With a shrill and piercing chirp, a huge bird of prey with a terrifying form fluttered its wings and soared to the top of the distant mound, staring down at Dayi with pride......

The terrifying bird of prey was as red as blood, its chest and neck were black and black, its sharp beak, sharp claws, wings, and long tail were burning with golden flames.

In an instant, the extreme temperature of this heaven and earth soared, the blazing wind was like a flood, the scorching sand was dry, and the earth was wild!

The four of them were extremely stunned, Wei Huadun and Ah Wolf immediately pulled up and down, and hurriedly retreated and avoided behind the big trees in the forest. The surging heat immediately swept in, and the plants, trees, flowers and leaves on the periphery of the wild forest were instantly scorched, and between the hissing sounds, the high-temperature water mist evaporated, stretching for thousands of miles.

After half an hour, the four of them were frightened and palpitated. Quietly looking into the distance, everyone blurted out:

"It's actually ......" Zhuang Meng was full of shame, and he already recognized the terrible bird of prey......

Wei Huadun and the three of them were shocked and exclaimed in unison: "Phoenix———— phoenix————??!!! ”

"Hmph~" Zhuang Meng smiled complacently, turned his head, and said with a high attitude: "Do you know what a real phoenix looks like?" ”

"......" The three of them were silent for two seconds, blinked, tilted their heads sideways, and replied: "I don't know~"

Zhuang Meng added three points of pride, tidied up his hairstyle, and started the 'floodgates open, gushing, and forking with strength' mode: "Listen! The image of the phoenix, like the dragon, is more and more complicated by the addition of conjecture and contribution in the future......"

The original record of the phoenix is very simple in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas": "There is a bird, its shape is like a chicken, and the name is Phoenix." In historical books such as "The Great Wilderness of the West" and "Evidence of Materia Medica", there are even records of eating phoenixes. But in the later period, the phoenix was falsely rumored and gradually evolved into "the queen of the unicorn and the deer, the head and tail of the snake, the back of the dragon turtle, the be......ak of the swallow-jawed chicken, etc., the image of N kinds of hybrid piecing".

Thousands of years later, the Western Han Dynasty's "Huainanzi" was more imaginative: "Yu Jia gave birth to a flying dragon, a flying dragon gave birth to a phoenix emperor, a phoenix emperor gave birth to a bird, a bird gave birth to a bird, and a bird with feathers was born a bird." "I actually imagined that the phoenix was born of a dragon~ and the "Tripitaka" also has a similar saying: "Yu Jia should give birth to a dragon, and a dragon should give birth to a phoenix." ”

The annotated "Classic of Mountains and Seas" records like this: "There are three five birds, one is called the emperor bird, one is called the Luan bird, and the other is called the phoenix bird." Therefore, later generations derived: "phoenix" and "phoenix" are different male and female species of birds.

Volume 10 of "Primary School Pearls" written by the famous scholar [Wang Yinglin] of the Southern Song Dynasty and published in the fifth year of Dade in the Yuan Dynasty is divided into more details: "The phoenix elephant is five, and the five-colored and red phoenix; Yellow Eagle; Qingzhiluan; The purple one is the cormorant, and the white one is the bird. In later generations, the late Ming and early Qing Dynasty writers and historians [Zhang Dai] wrote "Night Sailing Boat", which also contained this set of sayings: "Those who look like phoenixes have five colors, those who are red are phoenixes, those who are green are luan, those who are yellow are flamours, those who are purple are colossals, and those who are white are Honghu." ”

Similar to the phoenix, there are such as "corbels, pelotins, plovers, quails, flams, partridges, quails, hoofs, birds, birds, birds, birds......, birds, etc., many of them do not have, think of all kinds of bird records, there are many people who preach, more sayings, opinions, and imagination~

Later documents and historical materials such as "Erya Shi Bird" and "Shuo Wen Jie Zi" depict the appearance and habits of the phoenix in great detail, as if they had really seen it.

Therefore, many critics took advantage of the topic and claimed: there is no such thing as a phoenix! It's all made up by the mid-to-late authors.

Fortunately, in addition to documentary records, archaeological discoveries provide strong evidence.

In 1977, about 7,000 years away from the 21st century, the [Hemudu Cultural Site] was unearthed, and the [Double Bird Chaoyang Pattern Ivory Saucer] was unearthed, with a winged phoenix bird on each side of the artifact.

In 1991, [Gaomiao Cultural Site, Hongjiang City, Hunan Province] unearthed a white clay pot with a high straight collar, stamped with a phoenix pattern, with a history of 7,400 years from the 21st century! It is the oldest phoenix pattern found in China so far.

While no one has been able to prove that the phoenix actually existed, no one has been able to prove that they didn't exist.

There is no doubt that "dragon" and "phoenix" are the two major totem systems inherited by the Chinese nation! Like the phoenix, it is also a very strong common national complex among compatriots of all ethnic groups in China. The phoenix endows many beautiful allegorical traits: beauty, auspiciousness, kindness, tranquility, benevolence, and nature......

He Xin, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in his book "Talking about the Dragon and the Phoenix" released in 1987 and 2004, listed very detailed evidence and arguments to argue: The phoenix did exist! Its prototype animal is a large bird......

Wei Huadun and the three of them listened very seriously.

