The sun must have been up for a while because the sun's rays were reflected on the skylight's glass and illuminated the room. I had decided to stay in bed for a while after the restless nights A-Xu and I had had in the past few days! It must be said that negotiating with him was not an easy thing to do, he was a formidable businessman.

Every time I had tried to seduce him, it had ended in a fight that I had invariably lost! This meant that he was the one who decided what would happen next. For a moment, I thought he was going to take matters into his own hands, but in fact, he was content each time with a smirk and a "not tonight"! I wondered if I had done something wrong? Yet he assured me that I had not! So why was he making me wait? He allowed me to kiss and caress him but not to go any further! Maybe he didn't think I was tender or caring enough for him? Or too "bossy"?

Aahhhh , I didn't understand anything !!!!! We always talked about the complicated mind of women in love, but men's mind was not better! Zhou Zi Shu was an enigma that I couldn't get my head around! Once again I had thought I had figured out every aspect of his personality and I was wrong again!

I groped the empty seat next to me. It was cold. He must have been up for a while. I sat up in bed and stroked the fabric of the robe he had made for me and placed at the foot of the bed so I wouldn't catch a cold when I got up... Today it was the red one... the same one I wore when I was the leader of the Ghost Valley. A smile relaxed my lips. A-Xu was really considerate of me, I should try to do the same with him!

I knew one thing about him, he was very strong. In some ways, he could even be insensitive, but when it came to me, his heart would soften and show weakness. In my heart, I knew that I was one of his few weak points and probably one of the only people who could make him suffer, except ChengLing maybe. Before we arrived at the armory I had hurt him several times, not intentionally of course, but I had seen the pain in his beautiful caramel eyes. That was almost 2 years ago now! I took my dress and put it on as I stood up. A-Xu was not in our room. The door to the promontory was closed, so he must have gone down to the library. I decided to join him there. I put on my boots and left the room. I took the stairs down to the level below. After a quick inspection, I noticed that he wasn't there. He must have been on one of the lower levels.

I went down and went around all the floors. I could only see that he was nowhere to be found! The armory was big, he could be anywhere! I was left with the usual rooms, the "ritual" room and the "agricultural treaties" room! It was in this one that I had just arrived and the first thing that jumped out at me, apart from the fact that A-Xu wasn't there, was that one of the arches on the opposite wall showed a staircase that seemed to go down!

Unless I'd taken a blow to the head that made me lose part of my memory, that staircase wasn't there last night! I approached, felt the arch and the stones and called out to my soul mate!

"A-Xu, are you there?"

"Down on the first level, come join me," said the beloved voice.

I turned around and went to get a lantern. There was no skylight like in the staircase leading to our room. After lighting it, I went through the opening and went down one floor to join A-Xu. The first room I entered was of medium size. Like the one I had just left, it had shelves with manuscripts on them. I approached one of them, expecting to find once again either a treatise on agriculture or one on the culture of Martial Arts, but I was wrong... it was a storybook !!!! What was a story for children doing in a place like this ????

I put the manuscript down and went in search of my soul mate. For that I passed in the next room. I found him motionless, with his back to the entrance. He was looking straight ahead, raising his lantern. I noticed on the right side of the door a kind of notch with a liquid. I put my fingers in it. Rubbing them together, I noticed that it was slightly viscous and after breathing in the smell, I realized that it was the same mixture that we put in our lamps. I took the candle of my lantern and approached the notch. Immediately, several places in the walls lit up, illuminating a room of impressive size. I joined A-Xu. He was amazed and so was I at the sight before our eyes!

"A-Xu, where am I dreaming?" His hand went to my forearm and pinched me!

"Ouch !!!! A-Xu!!! "

"You asked me if you weren't dreaming, as I wasn't sure either .... now we're set! We are not dreaming! "

I was looking at this huge cave rubbing my arm and curling my nose. He had hurt me!

The room was filled with trunks and precious objects of all kinds. Statues, vases, rare wooden furniture .... A-Xu walked to the nearest chest. It was the size of the trunk one would use when going on a trip for several days... A-Xu opened it .... inside were real treasures: jewelry, precious stones, small gold and silver objects...

"A-Xu, are we in a treasure room?"

"It would seem so..." He turned to me.

"Did you look at the books in the first room?"

"I just took a look at them ..."

"They're all about the same thing: legends and forgotten treasures" .

"Well if we go back to the world of men, we will not lack anything!" I joked.

"Lao Wen !!!! "

"Um Um, okay, okay, I didn't say anything" I looked around again.

"A-Xu, who do you think put all this together?...Do you think it's Rong Xuan?"

"I don't think so, it's much older..."

"How old?" he turned to me with an excited look... I must have asked the wrong question again!

"Older than you anyway! These treasures must have been put aside by those who originally created the armory. Remember, it was to ensure the future of the Tuojie clan ...agriculture allows to feed a nation and to develop trade if the harvests are sufficient, but money is also very useful in case of shortage to ensure the sustainability of a people ."

"Tuojie? "

"They were originally a nomadic clan. They later settled in the Northwest to found the dynasty that Prince Jin and BaiYuan are descendants of! "

My soul mate seemed thoughtful as he said these words ...he suddenly turned around and walked back towards the first room.

"Come, we will surely find answers in the books next door.

A-Xu disappeared through the doorway. I was taking a last look at the treasure room we had just discovered, when my eyes were drawn like a magnet to a square box made of lacquered cherry wood. I approached it. At first sight, it was not more than 3 hands wide. It was decorated with mountains. I put my fingers on it and slid them along the edges of the cube to the opening system. After a quick glance at the next room, I let my curiosity get the better of me and decided to open this chest... after all, A-Xu had opened one !!!!!

I played the latch and the chest released its contents like a flower blooming at the first light of dawn.

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