In a quiet corner of the Bamboo Sea in southern Shu, tucked beside a humble farmhouse inn, Wen Mang had been living the dream for several days.
"Is that stray cat back for more food? Stop scratching the door, you little menace..."
Still half asleep, he muttered under his breath as he pulled on his clothes and shuffled toward the door.
This region was famous for its endless sea of bamboo.
Since his weekly video schedule was not especially demanding, he had deliberately come here to stay for half a month and recharge.
The inn was cheap, but because of its remote location, wild animals often wandered by looking for scraps.
After several days, he had already grown used to it.
But the moment he opened the door and saw a giant panda cub crawling around on the porch, his mind froze.
"I definitely got up too fast. How did I mistake a stray cat for an actual panda?"
Still groggy, Wen Mang bent down and scooped up the black-and-white "cat."
Then he rubbed his eyes.
The pair of tiny beady eyes staring back from within those thick black circles locked onto him.
His whole body stiffened.
"It really is a giant panda?!"
A chill ran down his spine.
In an instant, a familiar legal slogan flashed through his mind.
Confession earns leniency; resistance brings severity.
Was he, a proud member of the "flexibly employed" workforce, about to begin a new career sewing prison uniforms alongside foreign inmates for illegally possessing a protected species?
Watching the cub curiously climb over his slippers, Wen Mang swallowed hard.
After a long moment of hesitation, he finally dialed the authorities.
"Hello? I'm turning myself in... no, wait, I mean, I'm reporting an incident."
As it turned out, the entire panic was a false alarm.
The police arrived together with experts from the National Treasure Protection and Breeding Base.
Given Wen Mang's clean record and the sheer absurdity of the situation, he was released after only a brief statement.
Just as he was about to leave, the captain handling the report called him back.
"The experts searched the surrounding area. It appears this cub was abandoned by its mother. It is a rather rare case."
Wen Mang's eyes immediately lit up.
"I'll take him! I've got savings in the bank!"
The captain's expression turned subtle.
"You do not actually think you can adopt him, do you?"
Wen Mang's smile instantly froze.
"The experts are taking him to the reserve," the captain continued. "But since you were the one who found him, they asked whether you had a name in mind."
The disappointment lingered for only a moment before Wen Mang grinned again.
"How about calling him 'Xuande'?"
---
Back in Gong'an County, the massive hole in the side hall had been temporarily patched over with wooden planks.
Liu Bei was speaking softly with Ma Liang, whose face was glowing with the shock and delight of receiving such personal attention from his lord.
Nearby, Pang Tong was completely absorbed in a scroll containing the previous records of the Light Screen.
Kongming, meanwhile, stood staring at the empty space in the center of the hall, lost in thought.
Earlier, when they had tried to "send" the White Bear cub through the screen, the system had initially rejected the offering with a flashing warning:
[Live Biological Quarantine Inspection Failed!]
Fortunately, Kongming had spent much of his spare time browsing medical texts.
Though the phrasing was strange, he could roughly infer its literal meaning.
He immediately borrowed medicinal herbs from a local physician, lit a fumigation pot, and carefully smoked the cub to drive out any "hidden pests."
Only after a frantic round of effort did the Light Screen finally accept the bundle.
"That cub looked clean enough to me, yet the Light Screen still detected 'hidden plagues'?"
Kongming's expression grew thoughtful.
The Light Screen had mentioned several times that the Han's lack of medical development caused many capable men to die from simple illnesses.
Then there was Lord Xuande's earlier account of Chen Deng dying from parasitic infection.
Medicine is a true discipline.
In the eyes of the future, the Way of Healing was clearly a profound science.
Just then, the air in the hall shimmered once more.
The Light Screen unfolded again.
Chen Dao immediately straightened, his eyes narrowing as he watched the miraculous glow.
This time, however, the presentation was different.
Instead of the usual text and static images, the viewpoint felt as though it were held in the hands of a walking person.
The image moved with the rhythm of footsteps.
[Lightscreen]
["Hello everyone, I'm Wen Mang, and I've been dragged back into service!"
"No major donations this time, but as you all know, I found a panda cub in the Bamboo Sea of southern Shu. The reserve invited me to come check on the little fellow and confirm that his official name really is Xuande."
"On the way there, let's do a quick science lesson on giant pandas. After all, I'm basically a panda dad now, even if I only got to pick the name."]
The officials frowned.
They genuinely enjoyed these glimpses of the future.
The towering glass buildings.
The iron carriages that moved without horses.
The faces of their descendants.
But a White Bear?
