Zhou Zi Shu was upset. Even though he was happy to see his disciple again, he had been reckless and Chen Chen irresponsible! He should have known, knowing ChengLing's character, that ChengLing would not agree to stay quietly sleeping in this cave! He had always managed to make him obey even in the most complicated situations! It was necessary to recognize that this child had taken a lot of place in his life and that he considered him as the son he would never have! He felt Lao Wen's hand on his and squeezed it lightly. This simple contact comforted him. He, too, had taken up a lot of space in his life.

"Very well, now it's our turn to tell you what happened in the last six months.

I had to be careful about the words I chose to tell him about the events that had occurred.

"As you know, an avalanche swept away all the people on Celestial Mountain. .... I caused it. I had very little time left to live and I wanted to take them with me to their ancestors. But your Shishu arrived in time and with the key, he was able to open the armory..."

For the moment, I preferred not to reveal that the key to the armory was in my hair ¾ of the time.

"When the door opened, we rushed inside... Once inside we could only see that the entrance was blocked by snow. We knew that we couldn't clear it and that we would have to wait for spring to be able to access the outside again so we started exploring the armory. Your Uncle Wen found the book "Yin Yang" and when we got to the main hall we found the book "The combination of the 6 martial arts". Thanks to that, we were able to perform a regenerative ritual, but it had consequences on your Uncle Wen..."

"His white hair?"

"Not just that, he ... almost lost his life by saving mine and passing on the power of the 6 martial arts combination to me , just like Ye Bai Yi had done for him. "

"But Ye Bai Yi didn't die when he awakened Shishu! "

"Because Ye Bai Yi is an Immortal, you know that, and he had time to master the teaching of the 6 martial arts perfectly. Your Uncle Wen had the power but not the mastery. When I regained consciousness, his hair had turned white and he was unconscious. He stayed asleep for four months, during which time I took care of him and began to study the scrolls in the armory to learn how to survive in this place. Now you know everything. It took me all this time to bring him back to life.

ChengLing looked at us with a smile. His eyes were shining.

"Master, are you Immortals now? "

How had he guessed?

"Let's just say we're on our way..."

The corners of my disciple's lips turned up in a naughty smile.

"Master... You and Uncle Wen are true soulmates, aren't you? Is this your room? "

"What makes you say that?" asked Lao Wen.

"When I woke up, you were kissing..."

"Ohhh" was the only sound that came out of my soul mate's mouth! He was at a loss for words, for once!

"ChengLing..."

"Master, don't worry, I'm happy for you two..."

Phew, I had thought for a moment that I had shocked this young innocent ... although, with Wen and I, he was not so innocent anymore!

"ChengLing , your Uncle Chen Chen must be looking for you..."

"Master, I want to stay with you!!!"

"You can't! You must understand that we are now the guardians of the armory . No one must know that it was not destroyed by the avalanche.

I put my hand on ChengLing's shoulder and looked him straight in the eyes.

"ChengLing, you must promise us, that you will not reveal to anyone that your shishu and I are alive and living here."

"I promise you master, but I can't even tell your friend Prince Qi and the Great Shaman?"

I looked at Lao Wen who gave me a negative shake of his head.

"It's best that for the time being no one knows. This place holds many secrets that, if they fall into the wrong hands, could be extremely dangerous. So it's best to let everyone think that this mountain is cursed and that the armory has been destroyed. Maybe one day we will come down from the heavenly mountain , but not now."

"Well Master..." ChengLing lowered his head then raised it , there was a question in his eyes .

"Speak I am listening..." He smiled at me.

"Master, is it possible for me to come and see you and Shishu from time to time, so I can show you my progress? "

I scanned his eyes, I suspected, given what he had just done, he would not give up ... whether I gave him permission or not ...

"Very well you can come but you must warn us before. We are going to entrust you with one of our mechanical birds...Do you know how it works?"

"Yes, Master, it is in the treaties of the Longyuan firm.

"Very well, on the one we are going to entrust to you, you will find under the belly a small cavity in which you will be able to place a message when you want to visit us. You must also make sure that no one at the Manor knows where you are going. Say, for example, that you are on a retreat to refocus and develop your internal energy. "

"Master, then you will be able to continue teaching me, shishu and you?"

I hugged him under Lao Wen's sulky look. It was really amazing how jealous he could be! even of ChengLing who we both considered our little brother or even our son .

"Of course we will continue to teach you, even if I am not with you physically to rebuild the Four Seasons Mansion, your shishu and I remain by your side in spirit. As my disciple and heir, it is your duty to pass on the knowledge and teachings of our clan. Your apprenticeship under my tutelage is far from over, and your shishu also has techniques to teach you. You are not finished with us yet.

ChengLing's face had brightened up! Although he was more mature, in this moment, I was the young and naive boy he was when we met, almost two years ago! I moved away from him and stared him in the face.

"You must prove yourself worthy of the trust I place in you, ChengLing. We will take you to a cave halfway up the mountain, and from there you can go back to the village below. I think your Uncle Chen Chen and his men will be looking for you. You will surely meet them on the way. Tell them that you got lost and are hiding in this cave until you are found. When you didn't see them coming, you decided to go back down the mountain. The solitude allowed you to realize the folly of what you had undertaken and that trying to find our bodies was a vain thing. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Master."

While I was speaking, Lao Wen went down to get a mechanical bird and handed it to ChengLing. He took it and put it in one of his sleeves.

We left the armory. By the time we reached the cave, the sun had risen to its zenith. We said goodbye to our disciple and watched him walk away.

Then Lao Wen put his arm around my waist and whispered in my ear

"Now that we are both again, don't we have something to finish?"

I could feel the warmth of his breath on my neck and the warmth of his arm through my clothes. There was something aphrodisiac about his touch. Since I had given myself to him, my body seemed to be slipping out of my control. Even though I was dying to repeat the experience, I didn't want him to take my submission to his desire for granted. On the other hand, how could I know if I preferred to be on top or underneath if I didn't test both? So I decided to make him wait a little and since we had "missed" his first morning, it was out of the question that I miss mine. But .... We had all the time in the world now for these games ....

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)