There was no time left for Chen Muye to think.
He made a split-second decision, spun around, and bolted out the door.
He was in no shape to go toe-to-toe with a burglar right now.
Just as he was about to shout for help.
"Woof, woof!"
Two "dog" barks made his wide-open mouth snap shut instantly.
It wasn't a burglar in the house—it was a dog?
His apartment was on the ground floor; if he had left the window unlatched, a dog getting in was entirely possible.
He turned his head to look.
When he saw the creature making the "dog" barking sound, his eyes went wide.
"A panda! What the hell!"
Inside the room, a baby panda no taller than a low stool was staring at him unblinkingly.
The baby panda's fur gleamed, and its two ears twitched back and forth, making it look exceptionally cute.
Seeing Chen Muye turn back, it let out a soft, whimpering squeak.
Chen Muye breathed a sigh of relief.
At least it wasn't a burglar.
At the same time, however, he was utterly baffled.
How on earth did a panda end up in his house?
He wasn't some backwoods logger, nor had he been out cutting down trees lately.
What was this panda doing in his home?
Chen Muye didn't dare act rashly.
Even though this baby panda looked harmless enough, getting bitten by one could still give you rabies and kill you.
Besides, this creature was a national treasure.
It wasn't something he could just deal with however he pleased.
Chen Muye immediately dialed the police.
After repeatedly confirming that Chen Muye wasn't making a prank call, the police rushed over quickly.
Because of the panda's special status, the police also brought along some experts from the Forestry Bureau.
When the two police officers and three experts arrived at Chen Muye's home and saw the panda, they were dumbfounded as well.
A panda's primary habitat should be the Sichuan and Chongqing regions.
Yongcheng, however, was over a thousand kilometers away from Sichuan and Chongqing.
How on earth did this panda run all the way here?
The sharp-witted police officers immediately suspected illegal wildlife trafficking.
They quickly made a phone call to have someone check the surveillance footage in the surrounding area.
After hanging up, the officer muttered inwardly: These people have a death wish, daring to target a national treasure.
A sharp-looking police officer turned to Chen Muye: "Come back to the station with us to make a statement."
"Sure."
Chen Muye knew that the panda couldn't have appeared in his house for no reason.
It was only natural that the police wanted him to go to the station to give a statement.
Donned in protective gear, the three Forestry Bureau experts cautiously stepped forward, preparing to catch the panda.
Yet just as the experts drew close, the baby panda darted backward in a flash.
The experts hurriedly rushed after it.
But the baby panda scampered and leapt around, easily dodging the encirclement of the three experts.
Crash! Clatter! Thud! Snap! Bang! Clang!...
The three experts and the baby panda chased each other back and forth in the tiny seventy-five-square-meter apartment, turning Chen Muye's home into a complete mess.
Half an hour later.
The three experts stood panting with their hands on their hips, staring at the baby panda not far away.
"Brother Zhang, should we break out the equipment?" one of the experts suggested.
"Do it!"
Armed with capture equipment, the three experts prepared to go after the baby panda again.
This time, however, the baby panda bolted straight through the window.
The experts gave chase outside.
Scarcely had they chased it very far when the baby panda used the cover of darkness—which made it hard for the experts to see—to loop back around and sneak right back into the house.
Another half an hour passed.
Exhausted to the point of collapse, the three experts still hadn't managed to catch the baby panda.
Since the two police officers and Chen Muye lacked protective gear, the experts felt embarrassed to ask them to help.
The atmosphere grew somewhat awkward.
Especially when the experts caught sight of Chen Muye's blackened expression.
They wore expressions of utter helplessness.
In the pursuit of the baby panda, Chen Muye's apartment could no longer be called a home.
Sensing what Chen Muye was thinking, one of the experts spoke up immediately: "Don't worry, young man, our Forestry Bureau will compensate you properly later."
Hearing that compensation was on the table, Chen Muye's darkened expression instantly broke into a grin: "Hehe, do you uncles need any help?"
The three experts exchanged glances; after struggling for over an hour without catching the baby panda, they were completely worn out.
The lead expert took off his protective gear and handed it to Chen Muye: "Be careful, don't hurt it, and don't let it hurt you."
"Got it!"
The other two also handed their gear over to the two police officers.
After putting on the protective gear, the three of them slowly closed in on the baby panda in a pincer formation.
The baby panda stepped back slightly.
Chen Muye, who was closest to it, lunged forward in a single bound and grabbed the baby panda in his arms.
