FWTS ## Chapter 074
"..."
"The streamer is so dirty!"
"The streamer is indeed the Lich King, driving like crazy!"
"Did I hear correctly? Did the streamer just rev up?"
"You heard right! The streamer is a veteran driver, no doubt about it!"
"The police uncle is him!"
"..."
"What? He's driving again? I didn't understand a thing! Is it because I don't have a driver's license?"
"I didn't get it either! When the streamer said this girl is 'pure', he meant she's pretty, right? That's it, she's pretty!"
"You guys are confusing me!"
"Did I miss something?"
"Can the veteran driver guide us?"
"..."
Hou Muyun tidied up the table and brought out a large pumpkin. Facing the camera, he said, "Just now, I was carving individually. Now, I'll show you an assembly sculpture. Assembly sculpture involves using various techniques and knife skills to compensate for the deficiencies in the main carving material's shape and size by adding components. In short, it's carving various parts and then assembling them. This technique is generally suitable for large-scale works. And in this regard, pumpkin is undoubtedly the most suitable material."
"What am I going to carve this time? We've had flowers, we've had figures, so let's go with an animal this time. I've got it, and it'll also have a symbolic meaning!"
Hou Muyun used a flat knife to carve out a large piece from the pumpkin, then shaped it into what looked like a lid. Using a V-shaped carving knife, he carved a circle of patterns on the lid, then continued to carve out a series of patterns resembling flames inside the circle. At this point, everyone could see what Hou Muyun was carving: a tortoise shell.
Strictly speaking, it was a tortoise shell filled with mythical classical vibes!
After completing the tortoise shell, Hou Muyun quickly carved out a head from another piece of pumpkin, but instead of a tortoise head, it was a dragon head.
With horns and whiskers, it looked magnificent!
"Seeing this, many of you might be confused, but some might have guessed what I'm going to carve."
Hou Muyun continued by carving out the shape of a tail from another piece of pumpkin, then began carving out patterns with a V-shaped knife while saying, "This is a dragon turtle, known as Ao in our Chinese mythology. It has the body of a turtle, the head of a dragon, and the tail of a qilin. In Chinese legends, there's a saying that Ao is the eldest son among the nine sons of the dragon, hence the saying 'among the dragon's nine sons, Ao occupies the head.' Now, some of you might think you've guessed the meaning of what I just said, which is also the name of this work, 'Occupying the Head of the Dragon.' Heh heh, but you'd be wrong!"
"Wow, he's unintentionally showing off again!"
"Is he mocking us for being ignorant? Isn't this 'Occupying the Head of the Dragon'?"
"..."
While speaking, Hou Muyun had already carved out the tail of the qilin and added flame-like decorations.
The details of the qilin tail and the dragon head were handled very delicately, full of mythical colors, leaving the netizens stunned.
Next, Hou Muyun carved out four pieces from the pumpkin, and soon the shape of feet emerged in a dazzling display of knife skills. Then came the astonishing moment: the V-shaped carving knife carved out toes and scales, adding a sense of depth.
"The tortoise shell, the dragon head, the qilin tail, and the feet of Ao are all carved out. Now it's time for assembly. Generally, assembly is done with toothpicks or bamboo needles, but I definitely won't take the ordinary route."
Hou Muyun picked out some scraps generated during carving and quickly carved, rotated, planed, and pushed with a carving knife while saying, "I have always had immense respect for the ancient Chinese woodworkers, especially for the mortise and tenon structure. This method of reinforcing objects is full of wisdom and imagination. I believe everyone has seen wooden furniture at home and some wooden structures of houses. Without using a single iron nail, they can last for hundreds or even thousands of years, which is a miracle in the history of human light industry! I have to say once again, our ancestors were amazing!"
After making several mortise and tenon joints, Hou Muyun began making mortises and other tenon heads on the dragon head, tortoise body, qilin tail, and Ao's feet, saying, "What I'm doing now are the simplest ones. Apart from these, there are many types of mortise and tenon joints. As someone who only knows a little about it, I won't go into too much detail. In addition to the combination of mortise and tenon heads, there are nearly a hundred types of mortise and tenon structures, which shows how profound it is."
"Damn, it's the first time I've seen the streamer so humble!"
