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

"See? I can get away safely even without your help!"

……

Shen Xingzhuo's words echoed continuously in the sky.

"Hahaha, Sister Shen is truly Sister Shen! She's determined to confront the supernatural head-on!"

A citizen of Tianxia Kingdom, who was clearing gravel from the road, laughed heartily, sharing with the people around him his heartfelt joy after hearing Shen Xingzhuo's words.

"Yeah! Every time I see that weirdo trying to kill Sister Shen but unable to, I feel so good!"

Another person chimed in, their eyes slightly reddening.

"But... don't you think this doesn't fit Sister Shen's character?" one of the people furthest away asked thoughtfully. "Although Sister Shen is never threatened by ghost stories, she would never be so... presumptuous."

This sentence was like a pebble thrown into the water, creating ripples.

Now that you mention it, I do feel like something's not quite right.

"It's like deliberately humiliating the supernatural, or more like intentionally drawing a clear line between themselves and the supernatural..."

……

Inside the ghost stories.

Shen Xingzhuo lay flat on her bed in the dormitory, breathing steadily, looking as if she were fast asleep.

But if you look closely, you'll notice that her eyelashes tremble slightly, and a shimmering light around her rises and falls with her breath.

This is a sleep method that Guan Shanyue taught her when he discovered that she had been suffering from insomnia for many days. It allows her to maintain the ability to think while in a semi-conscious state, and also allows her body to relax.

Inside the room, Shen Xingzhuo relived the scenes she had just experienced.

Once switched to a true third-person perspective, many scenes reverted to their original appearance.

Lying on the operating table is the body of "Shen Xing".

The two doctors were indeed preparing to cut off her limbs with a surgical saw, but were interrupted by her sudden convulsions.

Their suspicions were correct; Shen Xing did regain consciousness, but wisely did not fully open her eyes.

Through her blurry vision, she saw that both doctors had a tattoo on the inside of their arms.

The pattern was somewhat blurry; Shen Xingzhu could only confirm that there was a crescent-shaped pattern.

"It's not unusual for one person to have it, but if two people have it... then this pattern must have a special meaning."

Shen Xingzhuo shifted uncomfortably.

Even a perfectly good school becomes a cult in ghost stories.

Shen Xingzhuo's line of thinking continued to advance.

Shen Xing was clearly an "outlier" at this school; what distinguished her from the others was—

Others may possess superpowers and be able to manipulate the power of the five elements, but Shen Xing cannot.

Others are the bullies, Shen Xing is the one being bullied...

"But isn't it said that disobeying in this school will result in death?" Shen Xingzhuo thought sarcastically. "This indirectly shows that Shen Xing is more self-aware than others."

"An outcast with self-awareness."

In the interior scene, Shen Xingzhuo reproduced all the handwritten "rules" he saw, and they all matched Shen Xing's writing habits.

"Either Shen Xing discovered something that made her the target of everyone's criticism, or the opposite, creating a vicious cycle that led to her being bullied."

But ultimately, Shen Xing's unique characteristic lies in her inability to use that strange supernatural ability.

[I've straightened my clothes, but I can't calm my mind.]

After sealing their lips and tongues, only the sound of flowing blood remained in the silence.

[Beneath the gluttonous mouth, crater-like patterns are creeping up to your feet.]

Those who are reluctant to ask questions will swallow the rules one by one.

The price of rebirth...

Shen Xingzhu couldn't help but think of the words formed by the water stains in the corridor.

At the time, she interpreted it as "startled and silent, gluttonous and relaxed, a new life with a new surname."

But in that critical situation, she only solved the literal riddle.

Looking back now, I feel that these five sentences subtly contain a cause-and-effect relationship...