Chapter 59: A Trio's Journey

In the 21st century, Zhu Di suddenly snapped his eyes open, his heart pounding wildly as he nervously felt around to inspect his body.

"What just happened?"

"Was someone trying to assassinate me?!"

"And where is this?"

Just at that moment, something heavily pressed down on top of him.

"Father!!"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked around in absolute bewilderment. "Haha, we really resurrected! This place must be the apartment Chen Lin rents."

"Where is Chen Lin?"

"Why isn't he here yet?"

Speak of the devil, and he arrives.

Chen Lin crashed right down on top of Zhu Yuanzhang, letting out a sigh of despair. "I died so miserably this time. It hurts like hell!"

[Congratulations to the host for completing the 4th death at the hands of Zhu Yuanzhang. Reward: 100 million RMB. Please keep up the good work...]

That's four times already!

And quite smoothly done, too!

"Could the two of you please get off me? I'm about to be crushed to death..." Zhu Di choked out, suffocating under their combined weight.

"Oh, oh, oh..."

The two quickly climbed off Zhu Di. Chen Lin pulled out a pack of cigarettes and tossed one to each of them.

"Have one to calm your nerves first."

Puff—hiss~~~

With a drag of smoke, the three of them finally managed to settle their minds.

Only then did Zhu Yuanzhang recall the moment of his death just now. "Did you kid deliberately miss your mark at the end, just to make me die a more painful death?"

Chen Lin directly demanded another hour from the system before replying. "That's called an eye for an eye. You were the one who failed to finish me off with a single stab, so don't I have the right to vent my anger?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was in the wrong, primarily because he really had done it on purpose.

"I'll give it to you, you little brat!"

"Wait a minute, what was that thing you used to kill me earlier?"

Chen Lin pulled out a handgun. "Are you talking about this?"

"Yes, yes, yes, exactly this! What kind of weapon is this?"

Chen Lin chuckled mischievously. "Want one?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded frantically, but Chen Lin said, "This is a fire-lance—a fire-lance from the future world. Well, what do you think?"

The father and son exchanged a shocked look. "A fire-lance!!"

"Such a tiny fire-lance, and it can even fire continuously!"

"Let me take a look, quickly."

Chen Lin hurriedly pulled it back. "No way. I only have this one, and this thing is very dangerous. Someone with a rash and hot-headed temperament like yours should touch it as little as possible."

"You~~"

At that moment, Zhu Di suddenly asked, "Just what kind of people would dare to openly assassinate the emperor? You must remember there were over three hundred guards in our retinue!"

Zhu Yuanzhang also snapped back to reality. "Damn it, it must have been the people behind the Lu estate."

"The people behind the Lu estate!?" Chen Lin and Zhu Di asked in synchronized shock and suspicion.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. "Yes. The Lu estate has always been tied to the gentry faction of Jiangnan. Now that I think about it, the reason they poisoned Xiongying was to pave the way for Yunwen to ascend the throne, so they could infiltrate the court and eventually seize power."

Hearing this, Chen Lin stroked his chin. "The Jiangnan gentry group, huh? This is getting interesting..."

Zhu Yuanzhang stubbed out his cigarette butt. "We'll talk about that when we get back. Chen Lin, take us out for a walk."

Zhu Di was still full of question marks at this point.

"Hold on, isn't anyone going to explain what's going on here?"

"Where on earth is this, and why are we completely unharmed?"

Too lazy to explain, Chen Lin grabbed a few sets of his own clothes from the wardrobe and tossed them to the two men.

"Put these on first, and then we'll figure out where to take you."

With that, he stripped off his own Hanfu and, right in front of the two, began dressing while demonstrating how to wear them.

"Don't just stand there staring, hurry up and change!"

"Oh, oh, oh..."

Soon, all three were dressed in modern clothing, complete with duck-billed caps to conceal their long hair.

After all, always using Hanfu as an excuse wasn't entirely appropriate. The crucial point was that walking around together as three men with long hair and ancient hairstyles would inevitably arouse suspicion. It was best to cover it up wherever possible!

Zhu Di's physique was sturdier than Chen Lin's, so the clothes felt a bit tight and uncomfortable.

Zhu Yuanzhang's build was smaller, quite similar to Chen Lin's, and fit just right.