What was so extraordinary about that?
Then the screen shifted.
A monstrous prehistoric beast appeared, something that looked like a nightmare given flesh.
[Lightscreen]
["First, pandas originated roughly eight million years ago. They are not from the dinosaur era, since the nearest dinosaur age ended sixty-five million years ago. But because of Sichuan's unique terrain, they survived while countless other species vanished. That is why we call them living fossils."]
A giant red cross was stamped over the monstrous beast.
But by then, everyone's minds had already drifted elsewhere.
Eight million years?
It was a number so vast that it defied comprehension.
Even Kongming's expression shifted slightly.
[Lightscreen]
["There are plenty of ancient records about pandas. Let's look at two major examples."
"During the Han Dynasty, Shanglin Park housed many exotic beasts, and the panda was among them. Archaeologists later discovered a perfectly preserved panda skull in the burial pit of Empress Dowager Bo, the grandmother of Emperor Wu of Han."
"Evidently, the Emperor's grandmother was rather fond of pandas. She simply had a somewhat... permanent way of expressing that affection."]
Liu Bei had originally been about to remark that being buried alongside royalty was a great honor for a beast.
But after hearing that the species had endured for eight million years, the words died in his throat.
Compared to such a timespan, even the era of the Three Dynasty and Five Emperors was scarcely more than a blink.
Jian Yong, meanwhile, was utterly fascinated.
The future's ability to trace history back millions of years left him full of wonder.
He even found himself strangely curious about the crossed-out "dinosaurs."
[Lightscreen]
["During the Tang Dynasty, Empress Wu Zetian engaged in panda diplomacy, sending two White Bears across the sea to Japan."]
An Empress?
The entire room shook with surprise.
Huang Yueying leaned forward at once, her interest thoroughly stirred.
"The Tang Dynastybelonged to the Li clan, did they not? How did a woman named Wu suddenly become the Son of Heaven? Did she follow the path of Empress Lü?"
Kongming's gaze deepened.
"It is the most logical explanation, though several hundred years separate us from the Tang. Perhaps other extraordinary events transpired."
"Across the sea... could that be the land of Wa?" Pang Tong murmured.
Then the tone of the Light Screen changed.
[Lightscreen]
["Then came the tragedy. After the Second Opium War, the nation's gates were forced open. One of the unequal treaties required missionaries to move freely. A French missionary named Armand David captured and killed a panda, turning it into a specimen smuggled back to France for exhibition."
"That exhibit triggered a frenzy. Western powers began hunting pandas by any means possible. The United States, Russia, Germany, all sent poachers. By the twentieth century, because of the Japanese invasion, Huaxia was plunged into war and could no longer protect its National Treasure."
"Statistics show that from 1936 to 1946, sixteen live pandas were smuggled abroad, along with seventy specimens and countless pelts. It was not until the founding of the new state that poachers were finally suppressed and reserves established, allowing the pandas to live in peace."]
Invasion!
The atmosphere in the hall instantly turned cold.
Why must my children and grandchildren suffer such calamity?" Liu Bei cried out in pain. The screen didn't show the images, but the words were enough: kicked open by force, unequal treaties, invasion, smuggling, poaching.
The term National Treasure was not merely about the beast itself. It represented the dignity of the realm.
To have it stolen and slaughtered while being powerless to stop it was like watching one's ancestral home looted by bandits while tied helplessly to a chair.
Those words alone were enough to make the entire hall fall silent.
Wei Yan's fist slammed against the pillar beside him.
"Those Wa people truly deserve death!"
Guan Yu rose to his feet, one hand resting on his belt.
"Brother, no wonder the future speaks so often of naval forces. It seems these islanders relied on their ships to bully our people. I am willing to build the finest naval forces for the Great Han, so that one day we may forge an ocean fleet and settle this debt with those pirates."
At that very moment, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun finally returned, both breathing hard.
Mi Zhu hurried over at once.
"Yide, Zilong, did you harm that White Bear?"
Zhang Fei blinked in confusion.
Ordinarily, people asked whether the bear had harmed him.
"It ran like the wind. Once it vanished into the mountains, we stopped chasing."
A collective sigh of relief swept through the room.
"Thank Heaven it was not injured."
Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun exchanged bewildered looks.
The priorities in this room had changed so suddenly that neither of them could quite keep up.
---
Deep within Ganlu Hall, Chang'an, several centuries later...
The attendants outside trembled in terror as a go board flew out of the chamber and shattered across the stone floor.
"Those thieving rebels! How dare they revolt again!"