. After a while, the sharp-eyed Chen pointed at the grass in the distance and shouted, "Brother Xia, brothers, the grass ahead is moving without wind, I guess there must be prey."

Xia and the others looked in the direction Chen pointed, and indeed found that the grass was shaking constantly. Xia picked up a stone and said, "Brothers, look at me throwing a stone to ask for directions."

After saying that, he threw the stone in his hand towards the bushes.

There was a gray rabbit in the grass. It was hit by the stone and turned around and ran away in fright.

"Brothers, it's a rabbit. Shoot it quickly." Seeing the gray rabbit escape, he quickly drew his bow and arrow and shot at it.

Chen, Sun, Moon, Wind, Cloud and others followed suit and fired a few arrows, but all of them missed. Chen was about to run after it when another arrow suddenly hit the rabbit right in the middle, causing it to fall to the ground and die.

Chen looked back and saw that it was Xiao Xing who shot it. He said enviously, "Xing, you are really good! You shot it with one arrow."

"Oh my god! Xing, you just went hunting and your archery skills are better than ours." Xiaye said admiringly.

"No, no—," Xiao Xing said modestly, "I just predicted the direction the rabbit would run in advance."

After saying that, he excitedly ran to pick up the prey. But when he saw the dead rabbit, he found that its tail was two feet long. He couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise: "Hey, why does this rabbit have a long tail?"

"Xing, what's the big deal? Don't rabbits have long tails? Do they have short tails?" Chen was not surprised by the rabbit, but was curious about Xiaoxing.

Rabbits in the 20th century all have short tails. Xiao Xing guessed in her heart: Maybe the rabbits in ancient times were different. Thinking of this, she smiled and replied: "Oh, maybe I remembered it wrong!"

"Xiaoxing, I think you didn't remember it wrongly, but you just fell and became stupid! Haha——" Xia laughed.

"Fool, hahahaha——" Feng and everyone else immediately started laughing.

Xiao Xing did not argue, picked up the prey, and continued to patrol with the others. Suddenly, the subordinate shouted, "Everyone be careful, there is a wild boar ahead."

When everyone looked over, they saw a big wild boar digging the ground vigorously, looking for something to eat. It was estimated to be more than 200 kilograms, with two fangs sticking out.

He gestured to the crowd to surround them, and said, "Everyone, spread out and surround them."

Upon hearing this, Xiaoxing, Chen, Feng, Yun and Lei gripped their weapons tightly and quickly surrounded the wild boar.

The wild boar rolled its eyes at the crowd, showing no fear. When the crowd's encirclement narrowed, it rushed out with a roar. It was very powerful, opening its long mouth and revealing its sharp fangs. Not to mention being bitten by it, even if it hit you, you would be seriously injured if you didn't die.

But the wild boar obviously underestimated these small hunters and escaped a little too late.

"Hey! Where do you want to escape, stupid pig?" He roared and rushed towards the wild boar, raised the stone knife high, and chopped it down on the head.

With a "snap", the knife hit the wild boar's head. Blood splattered, and the wild boar was knocked to the ground by the heavy blow. It struggled to get up and run, but the knife chopped it several more times until the wild boar was motionless.

Xiao Xing, Chen and others looked at the killed wild boar with admiration. Feng praised: "Wow! Brother Xia, you are really amazing. You killed this wild boar by yourself."

"Brother Xia, you knocked down such a big wild boar with just one sword. Your martial arts value must be at least 1,300." Xiaoxing said admiringly.

"Force value?" This was the first time I heard this term, and it was very fresh to me. I asked, "Is 1,300 the highest?"

"He's the tallest person I've ever met." Xiaoxing said.

"Really? Am I that powerful?" He grinned, revealing a row of white teeth.

Before Xiao Xing could reply, he heard a loud shout from the distance: "Head, an elk escaped. Hurry up and catch it."

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw an elk running towards them.

"Okay, Brother Dong." Xia agreed, and then ordered everyone: "Chen, Yue, Feng, and all the brothers, quickly surround the elk and don't let it escape."

Upon hearing this, everyone formed a large fan-shaped team and prepared for battle.

The elk panicked and rushed straight towards Xiaoxing.

"Xiaoxing, kill it quickly." he shouted.

Xiao Xing raised the stone knife and was about to swing it down when she found that the elk had a very big belly, as if it was about to give birth. She hesitated for a moment.

The elk took advantage of this gap and quickly fled down the mountain and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Xiao Xing, why didn't you kill it? You had such a good chance, but you let it run away. What a pity, what a pity." He asked with a sigh.

Before Xiaoxing could answer, Dong came over with a stone axe in his hand, pointed at Xiaoxing and asked sternly: "Xiaoxing, why did you let the elk run away? Don't you want food?"

"Brother Xia, Brother Dong, that is a doe about to give birth. Killing one is equivalent to killing two. That is too cruel." Xiaoxing replied reluctantly.

"Xiao Xing, what's wrong with the doe that's about to give birth? Can't we eat it?" Dong scolded, "As a hunter, you have to hunt other animals and feed yourself. If we don't kill it, won't the tigers and leopards hunt it anyway? So, if you want to survive, you have to be cruel."

"Brother Dong, we are human beings, not animals." Xiaoxing still wanted to argue.

"Brother Dong, this is Xiaoxing's first hunting today, so don't bother with him. At worst, we can just go find another one." The lower brother quickly stepped forward to persuade him.

Dong glared at Xiaoxing and had to give up, then led everyone to continue patrolling.

They walked a little further, and Xi pointed to a small valley about 20 feet away and whispered, "Brother Dong, look, there is a muntjac over there."