A-Xu and I were waiting for ChengLing to arrive. We had sent him a message asking him to come and see us soon. Even though I had set up a makeshift bed on the floor of our room, I could feel that my soul mate wanted a little more comfort! For my part, it reminded me of the first days we had spent together at the Manoir des 4 saisons. The latter having been abandoned for several years, we had put in order a room in which we slept with ChengLing on the floor. In a way, it was the first time that we lay next to each other and slept side by side!

But at that time we were much wiser when we were in bed! Just thinking about it made me smile. A-Xu, who was busy reading, suddenly looked up from his book with a frown.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing, nothing!" I replied, pursing my lips to hold back.

His eyes became two slits. He was trying to pierce me.

"Get these lustful thoughts out of your mind, or you might regret it tonight!"

"What makes you think I have those kinds of thoughts?"

"Because I know you... and the state of my back is proof of that!"

Oops I was right!

I think I had finally figured out how it worked. As long as I took good care of him, cajoled him and made him happy, he let me do what I wanted.

On the other hand, if by any chance, I upset him or made him angry, I had to expect a strong counterpart from him! It must be said that he was right, I had not totally recovered the level of my spiritual energy before the ritual of regeneration! Each of our fights was provoked by his dissatisfaction with my behavior and invariably, I lost it! If I wanted to keep control of our nightly activities I had to be careful and I think he understood that too!

For the moment we were waiting for our disciple. I had a feeling that he would stay with us for a day or two. This meant that we would have to accommodate him once again in our room!

"A-Xu, if ChengLing decides to spend the night at the armory..."

"Lao Wen , it's the middle of the afternoon , are you planning to send him back down the mountain in the middle of the night?"

"No of course! But, where will he sleep?"

My soul mate looked at me exasperated.

"Not in our bed, because your 'baby' has smashed him to bits!

"A-Xu, are you still mad about Fucang?" I asked him with a pout and a sad look.

He sighed as he shook his head but a slight smile floated on his lips. I knew for a fact that he wasn't mad at my baby dragon since I had caught him playing with him several times!

"Well? ChengLing?"

"Well, since you're part of the reason we lost our bed, you're going to make one for him by the potion table."

"So, he's going to sleep with us again!"

"Where did you want to put him? In Fucang's basket?"

"No, I had suggested last time to put him in a room on the ground floor..."

A-Xu put his head back into his book and added:

"No, not this time, we'll see later. And then it will remind us of our first night at the Four Seasons Manor..."

I saw his eyes momentarily leave the pages before him and stare at me with a strange smile on his lips. He had recalled the exact same memory as me! Sometimes I wondered if he was really reading my mind. I sat back in my chair without taking my eyes off him.

Suddenly, there was a sound of running up the stairs. Fucang was going up. He stopped dead in his tracks at the entrance to the room. He was stamping his feet, raising his big front legs, putting them down with a bang. He gave me the impression that he wanted to be followed. I noticed that he had grown and grown. He was up to mid-thigh now.

"I think ChengLing is coming...by the way, have you thought about why we are going to explain to him why your "baby" is with us?

I thought for a moment.

"ChengLing is smart, he knows the legends. It's clear that he's a Fucanglong dragon, the guarantor of the security of a place like this so... it wouldn't be a lie to say that he's the guardian of the armory and that we've made friends with him."

"In other words you don't want to tell him that you stuck your nose where it didn't belong and gave birth to a mythical animal that could have made us his breakfast!"

"His dinner, it happened in the evening!"

"I think I know someone who's going to be my dinner tonight..."

"Hey no way! ChengLing is going to sleep in the same room as us! We shouldn't shock that innocent young head!"

A-Xu let out a laugh.

"Come on, your baby is waiting for us..."

"You mean our baby..." A-Xu who was standing up suddenly stopped and then slowly finished standing up.

"What do you mean by that?" he questioned.

"The same as you!"

"I was talking about Fucang!"

"Hmmm, me too..." I replied with a mischievous look. I loved our verbal jousts full of innuendo. We regularly indulged in it with delight.

"I'm going to welcome ChengLing" he said as he left our room.

