Traveling back to ancient times to determine the zodiac

Everyone turned around and found that Dong had arrived with his team, and they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Chen happily replied loudly: "Brother Dong, you came at the right time. We can't identify the 'Bai Du Xiao' grass, and Xing is afraid of delaying the collection of herbs, so he wants to taste the medicinal properties himself. Come over and help identify which ones are detoxifying and which ones are highly toxic?"

Dong came closer after hearing what he said, and seeing Xiao Xing's anxious look, he suddenly had a bad idea. He took the two similar grasses in a pretentious manner, looked left and right, and pretended to be very confused. After a while, he picked up the grass with black back and said, "Oh! I haven't picked the 'Bai Du Xiao' grass for a long time, and I can't remember it clearly. It seems that the black back is the 'Bai Du Xiao' grass?" After a while, he picked up the grass with green back and said, "This green one looks a little more similar. Oh, I really can't remember it."

"No way? Brother Dong," everyone opened their mouths wide upon hearing this. Chen asked in disbelief, "Before you left the cave, you told the cave master that you knew the 'Hundred Poison Elimination' grass! Think about it carefully again."

Dong was questioned by everyone, his face turned red, he spread his hands and said embarrassedly: "I really can't remember it, it was many years ago."

Everyone's hope turned into disappointment, and their mood instantly plummeted. Not knowing what to do, they just kept asking, "What should we do? What should we do?"

"This..." Dong said hesitantly, "There are only two ways now. Either take an oral test of the medicine, or go back and ask the cave master."

"If we go back and ask the cave master, then Xia Heri and the others will surely die." Xiaoxing took the herbs back from Dong's hand, and said to everyone with a fearless attitude, "Since Dong doesn't know how to identify them, let's just do as I said and try the medicinal properties with our mouths."

After saying that, he put the black herb on the back into his mouth again and chewed it vigorously. After chewing it three or four times, his face changed drastically. He spit out the bitter taste in a hurry and pointed at the herb and shouted, "This is a poisonous herb."

Because the grass was extremely poisonous, Xiaoxing immediately foamed at the mouth, fell to the ground, and his hands and feet twitched.

The others were all horrified and at a loss when they saw this. Chen rushed over and shouted, "Xing, how are you? Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me, hurry up and collect herbs and go back... go back..." Xiao Xing pushed Chen and said with difficulty. Then, he fainted.

Dong was the only one who was secretly delighted and thought he had been fooled. It turned out that Dong had not forgotten how to distinguish the two herbs, but he had always hated Xiaoxing and wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible. Just now, when he saw Xiaoxing trying the poisonous herbs, he suddenly came up with a plan, so he pretended to forget and urged Xiaoxing, who was eager to collect herbs, to try it, intending to poison him to death. Now that he saw that he was indeed poisoned, he pretended to be very anxious and persuaded everyone: "Xing tried the herbs on himself in the hope of collecting herbs and saving people as soon as possible. Let's go collect herbs first and let me take care of him."

Although everyone was anxious and worried, they had no choice but to go to collect herbs with tears in their eyes. When the last ray of light in the sky was fading, everyone collected more than 50 bundles of "Bai Du Xiao" grass. Dong drilled wood to make a fire, lit the torch, and then ordered everyone: "The "Bai Du Xiao" grass has been collected, and we will return tonight."

So they held torches and carried herbs, and two people took turns carrying the unconscious Xiaoxing, and they returned over the mountains and ridges overnight. After walking all night, they finally returned to the top of Tianju Cave at dawn, and entered the cave through the tunnel in the back mountain.

The attack of the snake king this time made Qiu more worried than the previous attacks of the ox king, tiger king, and dragon king. After sending Dong and Xiaoxing to collect herbs, he came to the bottom of the cave again and knelt down to pray to the statue of Nuwa on the cave wall: "Nuwa goddess, Bai Ling angel, after the Dragon King was captured, the evil beast Nian has now sent the snake king and snake army to attack us. The snakes are very poisonous and have caused many people to be poisoned and their lives are in danger. Please ask the goddess to let Bai Ling appear and tell us what to do?"

