So Being the Magistrate Was This Hard...

[They say General Geshu's sword burned with black flames, reducing every Echo to ashes. He swept across the battlefield unopposed, and victory seemed within reach...]

[But just then, an "upward-flowing downpour" began to fall over the Norfall Barrens.]

[Heaven's rain overturned, a hundred ghosts wept in the night. The mortal world became a purgatory, and crimson sand buried the bones of the loyal.]

[General Geshu issued his final military order, commanding every soldier to fight to the death without retreating.]

[He himself was willing to burn his own body in the flames to face the Faceless Calamity in a battle to the death... His whereabouts remain unknown to this day.]

[After General Geshu disappeared, the soldiers stained the battlefield with their blood, struggling to hold on.]

[But before one wave subsided, another rose. Everywhere the soldiers looked, there was an endless Tacet Discord tide-too many to count, too many to kill.]

[As they watched their comrades fall one after another, all the soldiers sank into despair. Just then, a dragon's roar pierced the silence.]

[A young man took up Huanglong's banner and led the Midnight Rangers out of the encirclement, preserving what little fighting strength Jinzhou had left and saving them from total annihilation.]

[With the Norfall Barrens overrun by countless Remnants, the young man led the surviving Midnight Rangers back to the Desorock Highland. They held the line to the death, preventing the Tacet Discord tide from advancing even half a step toward Jinzhou City.]

[After this battle, the young man who shaped wind into a dragon rose to fame. He earned military honors time and again, and Jué chose him as the next general charged with defending the region.]

[As for General Geshu, the order that had inflicted such heavy casualties on the Midnight Rangers made him a general whose legacy in Huanglong's history was met with both praise and condemnation...]

[Although this battle dealt Jinzhou a grievous blow, the Sentinel, who had long remained dormant, finally chose a Magistrate in the actions that followed...]

[Everyone believed that under the guidance of the Sentinel and the Magistrate, Jinzhou would surely turn the tide and move toward a brand-new tomorrow...]

Yangyang told the tale like a storyteller, and everyone was captivated.

Chixia said, "So that's what happened..."

Lu Li rubbed his chin. "Looks like General Jiyan awakened as a Resonator back then..."

"That really was lucky. Otherwise, the consequences would've been unimaginable..."

Most of the troops in the Desorock Highland were logistics personnel, whose combat strength was far below that of the Midnight Rangers on the front lines.

If the Midnight Rangers had been wiped out in the Norfall Barrens and the Tacet Discord tide had swept south, could the logistics troops have stopped it?

Lu Li thought the chances were slim. And if the Desorock Highland fell, Jinzhou City would be next...

Lu Li felt that Jiyan had made exactly the right decision. An unexpected Tacet Discord tide had caused the original plan to reclaim the Norfall Barrens to fail, and General Geshu's disappearance had left the army leaderless.

They really should have fallen back to their base first and held their final defensive line, then worked out a long-term plan, rather than making pointless sacrifices.

General Geshu had simply misjudged the Remnants' numbers and combat strength. Fortunately, Jiyan had awakened his Resonance Ability, preventing the tragedy from escalating further.

A Piao asked, "Why did Jué choose Jinhsi as the Magistrate?"

Yangyang guessed, "Perhaps the Sentinel has its own criteria for choosing someone?"

"Or perhaps this very 'unknowability' is what separates gods from humans? Their criteria are always difficult for ordinary people to fathom."

Chixia giggled. "Exactly! So even if Jué picked yours truly to be the Magistrate someday, I wouldn't be surprised!"

Lu Li placed a hand on her forehead. Chixia asked in confusion, "What are you doing?"

Lu Li looked puzzled. "You don't have a fever, so why have you started talking nonsense?"

Chixia said indignantly, "What, I can't be the Magistrate? You're looking down on me!"

Lu Li said, "Then let me ask you: what's eighteen plus nine?"

Chixia froze. "Eighteen plus nine..."

She lowered her head and counted on her fingers. "Eighteen plus nine... eighteen... nineteen..."

Yangyang covered her mouth and chuckled. "All right, stop teasing her."

Chixia clutched her head and whimpered. "So being the Magistrate was this hard..."

Yangyang said, "..."

A Piao said, "..."

Lu Li whispered to A Piao, "Is there any hope left for her?"

A Piao said, "Bury her. She's beyond saving."

Unable to watch any longer, Lu Li offered a word in Chixia's defense. "Chixia may seem poorly educated, but in reality, she isn't well educated either."

A Piao said, "Are you defending her or finishing her off?"

Returning to the earlier topic, Lu Li mused, "Jinhsi must've been pretty young when she was appointed Magistrate, right? Didn't Jué ask what she wanted before appointing her?"

Yangyang said, "I understand what you mean."

"To be chosen as Magistrate without warning at thirteen or fourteen... It's hard to imagine how Jinhsi must have felt back then..."

Lu Li was stunned. "How old did you just say? Thirteen or fourteen!?"

Yangyang nodded slightly. "Yes, thirteen or fourteen."

Lu Li was rather shocked. "Jinhsi was only thirteen or fourteen when she was appointed Magistrate? Could people really accept that... I honestly don't know how she got through it."

Lu Li thought about what he had been doing when he was thirteen or fourteen.

Hmm... I must've been in middle school then, still worrying about my studies...

Yangyang recalled, "I remember that when Jinhsi first took office, there were a lot of people questioning her."

"Many people felt that Jinhsi was too young and inexperienced back then. Even when she achieved results, she still couldn't win everyone over."

"The fundamental reason people were willing to respect Jinhsi was their faith in Jué..."

Chixia added, "But Jué really does have a good eye for people. Every Magistrate in Jinzhou's history has been highly capable and a brilliant strategist."

"Jinhsi has already proved herself by getting Jinzhou running so smoothly in such a short time!"

"If it were me, just handling all that paperwork would probably send my brain into 'overclocking'..."

"How did that saying go again... Give it... fine china...?"

A Piao said, "It's 'given time, great things will come.'"

Lu Li said, "Chixia's brain was already overclocking just to come up with 'running smoothly.'"

Chixia cried in embarrassment and annoyance, "Hey! Lu Li!"

Yangyang looked at A Piao. "Did Jinhsi leave you any clues about your identity?"

A Piao said, "Jué wants me to go to the Norfall Barrens at a certain time to find Jiyan."

Chixia exclaimed in shock, "The Norfall Barrens!? That's an ancient battlefield..."

Yangyang also cautioned, "The Norfall Barrens are extremely dangerous. They're Jinzhou's foremost line of defense against the Threnodian. I suggest we be careful."

A Piao nodded slightly. "Even after Scar was captured, there are still Fractsidus Overseers lying low within Jinzhou."

Lu Li ventured a guess. "Remember that woman in red? I think she's one of the Fractsidus Overseers."

A Piao raised an eyebrow. "Why do you say that?"

Lu Li recalled the scene. "Think about it. If that woman were just an ordinary Fractsidus member, would she have the standing to boss Scar around when he's a Fractsidus Overseer?"