"It's the first time I've heard the streamer doesn't know something!"
"Our ancestors were truly amazing!"
Soon, Hou Muyun completely assembled the head of Ao using mortise and tenon joints, even shaking it a few times and giving a thumbs up. "Very sturdy. Although it's a bit more troublesome than using toothpicks, bamboo needles, or even glue, it's much sturdier! The key is, since this is a food material, adding other things inside, especially glue, is absolutely intolerable for a foodie like me who always treats food with reverence, even if it's not intended for consumption but only for display! If this thing wasn't intended for you guys, after the display, I would definitely use it for cooking."
"The turtle is carved. Next, I'm going to reveal the mystery I mentioned earlier, why this piece is not called 'Occupying the Head of the Dragon.' Look!"
Hou Muyun carved another piece of pumpkin, swiftly carving out the shape of an animal, and soon the entire form emerged.
A calf.
Strictly speaking, it was a lively little calf!
Hou Muyun placed the calf on the tortoise's body and chuckled, "See, it's not what you guys thought 'Occupying the Head of the Dragon' would be, right?"
"What the heck!"
"Idiot!"
"Beep, your friend, the comedian streamer, is online!"
"Hahaha, this cracked me up!"
"Dang, isn't a calf just a young cow? So this means you're calling it 'Calf Occupying the Head of the Dragon,' not 'Occupying the Head of the Dragon,' right?"
"He's really a complete fool! Such a good metaphor, and he completely messed it up!"
"This streamer is too funny! He never follows the rules!"
"He's so unpredictable!"
"The deepest path I've walked in my life is the streamer's antics!"
"I thought this guy was trying to give himself some good luck in the battle for monthly votes!"
"Hahaha, the streamer must be calling those who occupy the head of the dragon 'calves'! Poor Chong Er, he's really being used as a scapegoat! But he deserves it, who asked him to mess with this streamer!"
"I thought the streamer, being so kind and innocent, wouldn't insult people indirectly—well, I don't believe it!"
"Hey hey hey, you guys are interpreting the streamer's meaning again! I absolutely support the streamer—keep insulting, hahaha!"
"Maybe the streamer is just doing it for fun... right?"
"..."
Just then, a sports car suddenly appeared on the screen in the live broadcast room.
——[TT Taotangshi] gifted the streamer with a Lamborghini! Message: Monkey, first place in monthly votes!
"Huh?"
Hou Muyun was stunned when he saw it, so he opened the website to check the data. Indeed, "Master of the Sword of Xuanyuan" was now at the top of the monthly votes chart!
"What the heck is going on? Just a while ago, it was still behind by over ten thousand monthly votes. How did it catch up in such a short time?"
Hou Muyun was genuinely shocked. After carefully checking the backend, he was dumbfounded. In just over ten minutes, he had received a total of 15 donations of ten million coins!
On Qiyue Chinese Novel website, a donation of ten thousand coins would earn an extra vote, so ten million would be a thousand votes. The 15 ten-million donations totaled fifteen thousand votes, plus other donations and votes, directly surpassing Chong Er's new book to top the monthly votes chart!
These 15 ten-million donations came from 15 different accounts, all of which were new accounts in the "Not Shi Fifteen" series.
Not Little Savage!
Not Feifei!
Not Otaku!
Not Professor Fish!
Not Liu Zhuo!
Not Er Zhang Duo!
Not Ami!
Not Xiao Yu!
Not Xianxian!
Not Flower Young Master!
Not Tang Weiwei!
Not Wang Han!
Not Big Zhang!
Not Qian Feng!
Not TT Live Platform!
Hou Muyun was dumbfounded, not sure if these accounts were really related to these people.
After refreshing twice to make sure it wasn't a problem with the webpage, he confirmed that it had indeed topped the monthly votes chart, and in a way that no one, including himself, could have imagined!
Stunned, Hou Muyun suddenly grabbed the calf on the tortoise's body and flicked it away, then quickly carved another animal out of the material, swiftly carving a monkey and carefully placing it on top.
Many people in the live broadcast room were stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.
"Was the streamer's move just now the legendary 'rolling the calf'?"
"No, clearly it was 'flying the calf'!"
"What a perfect face slap, hahaha!"