Chapter 2: II. Do You Want a Wife?

II. Do You Want a Wife?

"You should ask for a Dharma name, not a surname. Has your brain been knocked stupid?"

It was this crane-cape old Daoist again. Magistrate Ouyang Rong found that his mouth was quite poisonous.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong ignored the old Daoist and nodded: "Mm-hmm, then may I ask for the Master's Dharma name."

The withered monk lowered his eyebrows, "I don't know."

"Master I-Don't-Know, long time no see."

The crane-cape old Daoist sneered, "He means he doesn't know. Are you trying to make me laugh, kid?"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong glanced at him sideways, "What kind of small biscuit are you?"

The old Daoist asked strangely: "Biscuit? What kind of thing is this, measured in pieces?"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong fell silent and didn't answer.

He got up from the ground, left the lotus pedestal in the center, and walked into the darkness where the crane-cape old Daoist and the others were to avoid the rain.

He looked down; the white Confucian robe on his body was mostly soaked through. Magistrate Ouyang Rong remembered seeing this style of Han-style clothing in a book.

Round collar with wide sleeves, a horizontal band at the waist as a skirt, pleats at the waist, the old system of upper garment and lower skirt. In ancient times, it was the upper garment for scholars, and it seemed only scholars and officials could wear it.

He fumbled with the way it was worn and finally took it off and threw it aside. Fortunately, there was a moon-white inner garment inside, but Magistrate Ouyang Rong couldn't be happy at all.

The feeling of wearing this strange outfit was "heavy," and the friction against his skin was also very rough, as if he were wearing a coarse rag from a balcony, nowhere near as soft and comfortable as his fleece-lined thermal underwear and down jacket.

But what was strange was that although this Confucian outfit that replaced his own was thin, he had been fussing about in the moonlight in the early morning for so long and had even gotten wet, yet he didn't feel very cold.

"Have even the seasons changed..."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong muttered and shivered twice more. It wasn't that he had caught a cold, but that this whole series of encounters and trends made him very familiar, familiar as if he had returned home.

In the past, Magistrate Ouyang Rong would usually swipe past this kind of opening process without even lifting his eyelids. The only thing in the first two chapters that could make him care a little was whether the male lead was half as handsome as him.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong, like the crane-cape old Daoist and the others, found a dry place in the darkness, sat cross-legged, and then took off the shoe on his right foot.

He had wanted to do this for a long time. The right foot's foot-bag... that is, the sock, had a hole in it. From the moment he started climbing the rope, his big toe had been poking its head out, and no matter what, it wouldn't shrink back... a rhythm that would drive an obsessive-compulsive person to death.

After turning the foot-covering inside out, he put the shoe back on.

He stared at the curtain of rain falling in the center of the underground palace.

He rubbed his right cheek fiercely.

Looking at it now, if it really was a rebirth, then was this a... high-martial ancient world? This underground palace rebirth point seemed safe for now. On the contrary, there were some mythological powers outside that he couldn't understand, and it seemed that some kind of terrifying power had the upper hand, look at how it forced people into this so-called Pure Land.

As for whether it was soul-transmigration or body-transmigration... the face was still the original face. Looking at it, it looked like body-transmigration, but it wasn't certain. What if it was the same person in a parallel universe, just with different circumstances? That was also possible.

Then only one question remained—his identity in this world.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong raised his hand to touch the gauze on his forehead. The throbbing pain after pressing with his fingertips and the wet, sticky feeling indicated that the wound was one inch and seven-tenths above his right eyebrow bone, about two fingers wide and long.

He looked at the stone lotus pedestal in the center of the underground palace.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong pointed to the wound on his head and asked softly: "May I ask, who saved me?"

"How do you know it was us who saved you?" It was the crane-cape old Daoist who replied.

These three people in the underground palace, the withered monk was always lowering his head and chanting scriptures, giving Magistrate Ouyang Rong a feeling of being unfathomable, and that slender girl didn't know if it was because she was too cold or too shy, but she didn't say a word.

Looking at it this way, only this crane-cape old Daoist with a bit of a chatterbox attribute could talk.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong slumped his shoulders, "I fell from above, and when I woke up, I was lying on my back facing up, but I had a wound on my forehead. If it wasn't you who saved me, who could it be? It wouldn't have come with me before I fell down."

