Peace... Such Peaceful Days...
Over a thousand bamboo slips lay neatly arranged before Shen Le. Some had already regained their flexibility and resilience; others were still soaking in test tubes, awaiting restoration.
Some had already been bound into scrolls: Opening and Closing, Inner Pivot, Flying Clamp, Opposition and Union, and <The Seven Arts of the Original Scripture's Yin Talisman>. These were the surviving contents of Guiguzi, along with sections long lost elsewhere and preserved only in this lacquered box.
Others still lay scattered about in disarray, and Shen Le had yet to sort them out. The vast majority were names. Each bamboo slip corresponded to one person, listing their state of origin, the time they entered the mountain, the age at which they left it, what they had done, and the year of their death—
Judging from what they had done, most had carried out assassinations, arson, sabotage, and similar tasks. Many had died in the course of their missions.
If not for the vivid vermilion and ink marks on the bamboo slips, Shen Le might even have suspected that he had fallen into some cartoon.
Was he reading Naruto?
After setting aside Guiguzi and these records of names, there were also various miscellaneous notes. Some recorded locations—some mountain, some valley, some cave, some cave, some cave.
Some detailed training methods—children entered the valley and first learned turtle breathing, ape leaps, and crane stances, steadying their hearts and calming their courage, becoming capable of lurking and hiding, before being taught martial arts.
Some detailed selection and elimination methods—those with clear eyes and flexible bones were chosen for trials; five children slept in the same coffin, and at midnight a board was pulled away. Those unable to climb the coffin walls were eliminated.
Some described different training regimens for disciples from