Transmigrating

The bustling restaurant, In a corner, On a table with a thick patina, a disheveled middle-aged man was slumped over.

The surrounding atmosphere of clinking glasses and lively conversation made him seem out of place.

The owner was already familiar with the man who had been visiting every day for the past half month. The experienced owner knew at a glance that he was another person unwilling to face reality; such people were not uncommon in the restaurant.

The middle-aged man was actually a transmigrator. Half a month ago, his body had been possessed by Wang Ming's soul from Earth.

Transmigration!

It was the wish of many frustrated young people in reality. Wang Ming, a nobody, should have been happy to be chosen by some unknown entity, but this transmigration was quite a rip-off.

He hadn't inherited the original body's memories.

He was completely in the dark.

Moreover, To go from a young man in his twenties to a forty-something uncle...

Could he be happy about that?

The original body's home was filled with wine jars and was generally messy and dirty. It could be inferred that the original owner was not someone of great wealth or status, but merely a drunkard and a lonely old bachelor.

Wang Ming's parents had worked all over the country when he was young, and he had transferred schools accordingly. After starting work in his previous life, he also traveled extensively for business, learning many dialects. The language of people in the Ming Dynasty was very similar to a certain dialect in later generations, so he wasn't completely unable to communicate.

Based on the clothing of others and their conversations, he deduced that it was likely the Ming Dynasty.

Wang Ming's knowledge of Ming Dynasty history was only at the level of an ordinary person.

Wang Ming was extremely anxious. He was just an ordinary office worker from the 21st century. Who would bother learning how to make glass, manufacture explosives, or brew wine?

As for the imperial examinations? The education system of his time and this era were on different branches. Could he write couplets? Could he compose poetry? Could he write in the eight-legged essay style?

Even if Wang Ming were willing to learn, the age of this body made it too late.

Under the confusion about the future and the sorrow of never seeing his parents and relatives again, Wang Ming's mental state collapsed, and he began to let himself go.

He found a nearby restaurant, drank to escape reality, but it was frustrating that no matter how much he drank, he couldn't get drunk.

The alcohol content in this era was not high to begin with, and this body also seemed to have a high tolerance for alcohol. After drinking a lot, he only felt the urge to use the restroom, with no signs of intoxication.

When he realized that drinking couldn't solve all his sorrows and decided to accept his fate and leave the restaurant.

He accidentally overheard the conversations of other patrons, which changed Wang Ming's mind. He continued to come here every day.

Gradually, he learned about this world from the patrons' conversations.

This was not the historical Ming Dynasty at all.

The Divine Marquis, Eunuch Cao Zhengchun, the Four Great Detectives of the Dragon Guard Manor...

All these familiar names made him realize that this was a world from a film or television series – "The First Under Heaven."

For an ordinary person like Wang Ming, it was unlikely he would read historical books in his daily life, but watching movies and TV shows for entertainment was normal. He especially remembered classic dramas that were repeatedly broadcast on television, making his memory vivid.

This drama mainly told the story of an inconspicuous prince, Zhu Wushi, who step by step gained the highest authority in the land, ascended the dragon throne as the emperor, and was eventually killed by his adopted son and wife.

After confirming it was "The First Under Heaven," Wang Ming's first thought was to find a sect to learn martial arts. However, upon calm reflection, he realized it was unlikely, considering the age of this body. He wouldn't be accepted by a sect.

Wang Ming was not interested in fighting. He wanted to learn martial arts mainly because internal energy cultivation could extend one's lifespan.

This body was already over forty. If he didn't find a way to extend his life, he probably wouldn't have many more years to enjoy himself.

Moreover, if he could cultivate martial arts to the level of Zhu Wushi, he could be an army of one, able to go anywhere freely. He wouldn't even have to give face to the emperor.

If he could achieve freedom from the constraints of worldly power, even if he remained a middle-aged man, Wang Ming wouldn't feel it was a loss. After all, in modern times, he was just a mediocre office worker.