"You have some brains... hmm, your guess is correct." The crane-cape old Daoist smiled, "But don't thank me or that dull bald donkey. Go thank her. It was this girl who saved you."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong was a bit surprised and looked at the slender mute girl on the right. It turned out she was someone with a cold face but a warm heart.

Learning from the crane-cape old Daoist's similar word order, he also organized his phrasing and held his fists together awkwardly:

"Thank you... Miss, for your help."

The slender girl only nodded slightly. It seemed she was sparing with her words.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong also tilted his head and waited for a while, and then... slightly awkward.

The crane-cape old Daoist burst into laughter, "Hahahahaha..."

"Laughing at a hammer."

"She is a mute girl. You're still waiting for her to speak? Hahahaha..."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong was stunned and couldn't help but look at the slender mute girl a few more times.

Amidst the old Daoist's laughter, the latter's huddled body trembled slightly, and she buried her head even lower.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong shook his head, "All living beings suffer, don't mock her."

The crane-cape old Daoist sneered, "Which eye of yours saw that I was mocking her? I'm laughing because it's really too interesting here, hahahaha."

"This Pure Land underground palace has gathered the four of us. This is a superstitious bald donkey, this is a lovesick mute girl, you are a book-dull fool, and I, heh, am also something full of poisonous sores that can't be seen in public. The four of us are gathered together, hahahaha, it's too interesting."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong glanced at the crane-cape old Daoist's throat. The latter laughed too violently, exposing some ulcerated, pus-filled skin on his neck, which was originally huddled inside the black-feathered crane-cape.

But what was strange was that this old Daoist, full of poisonous sores, had a youthful appearance and complexion, just like a teenager. If it weren't for his white hair and hunched body, he would really be no different from a teenager.

He was truly crane-haired and youthful-faced.

The crane-cape old Daoist suddenly asked: "Hey kid, do you want a wife?"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong thought for a moment, "Daoists shouldn't tell lies."

"Just say whether you want one or not."

His body nodded very honestly, but his mouth said: "Daoist, eh, how can this be embarrassing..."

The crane-cape old Daoist clapped his hands and laughed, pointing at the slender mute girl.

"Then it'll be this girl. Anyway, you can't get out. You two, one a book-dull fool, one a little mute, just happen to be a pair, making a pair of stranded mandarin ducks, hahahaha. Little girl, what do you think? If you don't speak within three breaths, I'll take it as your agreement... Alright, let's hold the wedding now. While it's not yet dawn, you two hurry up and bow to heaven and earth and enter the bridal chamber."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong stared silently at the fun-loving old Daoist and didn't speak.

That slender mute girl also didn't move, as if she didn't care.

The crane-cape old Daoist had fun for a while and found that no one was paying attention to him, but he wasn't embarrassed, and his expression was natural as he adjusted his headscarf.

"Hmph, kindness treated as a donkey's liver and lungs, don't regret it later."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong didn't answer.

The rain outside had stopped at some point. After the dark clouds faded, the moon set and the stars crossed, and the whole world became much dimmer.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong, who often got up early to go to the rooftop to memorize books, was no stranger to this night scene; it was about to be dawn.

He looked at the hole the size of a well mouth at the top of the underground palace and couldn't help but mutter: "Is this really the Pure Land?"

"Can this be fake? Don't you believe 'Master I-Don't-Know's' words again?" The crane-cape old Daoist smiled.

Someone sighed, and then repented in a low voice: "If I had known, I wouldn't have watched that kind of thing in a place of importance to Buddhism."

"Watched what kind of thing?" The old Daoist seemed very interested in him, paying attention to him from beginning to end.

Also, Master I-Don't-Know was chanting scriptures to himself, and the little mute girl wouldn't speak, so only the two of them were left who could chat normally.

"Things that deduct merit."

"You scholars still believe in this?"

"I didn't believe it before, but now I half-believe it."

"Only half-believe?"

"Because the education I received in the past doesn't allow me to fully believe it."

"Although you are a book-dull fool, your words are quite interesting."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong suddenly turned his head, "How do you know I'm a book-dull fool? Are there other scholars outside? Do you know me?"

