NovelEnglishChapter 1569 The Tao Te Ching Bamboo Slips
Under Fang Qiu’s guidance…
Everyone walked out of the Forages Garden together, and then walked along a path deeper into the ruins from the entrance of the Forages Garden.
Around them…
The ethereal aura still lingered.
As they continued walking, they suddenly noticed some green grass sprouting beneath their feet, particularly pleasant at first glance. Everyone could clearly sense that these green buds were growing.
Fortunately, there was a path under his feet.
Otherwise, they really couldn’t bear to step on these green grass buds.
They walked all the way forward.
They proceeded with caution, afraid of stepping on the tender buds.
As they moved forward…
They noticed a change in the surroundings.
What appeared in front of them was no longer the small plain but a picturesque landscape.
Green mountains emerged in the distant clouds.
Nearby…
A babbling stream flowed through the grass, and the water was very clear.
They followed the stream.
Not long after…
They arrived at the foot of a green mountain.
On a flat ground adjacent to the stream at the foot of the mountain, there was a thatched hut.
The hut appeared simple, similar to the thatched hut in the ruins of Zengzi.
Fang Qiu, who was walking at the front, turned to survey the surroundings and then walked into the thatched hut.
He pushed the door open.
The decoration inside was very plain.
There was only a bed, a futon, and a desk resembling those once used by students in ancient academies. The futon was placed beside the desk, providing an adequate seat.
Upon closer inspection, he noticed three rolls of bamboo slips neatly placed in the upper left corner of the desk.
Apart from that…
The entire thatched hut was empty.
Just then…
Master Numinous and the four patriarchs, the guru of the Sword Sect, and Sword Fanatic all arrived at the door.
Everyone saw everything inside.
“What are these bamboo slips?”
Curiously, Master Numinous walked up and reached out to grab a roll of the bamboo slips.
To his surprise…
As soon as he touched the roll of bamboo slips, his whole body shook violently. He was stunned.
Fang Qiu also walked to the desk, sat down cross-legged on the futon, and reached out for another roll of bamboo slips. As soon as he touched it, his body also shook violently.
Then…
Fang Qiu and Master Numinous quickly withdrew their hands.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“Go ahead.”
Master Numinous gestured, extending his hand.
“Okay.”
Fang Qiu didn’t refuse, nodding in agreement, and reached out again, opening the three rolls of bamboo slips and putting them together.
Just as the three rolls of bamboo slips were assembled successfully…
Fang Qiu, still with his hand on the bamboo slips, suddenly froze, completely motionless.
Seeing this, the others furrowed their brows.
They carefully read the characters recorded on these bamboo slips and found that it was once again the complete text of Tao Te Ching.
This was already the third time they had seen Tao Te Ching.
The first time was on the light curtain at the gate of ruins.
The second time was in the sky when they entered the ruins.
Now…
This was the third time.
“Could it be that these bamboo slips also have the effect of cleansing the body and enhancing physical fitness?”
Patriarch Qian asked.
“Perhaps.”
Diwu Mingchuan responded.
“Take it easy.”
Master Numinous smiled slightly and said, “We’ll know once Fang Qiu comes back to his senses. Then, everyone can have a try one by one.”
Hearing this…
Everyone nodded.
Right now…
Fang Qiu was not immersed in any peculiar state of mind. He still lived in the present reality, and he could clearly hear everyone’s discussions.
He didn’t move, not because he couldn’t, but because he didn’t want to.
When these bamboo slips were opened…
He was enlightened.
It was this enlightenment that captured his attention. He sensed that each roll of bamboo slips could release incredibly powerful attacks.
After sensing it…
“Phew…”
Fang Qiu let out a long breath and came back to his senses.
“How was it going?”
“What’s going on with these bamboo slips?”
“What did you sense?”
Everyone asked, one by one.
“Everyone, please.”
Fang Qiu stood up with a smile, pointed to the bamboo slips on the desk, and said, “I won’t say much. You can experience it for yourselves. Let’s talk after that.”
Upon hearing this, everyone was curious and reached out to touch the bamboo slips.
As soon as they touched…
These gurus immediately were enlightened similarly to Fang Qiu and understood the efficacy of these bamboo slips.
Withdrawing their hands…
They looked at each other.
“Do you all understand now?”
Fang Qiu said with a smile, “So, how should we handle these bamboo slips?”
“Well…”
Master Numinous looked at the crowd around him and realized that there were much more people than he had imagined. Even, considering their power and influence, the three rolls of bamboo slips wouldn’t be enough to distribute evenly.
“Perhaps we can divide them into separate collections.”
A guru from the Sword Sect said, “One of them will be collected by the Sword Sect, one by the four great families and the Pear Garden, and the last one by John Doe and Sword Fanatic. What do you think?”
“No.”
Fang Qiu immediately shook his head and said, “This kind of division is unequal and unfair.”
