The first type of remains were scattered chaotically, mostly missing limbs, with signs of gnawing—these should have died from monster predation. For instance, the corpse Chen Ming discovered on the second night was probably a traveling merchant carrying a large amount of money, who unfortunately got caught and devoured by monsters.

  The second type were corpses gathered together in small groups, victims of kidnappers who killed them and discarded the bodies. These corpses had long been stripped clean by the kidnappers; Chen Ming basically found nothing from them—the most unlucky encounters.

  The third type were also murdered by their own kind, presumably for revenge. The killers seemed to have been in a hurry and hadn't had time to frisk, so most valuables on the deceased remained, often bringing Chen Ming unexpected gains.

  Chen Ming couldn't help bu treflected, the objective reality of demons and monsters running rampant had truly changed many of people's customs and habits. Even silencing witnesses and destroying evidence had become so refreshingly unconventional.

  In the world before Chen Ming's transmigration, disposing of bodies to cover up murders usually involved burying, burning, or sinking them to avoid discovery. In this world, people preferred to kill and hide bodies in the wilderness because, once outside the city, demons and monsters were everywhere, and corpses were easily devoured—no one would find them. No corpse meant no death, only disappearance.

  It was precisely the prevalence of this custom that turned a potential misfortune into a blessing for Chen Ming, escaping the fate of "failing before even starting." Soon after transmigrating, he had nearly died—if not for his unique talent, he would have become the shame of all transmigrators.

  Moreover, these experiences made Chen Ming realize he had a golden finger—he was unafraid of demons and monsters and could freely loot the forest. Whenever this happened, a strange thought would arise: should he thank The Great One for this precious gift?

  Every time after looting, Chen Ming would patiently wait until dawn, hide by the roadside in advance, buy a basket of vegetables from farmers entering the city, and disguise himself as a farmer selling produce. He would enter the city with other people, concealing his identity to avoid attracting too much attention, arousing suspicion, and inviting trouble.

  As for the collected gold and silver jewelry, Chen Ming didn't bring it to his apartment. He thought it unsafe there—if it attracted thieves, the consequences would be disastrous. So he washed the jewelry clean, packed it in a box, and buried it in a place frequented by his "old friend."

  As for that old friend, naturally it was the giant bird monster. Since monsters had no use for gold and silver, having it guard the treasure was foolproof.

  Before long, he had accumulated considerable gold and silver jewelry, almost ready to cash out.

  He decided to go to the provincial capital. First, Renhe was too small with limited pawnshops. Second, there were too many people and prying eyes, easily causing trouble.

  Chen Ming didn't dare take the train to Hangzhou. Instead, using an opportunity as a Night rover, he picked up some gold items, cycled to Hangzhou to deliver the goods, hid the bicycle in the forest, waited outside until dawn, and then entered through Genshan Gate.

  Genshan Gate was one of Hangzhou's ten major gates, located at the northeastern corner. According to Eight Trigrams theory, "Gen" represented the northeast hexagram, hence the gate's name. Adjacent to the gate was a water gate; the canal entered from the north, passed under Bazi Bridge, and continued southward. Cargo boats shuttled back and forth like weaving shuttles—a very bustling scene.

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  This was Chen Ming's first time entering Hangzhou. It must be said that as the provincial capital, Hangzhou was indeed livelier than Renhe County. Though he had experienced metropolises before transmigrating, he still found it dazzling.

  Of course, Chen Ming wasn't here for sightseeing but for making money. His plan was simple: go to pawnshops and pawn gold items without obvious identifying marks, only one or two items per shop to avoid arousing suspicion. Pawning would certainly involve price cuts, but this was originally unearned wealth—as long as he could get cash, it was fine.

  Inside Genshan Gate was Hangzhou's most developed silk manufacturing area, with silk factories like a forest and merchants flowing like streams. A developed commercial economy meant numerous pawnshops. Chen Ming searched nearby without having to run far and wide.

  He disguised himself as an out-of-town merchant, claiming tight funds and needing to purchase stock, thus reluctantly pawning gold items. He visited five or six pawnshops in one go, pawning six gold items for nearly a thousand yuan.

  Chen Ming was delighted inside, beginning to plan for the future. Once he saved enough money, he would buy a house. If suitable, he might even take a local woman as wife, have children, and live out this life.

  As for the business of looting dead people's money, he would avoid it if possible—the risk was too great.

  Chen Ming didn't spend much time on money laundering and had some free time left. He decided to visit West Lake and see how this world's West Lake differed from the one in his memory.

  Hangzhou's waterways crisscrossed the city; besides horse-drawn carriages, boats were also a common mode of transport. Chen Ming arrived at the Genshan Gate water gate pier, boarded an official ferry, and set off from the northern part of the city toward West Lake.

  The passenger boat traveled along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, then entered the Huansha River, arriving at Longxiang Bridge. On the shore stood the Zhejiang Library. Chen Ming suddenly noticed an exhibition stand outside the library promoting the Plagiarist of Library's novel ?THE LORD OF THE MYSTERIES. His heart stirred.

  He had long known that other transmigrators had come to this world, turning the Great Ming into something completely different. Currently, he could confirm two of his kind: Zhang Wei and the Plagiarist of Library.

  Previously, Chen Ming had thought about investigating other transmigrators, especially the Plagiarist of Library. However, his life had always been under great pressure, forcing him to run around for survival daily, with no time for other matters. Moreover, Renhe was a small place with limited books and various materials.

  Now that life had stabilized, and he was in Hangzhou—the capital of Zhejiang Province—surely there were numerous books. Why not take this opportunity to investigate thoroughly? Could there be other transmigrators? What earth-shattering deeds had they accomplished?

  Chen Ming became energized. He disembarked at Longxiang Bridge pier, went to the library, signed in, and entered.

  The provincial library was indeed larger than the county one. It had three floors, each with hundreds of bookshelves displaying tens of thousands of books, categorized by content.

  He headed straight for the history section, searching for relevant books to read. Suddenly he spotted a book titled BIOGRAPHIES OF NOTABLE FIGURES SINCE TIANQI. Opening it, he saw detailed information on Zhang Wei. He took it down, found a random chair in the reading area, sat down, and read through it carefully.

  Compared to the small pamphlet at Renhe County Library, this BIOGRAPHIES OF NOTABLE FIGURES SINCE TIANQI was over a thousand pages thick, with numerous figures, rich content, and detailed information. Chen Ming searched for a while and found traces of several transmigrators.

  In chronological order, the earliest transmigrator to arrive was Zhang Wei. He first appeared in the 36th year of Tiandao (Yuanshi Calendar 1675), using iron and blood to set off an earth-shatterin a grevolution, shaping the Great Ming as it was today.

  Incidentally, Tiandao was not a reign name. During the chaotic times, after the imperial court fell and the Tiandao Sect came to power, common people began dating years by "Tiandao." Calculated from the Chongzhen era, the 36th year of Tiandao was the 47th year of Chongzhen.

  As for the Yuanshi Calendar, it took the reign name of Emperor Ping of Western Han, Liu Kan, as its starting point. Chen Ming vaguely remembered from history class that Yuanshi first year corresponded to AD 1. So Zhang Wei had invented this calendar for his own convenience in dating.