Chapter 2: Shan Hai Jing

  Under the forceful pulling of Xiao Fei, Li Meng had no choice but to follow him to Cao Lao's courtyard, and indeed found that a raging fire was burning inside, with flames soaring high.

  The Yan Huang courtyard was naturally equipped with excellent fire-fighting facilities, after all, a group of abnormal non-humans lived here, being prepared for any situation. At this time, someone had already taken out a water gun to put out the fire, but unfortunately, the old man Cao's courtyard had too many books, and the weather had been dry for several months, making it difficult to extinguish the flames easily.

  "What about Old Cao?" Yang Fan, the bespectacled boss, asked anxiously.

  "He just left."

  "......And what about the one in the courtyard who can spit water?!" The bespectacled boss was anxious, and the one he mentioned who could spit water referred to a relatively normal water-based ability user.

  "He's gone on a mission!"

  "Damn it!" Yang Fan also couldn't help but curse, and could only run to another courtyard to fetch a water pipe, his heart chilled.

  It's a small matter to burn down the house, as the Huang organization never lacks money and can rebuild it easily. But if Cao's ancient books are burned, Cao will definitely fly into a rage when he returns. The already uneasy courtyard may erupt again, and it's hard to estimate what kind of disaster might occur.

  But just as we were talking about Cao Cao, he suddenly appeared, having rushed back home upon hearing that his house was on fire. Seeing the flames in the courtyard, his eyes immediately turned red with rage, and in a thunderous voice, he bellowed: "Which damned fool is burning down my house!!!"

  The little kid's neck instinctively shrunk back and hid behind Li Meng's back.

  "Little brat!" Old Cao's senses were sharp, his red eyes scanned over, and two fire dragons appeared above his head, making a loud humming noise, and then rushed towards Li Meng.

  Li Meng's small face turned white with fear, he didn't dare to think of anything and quickly ran to the side. What a joke, Cao Lao's fire ability was something he had experienced before, it wasn't just ordinary powerful, but extremely powerful, and now he was in an enraged state, his attack would definitely be able to blow him up leaving no whole corpse.

  Bang!!!

  Li Mang was able to dodge, and the little kid naturally didn't stand a chance. He followed Li Mang's lead and dodged out of the way just in time, causing the fire dragon to strike the ground with a loud crash, like a missile exploding and shattering a large area of the floor. The force was incredible, leaving Li Mang shaken and his heart racing, secretly calling out "my good kid".

  However, there were so many little brats running around in all directions that this brainless kid actually followed Li Meng to the same place, which was undoubtedly a rhythm of seeking death.

  "Little brat, die for me!" As expected, Old Cao, consumed by anger, didn't even notice Li Meng standing next to the little brat. Several fire dragons burst forth again, this time with even greater power and speed.

  The brainless little kid didn't care about Li Mang's life or death at all, and ran away as soon as he opened his legs. By the time Li Mang reacted, it was already too late. He had just taken two steps when a loud explosion sounded from behind him, his ears ringing loudly, and a huge force sent him flying out.

  What's even worse is that Li Meng's body was thrown into the fire pit in front of the courtyard...

  "Save me!!!!!!"

  "Hmm..."

  Li Mang rushed into the fire heap and let out a cry for help, then he felt scorching heat envelop his entire body. As for how miserable his cries were, he himself couldn't remember clearly, in short it was very miserable, but at this point, no one would say he was flustered.

  Li Meng struggled instinctively in the raging fire, waving his hands and feet like ants on a hot pot, but all around him were burning books, as if he was surrounded by red-hot embers. The pain of the sea of flames almost killed him, yet he couldn't struggle out, and his mournful cries grew weaker and weaker.

  Old Cao has the ability to control fire, and if he can act in time, he can definitely rescue Li Mang from the sea of flames. But you should never expect a mentally abnormal person to do so, as Old Cao now only wants to burn the little brat to death, without caring about Li Mang's life or death.

  "Hurry! Everyone spray water in this direction, we must rescue Li Mang!" At the critical moment, it was still Yang Fan, the superior, who could be relied on, and he hastily directed people to rescue Li Mang.

  Even so, the big fire near Li Mang's location still took nearly two minutes to be completely extinguished. Such a big fire burning for two minutes was enough to be fatal to an ordinary person. In fact, Li Mang had already lost his voice.

  An old man standing by, who had been watching the commotion, suddenly became solemn and loudly recited: "Let us pay our respects to Comrade Li Meng, who bravely sacrificed himself for us!"

  Having finished speaking, he bowed.

  The group of 'fellow patients' behind him also bowed together.

  Then bowed twice.

  The last three bows...

  "Quickly, go in and save him!" The bespectacled boss was almost choked with rage at this scene, but he also knew that he couldn't argue with these people who weren't quite right in the head. He hastily put down the water gun which was still spraying water and rushed into the courtyard, finally managing to find Li Mang, who was almost out of breath, in a pile of wet and black ash.