Zhuang Meng finally came to such a conclusion: "So, you look at those big monster birds are so fierce, how can they be phoenixes~"

"It's such a big circle...... You bastard just say "no" and you're done!" The three of them were angry at the same time, but they cared more about the other two words: "Those??? ”

Turn your head and look again: good guys! ……

Two more birds of prey of the same kind flew up behind the mound, and three fiery behemoths surrounded Dayi in the middle below......

At the same time, two more chirps sounded in the distance...... But in the middle of the wilderness, an adult male rhinoceros fled in a hurry, and according to later biological disciplines, the largest species of rhinoceros is the second largest land mammal after the African elephant. But at the moment, the rhinoceros was fleeing for his life in fear......

Two other birds of prey followed, one of which swooped down like a falcon hunting a rabbit, its flaming golden talons, which burned the back of the rhinoceros's neck the moment it touched the thick skin. The claws that sharpen the iron like mud easily pierced deep into the rhinoceros beef, ignoring the rhinoceros's painful roar, and then flapping its wings, actually lifted the whole rhinoceros into the air! It's like an eagle catching a young mouse......

The bird of prey in the rear flew to grab the food and grabbed the back half of the rhinoceros; The two birds fought fiercely in the air, and they actually tore the rhinoceros in two! During the whole process, the rhinoceros did not shed a single drop of blood, only because of the extreme heat brought by the raptor...... In the blink of an eye, the big rhinoceros was pecked and devoured by two birds, and there were no bones left! It's like a seagull devouring a duckling......

After eating, the two birds fly again and gather with other members of the same kind.

At this time, the air and ground around Dayi's side, flying or falling, had already surrounded nine birds of prey!

It's just that I don't know why, and the first war will inevitably be delayed......

"If you say...... The 'Dayi shot for nine days' recorded in the historical materials was actually that he shot these birds of prey...... From a scientific point of view, my sanity is also more willing to accept this situation. But ......" Wei Huadun raised his cheeks and wondered, "You said that those vicious strange birds are not phoenixes...... So what exactly are they? ”

"You are asking the right person~" Zhuang Meng bared his teeth and smiled: "I have never heard of the legendary Zhu ......"

"Suzaku! ——”

"Hahahaha~" After Wei Huadun blurted out, he laughed and said: "Actually, I have long guessed that those are Vermilion Birds, but now that I really see this legendary creature, I am a little surprised and speechless." Yes! Hahahaha~"

Zhuang Meng nodded and bared his teeth and smiled: "Mmmm, I believe, I believe." It's a pity that you guessed wrong, hehehaha~"

"......" Wei Huadun's smiling face and laughter were stuck like a computer suddenly crashing.

Zhuang Meng was even more proud, and said with a proud smile: "Don't be so embarrassed, in fact, there are many people who are not as good as you, and the cranial nerves are short-circuited, and they confuse Suzaku and Phoenix......

According to the [Warring States Period: Zeng Marquis B Tomb Lacquer Box] unearthed in [Suixian], it was found that the complete [Twenty-eight (Star) Nakshatras] and names recorded on it for the first time, among which the [Four Elephants] such as Suzaku were impressively listed.

At the same time, according to the collation and research of the celestial data in the [Divination] unearthed in the [Yin Ruins], scholars found that in the oracle bone inscriptions of the early Yin Shang Dynasty, there are also image records of the four elephants such as the Vermilion Bird.

It is generally recognized in the historiography that the Twenty-Eight Nakshatras were first used for astronomy and are very important for the history of Chinese astronomy. The five beasts in "Huainanzi", namely: [Xuanwu, Vermilion Bird, Green Dragon, White Tiger, and Yellow Dragon], are called: the five beasts of Tianguan.

There is also a record of "Erya Shitian" of [Ancestor of Dictionaries": "The willow, willow, and quail fire are also ......" [Guo Pu] and [Xing Yu]'s "Erya Commentary, Volume 6, Shitian Eighth" also contains: "Quail fire, the second name of the willow is also ......" all take "quail fire" as "willow house", and in "Calendar Strategy", quail fire is willow house, star house and Zhang house.

There is also the "Four Inventories of the Catalogue of the Ping Hui Journal": "Kui Lou stomach Pleiades Bi Shen Shen is the god of the white tiger, Jing Ghost Oak Xing Zhang Yizhen is the god of the Vermilion Bird...... "Quail Guanzi Duwan Eighth" contains: "The phoenix, the bird of the quail fire ......", referring to the phoenix with the bird of quail fire, it can be seen that the phoenix belongs to the seven houses in the south, but it is not equal to the god of the seven houses.

Wei Huadun and the three of them were confused when they heard it, and they almost didn't understand what Zhuang Meng said, especially the academic content about "divination".

After enduring it for a long time, it can be regarded as looking forward to a conclusive answer: "Therefore, the Vermilion Bird is the Vermilion Bird, and it is similar to the historical records and existence of the Phoenix, although there are some similarities in appearance, but in essence, it is completely different from the south and the north~"

"In the 21st century, the Chinese compatriots in Gansu and other regions still continue the folk tradition of sacrificing the four elephants such as the Vermilion Bird." Zhuang Meng sighed: "If you don't understand, you can go to other people's inheritors to ask for advice~ Some guys casually check the information on the Internet, and they don't debate whether it's true or not, so they confuse Suzaku with Phoenix, alas! It's terrible to be uneducated~~"

Ah Wolf looked at Wei Huadun who was a little gloating, and then walked next to Zhuang Meng, patted him on the shoulder and asked, "So, what are those strange birds?" ”

Zhuang Meng smiled and replied: "Have you heard of Luanniao?" ”