After Transmigrating into a Frail County Magistrate, I Became an Overlord - Chapter 2

The man’s piercing gaze was cast out like a blade; the corners of his eyes drooped, making his deep-set eye sockets appear even more sinister. The bearded man’s reaction was incredibly slow then again, how could these half-baked bandits compare to an iron-blooded general seasoned in the fields of battle, one who held the power of life and death in his hands?

The man struck with lethal intent. He tilted his head to dodge the bearded man’s fist, skillfully stole the bandit’s blade, and struck down with swift, forceful precision. Before looking at the result, he didn’t forget to offer a reminder: “Close your eyes.”

Yun Zhensong quickly squeezed his eyes shut. Immediately afterward, he felt a sticky, scalding liquid smear all over his face.

As a modern person, where would he have ever seen such a bloody scene? He was terrified, his hands and feet trembling, and he dared not open his eyes again.

Within a few short seconds, the bearded man collapsed to the ground, unable to rise. The remaining bandits brandished their blades and roared in fury. Yun Zhensong crawled underneath the incense table, peering through the gaps to watch the figures constantly shifting. He pricked up his ears, listening to the chaotic, heavy footsteps and the hysterical, violent rages.

The rain was still falling.

The man lifted the incense table, his blood-stained, sword-like eyebrows and star-bright eyes invading Yun Zhensong’s vision without warning.

“They’re all dead. Come out.”

“Did they hurt you?” Yun Zhensong crawled out and asked, his speech rapid-fire.

The man pressed his parched, chapped lips together: “……No.”

Yun Zhensong tilted his head to look up at him, his voice dry: “That’s good, that’s good……”

The man scanned the surrounding severed limbs and corpses with casual indifference and said flatly: “Afraid?”

“What else?” Yun Zhensong thought that was a bullshit question.

He would rather go outside and get drenched in the rain than share a room with a floor full of disemboweled corpses.

As he thought this, he lifted his foot, intending to walk outside.

Later, when Yun Zhensong recalled the events carefully, he felt that perhaps his 5 points of luck had played a role. He didn’t end up getting soaked in the rain, because just at that moment, a rush of hurried, chaotic footsteps arrived from outside. A line of officials and servants filed in one after another. Subconsciously, Yun Zhensong ducked toward the man’s side.

He heard someone shout: “We finally found you! Oh, my! What is all this filth covering the ground?!”

“Stop talking nonsense! Get our master back first!”

“It’s all my fault! If I hadn’t been so sleepy, Master wouldn’t have slipped out alone to gather herbs. He’s been freezing out here for several hours how could Master’s constitution hold up? He’s bound to fall deathly ill!”

“Yusheng! Close your crow’s beak!” Zhou Si scolded as he swept the frail Yun Zhensong up into a horizontal hold. When he turned to see the half-naked, muscular man, he exclaimed: “Who is this?!”

“Bring him back with us,” Yun Zhensong hurriedly poked his head out from Zhou Si’s embrace, “he’s wounded.”

Zhou Si carefully shielded the magistrate in his arms and ordered: “You two, take this man along.”

An assistant beside them leaned over, holding an oil-paper umbrella entirely over Yun Zhensong.

Yusheng directed the others to clear the scene, then trotted to catch up with Brother Zhou. He ducked into the horse-drawn carriage and, looking distraught, leaned in beside Yun Zhensong to unfasten his own cloak and wrap it tightly around his master.

Feeling the warmth, fatigue washed over him once more. Yun Zhensong struggled to keep his spirits up, but the original owner’s body was just as it had been when he was critically ill—incredibly weak. He had no choice but to emphasize repeatedly: “That person, don’t leave him behind.”

Zhou Si offered his broad shoulder for his master to lean on and said steadily: “I know Master is kind; we have already brought him along.”

“Good.”

“Is the medicine brewed yet?” Zhou Si stepped into the back kitchen and shouted to Yusheng, who was brewing the medicine. “Master is about to wake up. The doctor said this dose must be taken on an empty stomach.”

Yusheng suddenly jumped up and ran away from the medicine stove. He turned his head and let out a sneeze, rubbed his nose, and then hurried back to the stove to watch the medicine, only then replying: “Right away.”

Zhou Si: “……If you’ve caught a cold, go take a rest. Don’t go spraying your spit into the medicine.”

“I did not!” Yusheng yelled. Zhou Si ignored his feigned indignation.

The two one active, one quiet had the kitchen maid rolling her eyes; she was long since accustomed to such scenes.

After the heavy rain, spring was almost upon them.

Sunlight leaked in through the plain paper-covered window, casting dappled light and shadows onto the blue brick floor. On the windowsill, a simple pottery vase served as the only decoration, holding a few sprigs of wildflowers. The clear water within glimmered, reflecting the daylight from outside, while in the corner stood a faded elm square table, its surface spotless.