  ……

  Under the treatment of Gui Yi, Li Mang managed to save his life, but his body was severely burned and he lay in bed for a whole week before regaining consciousness.

  What's even more astonishing is that apart from Li Mang's hair being burned off again, his body only had minor scorching on the surface of his skin, and there wasn't a single severe burn anywhere. This result was so shocking that even the Ghost Doctor couldn't help but be amazed, and couldn't come up with an explanation.

  However, in this mental hospital, there were indeed only a few normal people, and no one excessively pursued the reason why Li Meng was not dead, just thinking that this child was lucky enough.

  In the room of his own small courtyard, Li Mang's head was wrapped in a white cloth, and he looked bewildered. Everyone else thought he had just been lucky to escape unscathed, but only he knew that wasn't entirely true.

  When he fell into the sea of fire that day, Li Mang's hand, which was struggling on the verge of fainting, suddenly grabbed a cold object, and his entire body seemed to be protected by the ice block, so that the raging flames did not cause too much harm to him. This is actually the main reason why he survived the disaster.

  Unfortunately, he had fainted afterwards and didn't know what happened next. He carefully asked the bespectacled man, but the other said that when they found him, there was nothing in his hand, and in Old Cao's courtyard, only black ash remained, without anything else.

  "It's strange, the feeling at that time is still vivid in my mind now, it's not an illusion caused by inhaling smoke. That cold thing was not thick and not smooth, but had a very tactile feel to it. Judging from the texture, it should be an ancient book. Has it been burned already?" Li Mang couldn't help but feel regretful.

  This should be a magical book.

  If it were in the past, Li Mang would have felt absurd and ridiculous for his own thoughts, but since joining Yan Huang, he has seen many strange things and knows that there are indeed many inexplicable things in the world.

  Li Mang, who was grieving, suddenly saw something and stared blankly in shock.

  As soon as his voice fell, an object 'drilled' out of his heart and mouth, which was a book with an ancient appearance.

  Li Meng instinctively reached out with his hand, and a familiar feeling suddenly spread throughout his body, an icy coolness that was exactly the same as when he was in the sea of flames.

  "Haha! Hahahaha!" Li Mang couldn't help but burst into wild laughter, he was really too excited, this was the rhythm of surviving a great disaster and having good fortune afterwards!

  "...what a pitiful child, not being driven mad by these abnormal humans, but instead being reduced to a nervous wreck by a sudden great fire!"

  The neighbors heard the laughter coming from Li Mang's courtyard and couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards him.

  Li Mang naturally didn't know what others were thinking, he only thought that he had encountered some incredible opportunities, and after a long time, he finally managed to suppress the excitement in his heart, hastily spreading out the ancient books on the bed, calming down to take a look.

  The material was strange and didn't seem like paper, but rather like animal hide, yet Li Mang couldn't identify what kind of animal skin it was made from at the time.

  The cover was a landscape painting in ink, with figures and animals, to be exact, flying celestial gods and ancient divine beasts. It was a divine beast with the body of a flying dragon and nine snake heads, its bloody mouth wide open, looking ferocious. Although it was just an ink painting, Li Mang felt an overwhelming aura emanating from it and didn't dare look straight at it.

  "It's not simple!" Li Mang didn't feel afraid, but instead became more expectant. After being tempered for half a year, his heart had long been broadened, and he wouldn't feel fear when encountering supernatural things, only curiosity and anticipation.

  On the cover of the ancient book, three crooked and twisted characters were written, with no other marks.

  "Classic of Mountains and Seas"

  They were ancient characters, but Li Mang had studied classical literature before and quickly identified the three characters after careful consideration. They were indeed from the famous "Shan Hai Jing", a legendary book of ancient China.

  The origin of "Shan Hai Jing" can be traced back to the pre-Qin period, which is an ancient mythological masterpiece that also contains geographical, material, witchcraft, religious, historical, medical, folk and other aspects of ancient social data. Among them, the pictures of strange beasts are famous, and it can be said that they are the source of Chinese mythology, and the origin of all mythological stories in later generations.

  However, due to its depiction of many strange and bizarre things, it is often criticized as absurd and unorthodox. Before joining the Huanghai organization, Li Mang, who firmly believed in science, only regarded it as a strange and eccentric book. However, after joining the Huanghai organization, his views have undergone a subtle change, and today's experience can prove that this "Shan Hai Jing" is not simple.

  In addition, although the Shan Hai Jing has been identified as a 'pre-Qin masterpiece', the identity and background of its author remain an unsolved mystery for thousands of years. According to its records, some people say that the author may have lived before the pre-Qin period, which was an era with rare written records of civilization, the source of myths.

  "I wonder what's recorded inside!" Li Mang suppressed the excitement in his heart, turned to the first page, and found no usual copyright page, title page, or table of contents. Instead, it was a map with the words "Nan Shan Jing" written on it.