Royal Master Painter

Chapter 17 Colored Stones
The most precious thing in a painting is the paint and painting skills, and although this picture of a tiger descending the mountain is an ink painting, the brushwork and painting skills in it are all valuable.

This painting was created by Jiang Li before he painted the fat tiger, and there are still many flaws. Jiang Li feels that he has earned it in exchange for an enlightened stonemason as a guide.

The two walked and 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, there are tigers and leopards from time to time, and it is not uncommon for people who enter the mountain to die here.

Firstly, the two were about the same age, and secondly, Lu Yufu was interested in making friends. After discussing with each other, the two arrived at Shimen Mountain together.

The mountain peaks in front of me seem to be piled up by layers of rocks, and the vegetation is very sparse, which is in sharp contrast with other mountain peaks with lush vegetation.

"Jiang Li, do you know why this mountain is called Shimen Mountain?"

"I think it's probably because there are so many rocks." Jiang Li could see many huge rocks exposed from the mountain soil.

"Yes, it is true that there are many stones and they are also colored stones. In the eyes of our stonemasons, this is an inexhaustible treasure house. Sometimes even stonemasons from other places in Xuanguo will come here to look for colored stones.

What about the door?Since there is a door, it will naturally lead to somewhere, where do you think this Shimen Mountain leads to?" Lu Yufu bought a pass.

"Please advise." Naturally, Jiang Greed 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 an illusory legend. The most important thing right now is to find colored stones."

"Shimen Mountain is so big, we won't be looking for it like looking for a needle in a haystack," Jiang Greed asked.

"The distribution of colored stones seems irregular to others, but it is much easier for experienced stonemasons to find them"

Lu Yufu looked around and pointed his fingers. On a stone wall not far away, there was a faint light reflecting from an inconspicuous place.

"Under normal circumstances, colored stones are buried deep in the sand. If you want to find them, you first need your eyesight. You don't need to waste time in places with backlight. The exposed colored stones are different from ordinary mountain stones after being illuminated."

As Lu Yufu said, he took off the hook lock from the bullock cart, and after shaking it a few times in his hand, he skillfully wrapped the hook lock on a rock protruding from the stone wall and began to climb.

The colorful stone was seven or eight meters high from the ground, and Lu Yufu was agile and strong, and he easily climbed the steep and smooth stone wall while holding the rope.

After arriving at the place where the colored stones were inlaid, he tied his waist with a rope, took out the hammer and pickaxe and tapped a colored stone out of the stone wall and put it into the bag prepared at his waist.

After the colored stone was finished, he lowered the rope and landed slowly. Everything was familiar, and Lu Yufu took out a fist-sized green stone.

"The color of this stone green is not bad, at least it is a high-end product. Just such a stone costs 30 taels of silver, and if it is made into a pigment, it will cost hundreds of taels of silver."

The paper figurines and paper horses that Jiang Greed made in Nanping Town for a year are not as good as this stone, and the price of the paint is really sensational.

"It's a good sign. Shimen Mountain has been mined for hundreds of years, and there are not many exposed colored stones." Lu Yufu was in a good mood when he first arrived.

"Then how to find the colored stones in the ground?" Jiang Greed asked.

"Colored stones will plunder the essence of the sun and the moon and the aura of heaven and earth, so no seven-size grass will grow near the colored stones."

Lu Yufu poured all his money into teaching Jiang Li, and he listened very seriously. With such an experienced stonemason by his side, the picture of a tiger descending the mountain is worth the money.

Shimen Mountain is not a single mountain, but a mountain range stretching for more than a hundred miles. After digging dozens of holes, they found nothing. The holes were either empty or had been dug away.

Fortunately, Huangtian paid off, Jiang Greed realized that his shovel had hit a hard object, and carefully dug away the surrounding soil, revealing a corner of green.

"Found it." Jiang Greed was a little delighted.

However, after all the colored stones were dug out, they were only the size of a finger, which was much smaller than the one Lu Yufu chiseled from the rock wall, but it was still better than nothing.

When Jiang Li held the finger-sized green stone in his hand, he felt a warm texture. He carefully observed that the stone was pure and translucent, which was completely different from the non-aura colored stone he bought in the medicine store.

"Colored stones are divided into upper, middle and lower grades according to their appearance, and only the lowest grades are used as medicinal materials. The higher the quality of the paintings by Xuan Guo painters, the higher the grade of pigments needed."

Seeing that it was almost dusk, it was a pity that Jiang Li only dug up one piece. Even if this finger-sized stone green was made into paint, it would not be much.

"This colored stone is too hard to find," Jiang Greed complained.

"Shimen Mountain is rich in colored stones compared to other mountain ranges. Even if you know the tricks, finding it depends largely on luck. Even if a skilled stonemason comes here, he may return without success." Lu Yu Fu comforted me.

But it turns out that Jiang Li's luck is very good. His back is sore and he is resting against a stone. sky.

"The treasure covered by the dragon bears the morning sun, and the tassels spit out by the phoenix carry the sunset glow," Jiang Tan murmured with feeling.

Before crossing, the environment was seriously polluted. How could he have seen such a beautiful sunset? Jiang Li was half lying on his pillow and admiring the rare beauty.

However, in the last twilight of the afterglow, Jiang Li noticed that there was a corner of the cliff on the opposite side at a height of nearly ten meters from the ground that was shining faintly.

"Brother Lu, where are you looking?"

Jiang Li immediately sat up and pointed to Lu Yufu the place he saw just now, but after looking in the direction of his finger, there was nothing, and he couldn't find it after changing several directions and angles.

"Aren't you dazzled?" Lu Yufu asked.

"Probably not, I did see something"

Jiang Greed didn't doubt his own eyes, nor was he prepared to give up this fleeting opportunity.

"Am I really wrong?"

Jiang Gu thought over and over again. Although the bright light just lasted for a moment, he was very sure that he really saw what just now, and it might have disappeared as the sun set.

"I'll go up there to see"

No matter how much he thinks, it is not as good as action after all, but when Jiang Li was about to climb the mountain to see what happened, Lu Yufu hurriedly stopped him.

"Whether you have it or not, you can't pick it now"

"Why is that?" Jiang Greed was puzzled.

"This is the rule of masons. We can move around Shimen Mountain during the day, but we are not the masters of Shimen Mountain after dark. Don't break the rules."

Hearing this, Jiang Greed had no choice but to give up, but still made a mark on the spot, and Lu Yufu packed up his tools and drove the ox cart towards another trail in Shimen Mountain.

(End of this chapter)