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Chapter 1 Stone Village

The stone village is not made up of stones all over the mountains. In fact, there are not many stones on the mountain. It is just that the large stones on each nearby mountain look rugged and steep. From a distance, the mountains are filled with mist, and the abrupt stones have their own shapes, just like moving giant beasts. The older generation is very glorious about the stones here, so they are named Shitou Village.

People in Shitou Village live a farming day facing the loess and backs facing the sky, working and entering and resting for decades. They have been singing mountain songs on the land without desire or demand, and green mountains on all sides, beautiful mountains and waters. When the breeze passes, the air is filled with a fresh and intoxicating smell, like a fairyland.

There are about 40 or 50 families living in Shitou Village, living in scattered areas, but at the intersection of Dongtou, it is heading towards Yong'an Town, where more than ten families live, so the villagers often gather here every now and then to trade, or to learn about the situation of each household and the information coming from outside.

On a flat ground on the back hillside of the village, the morning sun was not so hot. The twelve-year-old Lu Chong was wearing a light blue dress and tied a black cloth belt around her waist. He held the sleeve on his right arm tightly, stretched out his right hand again, and took a deep breath. When his mood calmed down, he thought about the movement he had just practiced, and ran his strength from slow to fast.

Lu Chong guided his right hand little by little in the air, and trembled from fingers to wrists to arms, changing his hand shape from slow to fast, so countless handprints appeared in front of him, and the sound of qi breaking was constantly heard in the air.

Lu Chong quickly felt the warm current again and found the invisible line in his arms. Lu Chong ran carefully. The line moved back and forth several times with Lu Chong's arm. He seemed extremely nervous at this time and was secretly looking forward to it. However, as time passed, the line that appeared in his shadow did not last and slowly disappeared.

Lu Chong sighed sadly, understanding that he had failed again.

This is a booklet about the technique of maitong that Lu Chong accidentally read in the miscellaneous notes passed down by his ancestors at home. The miscellaneous notes simply record: According to the rhythm of pulsation, the invisible pulse line in the arm vibrates and loops back, and extends to the arm to emit seven colors of light. The palm prints are gathered from dots to form surfaces, which is considered to be a skill to truly reach maitong, and the movements on the hand can be extremely flexible.

Today is the tenth attempt. Every time I feel like something is missing, Lu Chong did not give up. He sat slowly on the flat grass, carefully thinking about every move just now, hoping to find the reason for the failure.

The sun had risen high without realizing it, and countless dazzling lights shone on Lu Chong's small figure. Lu Chong woke up from his contemplation and looked at the sky. It was probably too late, so he stood up and ran towards the village along the rugged path at the foot of the mountain.

Lu Chong's parents passed away when he was very young. It is said that his parents, grandpa and several uncles went to the imperial city to build a palace. When the construction was about to be completed, unfortunately, a side hall collapsed due to lightning strike and was all crushed underground. Later, Lu Chong and his grandfather came to Shitou Village and lived here.

Lu Chong returned to the house south of the village and saw that the food had been arranged on the table. This was prepared by his grandfather. Lu Chong came back from the back mountain at this time every day. After having breakfast in a hurry, Lu Chong came to his room to raise a wooden box, then entered the wooden ware workshop on the left, and started a day's wooden carving work.

Opening the wooden box, Lu Chong took out the carving knives, including flat knives, round knives, oblique knives and Yuwan knives, and spread the knives on the table. Lu Chong picked up a piece of wood and looked at it. First, he used a flat knives to dig them. After dozens of knives, the wood quickly formed a rough human shape. He changed the oblique knives to carve facial features and limbs, and finally used the Yuwan knives to modify them. In about a quarter of an hour, an exquisite little puppet appeared in Lu Chong's hands.

Lu Chong stopped the movement in his hand, gently rubbed the cocoon skin on the thumb and index finger of his right hand, and began to continue carving. When Lu Chong finished the fifth puppet, he heard the sound of his grandfather entering the house behind him.

"Ha, the speed is good." Grandpa said with a smile.

Lu Chong turned around and looked at the fairy in surprise and said, "Why are you back so early today?"

In the past, my grandfather took the puppets carved the day before yesterday to the small shop at the village entrance to sell. He always didn't come back until around the afternoon. Today, it seemed a bit surprising.

Grandpa said happily: "There is a good news to tell you. I heard that the Lu family is going to recruit wooden tools to repair wood kids. I have notified the family stores in each village and town. Children in our village will go to the wooden shops in the town for assessment. The specific time is set at the day after tomorrow. You can prepare these two days, and we will go there the day after tomorrow."

"Really, it's great. I finally have the opportunity to learn advanced wood art!" Lu Chong said excitedly.

Lu Chong's father was also a craftsman with woodworking talent. Lu Chong received various woodworking books inherited by his ancestors. Although Lu Chong always wanted to become an excellent wooden craftsman, his grandfather was not specialized in wooden craftsmanship after all, so he could not learn many techniques. Most of them rely on himself to explore through practice and half-understanding. When he encountered something he couldn't understand, no one could give advice. Now that he finally had the opportunity to learn, Lu Chong felt particularly excited.

"But? Can I do it?" Lu Chong said anxiously again.

"Child, don't worry. You have gradually become more skilled in the past few years. Not only are you skilled in your hands, but your ideas are also wonderful. Remember, you must believe in yourself at any time, and grandpa is optimistic about you." Grandpa's voice became very serious, and a solemn expression appeared on his kind face.

"Well," Lu Chong nodded heavily, held his little hand tightly and said, "I will definitely succeed. I want everyone to know that there will be an amazing craftsman in Shitou Village. After I succeed, I will let my grandfather live the best life."

Grandpa smiled with relief, and his old body also stood up a little.

The next day, my grandfather went out early in the morning, and Lu Tong did not go to the back mountain of Shitou Village. He just wanted to calm down his excitement, so he came to the utility room on the right side of the courtyard.

There were some common items for home use in the room, and there was an old cabinet behind a table. When I opened the cabinet, there were more than a dozen booklets and a few old bronze utensils on several horizontal partitions. Lu Chong took off the booklet and flipped it out casually. He took the old copper utensils and played with them for a while, and then put the items in place.

When I was bored, I suddenly saw a flat wooden product in the corner of the partition. I moved my position just now when I put down the old copper objects, and then it was revealed. Lu Chong picked it up and saw that it was a wooden long-lived lock. The lock was very hard, and it was not thick. It was only two or three inches long. It was carved with an unknown beast. The wooden lock was covered with dark red patterns. The two ends of the lock were connected by a thin rope, which made it feel a little cool when you touch it with your hands.

Lu Chong thought it was something left by his ancestors, so he rubbed it on his body a few times, hung it around his neck, looked around, and did not find any attractive objects, so he closed the door and left.

It was not until the evening was approaching that my grandfather came back from outside. A slight smile appeared on his tired face. Lu Chong handed a cup of hot tea to his grandfather. Grandpa drank the tea in one breath, then took a breath and signaled Lu Chong to sit down.

"I finally got some things done. Although I spent a lot of effort, Uncle Gen finally agreed to help you with a few more words. As long as you don't collide with the master of the assessment, the whole town will be the best based on your conditions."
Chapter completed!
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