Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

"Sir, would you like a bowl of mutton soup?"

A sallow-faced, thin waiter sized up Lu Chen and asked,

"Our shop has freshly slaughtered lamb, guaranteed fresh."

Great, this person can understand what I'm saying!

Hearing the waiter speak, Lu Chen finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems I wasn't wrong; this place is most likely an ancient Chinese world.

They can even deduce the approximate date.

This guy's accent sounds about 80-90% similar to the dialects of the southwestern region in later generations.

It is most likely the Southwestern Mandarin spoken hundreds of years ago.

Southwestern Mandarin was brought to the southwest region by large-scale migration in the early Ming Dynasty.

The hairstyles of the Qing Dynasty were so distinctive that everyone in the shop, from the waiters to the customers at another table, wore their hair in a bun.

It is neither the "money-tail" hairstyle of the early Qing Dynasty nor the "yin-yang" braid of the late Qing Dynasty.

We can immediately rule out the Qing Dynasty.

In other words, this world is currently in the Ming Dynasty.

It seems I'm pretty lucky; at least I didn't end up in a world where I don't even speak the language.

It's important to know that the pronunciation of Classical Chinese from the Tang and Song dynasties, or even earlier, differs significantly from that of Modern Chinese.

As a modern person who has never studied the pronunciation of classical Chinese, Lu Chen estimated that even if he tried to guess, he could only understand a small part of it.

But for Lu Chen, who had spent several years in Chongqing, the Southwestern Mandarin dialect posed no communication barrier.

Just try to avoid using dialect words specific to different regions.

"Okay, I'll have a bowl of mutton soup to try."

Lu Chen responded in Southwestern Mandarin.

"Okay."

The fellow could indeed understand, and he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"A bowl of mutton soup."

. . .

I inexplicably transmigrated to this world three days ago.

When Lu Chen woke up, he found himself at the bottom of a large pit deep in the mountains, which looked like a meteorite crater.

This body is not Lu Chen's original body either.

To make matters worse, there are no memories left by the original owner in her mind.

In other words, Lu Chen had absolutely no idea where or when he was!

After looking in a puddle, the body appeared to be that of an East Asian boy of about eighteen or nineteen years old.

He had his hair tied up in a bun on top of his head and wore a coarse cloth outfit with a cross-collar and right-fastening closure, without any markings on it.

He was only wearing a pair of straw sandals.

There was a hidden pocket sewn inside the jacket, containing several irregularly shaped pieces of silver. Lu Chen picked them up and weighed them, estimating that they weighed about twenty or thirty grams.

There were many plants nearby that Lu Chen recognized; they were common species in southern China.

Based on these clues, Lu Chen judged that this place should still be Earth, and the timeline is most likely ancient, but the specific location and era are hard to say.

But is this body really just an ordinary East Asian boy?

From the moment he woke up, Lu Chen discovered that he possessed a special ability.

As a modern person living in the information age, Lu Chen has never seen real superpowers in reality, but he has seen quite a few in various novels and movies.

It's naturally easy to figure out what this ability is!

Telekinesis!

Although it is not powerful, it is indeed telekinesis.

Lu Chen can fully utilize his telekinetic power within a range of about one meter from his body.

It's like having a hand that you can't see or touch, but can actually apply force to a target and provide tactile feedback.

Its strength and dexterity are similar to those of one's own hand.

What can be picked up with one hand, can also be picked up with telekinesis.

Moreover, this telekinetic power can ignore obstacles.

However, the intensity of the psychic power begins to decrease significantly as soon as the distance exceeds one meter.

At a distance of about three meters, it can barely move a small twig as thick as a chopstick.

Between three and five meters, the mental power weakens to the point where it can only be sensed, not exerted.

Beyond five meters, even obtaining tactile feedback becomes impossible.

Following the survival shows he had watched before his journey, Lu Chen found a stream and followed it downstream in search of possible civilized societies.

At the same time, they are also becoming more familiar with the telekinetic power that seems to be innate.

I must say, using telekinesis to catch fish is really convenient.

Fish and shrimp can be seen everywhere in this stream.

However, as soon as Lu Chen's hand gets close, they quickly run away.

The success rate of catching fish by hand without any fishing tools is very low.

But using telekinesis is a completely different story.

As long as Lu Chen squats by the stream, he doesn't even need to reach out. Fish and shrimp within a one-meter radius are grabbed by his invisible telekinetic power without any warning.

Similarly, starting a fire is very easy; you just need to use your mind to control a small stick and quickly rotate and rub it on a dry piece of wood.

Deep in the mountains, there are naturally many wild fruits and wild animals.

However, wild animals are very wary and often flee quickly before Lu Chen can get close.

Lu Chen didn't dare to eat any wild fruits he didn't recognize.

Therefore, roasted fish and shrimp became Lu Chen's main food source during his three days of survival in the wilderness.

It's a pity there was no salt, so it tasted very bland.

The next day, the stream merged into a small river, and Lu Chen continued to walk downstream along the riverbank.

Finally, on the afternoon of the third day, we found this simple little shop located by the river.

. . .

Was there anything wrong with my response just now?

Although Lu Chen appeared calm and collected upon arriving in an unfamiliar environment, he remained vigilant throughout.

The other table of customers in the restaurant all turned to look at them after hearing that they had ordered a bowl of mutton soup based on the waiter's recommendation.

Since I'm new here, how would I know what this little shop has? Isn't it normal to try the shop's recommended dishes first?

When he first entered the store, Lu Chen naturally took a look at the only other table of customers besides himself.

They were a man and a woman, who looked to be in their early twenties, only slightly older than Lu Chen's current body.

However, to Lu Chen's surprise, each of the two had a long, rectangular object, about one meter long, wrapped in cloth, next to them.

Lu Chen's first thought upon seeing these two items was that they were swords and knives.

In other words, among the first people I meet after traveling to this unfamiliar world, there may very well be legendary figures from the martial arts world.

Wait a minute, since they are figures from the martial arts world, then there must be something strange about my response just now in their eyes.

Is there some other meaning behind this waiter asking if we want mutton soup?

The two people were about four meters away from Lu Chen, within the range of his telekinetic perception.

Lu Chen didn't turn around, but directly used his telekinetic power to probe forward with very light force.

There were no bowls or chopsticks on the table, not even a teacup.

What does this mean?

Although they entered the store before us, they didn't start eating, and they probably haven't even ordered yet!

Sure enough, the sallow-faced waiter soon went to the table of the two men again.

"Two bowls of vegetarian noodles, no pork."

Before he could speak, the young man looked up and said.

"Sir, our shop is a legitimate business. We certainly have vegetarian noodles, but as for pork belly..."

Upon hearing this, the waiter's expression changed slightly, and the corner of his mouth seemed to twitch. He looked up at the two of them, then turned to look at Lu Chen, before smiling ingratiatingly.

"Where would we get white meat in this small town?"