I went to our bedding box and took everything necessary to prepare the bed of this young idiot who was serving as our disciple. As I laid out the mattress and blanket, I thought about the year we had spent together. I had to do him justice. When we met, he was a spoiled child who couldn't do anything with his ten fingers! A-Xu had taken him in hand and taught him the basics of cultivating his powers. Because his meridians were larger than normal, it took him longer to start seeing the results of his labor. Now he knew how to wield a sword, and was cultivating his spiritual energy on a regular basis. His mind was not left out. He was the heir to the Longyuan Pavilion and its extraordinary mechanics. I could no longer call him "young fool"!

Well his bed was ready! As I had pointed out to A-Xu when he had threatened me with reprisals, I had to prepare myself for 1 or 2 nights of no cuddling. I hope he wasn't planning to make me leave our bed!

Once my work finished, I engaged in the stairs, Fucang on the heels. At the bottom, I crossed the treaty room and went to join my soul mate to welcome our young disciple. I found them at the second entrance.

"Shishu..." he said with a big smile up to his ears.

Chengling rushed towards me when he stopped short when he saw Fucang behind my back. Strangely I saw his jaw freeze open and his eyes widen in surprise.

"Shishu, that's... that's..."

"Fucang, the armory guard. I'm sure you two will become good friends."

A-Xu walked towards us.

"Lao Wen, ChengLing let's postpone the explanation about Fucang until later. "Then addressing ChengLing in particular.

"Tell me, did you have any difficulties in coming?"

"No Master, I said I was going away for 2 or 3 days in order to find the perfect place to rebuild the 4 Seasons Mansion. "

A-Xu and I looked at each other. He had imagination, this little one!

"All right, let's go upstairs and explain what we want you to do ...." said my soul mate.

Finding the words to explain the reason for the destruction of our bed was quite simple in the end. Fucang had wanted to join us and because of his weight, had broken everything. We told ChengLing that we wanted a new bed and that we were counting on him to help us.

A-Xu and I couldn't agree on the width! I wanted a narrow bed so I could hug him and he wanted a wide one so we could be comfortable! As we couldn't make a decision, we decided to trust ChengLing for the choice... The only thing left was the transportation!

Our young disciple was going to have to trust two of the elders of 4 Seasons Manor: QingMing and ChenZichen.

We advised him not to tell them anything until he was halfway there and to try to keep the secret as long as possible. Neither of us doubted the success of his enterprise!

When he came down from the Celestial Mountain 2 days later, our plan of action was established, we just had to implement it! We had to wait another 4 days before receiving a mechanical bird telling us that everything was ready. ChengLing had stored the bed, of average size, in a cart that could be pulled by two men. He also told us that he was bringing supplies because even though he liked congee, it was really bland without seasonings and garnishes.

A week later, at the end of the day, we were looking forward to the arrival of the expedition. While we were in the secret room studying the manuscripts there, Fucang arrived to tell us that visitors were coming.

"I'll welcome them, don't forget to close the wall," my soul mate said as he stood up.

I put the books in their place and extinguished the candles. I kept with me the oil lamp that I had found on a chest in the next room. It came in handy, especially at night when we went upstairs to bed. Once in the treaty room, I activated the lock and closed the wall. After a quick look at the room, I could see that everything was in order, so I went to join A-Xu.

He was standing on the promontory in front of the main entrance. His blue dress was floating in the wind. Every day I thought how lucky I was to have him by my side and my heart felt like it was growing wings. I stepped forward and put my arm around her waist.

"Anxious to see your old disciples again?" I whispered to him.

"A little, it's been almost a year since I've seen them!"

"Don't worry! They've stayed loyal to you through the worst of times, so everything will be fine, I'm sure. I tightened my grip on his hip to calm him. It was reassuring to see that a man as powerful as him could have moments of doubt.

Fucang gave a grunt. He had not moved outside. I noticed that he avoided going out in the snow. Didn't this baby dragon want to get his paws wet?

Voices came to our ears.

"How much further is it, Cheng Ling?" said a voice that I identified as belonging to QingMing.

"We are here..."

Two men appeared before us pulling a cart. At their head was Cheng Ling. When they saw us, they dropped the stretchers into the snow in astonishment with their eyes fixed on us and their mouths open.

"Master Zhou Zi Shu, Master Wen! "They exclaimed with one voice and greeted us with a stunned look.

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