Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

This dialogue... it sounds familiar... like I've heard it somewhere before?

It can't be that coincidental; this must be a rip-off!

Lu Chen's expression changed slightly, but he quickly returned to normal.

Lu Chen knew exactly what he had on him: he was dressed in coarse old clothes, and apart from a few loose silver coins in his inner pocket, he had nothing of value.

But these two were different. Although the man was also wearing cloth clothes, both the fabric and the workmanship were much better than what he was wearing.

The woman's clothes were even made of silk.

Moreover, they were carrying swords and knives, while I was unarmed and looked completely harmless.

Even Lu Chen himself didn't believe it was a performance he was putting on for himself.

In other words, even if this place is indeed a shady establishment, those two are still targets with even greater potential profits.

As a true "outsider," it's best to wait and see how things unfold.

After making his decision, Lu Chen remained calm and used the lightest amount of mental energy to continuously sense the movements within a five-meter radius around him.

Not long after, the waiter brought over two bowls of steaming hot vegetarian noodles and placed them on the table for the two of them.

The young woman seemed to be very hungry, and picked up her chopsticks to take a bite.

The young man beside her gently patted her hand, then took out his chopsticks and handed them to her.

The woman took the chopsticks, exchanged a glance with the man, and the two began to eat noodles.

Before long, the mutton soup that Lu Chen ordered was also served.

The soup was clear and bright, with green coriander floating on top. There were several pieces of meat inside. Lu Chen leaned closer to sniff it and it didn't seem to have much of a mutton smell.

Because of the little commotion the two people at the other table had made earlier, Lu Chen didn't dare to take a bite.

Who knows if there's anything wrong with this broth?

Moreover, what kind of meat is this?

Don't let your first meal after traveling through time turn you into a cannibal.

Forget it, let's leave here first. We'll get some grilled fish tonight and find a high treetop to spend the night.

Anyway, that's how I got through the previous two nights.

In such remote and impoverished areas, there is absolutely no law or order. No matter how careful you are, you can't guarantee that you won't accidentally capsize in a ditch.

To get in touch with the civilized society of this plane, it's more reliable to find a decent town first.

Even after entering this shop, you can still find something worthwhile.

It can now be basically confirmed that this is still the land of China, and most likely it is in some period of the Ming Dynasty.

Just as Lu Chen made his decision to ignore the suspicious "mutton soup" in front of him and pay the bill and leave, a commotion suddenly came from another table.

. . .

The young woman had fallen to the ground; she was the one who made the noise.

The other young man wasn't much better off; although he sensed something was wrong, it was too late.

Just as Lu Chen turned to check, he finally collapsed onto the table.

This store definitely has something wrong with it!

Lu Chen stood up helplessly and shook his head gently.

We finally made it out of these deep mountains, and then this happened!

A few breaths later, two burly men carrying knives came out of the kitchen and approached the couple, checking their breaths with their hands.

"You have a path to heaven but choose not to take it; you have no gate to hell but choose to enter!"

At the same time, the sallow-faced waiter pulled out a dagger and walked towards Lu Chen with a sinister grin.

"Since you're here, stay. You look like you could easily make dozens of pounds of good quality meat!"

. . .

Upon hearing the waiter's words, Lu Chen immediately understood that this was the infamous black shop where murder and robbery were rampant.

It's likely that they didn't just kill people, they even took the bodies of their victims.

The few pieces of meat in this bowl of "mutton soup" in front of me must have belonged to some unfortunate man's body not long ago.

Forcibly suppressing the urge to vomit, Lu Chen used his telekinesis to scan the three thieves wielding sharp blades.

Hmph, even if my telekinesis isn't that strong, I'm still a superpowered person!

With his mental power and the fact that he had the intention to kill the unsuspecting, he could easily kill these three people.

This shady shop not only robbed people, but also killed people and sold their flesh.

In Lu Chen's eyes, these thieves deserved to be torn to pieces.

I killed him, so what? I don't feel any guilt whatsoever.

A moment later...

The sallow-faced shop assistant lay on his back on the ground, his eyes rolled back, his limbs twitching, and a trickle of blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.

Lu Chen used his telekinetic power to squeeze the person's heart hard, within a distance of less than a meter, with the force being almost the same as squeezing it with his bare hand.

Through the tactile feedback from his telekinesis, Lu Chen could clearly feel that the other person's heart had been squeezed and shrunk by a size.

The blood inside the heart must have been forced into the blood vessels.

Although Lu Chen wasn't a medical student, he didn't believe the human heart could withstand such treatment.

The other two thieves from the black shop were also lying on the ground. One of them had a bluish-purple face and was strangling himself with both hands, making a hissing sound.

This person's trachea and Adam's apple were crushed by Lu Chen's telekinetic power, making it impossible for him to breathe. He will soon suffocate and die.

The last person was lying face down on the ground, with a dagger stuck in the back of his neck, all the way down to the hilt.

The dagger was originally in the hand of that fellow.

Upon seeing his two accomplices fall to the ground instantly, this man turned and fled, quickly escaping Lu Chen's psychic attack range.

Lu Chen immediately used his telekinesis to manipulate the dagger that the waiter had dropped, and shot it with all his might towards the back of the man's neck.