The spiderwebs on the ceiling beams had long since been cleared away, revealing the natural wood grain. On the wooden shoe rack by the bed, a pair of cloth shoes was placed neatly, the mud on the soles already carefully scraped away.

Although the small cottage showed traces of wear throughout, it gave off an indescribable sense of cleanliness and peace.

In short: poor, but cozy.

One person lay on the simple bed, already changed into dry, plain undergarments, a silk sash tied loosely around the waist, sleeping in a stiff, proper posture.

Yun Zhensong slowly opened his eyes, braced himself to sit up, and silently surveyed the dilapidated yet extremely clean room.

His complexion was pale, his eyebrows like distant mountain ranges shrouded in dark mist, his eyes like autumn waters frozen in frost. His nose bridge was fine and straight, though slightly thin, and his lip color was pale to the point of transparency. His sickly appearance could not hide his refined grace; rather, it added a touch of unworldly aura.

The wooden door creaked open. Yusheng’s small head poked through the gap. As soon as he spotted the awakened Yun Zhensong, his eyes lit up. He turned back to shout to Brother Zhou: “Master is awake! Bring the medicine in!”

Yun Zhensong arched a brow, then watched as a man with broad shoulders, long legs, thick eyebrows, and deep-set eye sockets stepped in with broad strides, steadily holding a medicine bowl.

He was followed by the lively boy who looked like a child.

Kaleidoscopic images flashed rapidly before Yun Zhensong’s eyes, moving quickly but missing not a single detail.

The original owner was also named Yun Zhensong, a premature baby whose health had always been poor, relying on medicinal soups to pull through. If this were modern times with advanced medicine, his health would have recovered long ago. But fortunately, he wasn’t severely ill; with proper rest, nothing major would happen.

Yun Zhensong had attained his civil service rank at fifteen. However, because he was unwilling to curry favor with high-ranking officials, he was banished to this desolate, god-forsaken place—Yuanqing County. If it were someone else, they might have complained about their fate or grieved at their lack of opportunity, but Yun Zhensong was genuinely happy from the bottom of his heart. First, this was his hometown, where the elders had watched him grow up and things were easy to get done. Second, compared to wading through the unfathomable muddy waters of the Central Prefecture, he preferred to build up his hometown and change his fate of poverty.

Yun Zhensong’s life was full of misery; his parents had both died, leaving him entirely alone.

He only had two attendants. Yusheng, whom he had picked up from a mass grave protective of his master, unable to hide his emotions, explosive at a touch, but easily placated. Zhou Si, whom he had redeemed from human traffickers—a lifelong student of martial arts with peerless combat skills, who had protected Yun Zhensong for over ten years.

Judging by this, the similarity between this Yun Zhensong and the other was as high as 95%. No wonder he could enter his script.

Yun Zhensong frowned. Under Zhou Si’s calm gaze, he closed his eyes and pinched his nose, downing the bitter medicinal soup in one go. Yusheng took the ceramic bowl and naturally popped a candied fruit into his master’s mouth, his eyes curving into crescents: “I specifically asked the kitchen maid who makes the candied fruit to add extra nectar.”

“Sweet.” Yun Zhensong held the candied fruit in his mouth and raised a hand to gently ruffle Yusheng’s hair. He suddenly thought of something, tilted his head to look at Zhou Si who was in a daze—and asked softly: “How is that person doing?”

As soon as these words were spoken, both of them wore awkward expressions. Yusheng gave Zhou Si a look. Zhou Si rolled his eyes silently, hesitated for a moment, and slowly opened his mouth.

“When the doctor was applying medicine last night, he woke up. When Yusheng was talking to him, he got his neck gripped. I used a palm strike to knock him out. At the moment, that man is in the small room in the side courtyard and hasn’t woken up yet.”

Yun Zhensong glanced at the guilty-looking Yusheng and asked Zhou Si: “What did Yusheng say that provoked such great anger in him?”

Zhou Si said coldly: “Go ahead, you tell Master yourself.”

“Uh…… I didn’t say much,” Yusheng said with an awkward smile, his voice growing lower and lower, “just asked him where he came from, why he was injured, and then touched him a couple of times while I was at it……”

The last few words sounded like a mosquito’s buzz. Yun Zhensong hadn’t heard clearly, so he tilted his head slightly: “What?”

Zhou Si: “He said that he had his ‘tofu’ eaten by a bloody man who had just regained consciousness. And, you bastard, did you only touch him? Didn’t you end up pinching him a few times too? If I hadn’t struck that man with my palm in time, I reckon that even if he didn’t want his life anymore, he would have choked you, that little hooligan, to death. Is your hand just naturally itchy?”

