Xu Qing felt comforted, thinking how eloquent this young carpenter was.
However, on the brief journey to the main hall, every wooden item Xu Qing and Xuan Yu encountered, whether doors, windows, tables, chairs, or various wood carvings, would collapse instantly at the slightest touch!
And to make matters worse, Xuan Yu, who liked to walk the high and low path and not the main road like a cat, almost dismantled the entire carpenter's house along the way!
Upon arriving at the main hall, Xu Qing finally noticed something amiss. He signaled Xuan Yu to avoid touching anything and asked Shi Buque with a smile, "Your woodworking is certainly a bit capricious. I wouldn't complain about tables and chairs missing a leg, but how can the main beam of your house be missing a section?"
Looking at the noticeably shortened beam above, Xu Qing finally understood what Shi Buque meant by not very stable.
Because that missing section of the beam had a corpse lodged at the gap, its head acting like a tenon, tightly embedded at the beam's broken end, with one leg inserted into a wall hole, serving as a crucial point to support the entire house.
Xu Qing foresaw that if the old carpenter's corpse was removed, the whole shaky house would instantly turn into rubble.
Additionally, Xu Qing noticed that besides the tables and chairs missing arms and legs, the carpenter's corpse used as a connecting beam was also missing an arm and a leg.
That missing arm was seen propping up behind the door, seemingly serving as a door bolt.
And that leg, who in their right mind would use their own leg as a bed post?
Xu Qing had seen many flamboyant corpses before, believing that his heart would rarely stir again, but upon seeing the old carpenter today, he realized he was still inexperienced!
This uniquely styled corpse truly piqued his interest.
"Little carpenter, go outside and watch the door. I'll have a private moment with your master. Don't worry, I'll be quick and will come out soon."
Shi Buque repeatedly expressed his gratitude, his appreciation evident.
...
The main hall was also the craftsman's workshop, Xu Qing discovered that this carpenter was indeed a crafting fanatic, placing various woodworking tools everywhere, whether in areas to rest or eat and drink tea.
Planes, chisels, inking cords, files, and large and small saws, a wide bench for carving flowers, and some completed items of various sizes.
Xu Qing wasn't interested in other things, but roughly glanced around and noticed two intriguing items.
A Lu Ban lock, a rosewood Lu Ban stool, and a broken object resembling a bird placed in the corner.
It was deemed broken because that bird was also missing a wing and a leg.
Xu Qing's thoughts wandered, realizing this place had clearly become a forbidden area, with the carpenter overhead being the earth-bound spirit of this domain.
As for the prohibitions of the forbidden area... it was evident that it didn't allow the existence of woodworking furniture with intact limbs.
But this was only because the old carpenter hadn't been dead for long, with some residual boundaries in place. In a few days, even the insects and mice walking through this courtyard may need to lean on crutches.
The young carpenter Shi Buque probably wouldn't escape this fate either.
Xu Qing stood beneath the beam, using two wooden stakes as substitute stakes, placing the short one against the beam, as a replacement for the old carpenter's corpse, and the long one on the ground, supporting the short wood.
In this way, it could temporarily ensure the house wouldn't collapse while removing the old carpenter's corpse.
Next, Xu Qing retrieved the door bolt and bed post to reattach to the old carpenter.
Was it magical or not? As soon as Xu Qing finished the connecting surgery using the Mother and Child Needle Technique, the next moment, the corpse of the carpenter stood upright like a puppet, violently attempting to dismantle Xu Qing's arms and legs!
Clear-cut revenge!
Xu Qing wouldn't indulge him. With a swift slap, the familiar figure suddenly realized who was master and who was servant.
Trying to run, were you? Come back!
Watching as the corpse tried to dash out, Xuan Yu, near the door, extended his paw, scooped forward, and the old carpenter fell headfirst to the ground.
Xu Qing grabbed the carpenter's ankle and forcefully dragged him back to the woodworking bed.
As the Sutra of Salvation began flipping pages, the old carpenter, losing his last line of defense, instantly lost all strength to resist.
Through the moving shadows, Xu Qing witnessed the life story of the old carpenter.
This carpenter was named Lu Xiaoshi, originally from Dunhuang. As a child, he spoke without restraint, often talking about mystical and ghostly things, people nearby eventually avoided him like the plague, thinking he was mentally ill.
Feeling depressed, Lu Xiaoshi's father was mute, with a broken leg, and aside from working silently, he never spoke to him. Naturally, Lu Xiaoshi sought to perform attention-grabbing antics, hoping to find some happiness.
One day, Lu Xiaoshi went to confide in his childhood sweetheart, carrying a pair of small wooden dolls he had carved.
These dolls were very crude but vaguely recognizable as a girl with braided hair and a boy, larger in build than the slender girl.
The pair of small wooden figures held hands, looking eerily yet heartwarmingly.
Lu Xiaoshi holding the dolls, skipped along. But before reaching his sweetheart's house, he saw a group of fierce servants and attendants whisking her into a sedan, never to return.
Lu Xiaoshi ran to the girl's house to inquire, but the elders completely ignored him. He only saw the girl's mother crying, while her father sat on the threshold, continuously slapping his own face, lamenting his inability to protect his own daughter.