Traveling back to ancient times to determine the zodiac

"Okay!" Lan'er agreed, imitating Hong'er's example by putting her hands together and bowing to the sky while praying: "Please God bless Brother Xing and Brother Chen. May they be blessed and safe after they fall down."

Putting aside the two girls who kept praying to the sky, let’s talk about the clouds on the overpass. After they struggled to rescue all the people hanging under the bridge, Qiu hurriedly ordered everyone to retreat back to the east cliff.

This attack was a complete failure, and they lost four warriors, Huo Hehe, Xiao Xing, and Chen. This was beyond their expectations. Qiu stood on the edge of the cliff and looked down, only to see clouds and mist, which were bottomless.

"Fire——, River——, Star——, Planet——" Qiu put his hands together like a trumpet and shouted down the cliff. But no matter how long he shouted, there was no response except the whistling mountain wind.

"Dad..." Hong'er came over with red eyes and heartbroken, begging, "Brother Xing and Brother Chen have fallen down, let's go down and save them!"

"Hong'er, what nonsense are you talking about? This chasm is a hundred feet high. There is no possibility for Xing, Chen, He and Huo to survive. Why should we go down to save them?" Dong, who was standing aside, felt secretly delighted when he saw Xiaoxing falling down the chasm, but when he heard about rescuing them, he immediately expressed his opposition.

"Yes, if you fall from such a height, you will definitely die!" Xi, Bei and others nodded and agreed.

"Brother Dong, although this natural chasm is unfathomable, Xing and Chen are lucky, so maybe no one was injured or killed. So we must go down and take a look." Yue has a good relationship with Xiaoxing and Chen, so of course she disagrees with Dong's statement.

"What Yue said is right. What if Xing and the others are lucky enough to survive unharmed? They will be trapped and die under the cliff." Feng Heyun and others all supported Yue's opinion.

"Humph! This cliff is high and steep. Even if they don't fall to their death, how can we get down? In the end it's like a monkey trying to catch the moon - a waste of effort." Dong pointed at the cliff and offered another suggestion.

"In order to save people, we must give it a try no matter how difficult it is. Don't you agree?" Yue raised his arms and shouted loudly.

"Yes! No matter what, we have to see the person alive or the body dead. We can never ignore it." Feng raised his hand to agree.

"Brother Xing is a hero. His life or death is uncertain now. We can't give up just like that." Yun Ye shouted loudly.

“You can’t give up.”

"Can not give up!"

For a moment, everyone was excited and raised their arms and shouted.

"Everyone, stop arguing!" Qiu waved his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet, and then said sadly: "The failure of this attack is all my fault for underestimating the enemy. Huo, He, Xing, Chen and others fell off the cliff because of me. Therefore, whether they are alive or dead, we must go down and take a look. If they are alive, we will rescue them; if they are dead, we will collect their bodies. As for the steep cliff that is difficult to climb, we will find another way."

"The cave master is right. The Nian beast is hiding here with the Sheep King and will not leave for a while. It won't be too late for us to attack after we rescue Xing, Chen and others." Zhi nodded and followed.

Since the cave master and Zhi had decided to rescue them, Dong had no choice but to stop talking. Qiu looked around at everyone again and gave the order: "My fellow warriors, I declare now that we will split into two teams. One team, led by me, will go down the cliff to rescue Huohe, He, Xing, and Chen. The other team, led by Zhi and Dong, will stay on the top of this mountain to monitor the Nian beast and the sheep king's flock."

"We will follow the cave master's orders!" Everyone answered in unison after receiving the order.

Therefore, Qiu selected fifty warriors, including Yue, Feng, Yun, Lei, Dian, etc. They took stone knives and axes, food and ropes, and prepared to set off.

At this time, Hong'er and Lan'er stopped in front of the team. Hong'er asked, "Dad, I want to go down and save Brother Xing and Brother Chen too."

Lan Er also said, "Cave Master, I want to go down and save them too!"

