Chapter 23: It’s an Eccentricity
“You all should know what the Grand Villa Master cultivates, right?”
“Of course, the Grand Villa Master cultivates the Heartless Path!”
“Correct,” Rong Xie nodded. “But do you know that the Heartless Path is also divided into many categories? Do you know specifically which branch the Grand Villa Master cultivates?”
The three little ones all showed blank expressions.
“The Grand Villa Master cultivates the Heartless Path of Severing Love and Emotion,” Rong Xie said.
A moment of silence.
“What is the Heartless Path of Severing Love and Emotion?” Shen Yan asked.
“Doesn’t the Heartless Path mean severing love and emotion anyway?” Long Shaoye scratched his head.
“What is Severing Love and Emotion?” Fang Renji stared blankly at Rong Xie.
“…”
Rong Xie realized that this matter was a bit difficult to explain to children. If he had known, he wouldn’t have beaten around the bush and just said it directly.
“It means the kind of romantic love between husband and wife is severed,” Rong Xie tried to explain.
“Ah.” The three little ones simultaneously showed expressions of sympathy.
“Can he still pee then?” Long Shaoye asked, but was covered by Shen Yan’s hand halfway through.
Rong Xie covered his forehead. He was really not good at communicating with children. You think they don’t know anything, but they actually know some things, and suddenly blurting out a sentence can choke you to death.
To preserve the Grand Villa Master’s reputation, Rong Xie explained again that this “Severing Love and Emotion” was an emotional severance, not a physical one.
“Oh.” The three little ones seemed to understand.
“So,” Rong Xie took a deep breath and finally got to the main point, “The Grand Villa Master’s number one taboo is ‘romantic love’.”
Anyone who expressed admiration directly to Shen Bingsi would be rejected outright and blacklisted from further interaction.
Anyone who gossiped about Shen Bingsi being a perfect match with so-and-so, acting like a Dao Companion shipper, would be slapped in the face on the spot and lectured mercilessly. Having a brain full of trash at a young age was a terminal illness; even if cured, one would still drool.
As for those whose minds were filled with fantasies and immersed in a romantic atmosphere, Shen Bingsi wouldn’t interfere with them, but he would secretly label them as “fools” and be extra cautious when cooperating or assigning tasks.
As for those who lingered in places of ill repute and willingly depraved themselves, Shen Bingsi wouldn’t even spare them a glance, considering them beasts unworthy of being called human.
“I understand,” Shen Yan nodded. “While we are at the villa, we must remember to conduct ourselves with integrity. Even in daily chat, we should try to avoid this topic.”
Rong Xie breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that among the three little ones, there was Shen Yan who had such strong summarizing skills.
“So strict, then…” Long Shaoye didn’t know what he thought of again, his face turning red.
Shen Yan nudged him with his elbow.
Fang Renji still had a blank look on his face.
Rong Xie certainly knew that the three little ones were at the age of physical development and would definitely be keen on exploring this aspect. Expecting them to be pure and self-disciplined like Shen Bingsi was unrealistic. Of course, Shen Bingsi himself wasn’t even pure and self-disciplined… The situation regarding this matter was a bit complicated. Learning from previous lessons, Rong Xie didn’t want to explain too much and directly stated the conclusion:
“You can chat, but you can’t let him know you are chatting about this.”
“Especially some key words, they absolutely cannot appear.”
“The Grand Villa Master went out today, so I’ll only tell you once. In the future, don’t say these key words in front of him. When chatting privately, it’s best to switch to other words. You should be able to understand what I mean, right?”
The three little ones nodded. They often made up secret codes to play privately. They would say things adults forbade them to say in a different way. Using secret codes under the noses of adults gave them a rebellious thrill.
However, this was the first time an adult personally taught them how to use secret codes.
“…That’s about it.” Rong Xie told them several key taboo words, asked them to replace them with other words, and told them not to tell him either, as he didn’t need to know.
The three little ones agreed.
The most important instructions were given, and the rest was easy.