After praying for a long time, Bai Ling did not appear. Qiu prayed several more times, but still to no avail, so he had to give up.

After waiting anxiously for a whole night, Qiu finally received a report that they had successfully returned from collecting herbs. Qiu was overjoyed and hurriedly ordered everyone to continue. When everyone had safely returned to the cave, Qiu discovered that Xiaoxing had been carried back unconscious.

"Dong, Chen, what's going on?" Qiu asked Dong, Chen and the others in shock and anger: "You are all safe and sound, but He Xing is unconscious?"

Dong had something on his mind and remained silent. Chen, with tears in his eyes, choked up and replied, "Reporting to the cave master, when we were picking the 'Hundred Poison Elimination' grass, we didn't know how to distinguish it from the highly poisonous grass, so we asked Brother Dong. Brother Dong said that it had been too long and he had forgotten how to distinguish it. Xing had no choice but to try the medicine himself. Unfortunately, he ate the highly poisonous herb and has been in a coma ever since. Cave master, please think of a way to save Xing!"

Qiu was furious when he heard this, and shouted at Dong: "Dong, when we were leaving yesterday, I wanted to explain the difference between the 'Hundred Poison Elimination' grass and the extremely poisonous grass, but you kept saying that you knew how to identify them, but you said you forgot when the time came. Xing was poisoned because of you. Now that the poisonous snakes are trapped in the cave, we need people, and Xing is our wise star. If anything happens to him, it will affect the safety of all the people in the cave. Dong, do you admit your guilt? How should I punish you?"

"Cave Master, Uncle, I, I was wrong! It's my fault that I have a bad memory. I, I didn't mean it, please forgive me, nephew!" Dong fell to his knees with a plop, kowtowing and begging for mercy.

Looking at the tiger claw scars on Dong's face and arms, thinking of his hard work in leading people through life and death, Qiu couldn't bear to punish him, so he just said coldly: "Dong, you really disappoint me! This time I must record a serious offense, and cancel your right to elect the cave master in the future. All right, get up quickly, everyone hurry up and save people!"

Dong was stunned when he heard this. He had planned to kill Xing, but ended up canceling his right to elect the cave master. Dong regretted it deeply, but he could do nothing about it.

Qiu left Dong angrily and ordered everyone to crush the "Bai Du Xiao" herb and pour the juice into the mouths of Xia Heri, Damao, Xiaomao, Miao, Ya, etc. Then he ordered Chen to fetch water, and Qiu personally fed water to the unconscious Xiaoxing.

Xiao Xing's face turned blue. After drinking the water, he groaned softly, but he still didn't wake up. Looking at the seriously ill Xiao Xing, Qiu felt very painful and murmured to himself: "Xing, since you woke up from falling off the cliff, you have been reborn. In the past few months, you have not only created many new things, but also come up with many good ideas to help us overcome difficulties time and time again. I didn't expect that you would leave us so soon this time. Alas——"

"Cave Master, I didn't expect that the little star was actually a shooting star. Although it was dazzling, it was too short-lived. Alas--" Zhiye shook his head and sighed.

The others also sighed.

"I hope God will protect this bright star and prevent it from falling." Qiu looked up at the sky and prayed again.

At this time, everyone in the cave knew that Xiaoxing was poisoned, and more and more people came to visit. Hong'er and Lan'er also came. Suddenly seeing the smart and brave Xiaoxing become like this, Hong'er was extremely sad. She rushed to Xiaoxing's side, took one of his hands and shook it hard, shouting loudly: "Brother Xing, wake up! Wake up quickly!"

Seeing that Xiaoxing showed no reaction, Hong'er turned around and asked Qiu: "Dad, can Brother Xing be saved? Will he die?"

"Ah..." Qiu sighed, stroked Hong'er's hair and said, "I can't explain it clearly, but if he is lucky enough to survive tonight, he should be fine!"

"If I can't make it through tonight, I'm doomed?" Hong'er couldn't hold back her tears and burst into tears: "Brother Xing, why are you so stupid? You risked your life just to collect herbs. Why didn't you let others taste the herbs? Wouldn't you be fine then? Woo woo..."

