All the elders held up torches to lead the way, leaving Jianhu Yunchi and walking uphill to the north through the courtyard. Jiang Shuo found that he had arrived at the door of the big house in the north that had been closed all year round. Cang Tou had already opened all the doors and lit the candles. Surprisingly, the depth of the room was extremely shallow, which was completely out of proportion to the appearance of the room. Like Jiang Shuo's house, the big house was built against a cliff, with a rock wall on the north side. The difference was that there was a cave in the middle of the rock, which looked very deep and unknown at first glance.
Everyone was surprised. The master stood at the door and looked inward. Two strong men held torches in front of them to lead the way. Everyone entered the cave. Jiang Shuo and Xiang'er entered the cave last with Master Ge and his wife. Jiang Shuo and Xiang'er entered the cave last. Shuo looked up and saw four seal characters "Lingqi Scenic Spot" engraved on the left side of the cave entrance, and "Qingfeng Cave Mansion" engraved on the right side. The fonts were simple and green, and it was unknown what dynasty or generation they were left with.
This is a cave, and the torches shine brightly on the gray-white limestone cave walls. There are really gusts of breeze blowing out from inside, making the torches flutter and sway. Not long after walking, the front suddenly opened up. It turned out to be a huge natural cave. The top of the cave was very high from the ground. There were many stalactites hanging upside down, but the ground was very flat. It was probably that the bamboo shoots on the ground were knocked down manually. Although this place is a karst cave. But I didn't feel wet. Looking in the distance, I saw many small caves covered with stone bells and bamboo shoots. I heard the sound of gurgling water in the distance. I wonder if this cave is a natural highland or if the water in the cave has been artificially diverted to other places, making the ground dry and dry. water.
The Qingfeng Cave is very large inside, and even with so many people entering, it doesn't feel crowded at all. There are many oil lamps in the cave, which illuminate it as brightly as day. Jiang Shuo looked around and saw that the cave turned out to be a large workshop. There were many large wooden tables. The tables on the floor were filled with tools of different shapes. There were no workers in the workshop at the moment, and it was not surprising that the tools were placed in such an orderly manner. usefulness. But at this moment, Jiang Shuo had no time to wonder what these tools were used for. Everyone's eyes were drawn to the two huge shelves in the middle of the cave.
There is an open space in the middle of the cave. A square platform several feet high was built with logs, and two shelves were built on it. The shelves were made of thick wooden beams, and the corners were covered with black iron. Triangles were added to prevent them from falling. The two shelves were more than one foot wide and about three feet high. There was something black hanging on the shelf on the left, and something white hanging on the shelf on the right. A group of adults gathered in front, and Jiang Shuosheng I'm so short that I can't see clearly. I don't know if it's leather or cloth.
He turned around and asked Xiang'er: "Xiang'er, what is this? Is it so huge?"
Xiang'er said: "It's okay to say that others don't know him, but you shouldn't know him."
Jiang Shuo still didn't understand. Xiang'er held his arm and said, "You'll know after you go in and take a look."
The two children squeezed through the crowd. Because they were short, no one cared about them. They squeezed straight to the front. Jiang Shuo saw that they were two pieces of leather, both stretched on the wooden frame with thin threads. The black It was very rough, and the scales stood like arrows, but the white ones were smooth and smooth, reflecting the brilliance of the lights.
Jiang Shuo was surprised: "Is it the Black Dragon King in the river?"
Xiang'er pursed her lips and said, "Here."
Jiang Shuo looked down and saw the head and face of the dragon hanging under the black leather. Of course, the bones and flesh had been peeled off long ago, leaving only a flat face. There was something indescribable about the ferocious head and face in his memory after it was flattened. Feeling of joy - A pair of fierce flaming eyes have turned into two black holes. One of the holes is damaged. It should be caused by the iron blow of the fisherman at that time, that is, Nan Jiyun. The huge mouth grins. He seemed to be laughing, without any of the ferocious look he had when he was alive. Seeing this face, Jiang Shuo confirmed that it was the skin of the old man. Looking further up, the feet and claws have been chopped off, but the leather of the limbs is retained. The tail armor is also complete, almost filling the entire wooden frame. One can imagine how huge the black dragon is.