"I don't know you." The crane-cape old Daoist curled his lips, "But isn't this outfit of yours the one for studying the teachings of the sages? And your way of speaking is also hidden and tucked away, not refreshing at all!"

"Then are there any..."

"Don't worry about the outside. Wasn't that flood just now enough to make you give up? Just stay honestly. Having finally arrived at a Pure Land, hahahaha, I also want to have a good rest."

"If this is the Pure Land... why did only the four of us come? Where are the others?"

"Because you kid have good fortune, others are suffering outside." The old Daoist waved his hand impatiently: "Also, you scholars shouldn't always think about being some kind of sage to save the world."

"Are there sages in this world?" Magistrate Ouyang Rong was curious.

"Yes." The crane-cape old Daoist gestured with his mouth, "Aren't you one? Without the power of a sage, you worry about the heart of a sage."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong shook his head, "I am not a sage, nor do I have the heart of a sage."

"That's for the best. And, what kind of sages are they? They are clearly great thieves."

The old Daoist sneered, his index finger pointing far outside: "All these natural and man-made disasters are ultimately caused by those guys who claim to be disciples of sages. As long as there are sages in the world, there will be great thieves who steal the name and authority of sages. So how is this sage any different from a great thief? It's just that one is unintentional, and one is intentional, the source of chaos. Sages and great thieves all deserve to die! Sages deserve to die the most!"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong looked at him, "You are talking about the 'Sages die, great thieves do not stop' set from Daoism. I have studied that in my coursework, I'm so familiar with it I can recite it backward."

"Oh? You even study this in your coursework?" The crane-cape old Daoist was a bit surprised.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong hesitated and said implicitly: "To be precise, I study a little bit of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism, and I understand a little bit of everything." Damn it, can I not be familiar with my professional courses? Do you think my postgraduate exam is just playing around?

The crane-cape old Daoist raised his eyebrows and couldn't help but look at him a few more times, suddenly asking: "What is the first meaning of the Holy Truth?"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong randomly picked a short one to answer, "There is no sage."

This was a question from Buddhism, asking what the highest truth of Buddhism was; Magistrate Ouyang Rong answered that it was empty and there was no sage.

The crane-cape old Daoist fell silent for a while, rarely putting away his frivolity.

After lowering his eyebrows and chewing on it for a while, he looked at him, "You are not just 'a little bit'."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong sighed, "That's why I want to go back even more."

The crane-cape old Daoist sneered, "And you said there is no sage. You want to go up and save the common people again."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong didn't explain. His "going back" and the old Daoist's "going up" were not entirely the same thing.

Feeling that his physical strength had recovered, Magistrate Ouyang Rong stood up with his palms supporting the ground and walked toward the lotus pedestal in the center again.

This was the first time in his life he had prepared for something so seriously, spending all his time and energy, but just as he was about to welcome it, God suddenly told him:

It's over...

It's all over.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong, does not agree.

"I am not saving the common people, I... am saving myself."

He answered softly, but it was more like saying it to himself.

The crane-cape old Daoist shook his head, said no more, and closed his eyes, leaning against the wall.

Master I-Don't-Know noticed the movement, paused his chanting, and persuaded with a compassionate face again: "Benefactor, this place is the Lotus Pure Land; above is the Avici Hell..."

The old Daoist closed his eyes and said: "Stop wasting your breath. He is a sage, his realm is different from ours, heh."

"Sage!" Master I-Don't-Know seemed to have remembered something, lowered his head and whispered: "The sage is dead, the Dao ancestor is dead, even the Buddha... is dead. Why are there still people obsessed with going up to die."

The monk chanted a Buddhist chant, put his palms together, and continued to chant scriptures:

"Thus have I heard, there are sentient beings suffering, falling into hell, with ox-headed jailers, horse-headed rakshasas, holding spears and lances, driving them into the city gate, toward the Avici Hell, becoming beasts, becoming ghosts, becoming pus, becoming blood, becoming ash, becoming miasma, with flying sand and gravel shattering their bodies, with lightning and hail destroying their souls, becoming blooming, becoming rotten, becoming great mountains of flesh, with hundreds and thousands of eyes, immeasurably devouring..."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong walked past, turning a deaf ear. When he passed by the slender mute girl, the latter suddenly reached out to "stop" him.

