The most precious thing about a painting is the paint and painting skills. Although this picture of a tiger descending from the mountain is an ink painting, the brushstrokes and painting techniques are valuable.
This painting was created by Jiang Chan before he painted the fat tiger. It still had many flaws. Being able to get an enlightened stonemason as a guide Jiang Chan felt that he had made a profit.
The two of them chatted all the way, and Lu Yufu was also a bold and talkative person.
From Lu Yufu's mouth, I learned that Shimen Mountain is not safe. Tigers and leopards often appear there. It is not uncommon for people who enter the mountain to lose their lives here.
Firstly, the two were similar in age, and secondly, because Lu Yufu wanted to make friends, they agreed to arrive at Shimen Mountain together.
The mountain peaks in front of us seem to be made of rocks stacked on top of each other. The vegetation is also very sparse, forming a sharp contrast with other peaks with lush vegetation.
"Jiang Yan, do you know why this mountain is called Shimen Mountain?"
"I think it's probably because there are so many rocks." Jiang Yan could see many huge rocks exposed from the mountain soil.
"Yes, there are indeed many stones and they are colored stones. In the eyes of us masons, this is an inexhaustible treasure house. Sometimes even masons from other places in Xuan Kingdom will come here to look for colored stones.
What about that door? Since there is a door, it will naturally lead to somewhere. Where do you think Shimen Mountain leads to?" Lu Yufu took a guess.
"Please give me some advice." Of course Jiang Yan didn't know.
"It is said that the end of Shimen Mountain is a city of craftsmen." Lu Yufu had some expectations in his eyes and then sighed, "But that is just a vague legend. The most important thing now is to find colored stones."
"Shimen Mountain is so big, we're not just looking for a needle in a haystack, are we?" Jiang Yan asked.
“The distribution of colored stones may seem irregular to others, but it’s much easier for an experienced stonemason to find them.”
Lu Yufu looked around and pointed his finger at an inconspicuous place on a stone wall not far away that was reflecting a faint light.
"Generally, colored stones are buried deep in the sand. The first thing you need to find is your eyesight. There is no need to waste time in backlit areas. Exposed colored stones are different from ordinary rocks when exposed to light."
As he spoke, Lu Yufu took off the hook lock from the bullock cart, shook it a few times in his hand, and then very skillfully wrapped the hook lock on a protruding rock from the stone wall and started climbing.
The colored stone was seven or eight meters high from the ground, and Lu Yufu's agility and arm strength were astonishing. He could easily climb up the steep and smooth stone wall by grabbing the rope.
After arriving at the place where the colored stones were inlaid, he tied his waist with a rope, took out a hammer and a pickaxe, and hammered it out to carve out a piece of colored stone from the stone wall and put it into the bag prepared around his waist.
After the colored stone was completed, he put down the rope and slowly landed on the ground. Everything went smoothly. Lu Yufu took out a fist-sized stone that was green all over.
"The green color of this stone is good, at least it is high-quality. A stone like this costs thirty taels of silver, and if it is made into pigment, it will cost hundreds of taels of silver."
The paper figures and horses that Jiang Yan had been working on for a year in Nanping Town were not as good as this stone, and the price of paint was really shocking.
"This is a good sign. Shimen Mountain has been mined for hundreds of years, and there are not many exposed colored stones." There was a harvest just after arriving, and Lu Yufu was in a good mood.
"Then how do you find the colorful stones underground?" Jiang Yan asked.
"Colored stones will rob the essence of the sun and moon and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, so no grass will grow near the colored stones."
Lu Yufu spent all his money to teach Jiang Gu, and he listened very seriously. With such an experienced stonemason by his side, the picture of a tiger descending from the mountain is worth every penny.
Shimen Mountain is not a single peak but a mountain range that stretches for more than a hundred miles. Dozens of holes have been dug but nothing has been found. They are either empty or have been dug away.
Fortunately, Huang Tian paid off his hard work. Jiang Yan noticed that his shovel hit a hard object and carefully dug up the surrounding soil, revealing a corner of green.
"I found it." Jiang Yan was a little happy.
However, after all the colored stones were dug out, they were only about the size of a finger. They were much smaller than the piece Lu Yufu had chiseled from the rock wall, but they were still better than nothing.
When Jiang Yan held the finger-sized green stone in his hand, he felt a warm texture. He carefully observed that the stone was pure and translucent, completely different from the colorless stone he bought in the medicine store.
"Colored stones are divided into three grades according to their appearance: upper, middle and lower. Only the lowest grade is used for medicinal purposes. The higher the quality of the Xuanguo painter's paintings, the higher the grade of pigments required."
Seeing that it was getting close to dusk, Jiang Yan felt a little regretful that he only dug up one piece. Even if this finger-sized piece of stone green was made into paint, it wouldn't be much.
"It's too hard to find colored stones," Jiang Yan complained.
"Shimen Mountain is rich in colorful stones compared to other mountain ranges. Even if you know the tricks, you still have to rely on luck to find them. Even a skilled stonemason may come here without success." Lu Yu
Fu said comfortingly.
But it turned out that Jiang Yan's luck was very good. His back was sore and he was resting against a stone. It was almost dusk. He looked up at the setting sun, which was halfway over the top of the mountain. Only the last half of the fiery red Tulan Chilian was left.
Long sky.
"The dragon carries the treasure in its mouth to carry the morning sun, and the phoenix spits out its tassels to carry the sunset." Jiang Qian murmured with emotion.
Before the time travel, the environment was severely polluted. Never had I seen such a beautiful sunset. Jiang Yan was lying half-lying on his arm, admiring the rare beauty.
However, in this last ray of light, Jiang Yan noticed that there was a subtle light shining in a corner of the cliff on the opposite side, almost ten meters above the ground.
"Brother Lu, where are you looking?"
Jiang Ran immediately sat up and pointed to Lu Yufu the place he had just seen. However, when he looked in the direction of his finger, he found nothing. He changed directions and angles several times and still couldn't find it.
"Aren't you dazzled?" Lu Yufu asked.
"Probably not, I did see something"
Jiang Yan did not doubt his own eyes, and was not prepared to give up this fleeting opportunity.
"Did I really see it wrong?"
Jiang Yan thought over and over again. Although the light just lasted only for a moment, he was very sure that he really saw something just now. Perhaps it disappeared as the sun set.
"I'll go up there and take a look."
No matter how much he thought, it was always better to take action. However, just when Jiang Yan was about to climb the mountain to see what was going on, he was hurriedly stopped by Lu Yufu.
“Whether it’s there or not, it can’t be harvested now.”
"Why is this?" Jiang Yan was puzzled.
"This is a mason's rule. We can move around in Shimen Mountain during the day, but after dark the owners of Shimen Mountain are no longer us. Don't break the rules."
Hearing this, Jiang Gu could only give up, but he still made a mark on the spot. Lu Yufu packed up his tools and drove the ox cart towards another trail in Shimen Mountain.