"Into town. ”

After interrogating the jade-faced flying dragon, Li Qiang said these two words lightly.

Many of the members of the Axe Gang were from Weinan County, and the interrogation results of the rest were similar to those asked by Li Qiang. It is not known whether Weinan County has really cut ties with the outside world, but many people have mentioned the cruel custom of worshipping the river god.

Zhou Fa distributed the silver to the gang members of the Axe Gang, and told them to do some serious things in the future and not to come out to be bandits again. The people took the money and dispersed with a thousand thanks.

It was getting late, and the city gate of Weinan County was still open, so as not to attract the attention of the gatekeepers.

Li Qiang divided the crowd into three batches, Wang Changsuo took a group of disciples from Longhu Mountain, Chen Heming took a group of disciples from Maoshan Mountain, and Li Qiang and the 201 dormitory entered the city in batches.

After entering the city, the three groups of people were not in a hurry to converge, but separately investigated the situation.

Weinan County is a small county seat, far less prosperous than the half of Chang'an City, the national capital. Even if there are caravans passing by on weekdays, most of them do not stay overnight here, but go directly to Huazhou in the east. Therefore, there are no larger guest houses in the city where everyone can live at the same time.

The so-called population of 20,000 is not all within the city wall, but most of them are outside the city, living along the Wei River. The city is only three or four miles long, and there are only a few loess paved streets.

It was already dark, and Wang Changsuo, Chen Heming and others had already settled in the two guest houses in front of the street, leaving only Li Qiang, Zhou Fa, Qi Xu and other six people still looking for a place to live.

"A few guest officers, do you stay in a hostel?"

On the street on the right-hand side of the front, an old lady leaned against a two-story building, saw Li Qiang's faces, and hurriedly solicited business for her hostel.

The old grandmother had a very neutral voice, and looked to be sixty or seventy years old. The silver hair on his head was like a layer of frost, the wrinkles were already very deep, and his body was only sackcloth, but it was clean and tidy. She looked at Li Qiang and his party with a smile, with a look of love and vicissitudes.

The grandmother's smile made Li Qiang and the others feel more cordial.

More than half of the street has been crossed, and further on, there may not be a suitable hostel, so I decided to stay here.

The old lady was very happy, and ran into the courtyard with small steps: "Old man, come and greet the guests." ”

There was an old man in the courtyard who was sweeping the floor, and when he heard that a guest was coming, he threw the one-person high broom in his hand and warmly welcomed Li Qiang and them into the house.

The lobby of the hostel was dimly lit, with only an oil lamp dancing the size of a bean. Tables, chairs, benches, and stair handrails look like they are covered with pulp, and they look like they're old.

The rooms of several people were arranged on the second floor, each person had a single room, the room was simple and clean, and after another tiring day, I was finally able to sleep well.

However, Li Qiang and the others are all adventurers, and it doesn't matter where they sleep, they just don't want to appear out of thin air on the street to attract unnecessary attention. Until the truth is revealed, they still have to keep a proper low profile.

Judging from the current information, Weinan County not only cut off contact with the imperial court, but also cut off trade routes, and there is a cruel custom of sacrificing to the river god.

I don't know what will happen after tomorrow.

Nothing happened overnight.

The next day, Li Qiang got up early in the morning, and the others went offline as usual last night, only he has recently begun to get used to sleeping in "Dream".

The sky has just revealed the white of the fish belly, and the morning breeze is a little cool.

Last night, the old man was doing carpentry in the yard, and Li Qiang went downstairs to wander in the yard.

This hostel is a little small, but it is a small two-story building facing the street, and there are a few rooms on it, only the old couple guarded it.

"It's up. ”

The old man saw Li Qiang who got up, and greeted him kindly, but a piece of his front tooth fell out, and he spoke a little out of style. He had saws, chisels, files and other tools beside him, and a piece of wood in his hand, squatting on the ground and busily.

Li Qiang asked, "Grandpa, what are you doing?"