The white piece of natural old turtle's plastron is missing, and the head and tail are missing, so it looks square. There is an oblique incision on the right abdomen, which was the incision made by General Pei's seven-star sword that day. Looking at this incision, Jiang Shuo remembered the fierce battle on the river that day. The old turtle's leather armor was so hard that even an ax and a bow could not penetrate it. Now he didn't know what tools were used to pierce countless small holes in it, and thin threads passed through the small holes. The holes stretched the two pieces of leather very tightly, and each thin thread was exhausted. I don't know what kind of material it is made of. The thin threads are almost invisible like hairsprings, but they are extremely tough.
Everyone surrounded the square platform tightly, raising their heads and looking up while whispering. The square platform was not very high, but no one dared to jump on it to get a closer look. In the midst of the rustling, I heard Nan Jiyun shouting: "Everyone, please be silent. Please invite Mr. Ruxiang."
But when I saw "Mr. Ruxiang" slowly walking up to the stage, he cupped his hands in all directions and said, "Brothers from all walks of life, new friends, Li Yong is polite." The new friends naturally refer to the uninvited Pinglu Army and his party. .
Jiang Shuo couldn't help being surprised. Mr. Ruxiang turned out to be the famous Li Yong of Jiangxia. Li Yong had long been famous in the political and literary circles, especially his calligraphy. All scholars practiced Li Yong's calligraphy. When Li Bai served as Zuo Shiyi in the imperial court, he later served as an important official in local areas such as governor and prefect. When Li Bai left Shu in his twenties, he went to visit Li Yong, who was the governor of Yuzhou at the time. He wanted to pay a visit, but Li Yong ignored him. However, he had no favorable impression, thinking that he was wild and unreasonable, and that his reputation at a young age was flashy and unrealistic. He only sent a minor official to be with Li Baixu. In anger, Li Bai wrote a farewell poem "Shang Li Yong" and left.
When Li Bai visited Li Yong when he was still young, Jiang Shuo had never seen it in person. He only heard Mr. Taibai talk about it. Later, it was said that Li Yong offended Zhongshu Ling Zhang when he was the governor of Chenzhou and dismissed him from office. He didn't want to be here today. You see, I think the inscription on the door of the villa was written by Li Yong himself.
The audience fell completely silent, and Li Yong continued: "Friends from all walks of life in Yong and Mongolia respect him. He has been the leader of the Jianghu Alliance for twenty years. However, Yong does not know martial arts, and he is getting older and feels more and more inadequate. Four years ago When Yong was in his sixtieth year, he heard that the black dragon was doing evil in the river, so Yong made a promise that whoever could slay the dragon and eliminate the evil, Yong would pass on the treasure of the alliance leader."
The heroes nodded after hearing the words. It seemed that many people were present at the four-year conference, so they nodded in agreement with Li Yong's words. Jiang Shuo was shocked when he heard this. Jianghu refers to the three rivers and five lakes, which is the vast area in the lower and lower reaches of the river. Li Yong is a scribe. It is not surprising that he is a leader in the literary world, but he can actually lead the rivers and lakes. The group of heroes is really unbelievable.
The leader of all the Taoist priests in the audience held a fly whisk in his left hand, and with his right hand raised up, he tapped the index finger of his right hand and recited "Infinite View" and said loudly: "Brother Taihe, many of you are here when we made an appointment. I am a Taoist who can also be counted as a witness. Half a year I heard that brother Taihe was in charge personally, and brother Ruliang and Nanba planned it. They even got the help of the Western Army. After thousands of miles of tracking, they finally found the black dragon's lair in Yunmeng. The dragon was successfully slain. Pindao heard the news in Maoshan and helped the world. The common people are blessed and happy for Brother Taihe. Congratulations to Brother Taihe for finally being able to lift a heavy burden."