Rong Xie took the three little ones on a tour, telling them which places they could go and which they couldn’t, giving them an idea of the villa’s layout.
“The Grand Villa Master likes to practice swordsmanship here the most,” Rong Xie introduced to the three little ones as they walked through a wide courtyard. “If you sense spiritual power fluctuations here, don’t come over, and don’t gather around curiously to watch. Blades have no eyes, and the Grand Villa Master’s sword energy is very powerful. If you accidentally get slashed, your little lives will be gone.”
“There are inner and outer studies. The place where the Grand Villa Master interviewed you is the outer study, which you can enter and exit freely. This one is the inner study, containing many precious rare books and some unorganized old items. When cleaning is needed, I will call you in. Don’t come in usually,” Rong Xie said to the three little ones, pointing to the study where he stored his inner sect old items and the Tura Paradox fragments.
“This is the bathroom.” Rong Xie felt there was nothing much to introduce. The bathroom had restrictions, and the three little ones couldn’t enter anyway. They had another place to bathe in the front courtyard.
“This is the bedroom courtyard; the courtyard gate has restrictions.”
“…”
After touring the backyard, Rong Xie came out from the side door, took the three little ones to the woodshed and warehouse, and finally walked back to the front courtyard through the narrow path between the large and small walls.
Huanxue Villa, like other regulated large villas and estates, had large and small walls, also called inner and outer walls. There was a straight narrow path between the walls for servants to use. One could reach the woodshed and warehouse directly without passing through the private backyard. Another use was for firefighting, though of course, there was no need to worry about that in Huanxue Villa.
Circling around like this and returning to the front courtyard took nearly two hours.
“…Besides the above, the Villa Master also has some personal habit preferences. Violating them won’t have dire consequences, but it will make him unhappy.”
Rong Xie continued the introduction.
“He doesn’t like people sweating. He doesn’t sweat himself, and you can’t sweat either. So, it’s always right to bathe more after working in summer. It would be even better if you could cultivate a minor Ice Heart Art.”
“Don’t show admiration for him. When talking to him, face him with a normal heart. Don’t stare at him all the time. Don’t flush or widen your eyes as soon as you see him; this will only make him dislike you.”
“If he suddenly ignores you, absolutely do not pester him asking why. If you are really afraid you made a mistake and angered him, come ask me. I understand his temper relatively well.”
“When he goes out, don’t ask where he’s going or when he’ll be back. If he needs you to do something, he will say so himself.”
…
After Rong Xie finished speaking, they happened to arrive at the kitchen door. He went in and poured a bowl of water to moisten his throat.
The three little ones stared at him blankly.
Rong Xie finished the water and asked, “Is there anything you don’t understand?”
“No…”
“It’s just… too much…”
“We need to find a piece of paper to write it down…”
“No need, I’ve already written it down. You can copy a version.” Rong Xie smiled and took out the servant boy training memo he had prepared.
“Whoa!” As expected, he saw expressions of admiration on the faces of the three little ones.
That’s right, he was just that thorough.
Wait, he missed a spot.
The marginal note said “Shen Bingsi’s eccentricities,” which he forgot to cross out.
The three little ones showed expressions of sudden realization.
They were struggling to find a word to describe Grand Villa Master Shen’s interconnected restricted areas and one reverse scale after another. Now they found the word, ready-made—eccentricities!
So Brother Rong also felt that Grand Villa Master Shen had particularly many eccentricities.
Brother Rong really suffered, serving Grand Villa Master Shen, who was covered in eccentricities, alone for so many years, to the point that he knew these strange items like the back of his hand and could recite them casually.
Even the most difficult master to serve in the Shen Clan Estate didn’t have so many issues.
“…”
Rong Xie felt the gaze cast upon him contained subtle sympathy.
The children seemed to have misunderstood something again.
“Actually…” Rong Xie instinctively tried to salvage Shen Bingsi’s precarious image as a great power. “The Grand Villa Master is a very good person. He is upright, kind, tolerant, frank… not to mention he always charges at the front when facing danger and never shirks his responsibilities.”