"Haha, got it!"
Seeing this, the others let out a breath of relief.
They'd finally caught it.
The two police officers returned their protective gear to the experts.
Donning their gear again, the experts took the baby panda from Chen Muye's hands.
The moment Chen Muye let go, the baby panda kicked off hard with its hind legs and bolted away in an instant.
Everyone stood dumbfounded.
What is going on?
Why did it run away again?
Right at that moment, a blue flash crossed Chen Muye's field of vision.
A light blue panel appeared floating just above the head of the baby panda not far away.
Ding!
[Name: Unnamed]
[Host: Chen Muye]
[Type: Iron-Eating Beast]
[Lifespan: 10,950 days]
[Level: Lv.0]
[Skills: None]
Chen Muye froze in place.
So this baby panda was a gift from the system!
Otherwise, how could it possibly have an attribute panel?
Still, system, couldn't you have given me some ordinary cat or dog instead of a panda?
How was he supposed to raise this thing?
Pandas were national treasures, and the state strictly forbade private ownership.
If he kept a panda at home in secret, he would definitely end up doing a few years in prison.
Chen Muye felt a massive headache coming on.
No wonder the three experts had nearly worked themselves half to death without catching the baby panda, yet he had caught it on his first try.
No wonder the baby panda had been so well-behaved in his hands, but started running away like a madman the moment the experts took it.
It all made sense now.
He took off the protective gear and handed it back to the experts.
Whoever wanted to catch this panda could go right ahead; he was done.
Even if he caught the baby panda for these experts, it would just run away again by itself.
It was even more mischievous than a young courtesan from an ancient brothel.
"Uncles, I haven't had dinner tonight, so I'm going to go grab something to eat."
He was genuinely starving.
It was already past ten o'clock at night; if he didn't go eat soon, this patient of a man was going to become a casualty of starvation.
The experts said nothing, and one of the police officers accompanied Chen Muye to get some food.
Another half an hour passed before Chen Muye finished eating and returned.
The baby panda still hadn't been caught.
One of the experts suggested: "Should we use a tranquilizer gun?"
The lead expert waved a hand: "No way, the sedative is far too harmful to a panda; we haven't reached that point yet."
"What do we do now, then? We can't catch it."
The group stared blankly at one another, completely out of ideas.
He glanced at the time.
It was almost eleven o'clock at night.
The lead expert looked troubled.
"Wait here a moment, I need to make a call and consult my superiors."
Ten minutes later.
The expert looked at Chen Muye: "Young man, how about this—we temporarily requisition your apartment for the night, and you can come back to live here after we've sorted this out."
Chen Muye naturally had no objections.
Only, he figured the experts wouldn't be able to sort it out at all—the baby panda was simply too smart.
After some discussion, the experts gave Chen Muye 7,500 yuan so he could find a place to stay for the night.
Five hundred of that was for tonight's lodging, two thousand was a requisition fee, and five thousand was compensation.
If any furniture was damaged later on, they would provide additional compensation.
Chen Muye was moved to tears. Socialism really was great—when a national treasure caused trouble, the state footed the bill.
With this compensation money, he could finally head over to a club and unwind a bit.
Pocketing the cash, he followed the police back to the station to finish his statement.
Chen Muye found a nearby hotel to stay in for the night.
Having just come from the police station, it was probably best to skip the club for tonight; getting hauled back to the station would be too humiliating.
After washing up, he lay down on the bed and drifted into a heavy sleep.
Even though he knew the baby panda was a gift from the system, there was nothing he could do right now.
He genuinely couldn't afford to raise it.
On one hand, the law didn't allow it.
On the other hand, he couldn't afford its upkeep.
Rather than all that, it was better to let the panda sponge off the state for a few years and basically secure a government job.
Once he made enough money in the future to open a zoo, he would come back and pick it up.
Thinking this, Chen Muye drifted off to sleep.
The next day.
Chen Muye woke up bright and early, eager to see if the baby panda had managed to land a government job yet.
When he arrived at his front door,
he discovered two cars and seven or eight workers in Forestry Bureau uniforms standing outside.
The dark circles under the workers' eyes could easily rival a panda's.
It seemed they hadn't slept a wink all night.
Walking inside, he saw that the three experts had even darker circles under their eyes.
Looks like the baby panda still hadn't secured its government position.
Chen Muye looked at the expert who had given him money the previous night.
"Uncle, what's going on here?"