At the very end was a tuition payment notice, indicating that a woman named Zhu Chuqing had enrolled in the Wulin Women's School and needed to pay miscellaneous fees.

  From the name Zhu Chuqing, Chen Ming guessed she was Zhu Chuying's younger sister—in other words, "Local Chen Ming's" sister-in-law.

  Chen Ming thought to himself, the Great One had taken away "Local Chen Ming's" entire family, so why leave this sister-in-law behind? Could she be a key character?

  After going through all the materials, he closed his eyes and pondered. The most important task now was survival. Newly arrived in another world with no one to rely on, fortunately the Great One had gifted him a trading firm, giving him the chance to play the role of a boss and establish himself in this world.

  Since that was the case, if he had time in the afternoon, he might as well go meet the firm's manager and get a clear understanding of the situation.

  Chen Ming set his plan. Looking up at the clock, he saw it was already noon and felt hungry. So he went out, found a random snack shop, ate his fill, and then asked for directions to the Chen & Zhu Trading Firm.

  The Chen & Zhu Firm was also on North Street, not far away. North Street bordered the canal, with unobstructed water routes, making the area prosperous and bustling. Shops lined the street, including silk cocoon shops, cloth stores, teahouses, and more. Various buildings with black tiles and white walls presented a classic ancient town appearance.

  The Chen & Zhu Firm was a re-export trading business of considerable scale, operating with a storefront in front and warehouses in back. The side facing the street was the shop, while the side facing the canal was the warehouse, complete with a private dock for convenient boat mooring and cargo loading.

  It was now noon, the weather hot, with most people resting and few people coming and going.

  Chen Ming walked into the Chen & Zhu shop and looked around. They mainly sold seafood, wood carvings, straw mats, and other Mingzhou specialties, along with medicinal herbs imported through Mingzhou port such as ginseng, musk, safflower, and poria cocos. They also carried various fabrics like coarse cloth, fine cloth, woolen cloth, as well as mercury, sulfur, fir planks, pine planks, and other goods.

  Since "Local Chen Ming" came to the firm twice a year, the shop attendants naturally recognized their boss. When Chen Ming entered, one attendant first shuddered all over, froze for a moment, then rushed forward before the others, respectfully asking, "Boss, what are your orders?"

  Chen Ming glanced at the attendant, finding it rather strange. For some unknown reason, the man looked quite flustered, but Chen Ming didn't think much of it and said confidently, "I want to see the manager. Take me to him."

  "Understood, sir."

  The attendant led Chen Ming through the shop to the warehouse in back, where several offices were located on the second floor. They climbed the stairs and arrived before a room with a sign beside the door reading "Manager's Office."

  The attendant knocked and said, "Manager, the boss is here to see you."

  Suddenly, a crashing sound came from inside the Manager's Office, as if someone had dropped a teacup.

  A moment later, a voice trying hard to sound calm came from within: "Please, come in."

  The attendant pushed open the door, and Chen Ming scanned the room. It wasn't large, with a window on one side facing the canal, offering a view of countless sailing vessels. Both sides had shelves filled with various goods. Water was splashed on the floor, but the fallen teacup had already been cleared away.

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  In the center was a desk and chairs, where a middle-aged man sat. He wore a black robe, sported a goatee, and had shrewd eyes.

  After Chen Ming entered, the attendant closed the door but didn't leave—instead, he stood by Chen Ming's side. Chen Ming didn't suspect anything, merely thinking the attendant was trying to curry favor.

  The manager remained silent, studying Chen Ming up and down for a long moment. Suddenly he stood up and said in surprise, "There are roads to heaven, but you refuse to walk them. There are no gates to hell, yet you barge in. I'm curious—are you truly stupid or just pretending? We've already killed you once, so why come back to die? You gave me quite a scare."

  Chen Ming was startled. Connecting this to the tragic death of "Local Chen Ming," realization dawned on him like lightning. The manager, greedy after learning that the families behind the Chen & Zhu Firm had been completely wiped out, had conceived a scheme to seize the business. He had killed "Local Chen Ming" and dumped the body in the forest, hoping monsters would destroy the evidence.

  But worst of all was that Chen Ming himself, completely unaware, had foolishly delivered himself right to their doorstep.

  Chen Ming regretted it bitterly and was about to turn and flee, but it was too late. The moment he turned his head, the attendant's face twisted viciously as he swung a wooden club down. Chen Ming was no martial arts expert; unable to dodge in time, he took the blow square on the head. He felt a buzzing sensation, and everything went black.

  He didn't know how much time had passed when Chen Ming slowly regained consciousness. He found himself stuffed inside a cloth sack, swaying rhythmically—he was on some kind of vehicle.

  After a while longer, Chen Ming was suddenly kicked, tumbling out of the vehicle. He fell painfully, his back and waist aching, eliciting several groans.

  Someone then opened the sack and released him.

  Chen Ming's head spun, and it took him a moment to recover. Looking around, he found himself back in the forest.

  But however terrifying the monsters in the forest might be, they were nothing compared to the cruelty of human hearts.

  Standing before him were the manager and the attendant, both wearing vicious expressions.

  The manager stared at Chen Ming and sighed, "Boss, if you want to blame someone, blame your whole family for dying. Without the protection of the Chen and Zhu families, you being the boss of Chen & Zhu is like a child carrying gold through a crowded market—it inevitably invites greed. Originally, I didn't want to kill you either. But the higher-ups said if you happened to investigate something, it would be too troublesome, so we had no choice but to send you to heaven. Still, I'm very curious—last time I smashed your head open, yet you didn't die and even escaped. So why come back to die?"

  The attendant laughed, "I've heard government office constables say that some people who take blows to the head forget what happened before. Maybe that's the case with the boss."

  The manager narrowed his eyes in thought, muttering to himself, "Perhaps! Fortunately so—otherwise, if the boss had escaped death and run straight to report us to the authorities, that would have been troublesome."

  He pulled a revolver from his waist, pressed it against Chen Ming's head, and said, "Boss, don't worry. This time I'll smash your head to pieces—dead beyond dead."

  Facing the threat of death, Chen Ming was tongue-tied, his entire body rigid.

  Suddenly, Chen Ming felt as if he were being watched by a spine-chilling gaze. Every hair on his body stood on end.

  The manager and attendant felt it too, looking around fearfully. The manager said, "We really shouldn't have come to the forest. Even though the monsters don't come out during the day, it still feels eerily unsettling."

  Chen Ming suddenly laughed, emitting a harsh cackle.

  The manager looked at him strangely and said, "Facing death, and still laughing?"

  As his words faded, a massive beak suddenly descended from above, clamping down on the manager's entire upper body. In an instant, a giant bird emerged from the darkness—it was the same one, holding the manager in its beak.

  The manager thrashed wildly, but the monster's beak pressed together with force. With a crunch, his head burst like a watermelon, blood spurting from between the beak's edges.

  His limbs twitched once, and the revolver clattered to the ground.

  The giant bird tilted its head back, lifting the corpse upright, and swallowed the manager whole.

  The attendant stared dumbfounded, not knowing what to do. Suddenly letting out a terrified scream, he turned to flee. But it was already too late. The giant bird lunged again, catching him around the waist.

  Because the attendant struggled desperately, the giant bird couldn't swallow him. Enraged, it gradually tightened its beak. Compressed, fluids inside the attendant's body surged toward his head, swelling it like a pig's head. At first, the attendant managed a few groans, but after a moment, blood spurted from his seven orifices, and he moved no more.