The only problem was their hairstyles, which made wearing duck-billed caps nearly impossible. Chen Lin simply fetched a pair of scissors and snipped away, transforming all three of them into Chen Haonan-style haircuts so they could finally put on their hats.

"Don't you know that body, hair, and skin are gifts from one's parents? How does this allow me to face people when I go back?"

Chen Lin explained, "It'll recover once you return to the Ming Dynasty. Don't you feel like your body is much lighter right now?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was startled and quickly tested his legs.

"It really is! It's like returning to my prime in my twenties; even those chronic old injuries are gone, and the scars have vanished."

"Haha, now I can finally report back for duty. Splendid!"

Zhu Di didn't feel much difference, as he was already in his physical prime.

"Alright, put on your slippers, and I'll take you out to experience the future world."

Chen Lin happened to have three pairs of slippers in his room: a pair of flip-flops for going outside, a pair used for bathing, and a pair of dust-covered leather slippers.

Naturally, Chen Lin kept the flip-flops for himself, Zhu Di wore the bathing pair, and Zhu Yuanzhang got the leather slippers.

The three of them stepped outside looking utterly slovenly, like a trio of swaggering delinquents, puffing on cigarettes and shuffling in their slippers, completely carefree.

Upon seeing the high-rise buildings within the residential complex, the father and son were dumbfounded, tilting their heads back in wonder.

Walking out of the complex, the cars, small electric scooters, and tricycles on the road made them suck air through their teeth in astonishment.

"So iron-skinned carriages are so common in the future world, yet this brat tried to sell one to us for ten thousand taels! What a rip-off, utterly ruthless!"

"Father, look over there!!"

Following Zhu Di's pointing finger, Zhu Yuanzhang looked up at the sky, where a passenger airliner was flying right overhead.

The two stood there with their jaws dropped, staring up at the sky.

"Are you two done or not? Keep up."

Only then did they retract their chins and quicken their pace.

Zhu Yuanzhang pointed at the sky. "That, what is that?"

"A flying machine—a form of transportation. It can carry one to two hundred people at a time, and can fly from Yingtian Prefecture to Shuntian Prefecture in just a couple of hours."

Father and son exchanged another shocked glance. The future world was simply too terrifying.

"Come on, I'll treat you to Hu辣汤 (spicy soup) and pan-fried buns," Chen Lin said, pointing to a breakfast shop just outside the residential area.

Zhu Yuanzhang sniffed the air. "It smells amazing! Let's go, let's go!"

Once they were seated, Chen Lin ordered five catties of pan-fried buns and three bowls of spicy soup.

Looking at the thick, unappealing-looking spicy soup, Zhu Yuanzhang cast a suspicious glance at Chen Lin. "You're not trying to scam us again, are you?!"

Too lazy to argue with him, Chen Lin picked up a pan-fried bun, drowned it in the spicy soup, and took a big bite!

"Absolute culinary heaven~~~"

The father and son exchanged a look, imitated Chen Lin's actions, and took a big bite~~~

Hmm!?

"Not bad, delicious!"

"If it's delicious, eat up quickly. Our time here is strictly limited; the moment time is up, we'll automatically return."

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned. "Isn't it a whole day?"

"Even if it's a day, shouldn't we make the most of it and get things done?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. "True enough. Fourth Son, eat faster."

Slurping and gobbling away, the three of them eventually polished off eight catties of pan-fried buns and six bowls of spicy soup, then patted their bellies in satisfaction.

Chen Lin took out his phone to scan the QR code and pay the bill. The father and son curiously followed right behind to watch, though they didn't voice any questions.

It wasn't until Chen Lin finished paying that the two stepped closer. Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "Were you just paying for the meal?"

"Yes. In the future world, not only do they not use gold, silver, or copper coins, but even paper money—paper currency—is rarely used anymore."

"Hiss~~~"

Zhu Yuanzhang drew in a sharp breath. "Then where does the money in your phone come from? Wouldn't it be an endless supply that can never be spent?"

Chen Lin covered his forehead. "That's very hard to explain to you, and even if I explained it, you wouldn't understand."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked a bit disappointed. "Alright then, where are we going now?"

Chen Lin replied, "Didn't you want a printing press? We're going to go check out a printing press. The paper currency printed by that thing will be completely impossible for anyone to forge..."