Rules of the Strange: I Became a God in a Bizarre World Through Taoist Arts

A sharp, ant-like pain shot through the chafed area on Shen Xingzhuo's palm.

She pressed down hard, and an even greater pain shot through her, causing her mind to go blank for a second.

As she closed her eyes, the clues, arranged logically, transformed into a dense network of evidence under her introspection.

She wants to get to the bottom of it!

Let's find an answer to those questions that were previously put aside—

Pei Shiquan, formerly known as Liu Jin.

His initial purpose in marrying Pei Jinyu was to seize the power of the Pei family through her.

What's so suspicious is that, as a penniless scholar, even if he were an extremely wicked person by nature, he wouldn't have such vision and confidence.

Where did he get this idea from?

When I returned to that timeline in the past...

The scholars said that an old Taoist priest had given him the Phoenix Breath Sachet.

Could it be that this old Taoist priest instilled such ideas in him?

What role does this old Taoist priest play, and what are his intentions towards the Pei family?

Where did they go now?

Shen Xingzhuo's mind was filled with countless thoughts, and his inner gaze remained fixed on the nameplate of "Old Taoist".

This person is very strange.

He possessed the Phoenix Breath Incense and its formula, and was knowledgeable in evil magic and formations, yet he vanished without a trace after Pei Shiquan gained power.

But he is omnipresent, like a chess player controlling the entire game.

They were gradually deceiving the people of the Pei family, who were living in this world.

……

Shen Xingzhuo's brows furrowed.

In the midst of this anxiety, a faint, indistinct thread suddenly appeared, connecting the scattered evidence.

She remembered that she had once walked around the mansion.

The Pei family mansion was different from the usual style.

A typical courtyard house usually has four or five courtyards. The overall layout is "backed by mountains and beside water", presenting a symmetrical rectangular shape.

But the Pei family...

Shen Xingzhuo counted on his fingers for a few moments and confirmed that it was a perfectly square shape.

"A perfect square, it forms the character '口' (mouth)!"

She closed her eyes and murmured softly.

Then he began to recall his path from Fujinxuan to Jinyinge and then to the ancestral hall.

It is a zigzag route.

In addition, there are two central axes in the mansion...

Isn't that exactly the character "困" (kùn, meaning "trapped")?

Shen Xingzhu clapped his hands heavily.

"It matches up."

Lady Pei was Pei Shiquan's third wife, having been his second, third, and fourth wives.

The two before her were, firstly, the girl he murdered during his impoverished years, and secondly, Pei Jinyu.

But all three women were confined to a small world because of him.

Especially Pei Jinyu and Madam Pei.

A soul was trapped at the bottom of a well, its fortune gradually drained away and transferred to Pei Shiquan.

Another woman endured the pain of losing her daughter day after day, along with her husband's betrayal and endless emotional abuse, wasting her entire life.

In comparison, his first wife, who died young, seemed a little "lucky".

Shen Xingzhuo couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.

And then there are the baby girls.

Ninety-nine!

They were cut open before they were even born, made into sachets, refined into resentment, and used to fuel a man's ambition.

They have no connection to this world.

They will be trapped here endlessly, never to find peace.

Finally, there's Pei Yin.

She was Pei Shiquan's eldest surviving legitimate daughter.

Unable to touch her, he tried every means to torment her.

She was burdened with a series of shackles such as "filial piety" and "chastity," and could never leave the Pei family mansion!