Chapter 23 is about quirks.
"You all know what the Grand Master cultivates, right?"
"Of course, the Grand Master cultivates the Path of Ruthlessness!"
“That’s right,” Rong Xie nodded, “but did you know that the Path of Ruthlessness is also divided into many categories? Do you know which category the Great Manor mainly cultivates?”
The three children all looked bewildered.
"The Grand Master cultivates the ruthless path of severing emotions and love," Rong Xie said.
A moment of silence.
"What is the ruthless path of severing all feelings and love?" Shen Yan asked.
"Isn't the Path of Ruthlessness all about severing emotions and love?" Long Shaoye scratched his head.
"What does it mean to sever all feelings and love?" Fang Renji stared blankly at Rong Xie.
"..."
Rong Xie realized that this was a bit difficult to explain to a child. He wished he hadn't beat around the bush and had just told him directly.
"It's just that the love between husband and wife has been severed," Rong Xie tried to explain.
"Ah." The three children all showed expressions of sympathy at the same time.
"Can I still pee?" Long Shaoye asked, but Shen Yan covered his mouth halfway through the question.
Rong Xie covered his forehead. He was really bad at communicating with children. You might say they knew nothing, but they actually knew a little bit. They could suddenly blurt out something that would choke you to death.
In order to preserve the reputation of the head of the manor, Rong Xie explained again that this severing of feelings and love meant severing them emotionally, not physically.
"Oh." The three younger ones seemed to understand.
“So,” Rong Xie took a deep breath and finally got to the point, “the number one taboo of the Grand Master is ‘love’.”
Anyone who directly expresses their affection for Shen Bingsi will be rejected and placed on a blacklist.
Anyone who claims that Shen Bingsi is a perfect match for someone else, someone who resembles a Daoist couple, will be immediately slapped in the face and given a merciless lecture. Having such a young and useless person in their brain is a terminal illness; even if cured, they'll just be drooling.
Shen Bingsi won't interfere with anyone who's obsessed with fantasies and immersed in romantic relationships, but she'll secretly label them as "fools" and be extra cautious when cooperating with them or assigning them tasks.
As for those who frequent brothels and willingly degenerate, Shen Bingsi didn't even glance at them, considering them beasts who weren't even human.
“I understand,” Shen Yan nodded. “During our stay at the resort, we must remember to keep ourselves pure and avoid such topics, even in casual conversation.”
Rong Xie breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that among the three younger ones, there was one Shen Yan with such a strong ability to summarize and extract key points.
“So strict, then…” Long Shaoye’s face flushed slightly, as if he had thought of something else.
Shen Yan nudged him with her elbow.
Fang Renji still looked dazed.
Rong Xie knew, of course, that the three younger children were at the age where they were growing and would certainly be enthusiastic about exploring this area. It was unrealistic to expect them to remain celibate like Shen Bing Si. Of course, Shen Bing Si herself wasn't even celibate... The situation was a bit complicated. Learning from past mistakes, Rong Xie didn't want to explain too much and simply stated the conclusion:
"You can talk about it, but you can't let him know you're talking about this."
"Especially certain keywords must not appear."
"The head of the manor went out today. I'm only telling you this once: from now on, don't use these keywords in front of him. When you're chatting in private, it's best to use other words as well. You should understand what I mean, right?"
The three little ones nodded. They often played this game of making up their own code words in private. If the adults forbade them to say something, they would say it in a different way. Using code words under the adults' noses gave them a rebellious thrill.
However, this was the first time that an adult had personally taught them to use code words.
"...That's about it." Rong Xie told them a few key taboo words and asked them to replace them with other words, and not to tell him, as he didn't need to know.
The three younger ones agreed.
Now that the most important things have been explained, things will be easier.
Rong Xie led the three children on a tour, explaining to them which areas they could and could not visit, so that they would have a general idea of the layout of the manor.