"Hong'er, what are you talking about?" Qiu pulled Hong'er up and comforted her, "It is precisely because Xing only cares about others and does not care about his own safety that he is a great hero, a great hero who is admirable, respectable, and worthy of praise. He fought for the people's interests, and even if he died for this, he is great and glorious, and he will live forever in people's hearts!"

Those words moved everyone present to tears. Everyone sighed and worried about Xiaoxing. Dong, seeing everyone worshipping Xiaoxing, regretted his trick. Qiu stood up and went to check on Xia Heri, Damao, Xiaomao, and others who were bitten by the snake. He turned to ask Dong, "Dong, how are Xia Heri and the injured after taking the medicine?"

"Reporting to the cave master, Da Mao, Xiao Mao, Yu and most of the others have seen their pain relieved and their swelling subsided, so they are out of danger. Only Xia Heri, Miao, Ya and Dunzi have not shown any improvement and are in great danger." Dong replied.

Hearing this, Qiu went to see Xia first. He saw that Xia was still unconscious, his whole body was swollen, his breathing was weak, he looked very heavy, and his life was in danger.

Xue'er cried, "Cave Master, I'm afraid I can't go down. Wuuwu..."

Qiu sighed and comforted her, "Xue'er, the one who was injured while saving everyone is also a hero who deserves admiration and praise. They are all role models for everyone to learn from."

"The cave master is right." The warrior Xiaoquan said with lingering fear: "The snakes were chasing us very fiercely at that time. If Xia Hexing and the others had not risked their lives to cover us, I would have been bitten by the snakes as well."

"Koizumi is right. If they hadn't stepped forward, there would definitely be more people injured." said another warrior Hao.

"Alas, at this time when poisonous snakes are rampant and the Nian beast has not been eliminated, our warriors have encountered misfortunes one after another. It is really against God's will!" Qiu sighed again with pain.

"Cave Master, all this is caused by the hateful poisonous snake. Now that we have picked the 'Hundred Poison Eliminating' grass, I am willing to lead my brothers to wipe out the snake king and his army, and avenge Xia Heri and those injured!" Dong wanted to take this opportunity to make a contribution, and shouted loudly.

"Brother Dong is right! Cave Master, let's go and kill the poisonous snakes now to avenge Xing and the lower class!" Chen and the other warriors gritted their teeth, responded loudly, and asked to fight.

"Dong and Chen, you all share a common hatred of the enemy and your courage is commendable. But the snake king and its army are not only highly toxic, but their attack power cannot be ignored. It would be better for you to think of a countermeasure." Qiu frowned and expressed his concern.

"Cave Master, now we have the 'Hundred Poison Eliminating' grass to protect us. Even if we are bitten by it a few times, we don't have to worry about being poisoned, let alone being in danger of our lives. We can just deal with the snake king and the snake army as if they were big insects." Dong said confidently.

"Well, all right!" Qiu stroked his white beard, frowning even more, and then announced loudly: "In order to get rid of the snake plague as soon as possible and for the safety of everyone in the cave, we will go out and fight the snake king. We must wipe out all the poisonous snakes and capture the snake king alive!"

At that moment, all the warriors, one thousand in number, were gathered together, and each of them first drank a bamboo cup of 'Bai Du Xiao' grass juice to detoxify, and then took their weapons and prepared to set off.

At this time, it was already dawn. Qiu looked at the group of snakes roaming outside the fire belt and rushed out of the cave first.

Thousands of snakes were still entrenched outside the fire zone. The snake king, who was a little further away, stood up and peered into the cave, looking determined and arrogant. At this time, the rooster flew from Gusonggang to the snake king and sang praises to him: "Brother Snake is really powerful. As soon as he arrived, he killed the humans and made them flee. They were trapped in the cave and dared not come out."

"Hiss—" the snake king spit out the core, and replied arrogantly: "Brother Rooster, is there anything else to say? I think humans are actually vulnerable and cowardly. They dare not come out from yesterday until now. If they hadn't sealed the cave with fire, we would have attacked them and poisoned them to death."

"A small bite from your poisonous snake is more deadly than a large bite from a tiger. How can humans not be afraid of you?" the rooster continued.