"Hee hee hee hee hee hee!"
The panda couldn't stand the tickling anymore, its limbs flailing as it threw its head back and roared with laughter, rolling on the ground.
After all, animals' senses are hundreds of times more acute than humans'.
The stone tablet slipped from its paws. Jiang Fan's eyes lit up, and he snatched the tablet.
Most netizens had seen pandas before, but few had ever heard one laugh.
Pandas were usually quiet, sullen creatures, leading many to believe they were mute like giraffes.
In reality, giant pandas could produce many different sounds, mimicking sheep bleats, dog barks, and the distinctive "ooh-ooh-ooh" of bears.
Moreover, their vocalizations were rich with emotion, their pitch and volume conveying various feelings.
Whether "hee-hee-hee" or "coo-coo-coo," pandas could produce laughter, a sign of their contentment.
Seeing Jiang Fan take the stone tablet, the panda stopped laughing. It scrambled up from the ground and looked at Jiang Fan expectantly, gesturing.
The gist was that the stone tablet was its prized possession, and if Jiang Fan didn't need it, he should return it.
Jiang Fan understood the panda's thoughts and patted its head.
"Don't worry, I'll just take a look. If I can find a way to open the door, I won't damage your treasure."
The panda nodded solemnly and squatted beside Jiang Fan.
Jiang Fan glanced at the stone tablet. To his surprise, it wasn't adorned with pictures but with writing!
The world's earliest acknowledged script was cuneiform, invented by the Sumerians.
In China, the earliest known script was the oracle bone script discovered at Yin Xu.
Chi You lived much earlier than the Yin Shang dynasty. If writing was found, it could push back the record of the earliest world script by several millennia.
The experts were incredibly excited to see what appeared to be writing on the stone tablet, practically pressing their eyes against the screen.
However, they could see nothing but a jumble of black dots.
These characters were denser than ants, too small for normal human eyes to discern.
Forget the aging experts, even Jiang Fan, with his 6.0 vision, couldn't see them clearly without a magnifying glass.
This posed no challenge for Jiang Fan. He took Zhou Niannian's glasses, removed the lenses, and fitted them together with the convex sides facing outwards. He then wrapped them with tape, creating a makeshift magnifying glass.
The live stream erupted in praise.
"As expected of our Jiang Shen, capable of anything, from the grandest halls to the humblest kitchens, from installing broadband to fighting wild beasts. Nothing is too difficult for him."
"Zhou Niannian really is nearsighted. I thought her glasses were just for show."
"Let me tell you a secret: most beautiful women with 'electric eyes' are nearsighted. The higher the prescription, the more captivating their gaze."
"Doesn't looking at it like that strain your eyes?"
It did strain his eyes a bit, but he could make out the characters.
What happened next astonished Jiang Fan even further. He had assumed these were some form of script.
He had even worried if he could understand a script older than oracle bones.
But upon seeing them clearly through the magnifying glass, Jiang Fan realized they were both text and not text.
They were a "composite of characters."
Imagine, for example, a QR code.
In daily life, when you scan a QR code with a scanning app, the information encoded within is decoded.
The QR code itself is a collection of peculiar patterns.
This "composite of characters" was even more special. With every character Jiang Fan examined through the magnifying glass, a piece of information flooded into his mind.
It primarily narrated the ancient war between Chi You and the Yellow Emperor.
Jiang Fan muttered to himself, reciting the information he received.
"Ji Xuanyuan of the You Xiong clan, after defeating Shen Nong, issued a challenge to my lord, Chi You!"
"Ji Xuanyuan possessed unfathomable abilities, devised astronomical calendars, taught people sericulture and construction, introduced medical practices, and even invented writing!"
"He also commanded vast resources, and the Yan Emperor, whom we defeated, had already pledged allegiance to him."
"The Nine Li tribe's strength was no match for him, and many tribes advised my lord to submit to the Yellow Emperor."
"But the warriors of the Nine Li tribe would never bow to anyone. There could only be one emperor."
"In the fields near Zhuolu, the Nine Li tribe and Xuanyuan's clan would engage in a battle to the death."
Jiang Fan nodded. It seemed this historical account was narrated from the perspective of a scribe from Chi You's tribe.
It was unexpected that even in tribal times, there were individuals specifically responsible for recording history.
Ji Xuanyuan was indeed the legendary Yellow Emperor, and the accounts of his deeds largely aligned with historical records.
"In the fields of Zhuolu, the two armies were locked in a fierce struggle. Warriors fought valiantly, unable to achieve a decisive victory."
"My lord Chi You, with his ox-head and bronze forehead, possessed three heads and six arms, wielding six divine weapons, felling enemies like cutting grass."
"My grandson, Gun Gun, served as my lord's mount, clad in iron armor, swift as lightning across the battlefield."
Jiang Fan gasped and looked at the panda.
No way, its name really was Gun Gun!
And something else was wrong. According to this account, Gun Gun was the scribe's grandson. So, the scribe must have been a panda!
A panda serving as a scribe!
After some thought, Jiang Fan considered this might be a form of hyperbole.
For instance, to portray Chi You as incredibly fearsome, he was described with three heads and six arms and an ox-head.
Calling one's pet panda a grandson wasn't out of the question; many people called their pet dogs "son."
This passage, with some mental gymnastics, was somewhat comprehensible.
However, the subsequent narrative left Jiang Fan completely bewildered.
"Lord Chi You used a mystical power, spewing forth dense fog that enveloped the entire wilderness, lingering for three days and nights!"
"The Yellow Emperor's soldiers lost their way. But at that moment, mechanical puppets piloting the South-Pointing Chariot, which indicated direction, charged into the formation, guiding them out!"
"The Yellow Emperor's mines were rich in resources, and he had indeed manufactured terrifying magic puppet mechs!"
"My lord's allies, the Wind Master and Rain Master, arrived to provide support. The Wind Master's propellers unleashed gusts that uprooted mountains and trees!"
"The Rain Master also fired rain-summoning cannons, unleashing a deluge like a waterfall, instantly turning the entire wilderness into a vast sea."
"The Yellow Emperor's friend, the demon Han Ba, arrived promptly to aid them. Her body was covered in white fur, and her hair consisted of countless hissing snakes! Her appearance was ferocious."
"Legend had it that wherever she went, all energy would be depleted, even the energy of life would cease to flow."
"As expected, the power of wind and rain was absorbed by Han Ba. The Wind Master and Rain Master perished, and my lord retreated to the sacred land."
"He intended to draw the Jiuyi Heavenly Venerate Sword and launch a final challenge against the Yan and Huang Emperors."
After reading this passage, Jiang Fan was utterly stumped.
Not only Jiang Fan, but all the experts and netizens in the live stream were equally bewildered.
Did this stone tablet… also have writer's block?