Looking down, the girl hugging her knees and burying her face was actually handing over a sheepskin water bag.

He licked his parched lips, took it, and found that her right hand only had four fingers.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong looked up and took a sip without touching his mouth, then returned it.

"Thank you."

The mute girl retracted her hand with the missing little finger and didn't stop him again.

He walked past her, and only then did he see that she had been sitting on a straight "long strip" all along. The long strip looked like a sword.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong picked up the lotus gold lamp that had fallen into two halves on the ground. Fortunately, the rope was still tightly tied to the lamp base and could still be used.

Still the same place, still the same method.

This time, perhaps because he was familiar with the road, or perhaps because he was lucky, Magistrate Ouyang Rong, standing on the lotus pedestal, only tried five times before successfully throwing the half lotus lamp out of the hole.

And it tightly entangled a fixed heavy object outside.

Someone who wouldn't give up began to climb. This time he was focused, carefully paying attention to the movement outside.

Finally.

Once again, he climbed safely to a position close to the exit.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong discovered that this exit was indeed very much like a well, because there was a cylindrical passage about one meter long, connecting to the ceiling of the square underground palace below.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong observed for a little while, preparing to enter the last section of the passage.

But just at this moment, a beast's roar suddenly came from outside the well. This roar sounded like a human but not a human, like a beast but not a beast; Magistrate Ouyang Rong had never heard it before. And what made him even more desperate was that the rope he was hugging tightly in his arms began to sway without wind—there was some kind of creature outside biting his rope, and the rope was swaying as if it were about to break!

At the critical moment, Magistrate Ouyang Rong's body was like a bent nine-stone strong bow, suddenly pulling up and darting upward. He threw the rope away in the air and grabbed the edge of the well mouth hard with both hands. The broken rope fell back into the underground palace from beside him.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong hung alone above, his chest heaving violently like a bellows, and the unknown evil thing outside made him dare not breathe heavily, so he could only suppress it, suppress it.

He took short, rapid breaths, and his trembling fingers gripping the edge of the well mouth could clearly feel the roughness of the rock and the wet slipperiness of blood mixed with morning dew.

His palms were worn to the point of bleeding, but someone remained motionless, as if still digesting the series of sudden changes that had happened a few breaths ago.

Below, Master I-Don't-Know, the crane-cape old Daoist, and the mute girl with the missing finger were all looking up at him from afar.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong looked down.

Master I-Don't-Know shook his head at him, "Namo Amitabha."

The crane-cape old Daoist closed his eyes and chanted for the first time tonight: "Blessings and immeasurable Heavenly Venerable, inconceivable merit."

The mute girl stood up and gave a light "ah," not knowing what she wanted to say, but there was reluctance in her eyes.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong pulled up his mud-stained lips and smiled at them.

He really wanted to go home.

Even if it was God playing a joke on him with a rebirth, he had to climb up and see it with his own eyes.

Even if it really was Avici Hell, Magistrate Ouyang Rong had to take a look before he could completely give up this thought.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong looked up. The sky the size of a well mouth above his head was already bright. He was hungry and tired, but he used the last bit of strength he had for that last pull-up on the horizontal bar during his final physical fitness test...

He climbed out.

The dry well stood quietly in front of a peach blossom forest, with stone railings specially surrounding it.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong, sitting paralyzed by the well, was stunned.

What met the eyes was a Zen monastery with blue tiles and red walls; in the distance, amidst the lush green bamboo forest, one could occasionally catch a glimpse of the bell tower's flying eaves and upturned corners, where a yawning monk was slowly tolling the morning bell.

And to the east, a red sun was slowly raising its head from the great river flowing east, looking at all living beings who dared to look directly at it.

"This..." His slightly sunken eye sockets felt a bit warm, and he lightly sniffed the sandalwood scent unique to ancient temples deep in the mountains.

Just as the dull and distant bell sound came from the mountains and forests, a group of monks suddenly pushed open the half-hidden courtyard door, nimbly jumped over the stone railings, and ran hurriedly to Magistrate Ouyang Rong, happily gathering him up.