“The Great Master usually likes to practice his sword here,” Rong Xie said to the three children as they walked through a spacious courtyard. “If you sense any spiritual energy fluctuations here, don’t come over or go up to watch out of curiosity. Swords have no eyes, and the Great Master’s sword energy is extremely powerful. If he accidentally cuts you, you’ll lose your lives.”
“There are two study rooms, an outer one and an inner one. The place where the head of the manor interviewed you is the outer study room, which you can come and go as you please. This is the inner study room, which contains many precious rare books and some old items that have not been sorted. I will call you in when it needs cleaning, but don’t come in at other times.” Rong Xie pointed to the study room where he kept the old items of the inner sect and the fragments of the Tu Luo Bei novels and said to the three novels.
"This is the bathroom." Rong Xie didn't think there was much to introduce. The bathroom was restricted, and the three little ones couldn't go in. They had another place to bathe in the front yard.
"This is the courtyard of the bedroom, and the gate is protected by a restriction."
"..."
After touring the backyard, Rong Xie came out through the side gate and led the three children to the woodshed and warehouse, finally walking back to the front yard through the narrow passage between the large and small walls.
Like other well-established manors and villas, Huanxue Manor has large and small walls, also known as inner and outer walls. There are straight, narrow paths between the walls for the use of servants and servants. They can directly reach the woodshed and warehouse without having to go through the private backyard. Another purpose is for fire fighting, but of course, there is no need to worry about this at Huanxue Manor.
It took almost an hour to go around in circles and get back to the front yard.
"...Besides the above, the master also has some personal habits and preferences. Violating them won't cause any serious consequences, but it will displease him."
Rong Xie continued his introduction.
"He doesn't like people to sweat. He himself doesn't sweat, and you can't sweat either. So, it's always good to take a shower after working in the summer. It would be even better if you could learn the Ice Heart Technique as a supplement."
"Don't show your admiration for him. When talking to him, be calm and don't stare at him. Don't blush or widen your eyes when you see him, as this will only make him dislike you."
"If he suddenly stops talking to you, never bother him or ask him why. If you're really afraid that you've made a mistake and angered him, just come and ask me. I know his temper pretty well."
"When he goes out, don't ask where he's going or when he'll be back. He'll tell you himself what he needs from you."
...
After Rong Xie finished speaking, he walked to the kitchen door, went in, and poured himself a bowl of water to soothe his throat.
The three little ones stared blankly at him.
After Rong Xie finished drinking the water, he asked, "Is there anything else you don't understand?"
"No……"
"It's just...too much..."
"We need to find a piece of paper and write it down..."
"No need, I've already written it down. You can copy it." Rong Xie smiled and took out the small note he had prepared for the training of servants.
"Oh!" Sure enough, I saw an expression of admiration on the three little ones' faces.
That's right, he's that meticulous.
One drop still leaked.
The marginal note read "Shen Bingsi's quirks," but I forgot to cross it out.
The three children looked as if they had just realized something.
They were struggling to find the right words to describe Master Shen's numerous forbidden zones and taboos, and now they had found the perfect one—eccentricities!
It turns out that Brother Rong also thought that Master Shen had a lot of quirks.
It must have been tough on Rong Ge. For so many years, he has been serving the eccentric Master Shen all by himself, to the point that he knows all about these strange items and can recite them off the top of his head.
Even the most difficult master in the Shen family manor didn't have this many problems.
"..."
Rong Xie sensed a subtle pity in the gaze directed at him.
The children seemed to have misunderstood something again.
“Actually…” Rong Xie instinctively tried to salvage Shen Bingsi’s precarious image of a powerful figure, “The master of the manor is a very good person. He is upright, kind, tolerant, and frank… not to mention that he always rushes to the front when facing danger and never shirks his responsibilities.”
"Um……"
The children responded thoughtfully.
Rong Xie didn't know how much of his shattered image as the head of the manor had been salvaged, but thankfully, he had finally finished delivering the necessary content. What followed was simply a repetitive task, with nothing particularly noteworthy.
