Chapter 1

Li Mang, over 22 years old, was not particularly handsome but considered himself decent. If one had to describe him, he would be called average. However, his identity was rather special, as he was an employee of a mysterious department in China.

This was an organization unknown to the public, where there were no shortage of people who could leap over walls and walk on roofs, martial arts experts, and extraordinary individuals. These people, who could only be seen in TV shows and novels in the eyes of ordinary people, could all be found in this organization called Yanhuang.

However, Li Mang had no impressive abilities or any special skills. He was merely a clerk in Yanhuang, even lacking the strength to catch a chicken. His daily tasks involved typing, printing, and delivering notifications—trivial and tedious work.

When he first joined, he thought it would be his paradise. After all, which boy didn't have a martial arts dream? He hoped that after joining Yanhuang, he could learn some extraordinary abilities. However, he was tragically disappointed to find that this place was a hell.

Soon after joining, he learned that he had become a 'lucky one' to join Yanhuang because his predecessor had gone insane and was still confined in the backyard, reportedly babbling nonsense with a wooden stick all day.

At first, Li Mang didn't quite believe it. After all, the benefits Yanhuang promised him were exceptionally good: high salary, light workload, and the only restriction was on freedom. Everything else was impeccable.

But faced with the strange looks from his colleagues, Li Mang couldn't help but deliberately 'visit' his predecessor. It was a young man in his early twenties, with a rather handsome face, but now he had messy hair and, upon seeing Li Mang, raised his wooden stick and said warily, "I am Sun Wukong, don't come near me..."

"Great Sage Sun, hello, goodbye..." Li Mang was speechless and immediately sought out his superior to resign. The superior was a middle-aged man with thick glasses named Yang Fan.

However, the man with glasses looked at Li Mang with a peculiar gaze and, after a long pause, adjusted his thick glasses and asked, "You want to resign?"

"Yes!" Li Mang's tone was firm. When he had enthusiastically taken up the position, he had noticed many strange looks directed at him. Initially, he didn't understand, but now, seeing the state of his predecessor, he finally realized he couldn't stay here any longer.

"Yanhuang only allows joining, not leaving, unless by death. You've seen that your predecessor, though insane, cannot leave," Yang Fan said, his tone equally firm.

"What! Why didn't you tell me this!" Li Mang was furious.

"It's written in the contract!" the superior replied calmly.

"Impossible, I only saw the benefits and confidentiality agreement!" Li Mang didn't believe it.

"At the end of the contract, there is a line of small print," Yang Fan took out Li Mang's contract from the desk, seemingly prepared.

Li Mang hurriedly picked it up and flipped to the end, where he indeed found a line of small print. If he hadn't looked closely, he wouldn't have been able to read it, as the characters were so tiny.

"Note: Once you join Yanhuang, you can never leave, or you will be considered in breach of contract—punishable by death!"

"..." Li Mang was furious. "This is a scam! Such small print can't be seen. This contract is not legally binding!"

"Law? It doesn't apply here," the superior said calmly. "Although you are new, you should understand that an organization like Yanhuang cannot be known to the public. Confidentiality is essential, so the rule 'once joined, never leave' was established."

"..." Li Mang's face turned pale, and he staggered, feeling his future was bleak.

Seeing his state, the superior softened his tone and comforted him, "You don't need to be so negative. Working at Yanhuang isn't bad, with high salary and good benefits, right?"

"But I don't want to go insane!" Li Mang was distressed.

"..." Yang Fan explained, "Your predecessor is just an exception."

"But I heard the predecessor of my predecessor died!" Li Mang was even more distressed.

"Cough... That's because he tried to escape and was caught. One of the extraordinary individuals used too much force and twisted off his head... But we compensated his family with a million and ensured they were taken care of," the superior felt it necessary to explain the benefits of Yanhuang and continued to comfort him, "As long as you follow the rules, these extraordinary individuals generally won't kill you, so you can rest assured."

"..." Li Mang felt dizzy. Using too much force to twist off a head... What kind of place is this? Moreover, it was only 'generally' that one wouldn't be killed for no reason, but from the superior's tone, it seemed there was still a possibility of being killed for no reason.

After officially starting work, Li Mang finally understood why his predecessor had gone insane and why the predecessor of his predecessor had tried to escape. This place was a mental asylum, not a place for normal people.