"This is the Luban lock, while it can still move, make some toys for my granddaughter. The old man laughed.

"How old is your granddaughter? ”

"I'm four years old this year, don't look like a girl, skin. ”

The old grandfather has a granddaughter, who is at the age of running all over the ground, and the hostel is not busy, so he often makes some toys for his granddaughter in his spare time.

At the age of sixty or seventy years old, the grandfather only hugged his granddaughter a few years ago, and naturally he is particularly fond and spoiled, even if he is not around now, as long as he chats with people, his face is full of loving smiles, and he can't close his mouth at all.

The old man was holding an ordinary piece of wood, which he saw, chisel, drilled, and grinded into a delicate children's toy, the Luban lock.

The old man blew the sawdust on Luban's lock, and looked again and again in the morning light with satisfaction, as if he had seen his granddaughter's happy appearance when she saw the toy, and the grinning boss with missing front teeth.

Li Qiangzan asked: "What a delicate Luban lock, this is the mortise and tenon structure, right?"

Luban lock looks like a kind of toy that can be put together and detached, and after ordinary people get it, it is not easy to figure it out and disassemble it by themselves. It's even harder to do, first you have something in your heart, and then you need a pair of skillful hands. A variety of tenons and tenons bite each other, even if the size is wrong by one centimeter.

"What is the mortise and tenon joint, the little old man doesn't know, but he usually likes to fiddle with some things, and if he does more, he will do it, and it is not up to grade. The old man was a little embarrassed.

Li Qiang, as a disciple of Taoism, after watching his grandfather finish making this Luban lock, he actually saw a lot of gossip metaphysics, just this concave and convex, one yin and one yang, ordinary monks who have been in the Tao for three or five years may not be able to have such a deep understanding.

This Tao is the origin of heaven and earth, and it is also the supreme principle of heaven and earth that monks in the world pursue all their lives.

Master said to Li Qiang that in life, live a breath of true qi, and the method of refining qi is the Tao. There are thousands of paths, and the deeper the path, the stronger the qi. Everything in the world can see the Tao, and the extreme can be traced, and the righteous way in this world is just a movement and a stillness, a yin and a yang.

And the saw, a foot, a wood, and a lifetime in front of him have their own way. So Li Qiang looked at the old man with reverence.

"Grandpa, sell me this Luban lock, how much does it cost?"

A mortise and tenon base, more than 20 tenon and tenon pillars, on the nine locks, interlocking. This exquisite structure makes Li Qiang love it, not to mention that it may be a secret avenue.

"It's just some carpenter work that can't be elegant, if the guest officer likes it, just take it, and the little old man will make another one. The old man was polite and still did his job.

Li Qiang didn't want to take other people's things for nothing, so he forcibly stuffed the old man with a few taels of silver.

The old man is not a rich man, although this Luban lock is exquisite, it is just an ordinary piece of wood, which can be made in a day. Li Qiang took out a few pieces of broken silver with white flowers, shook his eyes, and accepted it with a thousand thanks.

"And you did all of that, too?"

Li Qiang bought the Luban lock and was in a good mood. He pointed to the rocking chair under him, the wooden horse in the yard, the wooden bench, and the wooden ladder. These "things" in the old man's mouth have never used a nail or a drop of glue. In the present world, it is almost extinct.

"Yes, yes, it's all done by the little old man. After the old man took the silver, his spirit was a little higher, and his voice was louder when he replied to Li Qiang.

"Then you do yours, I'll lean here for a while, don't bother you. ”

The old man said hello, picked up the chisel again, and worked energetically. That state of full concentration and meticulous craftsmanship immersed Li Qiang in it.

In this refreshing morning, lying on the rocking chair in the small courtyard, petting the owner's cat, looking at the attentive look of the kind old man in front of him, it was really a happy thing, and I couldn't help but feel a little sleepy.

The old grandmother also got up, looked at Li Qiang who was comfortably petting the cat on the rocking chair with a smile, and asked, "What about the cat?"

Li Qiang muttered, "Good morning!"