"No! That's too dangerous!" Qiu flatly refused: "You two girls should stay here with Dong Ge and the others."

"Dad, if Brother Xing is really dead, I don't want to live anymore. Why should I be afraid of danger?" Hong'er insisted.

"Yes, if I lose Brother Chen, then I will die too, so that I can be with him forever." Lan'er continued.

Qiu understood his daughter's temper, sighed, and finally nodded in agreement, putting Hong'er and Lan'er in the team.

Saving lives is like putting out a fire. Qiu immediately led everyone to slowly climb down the cliff. The cliff was very steep, but fortunately the mountain was covered with vines, so they could hold on to the vines for support in dangerous places. Everyone held hands and supported each other, shouting at the top of their lungs as they walked: "Stars, stars, rivers, fire." But no matter how hard they shouted, there was no response.

Before they had descended a quarter of the way down, it was getting dark, and Qiu found a slightly flat place to set up camp and rest. Hong'er was worried about Xiaoxing's safety, and said anxiously, "Dad, Brother Xing and the other two need help, should we go down tonight?"

"Hong'er, I know you are anxious, but this cliff is so steep and we can't see at night. It's easy for something to happen. For everyone's safety, we have to wait until dawn." Qiu comforted his daughter.

"But the longer Brother Xing and the others stay down there, the more danger they will face. And they will definitely feel very helpless and lonely, and may even collapse because of it." Hong'er added.

"Hong'er," Qiu stroked her shoulder and said, "Xing is a good child. I am as worried as you are about his accident, but we cannot let others get into trouble because of him. I think Xing will understand."

After Qiu's repeated persuasion, Hong'er finally gave up and went to rest in tears.

At dawn the next day, everyone continued to move down the cliff. The further down they went, the steeper the cliff became. After another day of hard climbing, they were about halfway down the cliff. Everyone called out vigorously, but still no one responded.

At night, Qiu still found a flat place to rest. At dinner, Hong'er had no appetite. She asked Qiu again and again: "Dad, we called for so long, why didn't Brother Xing and the others respond? Did he really fall to his death? Woo-woo-"

"Xingji people are blessed by heaven, so everything should be fine. It's so high up here, he definitely can't hear it, so don't worry too much!" Qiu had to comfort her again and again.

Looking at the starry sky and listening to the whistling mountain wind, Hong'er was so sad because she missed Xiaoxing that she sang with tears in her eyes: "Looking at the bright stars in the sky, I think of your bright eyes. Listening to the sound of the river flowing, I think of your cheerful voice. Your smile always appears in front of my eyes, and your figure keeps circling in my mind. Ah! My brother, I am occupied by longing during the day, and even the best wine is not sweet. I am awakened by dreams of you at night, tossing and turning and unable to fall asleep. Ah! My brother, without you, the world becomes extremely cold. Without you, the world becomes dark. Ah! My brother..."

"Hong'er, please stop singing. I can't bear to listen to it anymore!" Lan'er couldn't help crying and pulled Hong'er's hand to persuade her.

"Yes! Hong'er, don't be too sad and take care of your body." Feng Yi persuaded.

"Lan'er, Brother Feng, thank you for caring about me." Hong'er's face was also full of tears, and she said painfully: "Brother Xing is such a good person. If he is gone, I don't want to live anymore."

"Me too. If anything happens to Brother Chen, I don't want to live either." Being led by Hong'er, Lan'er couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Xing and the others will be fine. They must still be alive. Maybe we can find them tomorrow." Yue looked at the two people who were crying loudly and kept coaxing them.

Yun, Lei and others nearby also tried to comfort him, "Hong'er, Lan'er, don't worry! Yue is right, Xing and Chen are blessed with good fortune, they will be fine."

After a lot of effort, Hong'er and Lan'er stopped feeling sad and fell asleep leaning on each other.