“Mm…”
The children responded thoughtfully.
Rong Xie didn’t know how much of the Grand Villa Master’s shattered image was salvaged. However, fortunately, the content that had to be explained was finally finished. Next was simple repetitive labor, with nothing needing special attention.
In the evening, Shen Bingsi returned from the sect. While changing his outer clothes, he complained to Rong Xie that Elder Yun Feng was causing him trouble again, actually asking him to be an elder at the council meeting and take a few disciples. Wasn’t this pushing him into a fire pit?
Rong Xie took the outer clothes Shen Bingsi took off, folded them, and put them in the clothes basket: “How did you reply?”
“I refused right then and there,” Shen Bingsi said. “Luckily you recruited servant boys, otherwise I might have really agreed.”
Rong Xie thought that Elder Yun Feng probably didn’t bring this up for no reason. Most likely, he heard they applied to bring in a batch of children and thought Shen Bingsi suddenly had a burst of kindness and wanted to mentor disciples, so he proposed making Shen Bingsi an elder. The elders of the three major sects were the best of the best; in terms of real power and usable resources, they had much more than Adjudicators.
However, there was no need to tell Shen Bingsi this. Shen Bingsi and Elder Yun Feng were on good terms.
“I said no need to be an elder. Our villa has three more mouths to feed. Let them increase the monthly salary a bit. These three boys can really eat, simply like bottomless pits. Those chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs that were taken back before can be sent over in batches again,” Shen Bingsi said.
Rong Xie looked up abruptly. He had forgotten about this. Right, now with Shen Yan and the others, they could handle those livestock. They could also add some meat dishes to their daily meals. Come to think of it, the fish and lamb from last time had been finished by him and Shen Bingsi.
“Good, good, good.”
It felt like life was becoming more flavorful.
“How was the teaching today?” Shen Bingsi asked.
“It was… okay.” Rong Xie’s eyes dodged a bit. “I told them all about your taboos.”
“That’s good. There shouldn’t be anything else next, right? When do we arrange the study session?” Shen Bingsi asked.
“Mm…”
Now hearing the word “study” didn’t burn his ears as much as at the beginning.
Delaying further would make his intention to learn seem insincere.
But…
Rong Xie lowered his head, his fingers entwining in his sleeves repeatedly.
Finally, he made up his mind and looked up: “After arranging the cleaning work tomorrow, there should be some free time. I want to… read the ‘Dual Cultivation Secret Manual’ first.”
Rong Xie had never read this kind of mental cultivation manual, nor could he borrow it. Presumably, Shen Bingsi, who could recite it fluently, must have read it. Even if he didn’t have it on hand, he could definitely borrow it.
Learning the theory before practice was a standard process in inner sect teaching. Rong Xie wanted to follow this first. Once he memorized the theory, maybe it wouldn’t be so shameful.
This was really a great transitional method!
Rong Xie simply wanted to praise his own quick wit.
“What ‘Dual Cultivation Secret Manual’?” Shen Bingsi asked with a bewildered face.
“It’s not called ‘Dual Cultivation Secret Manual’? Then is it ‘Dual Cultivation Mental Art’? ‘Dual Cultivation Illustrated Guide’?”
Rong Xie asked tentatively.
However, every book title he mentioned did not receive Shen Bingsi’s affirmation. Instead, Shen Bingsi’s brows furrowed tighter and tighter.
“Why do you want to read that kind of stuff?” Shen Bingsi asked with a face full of disgust, as if a chamber pot was placed under his nose. “Those books are extremely bad, especially the illustrated ones. You shouldn’t read any of them.”
“…”
Shen Bingsi, do you know what you are saying!
Rong Xie felt it was utterly absurd.
“…How can I practice without reading?” Rong Xie asked.
Shen Bingsi fell silent.
He seemed to be thinking about this question for the first time, propping up his chin, the shadows of his facial contours deepening.
After holding it in for a long time, Shen Bingsi finally squeezed out three words: “I’ll teach you.”
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