Insane people weren't scary; what was scary were insane people with extraordinary abilities. These so-called ability users, unable to handle the energy within them, were mostly mentally unstable. Yanhuang collected them from all over the country and brought them here for treatment.

More than half of the Yanhuang members were completely insane, another third were somewhat unstable, and only a small fraction of the members had relatively normal minds. Therefore, Yanhuang was also known as a mental asylum. Working here, a normal person would go insane if they didn't have a strong heart.

On his first day, Li Mang was burned by an old man who could set things on fire. His hair was charred black, and his appearance, which was originally average, became ugly. This made him hysterical, but he was also terrified by the old man's bizarre abilities.

Endure!

On his second day, a wall in the courtyard of an old woman who raised snakes was accidentally knocked down. Li Mang, who happened to be passing by, was bitten by a highly venomous snake. He immediately convulsed and his skin turned blue. Fortunately, the old woman was skilled and managed to save him from the brink of death.

Even so, Li Mang was bedridden for half a month, unable to take care of himself, and lived on milk. He didn't know if it was Sanlu milk, but he hoped it was, because living in this mental asylum was worse than death. He would rather be poisoned by Sanlu than live here.

Half asleep and half awake, Li Mang wished he could be fired, but the superior, Yang Fan, didn't comply. Instead, he came to comfort him, saying, "Rest well. When you recover, you can return to work. Your salary will be doubled during your recovery period..."

What a good superior...

But Li Mang couldn't even cry. If it were before, he would have been grateful for paid leave, but now, he really just wanted to be fired.

"How could I have been tempted to join this rotten organization!" Li Mang regretted deeply. Although his life was once modest, it was at least a human life.

Now, he had money, but no chance to spend it. The most painful thing in the world was this. Even his travel was restricted, with only one visit home per year, and even that was under surveillance. No amount of money could excite Li Mang.

What made him even more anxious was that he didn't know when he would follow in his predecessor's footsteps and become a proud mental patient, or when he might be accidentally killed.

Li Mang didn't doubt this possibility. In front of a group of mentally unstable individuals with terrifying destructive power, anything was possible.

Half a month later, Li Mang finally recovered and returned to work, being extra cautious. However, he was taken outside to 'play' by a seven or eight-year-old child, more accurately, he was 'played with.'

When Li Mang returned to the office, he was a mess. The child was a freak, born with superhuman strength. His idea of 'play' was throwing Li Mang around like a punching bag, and his playmate was a ghost doctor. Whenever Li Mang was about to suffocate, the ghost doctor would revive him and throw him up again...

It had to be said that the ghost doctor's medical skills were the strongest Li Mang had ever seen, something he had never heard of in the outside world. However, Li Mang felt no honor, only that he had been tricked.

Reflecting on the past six months, Li Mang's heart was filled with bitterness. Fortunately, after six months of trials, he had started to adapt to life in the mental asylum, learning how to avoid and adapt to these crazy people. He hadn't gone insane, just occasionally unlucky. He remained cautious.

"Li Mang, Li Mang!"

A voice from outside the office startled Li Mang from his thoughts.

Li Mang rubbed his aching head and glared at the boy who ran in, asking irritably, "Brat, what do you want?"

This brat was the one who had thrown him around like a punching bag. The child had superhuman strength, and a single punch could exert hundreds of pounds of force. Fortunately, he was mentally unstable, and through Li Mang's coaxing and deception, they had become 'good friends.'

"I burned all the books in Old Cao's courtyard and accidentally set his house on fire. The fire is raging now, let's go watch the commotion!" the brat excitedly called out to Li Mang.

"..." Li Mang's scalp tingled. Brat, what are you up to!

Li Mang had a hundred reasons not to go. Old Cao was a strange person who loved collecting ancient books more than his own life. The brat had set fire to his books, and Old Cao would surely be furious.

Moreover, Old Cao was the one who had burned Li Mang's hair on his first day. His fire ability was powerful, and going to watch the commotion could be dangerous.

However, the brat wouldn't let him stay. He grabbed Li Mang's collar and dragged him out. Li Mang had no strength to resist and could only pray that nothing uncontrollable would happen. But it was a risky situation.

...

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