Just as Wang Ming was planning his future, he accidentally learned about the original body's identity.

He was "The First Under Heaven Detective, Zhang Jinjiu."

At first, he didn't know it was the world of "The First Under Heaven." When people called him "Zhang Jinjiu," Wang Ming didn't pay much attention.

Until a few days ago, a servant found Wang Ming and respectfully said, "Master Wan invites the First Under Heaven Detective, Zhang Jinjiu, to his manor for a discussion."

At that moment, Wang Ming's mind was struck by lightning. He froze on the spot. He didn't pay attention to what was said afterward and didn't know when the servant left.

"It seems to be about investigating the death of Shangguan Haitang, and that Ryūyō Hyōsu silenced the witness." Thinking about being silenced, he immediately panicked.

The original body's martial arts were no match for Ryūyō Hyōsu. Now, he hadn't inherited the original body's martial arts memories, so encountering Ryūyō Hyōsu would be a sure way to get himself killed.

"If I don't investigate and get involved in anything related to Zhu Wushi, and just run away to a foreign land overseas, I might be able to survive?" Wang Ming pondered.

Soon, the thought of running away vanished.

Zhang Jinjiu was the First Under Heaven Detective.

It wouldn't be easy to run away with the title of the First Under Heaven Detective.

Whether in the eyes of Wan Sanqian or Zhu Wushi, he was a valuable pawn.

A pawn trying to escape the chessboard.

Was he dreaming?

The most crucial thing is that Zhang Jinjiu has a mission.

Zhu Wushi tasked Zhang Jinjiu with finding Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom. Zhu Wushi, madly in love, would absolutely not let Zhang Jinjiu leave.

Given Zhu Wushi's cheat-like intelligence network, finding Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom would be difficult, but locating an ordinary modern person like Wang Ming would be quite simple.

Furthermore, in ancient times, commoners were not allowed to travel freely without official travel permits. Zhang Jinjiu, being semi-official, could travel, but he would leave traces along the way.

"I can't avoid investigating Shangguan Haitang's cause of death from now on."

Avoiding the investigation would go against Zhang Jinjiu's persona and personality, leading to suspicion.

If suspected...

Then Wang Ming, without the original body's memories, would be in deep trouble.

Thus, The thought of going to the celestial prison and claiming the experience pack that was Gu Santong popped into his mind.

But calculating the time, he realized it was too late.

A few days ago, the tavern discussed Princess Lixiu of Cloud Country residing in the State Guesthouse. This timing coincided with Cheng Shifei receiving his power transmission.

This made Wang Ming regret it for a long time, but after careful consideration, he was glad he didn't go.

Firstly, the original host had internal energy, Wang Ming just didn't know how to use it.

If he, with internal energy, went to the celestial prison, Gu Santong would simply mistake him for someone sent by Zhu Wushi to test if his martial arts had regressed, and he would be directly absorbed to death.

Even if he had a chance to speak and use Suxin and Cheng Shifei's situation to threaten Gu Santong, it wouldn't be reliable. Don't think of Gu Santong as a kind-faced old man passing down power; remember the withered bones in the celestial prison. He, Gu Santong, was also a martial artist.

How much blood was on the hands of martial artists? Most of them were ruthless killers.

And he thought of using Gu Santong's son and wife to threaten him?

He would directly use acupoint pressure to control him and then relentlessly interrogate him. At that point, he would truly wish for death but be unable to die.

The most important issue was how to enter the nine-layered celestial prison.

Cheng Shifei had protagonist's halo; an ordinary person imitating him would die a complete death.

Wang Ming took a gulp of the bland wine in his hand and sighed in his heart:

"All paths are blocked."

"Did I just transmigrate to be a good-for-nothing?"

"Why didn't they give me a cheat, even a system would be good!" Although he was suspicious of systems, in his current situation, without a system, he might not be able to safely leave Wan Sanqian's mansion.

