Hence, Su Tong's wooden statue of Lao Zi officially appeared, but it didn't receive the same treatment as Xia Mo's folding fan. Xia Mo shouted for Su Tong to admit defeat, saying that it wasn't embarrassing to lose to him.
Shopkeeper Wang was a little surprised when he got it, because this kind of wood carving was a common artwork in the antique shop. To be cautious, he looked it up and down twice. He did not miss any corner and did not find any blind spots like the fan pendant.
Wang Taichu thought of the agarwood beads and wondered if there was agarwood under the cheap paint. However, it didn't seem like it when he weighed it.
Perhaps it was because of Su Tong's outstanding performance, Old Gu was quite interested in what he was very certain about." Su Tong, do you mind scraping off some of the paint outside?”
"Old Gu, please go ahead." Su Tong was naturally not unhappy.
Boss Hao watched from the side and thought," Don't I know my own things? I bought the wood carvings in bulk, and each of them cost less than a few dozen yuan. I want to see what kind of flowers I can make."
Naturally, the main body of the Laozi statue could not be moved. Old Gu was very experienced and gently scraped off a thick layer of alcoholic paint from a small corner at the bottom of the base. From the peeled off paint layer and the broken surface, it seemed that there was a layer of cooked tung oil in the alcoholic paint. Tuzi and Tuo were born.
The ancients originally used raw tung oil to rub objects, but the film formed by raw tung oil would peel off and drip. The peeling off was due to insufficient strength, and the dripping was due to the tung oil not drying for a long time. Therefore, the raw tung oil had to be solidified and dried.
Solidification was to enhance the strength and hardness of the tung oil itself and protect the wood. Dry-urging was to speed up the solidifying of the tung oil and make it dry quickly.
After many years of exploration, he added two Chinese medicines into the process of brewing the tung oil: Tuzi and Tuosheng were shaped like stones and were very hard. They could be used to clear heat and detoxify. First, he had to crush these two herbs into powder and add them separately at a suitable temperature.
Logically speaking, the refined and mature tung oil had a much better anti-moth effect than all kinds of varnishes. The current situation was already abnormal, but Old Gu had no time to pay attention to the paint problem. Instead, he frowned and stared at the small corner. The alcoholic paint had been scraped away, and most of the mature tung oil had been removed, leaving only a thin layer of faint smell of two Chinese medicinal herbs.
Other than Su Tong, the rest of the people could not figure out what Old Gu meant.
Xia Mo came closer. The wood under the cooked tung oil was dark brown and did not show any signs of patina. He sniffed hard."It definitely can't be Chen Xiang. The growth rings on the surface were tight, and the veins were clear and straight. It was a little like red rosewood, but such a dense growth ring density must be high. This thing did not weigh down on his hand at all.”
" Of course, this isn't the red sour twig," Su Tong thought. If it was just the red sour twig, the entire wooden carving wouldn't emit such a rare purple-gold light. However, Su Tong still knew the effect but didn't know the reason. However, she had an intuition that the material of the wooden carving in front of her could cure diseases.
Therefore, he paid close attention to Old Gu's every move, hoping to find out what this mysterious wood was.
Boss Hao was confused by the sudden serious atmosphere. It was just an ordinary fake red rosewood carving. He asked carefully,"Old Gu, is there anything wrong with this wood carving?”
Old Gu seemed to have made up his mind. He sighed and looked at Su Tong."Kid, just scraping the paint isn't enough. You need to use a blade to scrape some wood.”
"Yes, yes, yes!" Xia Mo immediately clapped his hands in agreement." Scrape some wood shavings. If there are new red stubble inside, then it's the real red rosewood. If there are white stubble inside, then it's fake red rosewood that has been dyed…"
Old Gu waved his hand and interrupted him.”
Xia Mo immediately shut up and obediently took the blade from Shopkeeper Wang.
Everyone held their breath and stared at Old Gu's movements. They saw Old Gu holding the upside-down wood carving firmly with his left hand and holding the blade tightly with his right hand. The veins on the back of his hand were bulging. Obviously, he used his greatest strength to stabilize the blade and strictly control the area of scraping.
The blade cut into the spot where the paint had been scraped off at an angle of about 10 degrees. After wedging into the wood grain, the blade slowly and forcefully slid forward a centimeter. A small piece of wood the size of a fingernail fell, and everyone in the shop focused on the fresh cut surface.
"Ah…!" Xia Mo cried out in shock. The remaining onlookers weren't any better. Their eyes widened, and they couldn't believe their eyes.
A dark red liquid seeped out of the incision. It was no different from blood in color and shape. The liquid gathered into a drop and dripped onto the marble floor.
Although the voice was soft, it was like a heavy hammer hitting the drum. The sound of "weng" shocked everyone.
"Old Gu, this…this is?" Wang Taichu, Shopkeeper Wang, and Boss Hao asked at the same time.
"I didn't expect to see such a thing here after so many years.”Old Gu was very emotional and felt very comforted." Yuan You Jiaguo is actually like a peach. Its leaves are like dates. It's yellow and red. It's not hard to eat it. Another four hundred and twenty miles to the northwest is Mount Ji…"
For a moment, Su Tong was completely stunned. The last few sentences that Old Gu recited were clearly the contents of the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Could this wood be related to such a strange book?
" Classic of Mountains and Seas " was an important ancient book in the pre-Qin period of the Celestial Dynasty. It was also the most ancient book that was rich in myths and legends. There were 18 volumes in total, including 5 volumes of Shan Jing and 13 volumes of Hai Jing. The age of each volume was uncertain, 14 of which were works during the Warring States Period and 4 were works in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty.
The content was mainly about the geographical knowledge of folklore, including mountains, rivers, roads, ethnic groups, products, medicines, sacrifices, witch doctors, and so on. It preserved many popular ancient myths, legends, and fables, including Kuafu Chasing the Sun, Jingwei Reclaiming the Sea, Dayu Controlling the Flood, and other related content.
It could be said that it covered geography, mythology, folklore, religion, history, science, and literature. For people in the antique industry, it was even more well-known.
Therefore, Xia Mo followed Old Gu and recited quickly and excitedly,""There are many red trees on it, with round leaves and red stems, yellow flowers and red fruits. It tastes like honey, and you won't be hungry when you eat it.”
In layman's terms, it meant that there were dense red trees growing on the mountain. The red stems had round leaves, yellow flowers, and red fruits. The fruits tasted very sweet, and people would not feel hungry after eating them.
"Old Gu, is this the legendary Pill Wood in the Classic of Mountains and Seas?!”Xia Mo's voice almost cracked at the end of his sentence, mixed with excitement and disbelief.
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