Chapter 8 Investigation

  PS: The contract has arrived, and I've updated the status. I'll add a celebratory chapter, please collect and recommend it.

  ……

  This is supposed to be the living room, but in fact there is no place for guests at all. It's all medicine cabinets. The road can only barely accommodate one person passing through. An old man with a detestable face is shuttling back and forth among them, quietly, even walking is soundless. The whole small courtyard seems inexplicably oppressive.

  Although I have been here many times, each time I come to this Li Mang, I feel a chill in my bones, and the soles of my feet are cool.

  The demon doctor didn't even lift his head and asked without any emotion: "Li Mengzi, what brings you to me?"

  "Hmm..." Li Meng was taken aback by Gui Yi's directness, scratched his head to gather his thoughts, and after a moment said: "Gui Yi senior, I've come to apologize to you."

  The demon doctor looked up at him with a glance, his ferocious face seeming to smile but not smiling, and didn't say anything, continuing to busy himself with his own affairs.

  "Cough, cough... Yesterday I played a trick on Da Wang, feeding it some stimulating medicine, making it cry out all night. I'm really sorry, Ghost Doctor!" Li Mang said with a sincere face, also bowing deeply.

  "Where did you get the stimulant?" Guī Yī asked without lifting his head.

  "......" Li Mang opened his mouth, but couldn't answer. Every blade of grass and every tree in the Yan Huang courtyard was strictly controlled, it was impossible to bring any medicine in, this was also a loophole!

  For a moment, Li Mang was at a loss as to what to say or how to explain himself.

  "Infant stone, grinding into powder and taking it has a calming effect. Livestock can only withstand a small amount, once they eat a small amount, they will feel excited, but it won't be fatal." The ghost doctor said while opening a medicine cabinet, took out a black stone and handed it over saying: "Yesterday when you were awake, I gave it to you."

  "...... Thank you, Senior Ghost Doctor!" Li Meng took it over, feeling grateful from the bottom of his heart. With this jade stone and the cooperation of the Ghost Doctor, he could now thoroughly cover up his excuse!

  "No need to thank me. In the past, the great king only trusted me alone and didn't even dare to leave the mansion. Now that you're here, I can also feel at ease when going out." The voice of Gui Yi was still gloomy.

  "Doctor Ghost, please rest assured, I will take good care of Da Wang." Li Mang said sincerely.

  The ghost doctor nodded and then ignored Li Meng, busy with his own affairs. His personality had always been so special, the ghost doctor was equivalent to being strange.

  "Ghost Doctor, then I'll take my leave!" Li Mang had long been accustomed to his counterpart's style, bowed and left, with Da Wang seeing him off, still following closely behind.

  "Hey, you black dog is addicted to eating!" Li Meng was amused by him and scolded with a smile, but today it's really not possible to be too high-profile, after saying good things and adding a bit of intimidation, he finally stopped Da Wang from following him.

  In fact, the surface of Huangdi Daxuan looks quite relaxed, but in reality it is extremely strict, after all, the nature of the organization is special.

  In a building quite far from the Huangpu River, rows and rows of computer monitors are lined up, at first glance, it's easy to mistake this place for a stock exchange.

  But what was displayed on the monitor was not a stock chart, but rather surveillance footage. The scene on the screen was that of Yan Huang Da Yuan, captured by high-definition cameras with crystal clear images.

  In front of computer No. 108, several people gathered around a giant screen display.

  Yesterday at 18:08, Da Wang appeared in front of Li Mang's small courtyard and stopped to look around the yard from time to time.

  "6:30 pm, Li Mang came out of the courtyard, using chopsticks to pick up a piece... of chicken buttocks and threw it in front of Da Wang outside the courtyard."

  "18:34, the big king, after a little 'exploration', ate the chicken butt, and even... gnawed on several blades of grass...... Ah, this big king is so gluttonous!"

  "19:05, Li Mang poured all the leftover bones to Da Wang. After eating and playing, Da Wang reluctantly left, while Li Mang did not come out of the house again, seemingly already drunk."

  "After leaving Li Mang's residence, the king directly returned to Gui Yi Ting Yuan, first resting on the lawn for over an hour, seemingly also... drunk."

  "9:00 PM, Da Wang showed abnormal behavior, starting to run and shout wildly, looking excited. The ghost doctor who came out at the sound was also helpless."

  After watching these surveillance videos, several people were at a loss, feeling eerie.

  A sharp-eyed man analyzed and said: "Now there are three main doubts. First, when did King Da Wang get along with Li Mang? Second, what did Li Mang feed to King Da Wang? Third, Gui Yi obviously found out it was him, why didn't he get angry? This doesn't match Gui Yi's temperament!"

  He paused, and the man added: "We have investigated that before this, Li Meng and Da Wang's relationship was not close, and Da Wang even bullied Li Meng several times. Now suddenly changing his previous attitude, and even being ambiguous to an astonishing degree, this is indeed worth considering!"

  Yang Fan also said, habitually pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "Cai Cuo, you don't have to be so suspicious. Li Meng often gets injured and goes to Gui Yi's place for treatment. Gui Yi has even taken Da Wang to his residence before, which doesn't rule out the possibility of a romantic relationship developing over time!"

  This is ambiguous at first, and later it's even more affectionate, this is still describing the relationship between a person and a dog. If Li Meng heard their conversation, he might really go crazy!