"I used to think systems in transmigration were bad, but now I realize without a system, I really can't turn the world upside down." Wang Ming sighed again.

"Ding!"

"The Myriad Worlds Transmigration System is at your service."

Suddenly, a robotic system voice sounded in his mind.

Wang Ming, who had been slumped over the table, sat up abruptly. Realizing only he could hear it, he relaxed and began to study the system on his own.

Half an hour later.

Wang Ming understood the system's functions. The system was very unintelligent, lacking a service elf, just a simple small panel.

It only had one active function: transmigration to various film and television worlds.

Moreover, as long as the energy was not depleted, and the host was not killed by a ruler of rules (like a saint in Journey to the West or the Primordial Era), the system could bring his soul back for rebirth.

Wang Ming was excited: "If I can be reborn, can't I just mess around freely?"

He immediately felt his life taking off, and the world was filled with hope.

His sudden excitement stopped, and he thought to himself, "Did I overlook something?"

Wang Ming remembered that the prerequisite for resurrection was energy.

After another round of research, he discovered that with full energy, he could traverse three low-martial worlds, two mid-martial worlds, and one high-martial world.

Higher-level worlds required the system to upgrade.

Breaking through worlds required energy; the higher the level of the world, the more energy was consumed.

This meant that this resurrection armor could be used in the early stages, but after breaking through to higher-level worlds later on, there would be no remaining energy for resurrection.

Recharging was done by the system automatically collecting world energy. The specific type of energy was unknown, and the charging speed was not fixed, depending on the world's energy concentration.

"I can traverse worlds and be reborn, which means I can change bodies? Then in higher-level worlds, I can reshape my body with my primordial spirit."

Wang Ming was instantly overjoyed. Zhang Jinjiu's body wasn't great, it was too old!

How could anyone else's body be as good as his own?

Wang Ming set a small goal for himself: to regain his own body.

After researching the system, Wang Ming began to analyze the current situation.

"Zhu Wushi is rebelling, and I will definitely be passively involved. Just Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom alone will definitely come looking for me. Reputation is a curse! I can't even hide."

As an ordinary office worker, Wang Ming knew he was superior to the ancients in terms of technological knowledge, but in terms of pure schemes and tricks, he couldn't compete with the best people of an era.

"I currently have no power or influence. My only advantage is foresight, understanding the desires and weaknesses of these trendsetters of the era," Wang Ming analyzed himself.

Wang Ming felt it was pointless to oppose Zhu Wushi. Who became emperor had nothing to do with him; it was all the same.

The idea of latching onto Zhu Wushi was also unreliable, as Zhu Wushi was too ruthless.

Thinking about the fates of Gu Santong, Wan Sanqian, Guihai Yidao, and Shangguan Haitang, he absolutely couldn't grovel before Zhu Wushi.

Zhu Wushi cared deeply about only one and a half people: Suxin was one, and Duan Tianya was half.

Everyone else was an ant in his eyes, ants he could crush at will without a ripple of emotion.

The Emperor and Cao Zhengchun were no good either. Relying on them would only make him a pawn.

There would be no good outcome with any of them, so Wang Ming decided to fish in troubled waters!

He would use his foresight to gain benefits.

"Selling information fits perfectly with this detective identity."

The key to selling information was not to get silenced, and definitely not to get caught in the direct conflict between Zhu Wushi and Cao Zhengchun, otherwise, he'd easily become cannon fodder.

The best martial arts in this world were none other than the Indestructible Vajra Body and the Great Art of Absorbing Power.

"Gu Santong knows both techniques, but at this point, he's probably long dead," Wang Ming mused.

Currently, only Zhu Wushi possessed the manual for the Great Art of Absorbing Power.

This technique was his foundation. Even if he obtained it through information, Wang Ming wouldn't dare to practice it.

