"Guan Sheng Dijun?"
"Protector of the Sangha?"
"Lord Wenheng?"
Someone swallowed.
Then the final title hit—
"Martial Saint?!"
The hall went dead silent.
Even Zhao Yun—who once charged through Cao Cao's army like it was light rain—froze with his mouth half open.
Damn it.
Just reading the titles alone, Guan Yu had already won so hard it hurt.
"Second Brother…" Zhang Fei stared. "You… ascended?"
Guan Yu's face slowly turned the color of overripe jujubes—dark red, almost purple.
After a long, painful pause, the proud man of Hedong finally said one sentence:
"The light-screen is finished. I'm going to train."
Then he escaped.
The moment he left, the hall detonated.
"Second General became a god!"
"So after we die, won't Lord Guan be watching over us?"
"That depends—did you die after him?"
"What's there to worry about? Even in the underworld, Lord Guan could probably chat with Lord Taishan like an old friend."
"And what if you offend Lord Taishan before he ascends?"
"You think I'm that stupid? That's your specialty!"
Laughter filled the hall.
Almost subconsciously, everyone raised a thumb.
👍
Sun Qian, Jian Yong, and Mi Zhu hesitated… then followed suit.
They didn't know why, but it felt correct.
Then reality returned.
"So," someone asked, "what do we send him?"
Liu Bei waved off the earlier idea immediately.
"No more gold."
"The horseshoe gold and Five-Zhu coins we sent last time—those are worth a fortune in his era."
"If we keep sending money, we'll look shallow."
"And worse—we'll spoil the child."
"He's still young. He mustn't be corrupted by wealth."
His words were righteous.
His eyes, however, clearly remembered the price of a high-speed rail ticket.
No one dared say it out loud.
Except Zhang Fei.
"Big Brother," he grinned, "are you still mad because the kid said you'd stare at a bullet train until your eyeballs popped?"
Liu Bei's face flushed.
He began rambling things no one could fully understand—
something about Prince Jing of Zhongshan,
something about future Emperor Zhaolie.
The hall filled with joy.
At last, Zhuge Liang spoke.
Liu Bei nodded.
Decision made.
They would send—
A piece of paper.
Zhuge Liang personally wrote:
How should the Han Dynasty develop nuclear energy?
How can Shu-Han unify the realm?
What mistakes does Zhuge Liang make in governance?
(Added at strong insistence)
Was Zhang Yide ever deified?
Reward: ten gold horseshoes for answering any one question.
The ink dried.
Liu Bei placed the paper on the floor with solemn reverence.
The light-screen stirred.
The paper floated upward—
—and bounced.
A blood-red symbol exploded across the screen.
WARNING! WARNING!
Suspected scam detected!
Do not send inducement-based content!
Further attempts will result in account suspension!
The paper burst into flame.
Hope burned with it.
Zhuge Liang exhaled softly.
"So that's how it is."
He reached for fresh paper.
This time, no questions.
Only calligraphy.
Clean. Simple.
He signed it, stamped it, and prepared to send it—
"Wait," Liu Bei said.
"Kongming… I have an idea."
Zhuge Liang paused.
"…?"
Chengdu — Present Day
Wen Mang zipped his suitcase shut.
Pandas: checked.
Taikoo Li: not for rural souls.
Next step: real research.
Then his phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Mr. Wen Mang? You have a delivery."
"I'm traveling. Can you leave it at the station?"
"…Sir, the package is already in Chengdu."
"…What?"
After the courier left, Wen Mang muttered about overly passionate fans and opened the box.
Long. Narrow.
Something rustled.
"Calligraphy?"
He unrolled it—and laughed out loud.
Six bold characters:
GLORY BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE
Below them, a terrifying wall of names:
Zhuge Kongming, Military Advisor of Han — Winter, Jian'an 14
With:
Liu Xuande, Zhao Zilong, Huang Hansheng, Mi Zizhong, Jian Xianhe, Sun Gongyou
Additionally:
Zhang Yide (signing on behalf of his brother)
Guan Yunchang
Each name stamped.
The signature list was longer than the artwork.
Good grief.
This made Liu Bei's legendary self-introduction look modest.
Still—it was a gift.
A bizarre, time-fractured, brain-meltingly beautiful one.
Photos taken. Preview posted. Upload sent.
Just as he planned to shower and hunt for hotpot—
Another call.
"Mr. Wen Mang?"
That voice again.
The "scammer."
"No," Wen Mang said calmly. "I'm Qin Shi Huang."
She laughed.
"We're interested in the Han gold horseshoes and Five-Zhu coins you posted. Also the glass dragon jade pendant."
"…You don't use online shopping?"
"We're archaeologists."
Pause.
"…You think they're real?"
"High probability."
She invited him to Sichuan University.
When the call ended, Wen Mang sat down.
Fear.
Joy.
If that gold was authentic…
His mortgage could disappear.
Then he noticed a red dot in the corner of his interface.
[Historical Deviation Value: 3]
New options unlocked.
Wen Mang stared at the screen.
"…I really need to think carefully now."