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

After saying this, Shen Xingzhuo gently touched the embroidered words on the silk scroll, her eyes slightly lowered, as if she were lost in memories.

When she was young, her master saw that she had a talent for understanding the profound meaning of the scriptures, so he often gave her questions that were "transformed" from the scriptures.

At that time, she had to decipher a riddle created by her master almost every day.

My master always said, "The Great Way is formless, but written words are tangible. The most profound writing is one that allows the reader to see not the words themselves, but only the universe."

The text on the silk scroll before us is almost identical to the titles of those past works.

The logic behind the questions set by the master is mostly to use subtle and profound language to convey profound meanings, saying one thing but meaning another, and using the surface text to construct a contradictory context to confuse her.

Shen Xingzhuo looked up at the window and reached out to try to catch a sliver of moonlight.

"This moonlight is a clue," she said softly, choosing her words carefully.

"In our Xuanmen (Taoist) teachings, we often say that the stars do not move and the constellations remain constant."

"But tonight, I saw clouds covering the sky, giving the stars an unusual appearance."

Although ghost stories are inherently products of yin and turbid energy, celestial changes still signify obscured celestial secrets.

This means that everything the Chosen One sees in the ghost stories could be distorted or even altered information.

"But all of this only highlights the 'celestial phenomena,' or rather, the 'weather,' which is also part of this textual puzzle."

Shen Xingzhuo slowed down her speech, giving the viewers time to process what she had said, before continuing her explanation:

"Now we know the core information to solve this problem."

"First point: There is a fixed order to reading silk manuscripts. To put it simply, as mentioned in the previous sentence—"

Begin with the first sentence, extracting the core essence; then proceed to the fifth, focusing on the second and fifth sentences. Continue in this manner, finally choosing the seventh sentence.

"Secondly: The core of this book, 'Admonitions for Women,' is discipline. No matter how we interpret it, we must stay true to its essence. Therefore, the disciplinary words in the sentences are the key to answering these questions."

"Third point: There is another important sentence in the sentence that only emerged under the moonlight, which is 'Suddenly, the character 'cloud' appeared out of the mountain.'"

She added a slight emphasis, highlighting the word "cloud".

"And this word 'cloud' corresponds exactly to the 'clouds that obscure the sky.' Clouds that obscure the sky block out the stars, so we should also pay attention to sentences that contain 'weather words.'"

"In summary, the three key points to solving this puzzle are: order, discipline, and weather."

Shen Xingzhuo took a deep breath.

The "qi" in this ghost story was so murky that it made her feel like she was suffocating from saying so much in one breath.

She pressed her palms hard to dispel the dizziness in her head.

Just as she paused, those watching the celestial canopy were once again captivated by her.

My typing speed while taking notes is practically off the charts!

[What's taking off? I looked down to pick up a pen, and when I looked up again, I couldn't understand anything...]

What kind of school did Sister Shen attend when she was little? She knows so much!

[My ideal type has just met my soulmate!]

Shh! Let Sister Shen continue! Brainstorming with her is so much fun!

In the midst of the ghost story, Shen Xingzhuo had already adjusted her state of mind.

"Now we can look at the text on the silk scroll."

She thoughtfully opened the book in her hands and adjusted the angle so that the words on the book could be seen very clearly from the perspective of the sky screen.

"Let's start with the first line," she read aloud. "First, purify your mind and do not concern yourself with external affairs."

"This sentence does not contain weather information, so we directly take the core disciplinary word, which is the first content word after the word '曰' (yue) – '清' (qing)."

"Following this pattern, in the second sentence, 'Again, it is said that one should be gentle and compliant, and not be misled by the five colors,' we can extract the word 'gentle'."

Her gaze followed the progress of her reading, landing on the fourth sentence.

"Continuing down, besides the order, the fourth line, 'Fourth, be steadfast and quiet, do not listen to rumors,' contains the weather element of wind. Therefore, rumors are the core of this line."

"In the fifth line, 'Fifth, be diligent; continue embroidering mandarin ducks without stopping,' the admonitory word in this line is 'diligence.'"

"Following the seventh line, 'Waiting for you is like waiting for the right time,' since the right time is at the end of the line, we take the next line, 'The eighth day is auspicious for marriage; remember to give your bride to a good man.'"

There is a desk and writing implements in this room.