Even the honest, broad-shouldered Guo Jing could write a fake Nine Yin Manual. Could Zhu Wushi, that old fox, not do the same?

"I can only aim for the martial arts of the Four Great Secret Agents. It looks like I need to plan carefully."

Suddenly, two black shadows floated in and subdued Wang Ming, then instantly whisked him out of the restaurant using their lightness skill.

After an initial period of panic, he deduced their identities.

The Four Ghosts of Xiangxi.

Their attire, martial arts, and style were too distinctive; it was hard not to guess.

Wang Ming secretly thought that Wan Sanqian and the others must have gotten impatient and sent people to grab him.

As expected, not long after, he met the big boss, Zhu Wushi.

Zhu Wushi's first impression was one of majestic presence, exuding an aura of righteousness.

If he hadn't known his true nature, he would have been deceived.

Wang Ming, being an ordinary person in his past life, still felt a bit flustered seeing Zhu Wushi.

The most crucial thing was his fear of Zhu Wushi discovering anything different about him from the original body.

Wang Ming remembered that the original body had met Zhu Wushi while half-drunk, so Wang Ming simply sat on the ground and pretended to be drunk, concealing his abnormality and inner panic.

Wang Ming might not be good at acting in other ways, but he was excellent at playing a drunkard. He had pretended to be drunk many times at drinking parties in the past.

"Is he Zhang Jinjiu, the number one detective under heaven?" Zhu Wushi asked.

"Yes! If there's anything in the world that needs investigating, he can find it."

"There... there is one thing," Wang Ming said, slurring his words and feigning drunkenness.

Wang Ming inwardly scoffed, wondering why Zhu Wushi hadn't met Zhang Jinjiu before.

The master of the First Under Heaven Manor was Shangguan Haitang, and it was Shangguan Haitang who had given Zhang Jinjiu his title.

Wang Ming wasn't sure if it was due to his transmigration or the system, but he could clearly recall the original plot, down to every line of dialogue.

"What is it?" Wan Sanqian's voice came from behind the screen.

"The best, absolutely the best half-jar of wine. It was brewed in Shaoxing thirty-five years ago, a jar of daughter's red! I drank half of it, and I've been searching for the remaining half for twenty-three years without success." Wang Ming tried his best to answer according to his memory of the original body's words, not wanting any complications.

"Could it be in the palace?" Zhu Wushi interjected.

"I've looked, it's not there! Otherwise, I would have drunk it long ago."

"It seems someone exchanged it with you for that half-jar of daughter's red, and you're willing to pay any price," Zhu Wushi said.

"Absolutely!"

While saying this, Wang Ming actually had no desire for this daughter's red at all. He just wanted to leave as soon as possible.

"You've heard the three matters that trouble Divine Marquis?"

"I have."

"Investigate them immediately."

"That half-jar of daughter's red has already been divided into eight bottles by the number one wine god under heaven and hidden in eight locations. If you find it, you can have one bottle," Wan Sanqian enticed from behind the screen.

Wang Ming showed a look of longing, then calmly replied, "Divine Marquis already has the information on Wuwuan."

"We've also found a clue regarding Princess Lixiu. The Empress Dowager's disappearance is likely related to them."

"As for Cheng Shifei, Gu Santong's disciple, I feel a bit ashamed!"

"You can't find him?" Wan Sanqian's voice came out with a hint of displeasure. After all, he had praised Zhang Jinjiu so highly just now, and now saying he couldn't do it felt like slapping Zhu Wushi in the face.

"No, it's that everyone knows where he is."

"Where is he?" Zhu Wushi asked.

"After he left the imperial palace, he went straight to a gambling house and has been gambling there ever since. From what I can see, he's probably gambled away most of his fortune by now." Wang Ming said, still feigning a bit of drunkenness, relaying information he'd seen in shows.

New author here. Feel free to offer suggestions if my writing isn't good, but please don't curse at me.