Chapter 64

Li Mang was so engrossed in thinking about who was the mastermind behind everything that he didn't even notice a middle-aged man approaching him. It wasn't until the man was right beside him that he realized it, and when he saw who it was, his eyes narrowed in surprise. The person who had come was actually Cai Cai.

Cai Cai was smiling, showing no sign of hostility towards Li Mang, his eyes bright and sharp, making him look particularly wise.

"Manager Cai." Li Mang, recovering from his surprise, called out in a rather indifferent tone. After all, given the other's position, he had to show some respect, at least on the surface.

"Hehe, I didn't come to you for any other reason, just to chat a bit." Cai Cai, who had always been hostile towards Li Mang, now seemed friendly and approachable.

"..." Li Mang forced a laugh, feeling puzzled. He didn't know what Cai Cai was up to and decided to wait quietly without responding.

Cai Cai glanced around, seemingly intentionally or unintentionally, and only when he saw no one was paying attention did he ask in a voice only the two of them could hear, "If I tell you that Liu Junchun wasn't killed by me, would you believe it?"

"..." Li Mang's eyes narrowed as he looked at Cai Cai in shock. It wasn't that he believed Cai Cai, but he hadn't expected the other to bring up this matter.

Cai Cai, seemingly oblivious to Li Mang's shock, continued, "At that time, I didn't even send him out. Do you believe that?"

"..." Li Mang remained expressionless, offering no comment.

"Liu Junchun did indeed die from the gunshot you fired. The report from the Yanhuang Institute is not something we can fake. However, there is a set of strange data in the report that Yang Fan might not have told you: Liu Junchun died on the mountain five hours after the incident." Cai Cai's tone was thought-provoking.

Li Mang raised an eyebrow but still didn't speak, his mind suddenly filled with doubt. He understood that Cai Cai wouldn't suddenly tell him this just for fun.

"In other words, Liu Junchun didn't receive any treatment for five hours after being shot, not even self-help. He died in the forest, and no one knows what happened during that time." Cai Cai's voice had a hint of eeriness. "This is not normal, indicating that something fishy must have happened... For example, someone might have continued to pursue him, causing him to miss the treatment and die."

"Without directly killing him, but by forcing Liu Junchun to go untreated, such a method of killing without a trace, leaving no clues, is not the style of the Yanhuang Institute." Cai Cai stopped there, letting Li Mang draw his own conclusions. Was it a cover-up, but not by someone from Yanhuang? What did that mean?

"Manager Cai, you should tell these things to the investigation team, not to me." Li Mang responded expressionlessly, his calm demeanor making it hard to guess his thoughts.

"Hehe..." Cai Cai chuckled, "The game isn't played that way. Of course, I won't stop you from reporting this to Yang Fan, but if the game rules are disrupted, I guess someone will have to kill to cover up. Do you believe that?"

"..." Li Mang's eyebrows twitched, but he didn't respond. For some reason, he didn't doubt what Cai Cai said.

Cai Cai didn't continue the topic and changed the subject, "With two consecutive secretaries of Group Nine having incidents, do you feel a sense of crisis?"

"What do you mean, Manager Cai?" Li Mang asked with a dark expression.

"Nothing much, I just want to advise you that people with potential and those who are too smart are often remembered by others, and you have both. If someone wants you to be silent, it's either to kill you to cover up or to drive you mad..." Cai Cai left a thought-provoking message, patted Li Mang's shoulder, and left the cafeteria with a blank expression, leaving Li Mang in a state of turmoil.

"Li Mang, what did that bad guy say to you?" The little kid ran over and asked.

"Nothing, let's go!" Li Mang naturally didn't dare to tell the truth to the little kid. If Cai Cai wasn't bluffing, spreading this information could really get someone killed.

Li Mang was somewhat distracted for the rest of the morning. When Yang Fan saw him like this, he couldn't help but tease, "Disappointed about not being able to join the Tian Group?"

"Can I not be disappointed?" Li Mang smiled and asked back, but in fact, he wasn't really bothered about joining the Tian Group.

"..." Yang Fan was speechless at Li Mang's straightforwardness. However, in his silence, his eyes showed a different expression. Although he wasn't very familiar with Li Mang's character, he had seen Li Mang's calm demeanor when he learned he couldn't join the San Group, indicating that Li Mang wasn't overly enthusiastic about joining the San Group. Now, admitting it was clearly a way to hide his true thoughts.

But who doesn't have some privacy? So Yang Fan didn't press further.

There were two hours of rest at noon, and Li Mang didn't waste them. He went to the library as he had done in the past few days, but this time he wasn't going to the first basement level, the 'Yellow Building,' but to the second basement level, the 'Xuan Building.'

The silver-haired old man who greeted him was the same one from last time. He wasn't surprised to see Li Mang and said, "Go right in and look."

The information on the first basement level was a secret to the secular world, but in the Yanhuang Institute, it was just basic knowledge. Since he already knew Li Mang, there was no need for strict checks every time.

"Senior, I'm going to the Xuan Building today," Li Mang reminded him softly.

"..." The old man looked up at Li Mang in surprise. The Xuan Building, under normal circumstances, was only accessible to members with fifty years of cultivation, which Li Mang was far from. However, there were always exceptions, and those who had made great contributions to Yanhuang had the possibility of entering higher levels.

"Where's your Xuan token?" the old man asked seriously.

Li Mang handed over a token he had prepared. It was small but made of pure gold, with only the character 'Xuan' and intricate patterns.

"Um... Follow me," the old man confirmed and led Li Mang to the back. After a series of complicated verifications, they finally took the elevator down, stopping at a depth of dozens of meters. The vastness of the Yanhuang underground base was truly astonishing.

The Xuan Building was a grand hall decorated in an ancient style, with a spacious interior. The caves were interconnected, and each room belonged to a specific category. The bookshelves were arranged loosely, and there were fewer books compared to the Yellow Building. There were also tables and chairs for reading, and the books in the Xuan Building could not be borrowed, only read on-site.

"Find what you need, but don't make a mess," the old man said and turned to leave. The books here were all internal prints of the Yanhuang Institute, with backups, so there was no fear of damage. Of course, if anyone dared to maliciously damage them, they would be in for a deadly consequence.

"Five major categories: ancient martial arts, supernatural abilities, cultivation, miscellaneous practices, and ancient texts." Li Mang quickly browsed the composition of the Xuan Building's books, and what he saw left him inwardly astonished.

The Xuan Building contained a large number of ancient texts, various cultivation techniques, and the cultivation insights of predecessors, covering everything related to cultivation. This made Li Mang's eyes widen, and he wished he could read all the books in the Xuan Building. However, he understood that haste makes waste, and his brain couldn't absorb too much information at once. He would have to take it slowly.

Suppressing his excitement, Li Mang slowly walked to the room storing ancient texts. Here, he saw many famous historical works.

"The Search for the Supernatural," "The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon," "The Classic of the Divine Farmer's Materia Medica," "The Book of Changes," "The Tao Te Ching," and so on. He even saw "The Classic of Mountains and Seas."

These books were not single volumes but entire sets. "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" alone had dozens of volumes, each about a palm thick. The same was true for the others, such as "The Search for the Supernatural" and "The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon," which were also complete sets of dozens of volumes.

"..." Li Mang felt bewildered. Could it be that the versions circulating in the secular world had been completely altered and deleted?

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