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

After Shen Xingzhuo finished speaking, the room fell silent.

Outside the window, a bright red sun hangs high in the sky, its fiery red morning light streaming through the windowpane.

Inch by inch, it cut open the yin and yang of this room.

The old woman stood in the spot where the first ray of sunlight could reach her. As the red light swept across her, she made a strange "hoho" sound.

It sounded like laughter, yet also like an extremely unpleasant sob.

A gash appeared on the top of her head, tearing open her aged skin.

In just a few breaths, the entire human skin was peeled off her body and fell heavily to the ground.

And the face beneath that human skin was indeed Pei Jinxiu.

Shen Xingzhuo looked at her calmly, without disgust or fear on her face.

Pei Jinxiu frowned and said fiercely, "I hate your perpetually expressionless, deadpan face!"

"Pei Jinyu, how could someone like you fall in love with a man like that?!"

She screamed, "How could you possibly know what love is?!"

Pei Jinxiu's sudden loss of control of her emotions left Shen Xingzhu speechless for a moment.

Behind this seemingly insulting statement lies the younger sister's bewilderment at her older sister's foolish choice.

Shen Xingzhuo suddenly understood Pei Jinxiu's hatred.

In her eyes, her elder sister was the noble eldest daughter of the Pei family, well-educated, reasonable, and decisive from a young age. Her sister had a calm attitude towards everything, and almost nothing could stir up her emotions.

But just like that, the unexpected happened!

The elder sister, who has always been a model of noblewomanhood, openly defies the family for a worthless man!

It turns out, she wasn't as calm as a still pond.

It turns out she wasn't like that with everyone.

But why?! The one who caused this change wasn't her own sister, her closest relative!

Shen Xingzhuo looked at Pei Jinxiu with a complicated expression.

Her hatred wasn't true loathing, but rather...

I hate that the bright moon hangs high, yet it alone does not shine on me...

No wonder she had such complex emotions when playing the old nanny.

"Yes, what is love?"

Shen Xingzhuo asked softly in return.

She extended a hand to Pei Jinxiu, quietly waiting for her to shake it back.

The intense red light now filled almost the entire room.

The butterfly mark on the back of Shen Xingzhuo's hand was exposed to the red light, and the familiar burning sensation made her consciousness momentarily dazed.

The scene before her eyes rushed backward, transforming into a stream of light that gradually enveloped her at its center.

Several images flashed before her eyes.

There were side rooms adorned with wedding silk, corridors lit with red lanterns, and a pair of hands that had overturned candlesticks.

Then, a raging fire broke out.

In the embers, a richly dressed woman was throwing paper money into the brazier.

The thin yellow paper turned to ashes when it touched the flame.

A tear fell from the woman's eye and splashed into the mud.

The blazing flames rushed towards him, and Shen Xingzhuo subconsciously took a step back, realizing that the shape of the streak of light was actually a Möbius strip.

She squinted, looking at the point where the heads met, her pupils suddenly contracting.

"Is the past the present?"

She stared intently, but there was a hint of hesitation in her voice.

"wrong……"

"The past is gone. The two seem to coexist, but in reality, they are opposites."

Shen Xingzhuo pressed his palms, and the dazzling sensation caused by the flowing light and flames gradually disappeared.

She hadn't forgotten that outside the ghost stories there were people watching the celestial canopy.

She explained softly, "To use a vivid analogy, the spatial representation of 'past' and 'present' on the Möbius strip is like the world of the living and the world of the dead."

Before she could finish speaking, the entire space was engulfed in flames.

Shen Xingzhuo reappeared in the side room.

Seeing that the scene before him was still frozen in time, he quickened his pace slightly and began to explain the red sun outside the window:

"My analogy of the past to the underworld was not unfounded."

"In the Xuanmen school of thought, the underworld exists alongside the human world, representing both positive and negative aspects, as well as yin and yang."

"The positive pole is the yang pole. As Pei Jinyu, I am currently in the past, which is the opposite, the yin side. Using the concept of substitution, we can simply assume that I am currently in the underworld."

Shen Xingzhuo took a breath and continued:

"There is no sun or moon in the underworld, therefore, the red sun outside the window is not the real sun."

Shen Xingzhu made a hand seal and silently recited a spell.

Then, a flash of light revealed the true face of the red sun in the sky, magnified against the backdrop of the heavens.

[My God! This, this is a burning fireball!]

I've learned something new from Sister Shen!!

Why would a ghost story go to such lengths to create a fireball?

Soon, Shen Xingzhuo provided an explanation for the questions raised in the comments section of the ghost story.

"This is the True Fire of Hellbreaking, its color is like blazing iron, and it can illuminate the nine netherworlds."

"In plain terms, this fire is no ordinary fire; its power is to burn away the shackles that bind the souls of the dead..."

Shen Xingzhu hesitated for a moment.

"However, the conditions for this flame to ignite are extremely demanding. The person behind it must have paid a huge price to achieve its current scale."

Shen Xingzhuo's expression turned serious.

What she didn't say was that the enormous price would likely be life itself. Once the other party's life was exhausted, this red sun would also perish.

"I think this flame is meant to be used on Pei Jinyu."

Shen Xingzhuo let out a long sigh, his voice full of helplessness: "You are not a fish, how can you know the joy of a fish?"

Despite the myriad thoughts swirling in her mind, the sensation in her hand brought her back to her senses.

Pei Jinxiu took her hands in his.

The two of them gazed at each other from afar.

Are you really sure you want to get married?

Do you know that person...?

Before Pei Jinxiu could finish speaking, Shen Xingzhuo interrupted her.

"Jinxiu, I know, I know everything."

She then revealed a resolute expression, "But I don't regret my decision. I must marry him!"

Pei Jinxiu's face showed confusion.

"What makes it necessary?"

Shen Xingzhuo fell silent again.

Although she didn't travel through time, the first rule of the butterfly effect is that people from the past should not know about the future.

She couldn't speak, but in Pei Jinxiu's eyes, that meant she didn't want to say anything more.

Pei Jinxiu stared at her hatefully, her voice filled with pain and incomprehension.

"Am I not your sister?! Why have you never wanted to say anything to me since we were little?!"

"I can help you too!"

Pei Jinxiu took a deep breath, her eyes almost turning into a sharp blade.

"Pei Jinyu, I'm asking you one last time!"

"Are you really going to marry him?!"

Shen Xingzhuo nodded; she clearly saw the disappointment in Pei Jinxiu's eyes.

"Jinxiu, I swear to you—"

Someday in the future, I will definitely explain everything to you about what happened today.

Shen Xingzhuo looked at her hopefully:

"Now, may I ask you to escort me to my wedding?"