Li Yong's courtesy name was Taihe. The old Taoist was about the same age as him, so they were considered brothers.
A fat monk at the head of the monks also clasped his palms together and said: "Amitabha, you slay dragons and eliminate harm, and protect the environment and people. This is a great merit. Today is a grand meeting, and friends from the Eastern and Western armies are invited. I don't know why they are here. ?”
Li Yong crossed his hands and saluted the two people and said: "Thank you, Mr. Zhenyin, Master Shenhui. You guys from Liyuan are indeed here at Yong's invitation, but these friends from Pinglu are here uninvited." He first made it clear. In order to understand the relationship between Ping Lujun and others, he added: "I invite you to come here today for two things. One is to invite Dongcang Lei Master to test whether this skin can be made as the legend says. The sound of the drum can be heard thousands of miles away.”
Mr. He in the audience said to Lei Qingzang: "Master Lei, please go up to the stage now to find out."
Lei Qingzang had already carried the drumsticks on his back. The two solid wood drumsticks were crisscrossed on his back like two weapons. They were not much thinner than his arms. They had turned maroon red with age and it was hard to tell what kind of wood they were made of. , he clasped his hands together and said, "I obey your orders."
Yan Bi jumped onto the stage, first saluted Li Yong, and then walked around the two pieces of leather. He looked carefully and his steps were extremely slow. Everyone in the audience stretched their necks to look at him, but Lei Qingzang completely ignored everyone. Waiting anxiously, I just looked at the two pieces of leather.
Ge Ruliang said: "After two pieces of skin were peeled off from the body of the dragon, the scales on the abdominal skin have been removed. It has been softened by washing with water and salt for several months. It was tanned years ago and has been re-tanned now. However, the back armor is thick. It’s like there’s bone on the inside that can’t be peeled off, so it hasn’t been tanned yet.”
What he said were all leather-making terms, and everyone in the audience was confused. They didn't understand why, and they didn't dare to ask. They all held their breath and waited for Lei Qingzang's reply. Lei Qingzang was looking at the leather attentively, reaching out to touch it from time to time. He nodded absently and said: "Jiangzuo Dugu's family is well-deserved. It can be seen that they have top-notch craftsmanship, and there is no need to be picky about the workmanship."
Hearing this, Ge Ruliang returned the gift with folded hands, his expression proud and contented, and he seemed to be very confident in his craft.
Lei Qingzang looked at it for a long time, and finally raised his hand and made a fist to tap somewhere on the white belly armor, but he heard the leather trembling and making a buzzing sound, like gnats; he tapped somewhere on the black back armor again, but he heard the leather trembling almost No sound could be heard. Everyone in the audience began to whisper again. Cheng Ang was still outspoken, but he heard him say in a loud voice: "Isn't there nothing special about the beating of this deer skin?"
Nan Jiyun whispered: "Brother Cheng, forbid the sound. Every drum must have a cavity to make sound. Now there are only two skins. It has not been made into a drum, so it will not sound."
Cheng Ang glared and said, "That day on the river, the dragon didn't even hold a drum in his arms, so why did he roar so loudly?"
Nan Jiyun said: "The belly of the dragon is hollow, so it can naturally make noise..."
Lei Qingzang ignored the two of them, turned to Ge Ruliang and asked, "Is there a ladder?"
Ge Ruliang signaled Cang Tou to bring up a tall ladder and said: "The highest ladder is less than two feet. If it is not high enough, you can lower the wooden frame..."
Sure enough, the ladder only reached one third of the back armor, but the belly armor was smaller and the upper edge was even with the ladder. Lei Qingzang took a look and said, "It's high enough." He instructed Cang Tou to put the ladder up on the white In front of the abdominal armor, he climbed up the ladder and tapped the leather armor all the way up. He stopped only halfway up and said, "This is it!"