"County Magistrate, County Magistrate, you are here! Why did you run to the Compassion and Tian Jiyang Institute!"

"County Master, we have been looking for you so hard. Where did you go last night? We searched for a whole night. The Abbot and the little Yan Constable who takes care of you were almost anxious to death! We were preparing to go down the mountain this morning to notify the government office and send people to search the mountain!"

"Amitabha, fortunate, fortunate. County Master, if we had found you any later, the little Yan Constable would have had all our heads moved!"

A group of monks asked Magistrate Ouyang Rong frantically, chattering away. The latter was in a state of confusion the whole time, looking blankly at these bald heads shaking back and forth, his eyes dizzy.

"Alright, alright, stop shouting. The County Master's injury... has just healed, don't surround him, give him some space to breathe." Finally, it seemed that a little novice monk who was the leader finally stood out and pushed away the wall of people.

This little novice monk was ten or so years old, with a handsome face, and his little bald head was very shiny. When he leaned in front of Magistrate Ouyang Rong to examine him, it was a bit blinding.

The little novice monk waved his hand in front of Magistrate Ouyang Rong's eyes, and then took his pulse with a profound look. After a flurry of activity, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He couldn't help but mutter: "I didn't expect Master's medical skills to be reliable. He could be saved after being in a coma for so many days... cough cough, County Master, when did you wake up, and why did you leave the courtyard alone in the middle of the night?"

"You... you... I... no." Magistrate Ouyang Rong opened his mouth, touched the wound on his forehead, and didn't know how to speak.

Finally, he reacted, hurriedly pointing to the dry well behind him, and said: "Down there, the people down there..."

The little novice monk was stunned, looked at his fellow disciples, frowned and asked: "County Master, did you fall into this... this Pure Land underground palace last night?"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong nodded, opened his mouth to speak, but didn't know how to ask, "Is this place really the Pure Land?"

"It is called that."

Seeing his confused look, the little novice monk probably reacted to something. He pointed to the dry well and explained:

"County Master, this Pure Land underground palace used to be the place where our Donglin Temple enshrined Buddha relics. It was... during the time of the previous dynasty's Taizong, the temple's previous abbot built it under the Emperor's order. At that time, all Buddhist temples in the country were popular for building pagodas, repairing underground palaces, and welcoming Buddha bones, but later the Lotus Tower above caught fire and collapsed, and this Pure Land underground palace was also abandoned... As for the people inside now..."

The little novice monk walked to the well and shouted directly inside: "Hey, Ru Shixiong Master Xiuzhen! It's time for morning breakfast!"

Soon, the voice of Master I-Don't-Know, which Magistrate Ouyang Rong was familiar with, came from below:

"Why are you outside? Come down quickly! This place is the Lotus Pure Land; above is the Avici Hell!"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong was speechless.

The little novice monk turned his head and sighed: "Ru Shixiong Master Xiuzhen has been crazy for many years. He was actually quite good before, but later he always said we were evil things, wanted to eat him, and always looked for dog holes and bed boards to drill into, saying he wanted to find a place of Ultimate Bliss... The Compassion Institute couldn't keep him, so we had to hang him down with a rope and send him vegetarian food at a fixed time every day. He also likes staying down there."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong frowned, lowered his head to look at his hands worn by the rope, and couldn't help but ask: "Then, there are two other people down there..."

"Ah, there are two others down there?" The little novice monk was stunned and nodded, "Oh, they should be the patients and beggars taken in by the Compassion and Tian Jiyang Institute." He looked around, "The dry well is at the back door of the Compassion Institute. It seems the senior brother who manages the courtyard was negligent again yesterday, letting the patients and beggars taken in run around and fall down."

"Compassion and Tian Jiyang Institute?" Magistrate Ouyang Rong was stunned, thinking of the mute girl with the missing finger and the old Daoist full of poisonous sores below.

The little novice monk looked at Magistrate Ouyang Rong, who seemed a bit unstable, and said cautiously: "Yes, speaking of which, the Compassion and Tian Jiyang Institute can continue to operate because of the compassion of you, County Master. The County government office subsidizes it every year, and we are responsible for taking in some of the poor, sick, and disabled in the county. County Master, they shouldn't have scared you last night, right?"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong lowered his head and didn't speak.