On the third day, everyone continued to climb slowly and arduously down the cliff. In the afternoon, the scenery below the cliff was already vaguely discernible, and everyone couldn't help but feel happy. Qiu said: "We are finally almost at the bottom of the mountain. Everyone, work harder."

"Yes, cave master." Everyone answered and shouted towards the bottom of the mountain: "Fire, River, Star, Chen, where are you?"

After shouting a few times, a response came from below: "Cave Master, we are here. Come and save us!"

"Xing, Chen, you are really still alive! That's great!" Qiu was surprised and happy, and hurriedly looked down in the direction of the sound. He saw Xiaoxing and Chen about twenty feet below, waving their arms desperately towards the sky.

"Yeah, Xing and Chen are still alive, that's great!" Everyone was very happy and celebrated.

"Xing, Chen, don't worry, we will come down to rescue you!" After Qiu said this, he immediately ordered everyone to speed up and descend.

After another half day of hard climbing, Qiu and his party finally reached Xiaoxing and Chen. The reunion after the disaster was even more exciting. Qiu couldn't help but shed tears on his weathered face. He stared at the two and asked, "Xing, Chen, did you fall or get hurt?"

"Cave Master, we didn't fall, we are all fine!" the two answered at the same time.

"What about Fire and River? How are they? Did you see them?"

"Brother Huo and Brother He unfortunately fell to their deaths." Xiao Xing said sadly, "We found them at the bottom of the cliff, they had been smashed into a pulp."

"Alas!" Hearing this, Qiu sighed and murmured to himself, "It's all my fault for not thinking carefully. This is what happened. Alas——"

"Cave Master, there will be casualties if we attack, so you don't have to blame yourself." Xiaoxing consoled.

"Brother Xing, you are really still alive! I was so worried about you! Woo woo--" Hong'er rushed to Xiaoxing in ecstasy, snuggled in his arms and burst into tears.

Lan Er rushed to Chen from behind, tears streaming down her face with joy: "Brother Chen, you guys are all still alive? That's great!"

Xiaoxing and Chen saw them rushing over and hugged one each.

"Hong'er, I'm fine." Xiaoxing hugged Hong'er tightly and comforted her repeatedly: "Everything is over. Thank you for your encouragement."

"Brother Xing, I love you! I'm really afraid of losing you!" Hong'er was still sobbing.

"You are my baby, how can I bear to abandon you?" Xiaoxing looked at Hong'er and was very moved.

Over there, Chen welcomed Lan'er into his arms, stroked her little face, and said doubtfully: "Lan'er, I'm fine. Haha, what's wrong? Do you want me to die?"

"Who wants you to die?" Lan Er stared at Chen and said seriously, "I don't want you to die. If you do that, no one will give me gifts, and no one will play with me."

"Silly girl, I can't bear to leave you either!" Chen hugged Lan'er warmly and said, "Do you know? Because of your encouragement, I was able to hold on for a lot longer. Thank you, Lan'er."

"Cough, cough——" Qiu pretended to cough twice, and the two pairs of lovers let go of their hands and looked at Qiu with red faces.

"Xing, Chen, how can you be safe and sound after falling from such a high place, without even a single injury?" Qiu asked in surprise.

"Cave Master, this is all thanks to the eagle. It was thanks to it that we were saved." Xiaoxing turned around and pointed at the eagle behind him and replied.

It turned out that when Xiaoxing and Chen fell, they both thought they were going to die. Suddenly, Xiaoxing thought of the eagle, so he whistled, and the eagle fell from the sky and flew towards them.

"Big Eagle, come and save us!" Xiaoxing shouted at the top of his lungs.

Hearing this, the eagle flew over the two of them and stretched out its legs. Xiaoxing held Chen tightly with one hand, and with the other, tightly grasped one of the eagle's legs. The eagle flapped its wings vigorously, and although it couldn't lift them up, it greatly slowed down the speed of falling, so the two of them were able to escape. When it landed, the eagle's wings were slightly injured and it could not fly for the time being.