  "Does familiarity breed contempt?" The wise and witty man known as Cai Chai glanced at Yang Fan with a mocking gaze, then expressionlessly continued: "According to our investigation, before Li Mang got burned, during his previous encounter with the Great King, the Great King almost bit him!"

  It seems that Yang Fan and Cai Guessed don't get along very well.

  "This is not the point unless someone can understand what dogs are thinking." Yang Fan emphasized in a very professional tone, with an underlying implication that Cai Guessed was a dog.

  Cai Cai's eyes flickered with a strange light, and he glanced at Yang Fan faintly without refuting anything. He continued to say: "Alright, let's not talk about the first point for now. What kind of medicine did Li Mang give to the king? Why didn't the ghost doctor blow up?...Yang Fan, this is the Imperial Institute of Flame and Yellow, everything must be under control, otherwise it may lead to disaster. You can't bear this responsibility, after all, Li Mang is your subordinate."

  “……” Yang Fan habitually adjusted his glasses, seemingly not having caught Cai's criticism, and merely analyzed: "As for what kind of medicine Li Mang gave to the king, that's something we need to ask him personally. Gui Yi might also know some details, it's not hard to investigate clearly. As for why Gui Yi didn't get angry, that's actually easy to understand. Just like he said publicly, all these years because of the king's reason, he never left Yan Huang Academy. Now with Li Mang taking care of the king, naturally he's delighted. Moreover, the king is not in any great danger, just called out for a whole night. Cai Guan Shi, what do you think?

  "These are just your personal guesses, Yang. This matter concerns the safety of Yan Huang Da Yuan, you can't just make a judgment based on intuition!" Cai said solemnly, but he took a trivial matter and suddenly elevated it to a major event concerning the safety of Yan Huang Da Yuan, with ulterior motives.

  It turned out that Cai Cai and Yang Fan were both administrators of the Yan Huang Academy, with the same position and responsibilities, but in charge of different aliens. This inevitably led to various competitive relationships. With competition, there will inevitably be conflicts, and naturally, they will be at odds with each other. Li Mang was just a pawn being used.

  "This matter doesn't need to be bothered with, since the organization has already filed a case, I will personally investigate this matter clearly." Yang Fan adjusted his glasses and walked out of the surveillance room.

  "Hehe, I'll wait for Yang's investigation report and the handling plan for those who violate the Huaxia rules." Cai Guessed reminded with a faint smile from behind.

  Yang Fan didn't care, had already left the monitoring center and was heading back in the direction of the Huang Da Institute. However, his heart wasn't calm. Because if Li Mang really used some kind of poison or just a sensitive drug, this would be a serious violation of discipline. Even if it was just a joke, Li Mang might still have to face the organization's ruthless punishment.

  ……

  Li Mang left the Ghost Doctor's mansion and originally wanted to return to his own courtyard, eager to re-enter the Shan Hai Jing world. However, he thought about it and felt that it was not suitable, after all, he might be secretly investigated at this time, so he changed direction temporarily and walked towards Cao Lao's courtyard.

  "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" was obtained from Old Man Cao's house, but it is unknown how much Old Man Cao actually knows. Li Mang feels it necessary to come over and test the waters.

  Only eight days have passed since the big fire, and Cao Lao's yard has been repaired. The sudden big fire seems to have left no trace on the yard.

  However, the ancient books that were once piled up in the courtyard are now nowhere to be seen. Old Cao sits alone on the ground, in the spot where the books used to be stacked, as if he has lost his soul. He doesn't even notice when Li Meng pushes open the door and enters.

  Cao Lao Tou regarded ancient books as his life, and this was even the only pleasure he had in living. However, now in a big fire, the ancient books he collected for decades were all reduced to ashes, which was indeed a huge blow to him.

  "Director Cao?" Li Mang called out softly.

  Old Cao numbly turned his head, saw that it was Li Meng, and slightly hesitated for a moment, but then resumed his numb and ruthless demeanor, only saying: "Sorry about the other day."

  Old Cao's mind is not quite normal, but most of the time he is like a normal person; otherwise, he would be locked in a deep courtyard for treatment and could not live in the Huangyuan Grand Courtyard.

  "Director Cao, don't be too hard on yourself, it's not like anything serious happened!" Li Mang shrugged nonchalantly and then turned to ask, "Director Cao, didn't you have any ancient books left?"

  "It's all gone, everything is gone!" Cao Lao Tou said with a face full of sorrow.

  "Are there any among these burnt ancient books that are especially important to you? Or is there something particularly special?" Li Mang continued to probe.

  "...Old Cao shifted his gaze to Li Meng, with a flicker of unusual color in his eyes, but he quickly returned to his usual numb expression, sighing and saying: "These ancient books are all very important to me!"

  Li Meng was taken aback, this old Cao's behavior seems a bit unusual! But it can't be concluded that he knows the secret of the mysterious "Shan Hai Jing" just because of this. However, this matter cannot be rushed, otherwise if Old Cao detects any abnormality, it would not be good.

  "Director Cao, the ancient books can be re-collected after being burned, it's pointless to be heartbroken!" Li Meng tried to persuade Director Cao, but seeing that it didn't have much effect, he bid farewell and left. After all, the matter of Shan Hai Jing couldn't be made too clear, he had to be cautious.

  Seeing Li Mang leave, Cao's eyebrows were slightly locked, but it wasn't a questioning expression, rather it seemed like he was worried about something...

  Li Meng returned to his own courtyard with a puzzled expression, only to find the gate open. His heart skipped a beat as he quickly turned his thoughts and quietly walked in.