In the evening, Shen Bingsi returned from the sect. While changing his outer clothes, he complained to Rong Xie that Elder Yunfeng was giving him trouble again. He actually asked him to become an elder and take on a few disciples at the elders' meeting. Wasn't this pushing him into a fire pit?
Rong Xie took the coat that Shen Bingsi had taken off, folded it, and put it in the laundry basket: "What did you say?"
“I refused at the time,” Shen Bingsi said. “It’s a good thing you hired a page, otherwise I might have agreed.”
Rong Xie thought that Elder Yunfeng probably didn't bring this up for no reason. He probably heard that they had applied to let a group of children in and thought that Shen Bingsi had suddenly become kind and wanted to take on disciples. So he suggested that Shen Bingsi be an elder. The elders of the three major sects are the best of the best. In terms of real power and available resources, they are much more powerful than the adjudicators.
However, there's no need to say this to Shen Bingsi, as Shen Bingsi and Elder Yunfeng are getting along very well.
“I said there’s no need for the elders. Our manor has three more mouths to feed. Let’s raise their monthly salary too. These three kids are like bottomless pits, they’re eating like crazy. We can send over the chickens, ducks, geese and pigs we brought back before in batches,” Shen Bingsi said.
Rong Xie suddenly looked up. He had completely forgotten about this. Right, now that Shen Yan and the others were here, they could take care of the livestock and add some meat to their daily meals. Not to mention, Shen Bingsi and he had finished all the fish and mutton from last time.
"Okay, okay."
I feel like life is getting better and better.
"How did today's teaching go?" Shen Bingsi asked.
"It's...it's alright." Rong Xie's eyes darted away for a moment. "I've told them about all your taboos."
"That's good. Is there nothing else to do? When do we schedule our study session?" Shen Bingsi asked.
"Um……"
Now, the word "study" doesn't bother me as much as it did at first.
If he delays any longer, it will only make him seem less sincere in his studies.
But……
Rong Xie lowered his head, his fingers twirling inside his sleeve.
Finally, he made up his mind and raised his head: "After arranging the cleaning work tomorrow, I should have some free time. I think... I should take a look at the 'Dual Cultivation Manual' first."
Rong Xie had never seen such a mental cultivation manual before, and he couldn't borrow it either. He figured Shen Bing Si must have read it by heart, and even if he didn't have it on hand, he could definitely borrow it.
Learning the theory before putting it into practice is a standard procedure in inner sect instruction. Rong Xie wanted to follow this first, and once he had memorized the theory, he probably wouldn't feel so ashamed anymore.
This is really a great transition method!
Rong Xie was truly amazed at his own quick thinking.
"What 'Dual Cultivation Manual'?" Shen Bingsi asked, looking completely bewildered.
"Not called 'Dual Cultivation Manual'? Then it must be 'Dual Cultivation Mind Method'? 'Dual Cultivation Illustrated Guide'?"
Rong Xie asked tentatively.
However, none of the book titles he mentioned received Shen Bingsi's approval; instead, they caused Shen Bingsi's brows to furrow even more tightly.
"Why would you want to read that kind of stuff?" Shen Bingsi asked with a look of disgust, as if there was a chamber pot under her nose. "Those books are terrible, especially the ones with pictures. You shouldn't read them."
"..."
Shen Bingsi, do you know what you're saying?!
Rong Xie found it utterly absurd.
"...How can I practice if I don't watch?" Rong Xie asked.
Shen Bingsi fell silent.
He seemed to be thinking about this question for the first time, resting his chin on his hand, the shadows on his face becoming deeper.
After holding it in for a long time, Shen Bingsi finally managed to utter three words: "I'll teach you."
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The next update is scheduled! It will be changed from 00:00 on April 2nd to 23:00, after which the update time will be the same as usual! If I write extra content [procrastinator], I'll add extra updates on the weekend [procrastinator]
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