Duosheng Danyuan

Chapter 10 Rules of the Tranquil Abode

——Quiet Retreat·Rules——

Rule 1: The Tranquil Abode is absolutely safe, but the Life Elixir Academy does not welcome lazy disciples.

Rule Two: The Quiet Abode is a place for rest. Please do not practice so as not to disturb the rest of other disciples.

Rule 3: The Quiet Abode provides disciples with warm, home-like rooms, but does not provide accommodation for family members.

Rule 4: The huts in the Tranquil Abode are all independent, and the relevant supplies will refresh at midnight (11:00 PM to 1:00 AM), so there is no need to worry about hunger or loneliness.

规则五：静息庐严格执行八小时睡眠制度，请在亥时（21：00至23：00）前回房，巳时（9：00至11：00）前起床。

Rule Six: People with intact souls always suffer from insomnia; this is a blessing.

Rule Seven: If you are not in a good mood, please remember the name of the Quiet Abode. Here, you will not be forced to stop breathing, but we hope that you can breathe as if you are still.

——Divider——

"Rules?" After quickly scanning the information in front of me, my brows furrowed slightly, but my heart was filled with a sense of clarity, like the clouds parting to reveal the blue sky.

Finally, the world is beginning to reveal some of the truth to us outsiders, even if this is probably just the tip of the iceberg of the Loch Ness Monster.

From the moment I transmigrated here until now, the awkwardness I felt vanished the instant I finished reading the rules. It turns out, this world is dominated by strange tales of rules. The elders' various inexplicable catchphrases during the day and the senior brothers and sisters' meticulous actions all suddenly made sense, as if unraveling a mystery.

"Rules of the Strange, huh? So these are rules of the strange! They're so mysterious, they made me anxious all day." After calming my restless heart, I turned and beckoned Lin and Su to come over to me so we could examine these rules together.

After reading the rules, Lin Xu immediately began taking notes. Su Wanqing, on the other hand, felt somewhat similar to me; upon seeing the rules, she initially relaxed instinctively, then began to tense up. I understand. In the world of rule-based fantasy, although we gain more protection within the framework of the rules, the danger level of this world is actually no lower than that of other science fiction worlds.

At least, I've never seen a supernatural novel or silly animation where everyone survives, but there are plenty where no one survives.

Soon, the three of us sat back down on the sofa.

"Are your room windows closed?"

"My room has no windows," Lin Xu said with a smile.

"Ah, I'll go check." Reminded by me, Su Wanqing immediately got up and was about to run to her room, but after only a few steps, she turned back, looking at the two of us with teary eyes, and whispered, "W-can you stay with me?"

"Huh?" Lin Xu was quite surprised by Su Wanqing's words.

"It's...it's normal, isn't it? In horror movies, it's always the person who's alone who gets hurt first. I'm too scared to go back to my room alone..." Su Wanqing said, her voice trembling and her voice choked with emotion.

"Alright, alright, we'll stay with you, don't cry." Seeing that Su Wanqing was about to burst into tears, Lin Xu quickly got up, waved his hand, and walked to Su Wanqing's side.

"I won't go. I'm not comfortable going into other people's rooms."

"Okay..." Although she was a little disappointed after I rejected her, Su Wanqing felt much more at ease with Lin Xu by her side.

Soon, the two entered the room and then came out together.

"My room window is closed," Su Wanqing grinned and chuckled.

"Where's your room? Don't you need to check?" Lin Xu sat back on the sofa and asked me with concern.

"I checked when you went in," I said calmly.

"Oh, I see."

"There's still time," I said, glancing at the clock on the wall to confirm it was only seven o'clock. "We can analyze these rules together."

"Great, that's exactly what I was thinking."

"Me too, me too."

"Okay, but before we begin, it's your turn." I nodded and looked at Lin Xu.

"Me? Oh, you mean I asked them for information? That's easy, I'll get straight to the point." After a moment of surprise, Lin Xu quickly realized what was going on and began to tell me and Su Wanqing about Chen Yu and his group's experience.

Not long after we left, Chen Yu and the others quickly divided into groups. Tang Anran and Zeng Yixi, being of the same sex, naturally felt closer to each other, and they chose Zhang Muyun, the most well-behaved girl, as their roommate. Naturally, Wang Hao, Chen Yu, and Qian Zhe were grouped together.

Just as the six of them were about to enter the Tranquil Abode together, Elder Jianshan suddenly appeared again. This time, behind the strange old man was a timid and shy girl.

Elder Jianshan was somewhat surprised that only two groups remained, but he didn't reprimand them excessively. He simply asked one of the two groups to accept the new girl. Of course, they were unwilling. According to the saying "A person who fits in with the group is not blinded by their own ideas," the group with four people was clearly an irregular combination and might be the one that didn't fit in with the group.

To resolve the issue of neither side being willing to accept the newcomer, Elder Jianshan suggested that each side send one person to fight, and the losing team would accept the newcomer.