Seeing him lost in thought, the little novice monk felt a bit cowardly instead.

Perhaps it was the natural awe of commoners toward those with official status in this era, all attributed to some kind of official prestige. Actually, Magistrate Ouyang Rong knew there was no official prestige, it was just that Donglin Temple was under the jurisdiction of this county. If all life and death were in the hands of others, one would naturally be careful about the other party's face and mood at all times.

At this moment, the sharp-eyed little novice monk suddenly saw a dirty beggar in the bamboo forest not far away, crawling on all fours, biting things indiscriminately, looking like he was in a bad mental state.

He hurriedly signaled to the fellow disciples beside him, so a few monks ran over hurriedly to fork the person and press him back to the Compassion Institute.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong, who was silent and lowering his eyes, actually saw most of these small movements happening around him and the various expressions of the monks.

He wasn't scared silly by these ups and downs, just... after these absurd reasons cleared up the absurd misunderstandings, a brand-new, almost certain reality was placed in front of him, and he was instead... more disappointed.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong suddenly felt a bit dizzy, but he struggled to stand up, and with patience, he spoke to them gently: "I'm fine, I wasn't scared. Thank you for explaining so much. By the way, I haven't asked your name..."

The little novice monk stood up straight, and while relieved, he smiled: "This little monk's Buddhist name is Xiufa. County Master, you can just call me that."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong looked at Xiufa's shiny little bald head, nodded, "Okay, Xiufa. Don't help me, I can do it... but I have another question."

"County Master, please speak!"

"Last night, that heavy rain, and the flood, did you hear it? What's going on with this momentum!"

The Xiufa little monk and his companions, who were relaxed and laughing a second ago, suddenly became silent like cicadas in winter.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong felt his head getting dizzier and dizzier. He grabbed Xiufa's little shoulder and said in a weak but unquestionable tone: "Tell me."

Seeing that his companions were also looking at him, the Xiufa little monk had to bite the bullet and point to the south, whispering:

"County Master, you are newly appointed, so you should know that the fields of our Jiangzhou are lower than the rest of the world; the fields of Longcheng are lower than Jiangzhou; and among the various marshes, Lady Yunmeng is the most... The ancient Lady Yunmeng Marsh is right next to our Longcheng County..."

"It's the plum rain season now, the water level of Lady Yunmeng Marsh has risen sharply. Last night... the Di Gong Sluice Gate that blocks the water collapsed, and a mountain torrent broke out... Now, not only our Longcheng County, but all counties in the Jiangzhou region have been flooded."

Hearing several words that were both familiar and strange, such as "Lady Yunmeng Marsh," "Di Gong Sluice Gate," and "Longcheng County," Magistrate Ouyang Rong's already dizzy head, as if by some stress reaction, began to ache violently.

It was as if someone had forcefully inserted a water pipe into his head, and the faucet connected to the other end had been pushed to the maximum.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong pushed everyone away, stumbled out of the Compassion Institute, and came to an open place with a good view. Looking south down the mountain, as far as his eyes could see, there were collapsed houses, flooded fields, and wailing women and children...

As far as the eye could see, it was a country of marshes.

For some reason, witnessing this scene, a poem suddenly appeared in Magistrate Ouyang Rong's mind, as if it had been stuffed into his brain out of thin air:

"Everywhere there are wailing geese, the whole city is covered in blood, nothing more than a thought to save the common people."

This slightly middle-school style didn't look like him, the "old fun-loving person" who stayed out of trouble, but rather... the "original body" of the gentleman, whose memories and thoughts began to gush and pour in along with the headache.

"Good heavens, my dead memories are starting to attack me... Wait, I remember now, I am the new County Magistrate of Longcheng. On the day I took office, I publicly announced that I would cure the water disaster, and as a result... I immediately fell into the water and drowned... What kind of unlucky guy is this? Why did he have to set such a flag..."

Before Magistrate Ouyang Rong lost consciousness, the last thing he heard was the urgent shouting of Xiufa and the others...

He suddenly felt that perhaps staying in that Pure Land below forever didn't seem so bad?

... ===== CHAPTER 3 =====