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

Granny Yang's jaws missed the child by only half an inch.

She slowly straightened up, forcing a cloying smile: "Young Miss, you're already so agile after giving birth. Are you so concerned for the young master?"

Shen Xingzhuo held the child tightly in her arms defensively, her tone unfriendly:

"Now that you've brought me here, you should go back to serve your mother. I don't need you here."

She emphasized the word "serve" to remind Granny Yang of her status as a servant.

"Then this old servant will go and prepare the medicine for the young lady, and wait..."

"The old nanny is someone Mother can rely on," Shen Xingzhuo interrupted her directly, her voice sounding cold, "Such a trivial matter as brewing medicine... Do you think I can't order other maids around in my room?"

Granny Yang's throat tightened, and the smile on her face vanished.

"What you say is true, young lady. This old servant shall take his leave now."

After saying that, she left.

The door closed.

Shen Xingzhu stared for a long time, making sure the footsteps outside the window were fading into the distance, before sitting back down on the bed.

She slowly lowered her eyes and looked at the bluish-purple little figure in her arms.

The baby's eyes were open under a thin membrane, with no whites and covered by red swastika-shaped patterns.

Its little hands reached out blankly into the air.

Shen Xingzhuo subconsciously extended a finger.

A small, cold hand immediately grasped hers, not with much force, but held her tightly.

She let out a long sigh, unsure how to face the situation.

The baby wasn't wearing any clothes, so Shen Xingzhuo pulled over a brocade quilt and wrapped it tightly around the baby's body.

A gust of wind blew in, and the longevity locks clattered together, making a tinkling sound.

The rules of the ghost story thus appeared before Shen Xingzhuo's eyes.

[Your child has been safely delivered, and the entire Pei household is overjoyed. However, the horrific scene of your childbirth has terrified everyone, and fearing the child may be weak, the entire household is walking on thin ice. You must be careful in your words and actions, and quickly find a way to get along with everyone in the household.]

[1: You are Pei Yin, the eldest daughter of the Pei family's main branch. You deeply love your child, and you are willing to sacrifice anything for her.]

[2: Children are a blessing from Guanyin; when a child cries, never respond.]

[3: You will only give birth to boys, who will be the future heirs of the Pei family.]

[4: You must dress the child as a girl; only then can you get through this safely...]

[5: You must breastfeed your children yourself; feed them immediately whenever they cry.]

[6: The children won't drink milk.]

7. A longevity lock for your child is very important...

[8: When breastfeeding, the child must be placed on a white cloth.]

[9: You can trust your mother, but you must also respect her. Remember to enter the ancestral hall alone with her after midnight.]

[10: When you are outdoors, the servants in the mansion will not speak to you. If someone smiles at you and waves, ignore them and silently recite the Heart Sutra.]

[11: Inside the ancestral hall, Guanyin has the final say. Outside the ancestral hall, the father has the final say. When their orders conflict, drape yourself in white brocade and remain silent.]

[12: When you hear magpies calling, immediately close all doors and windows. But when you hear crows cawing, drape a white brocade over yourself.]

[13: When you are dressed in white brocade, you can bribe Granny Yang with a child's longevity lock. She will tell the truth when she wears a copper lock, and lie when she wears a silver lock... Never let her wear a gold lock!]

[14: You have nine days to complete a piece of Guanyin brocade.]

【15: Why is the child crying again?】

There are 15 rules in total, which isn't many compared to "Thorn Hotel," but these are certainly not all the rules.

What's even more troublesome is that, in addition to the rules given by the ghost stories themselves, one must also abide by the behavioral norms of a "legitimate daughter of a noble family".

Moreover, upon closer examination, it will be found that these rules now contain both positive and negative aspects.

For example, rules three and four.

One said the babies would all be boys, the future heirs of the Pei family. The other said they should be dressed as girls, only then could they survive safely…

Shen Xingzhuo glanced at the eight fleshy lumps lined up on the bed.

If nothing unexpected happens, they will crawl out one by one on their own.

Rule three states that all babies born will be boys, but looking at these babies, it's like opening a blind box. Who can guarantee what gender they'll get?

Why are these children, who are the future heads of the Pei family, being disguised as someone of another gender?

Shen Xingzhuo patted the child's back absently, his eyes lowered in thought.

These rules are yin and yang, but opposition does not mean that one side is necessarily wrong.

It seems we can only verify this step by step.

What's giving her a headache right now is that Rule One specifically emphasizes her name.

Countless possibilities flashed through my mind in an instant.

She even began to doubt whether she was really Pei Yin.

"My mother did call me Pei Yin in the ancestral hall."

"A name itself is an anchor for identity in the world of ghost stories. Since no strange phenomena occurred at the time, I must be Pei Yin."

Using your brain is physically demanding.

Adding to the current weather, with wind and rain looming and the air extremely muggy.

Shen Xingzhuo just sat quietly on the bed, feeling extremely uncomfortable all over.

"mother……"

A faint, almost inaudible whisper startled her, and she turned around abruptly.

The little thing actually stood up on its own, and wobbled and stumbled as it walked towards her.

Shen Xingzhuo's heart softened, and she took the child into her arms.

But the next second, a sharp pain struck.

Two tiny, sharp teeth pierced the skin, and the sound of greedily sucking could be clearly heard.

She groaned and quickly pulled the child away.

The little guy licked his lips with lingering satisfaction, then curled up in pain, trembling on the bed.

Shen Xingzhu pressed a clean cloth against the wound, catching a glimpse of a fleeting golden light amidst the blood he wiped away.

She didn't say much, only turned around and gently rubbed her trembling belly, her tone helpless: "Let's see if you dare to eat recklessly again next time."

The Celestial Master's blood is extremely yang, so it would naturally cause great pain for the strange child who drank it.

The little baby frowned, its two tiny fangs retracted into the covering film, and then opened its little mouth as if to cry.

Seeing that things were going badly, Shen Xingzhuo quickly covered its mouth.

And then... I got bitten again.

Shen Xingzhuo: ...

"Name...name..."

"What?"

Shen Xingzhuo bent down to listen carefully to what the child was saying.

"name?"

Her thoughts raced, and she finally asked, "Do you want a name?"

The little bluish-purple baby clapped its hands happily.

Shen Xingzhuo thought for a moment, "How about you take your mother's surname and be named Pei Xi?"

"Xi..." Pei Xi nodded emphatically, "Okay!"

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Shen Xingzhuo suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head.

[Pei's father - Pei Shiquan's favorability rating: 10%]

The voice of the ghost story disappeared after it finished its report.

Before Shen Xingzhuo could think it through,

With a loud bang, the door to the side room was kicked open.

"Nonsense!"

Pei's father appeared outside the door, his face ashen and his eyes gleaming with cold light, clearly having overheard Shen Xingzhuo's conversation with Xiao Pei Xi.

"The names of the Pei family's descendants are governed by the family genealogy; how dare you, a mere woman, treat them so lightly?!"