Everyone nodded and agreed.
There was no problem for the Sword Sect to collect one. After all, the Sword Sect was the most powerful force in Huaxia. No one would compete with them for a chance to collect one.
However…
Dividing one roll of bamboo slips among the four great families and the Pear Garden would be difficult.
It would forcibly bring together these five forces. Although the four great families were often mentioned together, they were still four distinct forces, and the Pear Garden was also an independent force.
In such case…
Which one of the five forces should be given the single roll of bamboo slips?
If they handed it over to the Pear Garden, the four great families would definitely not be happy. If any of the four great families took it over, the other three great families would not be happy, and neither would the Pear Garden.
This way of division would be impracticable.
Besides, although John Doe’s strength had also been recognized by everyone, and judging from his performance this time and the people he brought with him, John Doe had also entered the ranks of top forces, many people would probably not be pleased to hand one over to John Doe.
After all, there were still eight factions and sixteen sects.
Everyone had determined to face great danger to guard the Laozi Relic before their entering. They had already mustered their courage and offered their protection. Now that they had entered the ruins, they couldn’t leave with nothing, could they?
“So, what do you think we should do?”
Master Numinous asked.
“It’s very simple.”
Fang Qiu smiled faintly and said, “All the bamboo slips belong to the Sword Sect!”
Everyone was stupefied.
The four gurus of the Sword Sect were also stunned.
They didn’t expect that John Doe would stand with them.
“Alright, alright, don’t look at me like that.”
Fang Qiu shook his head with a smile and said, “The Sword Sect is the most powerful force in Huaxia and also a national-level force of Huaxia.
“And everyone knows the importance of these bamboo slips. Even if we obtain one, what can we achieve with it?”
…
It seemed to make sense.
These bamboo slips could release powerful attacks, but other than that, they had no other functions. Why did they have to keep them?
“It’s better to hand over these lethal weapons to the government for safekeeping.
“The Sword Sect represents the country, so I trust them.”
Speaking of that…
Fang Qiu looked at the four gurus of the Sword Sect and continued, “Of course, handing over these bamboo slips doesn’t mean that they completely belong to the Sword Sect. After all, they are martial arts artifacts and should belong to the martial arts world. Everyone present has a part of them, but it’s improper to put them on display, so we hand over them to the Sword Sect just for safekeeping.”
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm“What do you think?”
Finished that…
Fang Qiu glanced at everyone, waiting for their answers.
“Yeah.”
Master Numinous pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, “Yes, handing them over to the Sword Sect for safekeeping is indeed a good idea, but we need a promise from the Sword Sect that if they find any other functions of these bamboo slips, they must inform us as soon as possible. When we need to study and examine them, the Sword Sect can’t keep them hidden.”
“Yes.”
A guru of the Sword Sect stepped forward and said, “We can do it!”
“Good.”
After getting the promise, everyone nodded with satisfaction.
The gurus of the Sword Sect wasted no time.
They immediately put away the bamboo slips.
Just as Fang Qiu had said, the Sword Sect was a national-level force after all, representing the country, so everyone trusted them.
After the bamboo slips were put away…
“Let’s all search around.”
Fang Qiu said, “We just passed through the Forages Garden, and here we have Tao Te Ching. We can probably confirm that this is Laozi’s residence.
“Merely, we do not know if this place is a temporary residence or Laozi’s real residence. Thus, we can find out if there is anything left behind here.”
With that…
Fang Qiu walked out of the thatched hut and began to search around.
The others didn’t hesitate.
They all started searching as well.
To their surprise…
After searching for a long while, no one found anything.
“No remains?”
Fang Qiu also carefully searched around. He had thought that Laozi would have left his remains in this ruins, but he found nothing.
“It seems that this place was just a temporary residence for Laozi.”
Thinking of this, Fang Qiu nodded silently.
Fang Qiu felt even more confused.
Where did Laozi go after transforming into Buddha Shakyamuni? If even his remains were not in this ruins, then where?
On the other side…
The others had the same result and found nothing.
But…
Due to the vastness of this area with mountains and water, everyone decided to search individually.
In no time…
The leader of each faction gathered together and made this decision, which everyone agreed to. Then, they each chose a direction and scattered.
Outside the ruins…
“You scatter!”
Lord Virtuous, who had been thrown out, glanced helplessly and gloomily at the pool, and then immediately shouted at his men in black who had also been thrown out, “Keep a close eye on the situation in all directions. Report to me immediately if there is anything unusual!”
“Yes, My Lord.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the men in black immediately dispersed and found their respective positions to quietly surveil the area.
Lord Virtuous found a place to sit down cross-legged, entering into a state of cultivation to restore himself.
He was not injured.
But his internal Qi had been consumed a lot while he resisted the domineering Qi of Heaven and Earth, so he needed to replenish it during this time.
He had to be in his prime to block John Doe!
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