Long ago, during the legendary era of the Three August Ones and Five Emperors, the sovereign Gao Xin, also known as Emperor Ku, ruled over a land plagued by internal strife and external threats. Within the royal palace, a peculiar event occurred that would change the destiny of the empire. One of the royal ladies-in-waiting, or in some accounts the Empress herself, suffered for three long years from a persistent and agonizing ailment of the ear. Despite the efforts of the finest physicians in the realm, no remedy could be found. Finally, a golden worm, small and shimmering, was extracted from her ear. The Emperor, sensing a divine presence, placed the creature inside a gourd—a 'pan'—and covered it with a plate—a 'hu'. To the astonishment of the court, the worm transformed into a magnificent dog. This was no ordinary hound; its fur was a radiant tapestry of five distinct colors, and its form possessed a draconic grace that hinted at celestial origins. The Emperor named him Panhu, a name derived from the vessels that had nurtured his transformation.
While Panhu grew within the palace walls, a great shadow loomed over the Middle Kingdom. A powerful and ruthless rebel leader known as General Wu, or King Wu of the Rong, gathered a massive army and threatened to topple the Emperor’s throne. The imperial forces were beaten back in several bloody engagements, and the capital lived in fear of a final, crushing siege. In a moment of absolute desperation, Emperor Gao Xin issued a grand proclamation to his generals and the common people alike: 'Whoever can bring me the head of General Wu shall be rewarded with a thousand pieces of gold, a fiefdom of ten thousand households, and the hand of my daughter, the Princess, in marriage.' The court was silent. The power of General Wu was so feared that no warrior, no matter how seasoned, dared to take up the challenge. It was then that Panhu, the loyal five-colored dog who had been sitting at the Emperor's feet, stood up and wagged his tail. With a low bark that sounded like the roll of distant thunder, Panhu slipped out of the palace gates and vanished into the night.
The Emperor mourned the loss of his pet, assuming the dog had simply fled the chaos of the coming war. However, Panhu was driven by a singular purpose. He traveled across the vast plains and crossed the churning waters of the Yangtze River, making his way to the enemy camp. When the sentries of General Wu spotted the five-colored dog, they were amazed by its beauty. Panhu feigned a desertion, acting as though he had fled the Emperor’s court in search of a new master. General Wu, a man of great vanity, took this as a sign that even the animals of Gao Xin had recognized his inevitable victory. He welcomed the dog into his inner circle, feeding him the finest meats and allowing him to sleep near his own bed. Panhu bided his time for weeks, observing the movements of the camp and waiting for the moment when the General's guard was lowest.
One evening, after a night of heavy drinking to celebrate a minor victory, General Wu fell into a deep, drunken stupor. Seeing his opportunity, Panhu lunged forward. With the strength and precision of a dragon, he bit off the General's head and gripped it firmly in his jaws. Before the guards could realize what had happened, the dog leaped over the camp's palisades and vanished into the thick mountain mists. He ran for days without rest, crossing through the treacherous terrain of the Luoxiao and Wuling ranges, evading search parties and wild beasts alike. When he finally reached the imperial capital, the gates were thrown open in disbelief. Panhu trotted into the throne room and dropped the severed head of General Wu at the Emperor’s feet. The court erupted in a mixture of joy and confusion. The threat was ended, but the Emperor now faced a moral crisis: he had promised his daughter’s hand to whoever killed the general, but his savior was a dog.