"Wait, a fight?" Su Wanqing interrupted halfway through, puzzled. "How? Boxing or hand-to-hand combat?"

"Judging from the setting of this world, it might be a bit more fantasy-oriented," I replied after a moment's thought.

"They were unwilling to talk about these details, but judging from the result, Chen Yu won. Zhang Muyun had a cut on her face, and although Chen Yu was also injured, it only looked like a superficial wound and wasn't serious." Lin Xu shook his head and continued to tell us.

After Chen Yu won, Zhang Muyun and the others were forced to accept the girl. According to them, this girl seemed to be just an ordinary person like them, timid to the point of being cowardly, answering questions without thinking and appearing to lack her own opinions. However, her identity was nothing special; she was just a working girl named Xie Qinghan.

The reason they arrived so late was because the fight had lasted too long. After the new members joined the team, they followed the ghostly light and soon spotted us.

"After hearing what Brother Lin said, it seems like there's nothing wrong with that newcomer." After listening to Lin Xu's explanation, Su Wanqing nodded thoughtfully.

"Is that why you just asked me why I was avoiding this tenth person's question?" I asked.

"Yeah, I thought you'd say it was because of the information on her arm, like Chen Yu and the others." Lin Xu nodded and continued, "I also chatted with Xie Qinghan for a while. She really is like a young girl who has just graduated and entered society. She's shy and easily led by the nose."

"It's always better to avoid her, after all, she's special," I sighed.

"So, can we start talking about these new rules now?" Lin Xu took out the slip of paper with the rules written on it and placed it on the coffee table, then began to speak.

"Okay." I nodded.

"What does the first rule, 'The Sheng Dan Academy does not welcome lazy disciples,' mean?"

"On its own, it doesn't make sense, but combined with rule five, perhaps this 'laziness' means getting up after 9 AM?"

"Possibly."

"Now that you mention it, it's true. Rule Two doesn't seem to have any problems, since we're not going to cultivate right now anyway."

"Indeed, but didn't Elder Jianshan say that we'll start training tomorrow?"

"Then remember not to practice meditation in the quiet retreat anymore."

"This shouldn't be difficult."

"Um."

"Rule number three is really strange. While it does make our rooms look like home, what does it mean to not provide for family members?"

"This... I'm not sure. There are many possibilities, such as illusions, dreams, or challenges? I also don't know what kind of family members are mentioned in the rules. If they are unfamiliar family members provided to us by this world, it's not a big deal, but if they are family members from the real world..."

"what?"

"Don't overthink it. As long as we remember and strictly follow these rules, we're safe for now."

"It's only temporary..."

"There is no such thing as a rule-following myth that guarantees survival."

"Strange tales of rules?"

"This world is so bizarre, isn't it like a strange tale of rules?"

"Wait, what's this 'strange tale of rules'?"

Lin Xu raised his hand, looking blankly at me and Su Wanqing.

Su Wanqing and I exchanged bewildered glances. After a while, Su Wanqing realized that at Lin Xu's age, he probably had never even heard of such a niche subject as "Rule Tales." So, she began to explain the concepts of Rule Tales to Lin Xu.

"ah....."

Su Wanqing explained everything in great detail, from the most basic rules to the special abilities and fan works that came out later, and even battle royale, the Scarlet Letter rules, fake rules, hidden rules, special rules, and so on.

I could tell that Lin Xu was somewhat dazed.

"Take your time to digest it. If you can't, I'll write it down for you to read carefully."

"I think we definitely have to do it this way."

"Let's continue."

"oh oh."

"Rule number four seems fine at first glance... but what does this 'loneliness' refer to?"

"hiss."

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing."

"Loneliness... Really?"

"I hope not."

What are you two saying?

"It's nothing, let's continue. Don't worry about this for now."

"Yeah?"

"Um."

"I've already mentioned the fifth rule, but I'm afraid I won't get enough sleep with those eight hours.

"I know a way to fall asleep quickly."

"Oh? What is it?" Lin Xu asked, looking at me curiously.

"Hold your breath, or strangle yourself."

"..."

"It's true, a person won't die if they hold their breath for a certain amount of time, they'll just faint, and then they'll fall asleep. The same applies to strangling," I said seriously.

"Haha, let's continue." Su Wanqing laughed, her lips twitching.

"Rule number six seems to address your concerns quite well, Brother Lin."

"I saw it, but didn't it say that if the soul is intact, one will suffer from insomnia?"

"Does that mean someone with a fragmented soul can sleep soundly?"

"..." Lin Xu looked at Su Wanqing with a troubled expression, sighed, and then asked, "Then what kind of person would have a fragmented soul?"

"Well..."

"Senior brothers and sisters."

"Huh!"

"Indeed, those people looked like they had lost their souls."

"Moreover, Rule Six states very clearly that a intact soul is a blessing."

"All right."

"The last rule, this is the most enigmatic."

"Perhaps, this is also the most important thing."