“But I was just so envious! You didn’t see the muscles he’d trained! When will I ever be able to train like that……” Yusheng lost his awkwardness and actually began to reminisce, “The texture was really good. I’m going to go touch him a couple more times before he wakes up!”

Yun Zhensong was both speechless and understanding.

Terrified last night, he was now running a low fever with a heavy head. He sighed: “Help me change my clothes first. I’ll go see how that person is doing in a bit.”

Yun Zhensong stood before the copper mirror, looking at the familiar face. He raised his hands to adjust his casual attire: a green wide-sleeved long robe embroidered with simple cloud patterns, his waist empty of any adornments, perfectly simple and pure. The garment was slightly large, but the silk sash tied tightly around his waist accentuated his thin, lithe frame. His hair was casually gathered with a bamboo hairpin, and several stray locks hung at his temples.

As he turned, his hem swept in an arc, revealing the white-washed undergarments inside. He wore plain cloth shoes with thick, sturdy soles, and his footsteps were completely silent as he walked.

Standing there, he looked like a painting of light-ink landscape, refined and elegant.

“Master has caught a cold; it is not advisable for you to walk around. I shall bring the person to the front hall,” Zhou Si said.

“Mm, go on.” Yun Zhensong nodded.

Yun Zhensong took his seat, and Yusheng poured him tea.

While waiting, Yun Zhensong rested his head on his hand in a half-fist, boredly circling the rim of his teacup with his fingertips. He lowered his eyes, his long, crow-feather-like lashes masking the bewildered emotions in his depths.

[Commencing delivery of Task 1 rewards.]

Yun Zhensong’s shoulders jerked violently.

He felt that if the system popped up a few more times, he would become immune to being scared.

“Master?” Yusheng, serving by his side, sensed Yun Zhensong’s abnormality and asked with concern.

“It’s nothing.” Yun Zhensong reinforced his tone, “It’s nothing.”

[Reward: Increase lifespan by 3 months, increase 5 skill points, sent manual on saline-alkali land management along with related practical items.]

Yun Zhensong explored the system bit by bit, filled with curiosity and doubt.

As long as he thought “appear light screen” in his heart, a large screen would appear before his eyes. It had various icons, but most were gray, indicating they were not yet unlocked, while only a few were lit up.

His gaze rested on “Backpack,” and he immediately saw the management manual, seeds, and fertilizer just sent by the system. Beneath the seeds were their names and quantities. Yun Zhensong scanned them roughly; they were all plants and crops that were salt-alkali tolerant and easy to grow.

He exited and entered “Personal Center.”

The interface was simple and clear.

Name: Yun Zhensong (courtesy name Wanxi)

Identity: Magistrate of Yuanqing County

Lifespan: 1%

Luck: 5%

Skill: 5%

The rows below were locked in gray and could not be viewed.

Yun Zhensong looked at it several times with great interest, and was suddenly filled with fighting spirit and interest in this system and the script.

It was like leveling up and fighting monsters—growing step-by-step from a small character into a big boss; it was immensely satisfying.

Just then, Yusheng raised his hands to massage Yun Zhensong’s shoulders and back, his strength steady. There was warm tea at hand; Yun Zhensong sipped it to hide the smile on his lips.

With attendants to serve him and an official title to his name, the confusion in Yun Zhensong’s eyes dissipated instantly.

I, Yun Zhensong, just happen to love a challenge! I was going to die in reality anyway, so living even one more second here is pure profit. Besides, someone actually cares about me now.

Thinking of this, Yun Zhensong reached back and pinched Yusheng’s hand, curling his lips: “You are truly good.”

Yusheng was instantly terrified, thinking he had grown cocky and careless again, leading his master to speak sarcastically.

Yusheng replied woodenly: “This is all that a servant should do.”

Yun Zhensong said: “It would be even better if you replaced ‘servant’ with ‘I’ in the future.”

“……?” Yusheng felt that his master was very strange today, but he didn’t dare to ask too much, only saying, “Yes.”

Just then, Zhou Si brought in two guards and led the man in.

The man had changed into clean clothes, but because his body bore countless knife and arrow wounds and his origin was unknown, he was truly dangerous. The guards held him under guard on both sides, their movements somewhat heavy. When the man tripped unexpectedly over the threshold the front hall wasn’t large, and this stumble caused him to fall directly to his knees at Yun Zhensong’s feet.

The man made a dissatisfied “Tsk” sound, and immediately after, saw clearly who was sitting in the seat of honor.

“When you see the Magistrate! Why are you not bowing quickly!”

The guard urged him sternly.

Yun Zhensong was just about to say it wasn’t necessary when he saw the man raise one eyebrow and, after pondering for a moment, offer a salute: “This commoner pays his respects to the Magistrate.”

He bent his waist, his head pressed to the back of his hands.