At the same time, Lu Chen rushed forward and used his weak mental power to correct the trajectory of the dagger.

This person kept dodging left and right while running away, but it didn't do anything.

The dagger, precisely guided by telekinesis, still pierced his neck without fail.

In less than a minute, the three thieves from the black shop, who had been so menacing just moments before, were either already dead or on the verge of death.

In the entire lobby of the shady shop, apart from the two young men and women who had been drugged, only Lu Chen remained alive.

I gently tested them with my telekinesis, and both of them still had heartbeats and were breathing.

It seems that the two bowls of vegetarian noodles might have contained the legendary sleeping potion.

Should we wake them up?

Lu Chen thought about it for a moment and then gave up the idea.

After waking these two up, I'll have to explain myself.

Anyway, I've already dealt with the thieves at this shady shop, so no one else will bother with them.

The sleeping potion is nothing more than a drug to seduce people; they will wake up naturally once the effects wear off. There is absolutely no need for me to personally wake them up and get involved in any karma.

I should leave this place of trouble.

Should we clean up the battlefield and take some loot with us?

Lu Chen activated his telekinetic power, sweeping it over the three corpses of the thieves on the ground.

The corpses had only some loose silver, totaling about ten taels, and a few dozen copper coins.

There are copper coins?!

This is a great item that can be used to determine the age of things!

The next second, one copper coin after another flew off the corpse and landed on Lu Chen's outstretched left hand.

The first copper coin was the Yongle Tongbao!

The timeline of this world is indeed set in the Ming Dynasty!

Which specific period of the Ming Dynasty?

Lu Chen examined the copper coins in his hand one by one.

The most recent one is the Jiajing Tongbao!

The largest quantity and the newest condition!

In other words, it is now at least the Jiajing era, or even very likely the Jiajing period!

These loose silver and copper coins are enough for short-term expenses.

What Lu Chen wanted to find at this moment was something else entirely.

Although it was a soul transmigration, Lu Chen did not inherit any of the memories of this body.

He is a completely unregistered person!

Unlike previous dynasties, the Ming Dynasty had very strict household registration management.

Unregistered persons face a series of difficulties, with even basic survival and dignity not guaranteed.

Once discovered, they will be treated as runaways and forcibly returned to their place of origin by the government.

If one cannot state their place of origin, they may be regarded as a spy or bandit, and face imprisonment, caning, or military service.

They were even killed by government soldiers to claim credit and use the heads of innocent people for rewards.

Now that he had transmigrated to this plane, Lu Chen naturally hoped to enter the civilized society of this plane.

We can't just wander around in the wilderness every day, avoiding all towns.

There are ways for unregistered individuals to obtain citizenship.

However, these methods are clearly beyond the knowledge of a transmigrator like Lu Chen.

The Jiajing era was not the chaotic late Ming dynasty. Even if one wanted to imitate some time-traveling predecessors and pretend to be a refugee, it wouldn't be that easy.

What Lu Chen saw and heard in this shady shop today gave him an idea that might work.

That's a travel permit!

In the Ming Dynasty, ordinary people without official titles had to hold a travel permit issued by the government if they wanted to leave their place of household registration.

Registration is required for checking into hotels and restaurants, and checks will be conducted at checkpoints and ferry terminals.

During curfew, watchmen and inspectors could detain any unfamiliar person at will.

Once you leave your hometown, you will find it impossible to travel without a travel permit!

People traveling long distances should carry a travel permit.

What place is this?

A black market shop that kills people and sells their flesh!

Although Lu Chen didn't know exactly how many people had been murdered or robbed of their money by these beasts.

But since the people died here, their belongings naturally fell into the hands of these thieves.

There must be some kind of travel permit among them!

What would the thieves at the shady shop do with these travel permits? Would they destroy them?

In later generations, murderers usually wouldn't be foolish enough to leave behind the victim's identification documents.

But this isn't a society governed by law, and there's no such thing as a photograph these days!

The travel permit only contains a textual description of the holder's physical characteristics, which cannot be matched one-to-one with the real person. As long as the characteristics are similar, there is a chance of impersonation.

Each travel permit is a form of identification; you never know when it might come in handy!

These thieves would probably keep the victim's travel permit safe.

. . .

On the second floor, in a guest room.

How can there be so many deformed and misshapen people?!

The square table in front of me was covered with road signs, numbering twenty or thirty, all left behind by the victims.

When Lu Chen found so many travel permits, he was full of confidence, thinking that he could find at least a few that he could use.

After all, Lu Chen had repeatedly looked at his current appearance by the water in the past few days.

A young man who looked to be eighteen or nineteen years old had no particularly distinctive features on his face or body.

Such people are everywhere in high schools and universities in later generations.

Unfortunately, that is not the case.

The descriptions of physical appearance on most road signs have obvious features that are difficult to fake!

Phrases like "one tattoo on the right cheek, a remnant of an old burn," "nose turned up, with exposed orifices," "a blue mark on the left forehead, about the size of a copper coin," and "a black mole on the left eyebrow ridge, about the size of a bean," and so on.

In addition, there are descriptions of obvious disabilities such as "one eye missing, with a white film covering the left eye" and "missing the right ear, with a scar at the base of the ear".

How could I possibly impersonate someone like that?!