Therefore, while interpreting the characters, Shen Xingzhuo also wrote them down one by one.

She arranged the papers in order...

The words that appear are not a complete sentence, but rather: clear, gentle, peaceful, rumors, diligent, and suitable for home.

Shen Xingzhu stared at the words on the paper for a while.

The logic unfolded in my mind: 'Clouds obscure the stars, concealing celestial secrets. Therefore… the words selected using weather-related terms… their true meaning lies not in their literal words.'

Holding a calligraphy brush in her hand, she wrote two characters on the paper—"通假" (tongjia).

Shen Xingzhuo gave a confident smile and continued, "The meaning of these six words is very clear."

"The first five are labels for disciplining women, while the last one, IKEA..."

Shen Xingzhuo's voice carried a faint chill: "There is an old saying: 'When a woman marries, she will bring harmony to her family.'"

"Combined with the eighth line, 'A woman in red makeup finds a good husband,' it can be interpreted as him telling you that a woman's ultimate destiny is to marry a good husband."

[What the hell?! Isn't everyone's final destination the grave? If that's the case, we might as well all just lie down in there now!]

Is this the ancient mindset? I don't understand why people would tie their entire lives, spanning over a hundred years, to one person. Just thinking about it makes life seem so dull!

History books say that the average lifespan of people in ancient times was around 80 years. Sister Shen lives in an era even more ancient than that, so the average lifespan was probably only 30 or 40 years... However, I don't agree with this, and it's not a reason to insist on marriage.

[So little?! If that's the case, forcing a woman to marry is truly a sin!]

The comments section erupted into a heated discussion about ancient people's marriage concepts and life expectancy.

Even so, we didn't forget to pay attention to Shen Xingzhuo's reasoning in the ghost stories.

"But this is just a symbolic meaning."

"Clouds obscure the stars, so the words selected based on weather phenomena should be viewed from the perspective of 'phonetic loan characters'."

Shen Xingzhuo's gaze shifted to the words "rumors," and her brows furrowed slightly.

"These two characters are not interchangeable..."

While pondering, she suddenly remembered her master's teachings.

"The beauty of metaphors often lies in the interplay of form and sound, and the creation of meaning from the mind. To decipher a phonetic loan, one must seek out 'what is embedded in the form of the original character; what does the sound of the original character refer to.'"

She closed her eyes, recalling the original text that had been revealed under the moonlight.

She murmured very softly, "Suddenly, the character 'cloud' appeared from the mountain peak..."

A sudden inspiration struck, and his eyes snapped open.

"I understand! The key is that clouds emerge from the mountain peaks; the mountain peaks are the openings of the earth! And clouds rise from within the mountain peaks..."

"The true rule of phonetic loan characters is that words selected by weather must be combined with the 'meaning of the land' to arrive at their true meaning."

"For example, the two characters '风言' (fengyan, meaning rumors or gossip) are composed of '风' (feng, meaning wind) and '言' (yan, meaning speech), which is composed of '口' (kou, meaning mouth). '口' can symbolize a cave or the opening for childbirth. Therefore, wind plus '口'... wind travels through caves, birds roost in their nests, and phoenixes return to their nests!"

Shen Xingzhuo's eyes lit up. "So the true meaning of rumors can be understood by the wind!"

"The Pei family is a matriarchal family. The true meaning of this statement is to listen to the teachings of your mother or female elders (those in power) and never act on your own."

Once he understood the concept, Shen Xingzhuo immediately began to decipher the meaning of the name "IKEA".

Home is a dwelling place, belonging to the local climate. But what is the meaning of the character "宜" (yí)?

"The character '宜' (yí) has a roof radical with '且' (qiě) below it; the character '家' (jiā) has a roof radical with '豕' (shǐ) below it (sacrificial animals). The true meaning of this phonetic loan is already clear: under the roof (宀) of the sacrificial altar, women are offered up like pigs (豕) on the sacrificial altar (且)."

"But the earth, being receptive and virtuous, nurtures and sustains all things; it is regarded as Mother Earth!"

Shen Xingzhuo's eyes were filled with laughter.

Therefore, these words must be reversed before obeying.

"A daughter of the Pei family may be impure, may not be gentle, may not be chaste, may not be diligent, but she will absolutely not be someone to be sacrificed or offered up!"