The president's wife wants to run away

Chapter 31 Exploration

The warning from the man in black echoed in my ears, like a bucket of cold water that extinguished our initial excitement. Qin Xue grabbed my arm worriedly, "Luo Xue, why don't we just forget it, just in case..."

I shook my head and interrupted her. "No, I must go in." My tone was firm, and my eyes were fixed on the pile of Taihu stones. My intuition told me that the secret room must contain the key to unlocking the mystery of my life.

Zhong Yuxuan stood beside me, his broad palm gently placed on the back of my hand, giving me strength. "Don't be afraid, we will all be with you."

Professor Li also pushed up his glasses and agreed, "I believe that good will prevail over evil. We just need to be well prepared and proceed with caution."

We decided to follow Professor Li's advice and make full preparations. Based on the architectural drawings of the old house, Professor Li speculated that the entrance to the secret room might be in the basement, so we found tools and pried open the long-sealed door of the basement.

The damp and rotten smell hit us in the face, and the darkness was so dark that we couldn't see our hands in front of us. We turned on the flashlights we had prepared in advance, and the dim light barely dispelled some of the darkness, but it also made everything in front of us seem even more eerie and strange.

The basement was filled with all kinds of debris and thick dust. We carefully avoided obstacles and carefully searched for any suspicious traces. Time passed by minute by minute, and just when we were about to give up, Professor Li suddenly exclaimed.

"Found it! The entrance should be here!" He said excitedly, pointing to an inconspicuous stone slab in the corner of the wall.

We quickly gathered around and saw that the stone slab was slightly different from the others, with some strange symbols engraved on it.

"This is..." I recognized it at a glance. These symbols were exactly the same as the ones I saw in the notes in the study that night!

Could this be the key to the secret room?

I took a deep breath, suppressed my excitement, and pressed a few symbols in sequence according to the notes. I heard a "boom" sound, and the stone slab slowly moved to the side, revealing a dark passage...

The flashlight beam extended along the passage, as if leading to an unknown abyss. I took a deep breath and stepped in first, followed by Zhong Yuxuan, Qin Xue and Professor Li. The walls on both sides of the passage were damp and cold, and the air was filled with a dusty smell, mixed with mold and an unknown aroma, which made people feel stuffy in their chests.

After walking for a few minutes, the view in front of me suddenly became clear. The beams of flashlights intertwined and illuminated the entire secret room.

This is a spacious basement, with long-burning lamps on the walls, and the dim light illuminates everything in the room. Unlike the dark and damp I imagined, it is unexpectedly dry and tidy. The bookshelves are filled with ancient rare books, and the walls are hung with ancient calligraphy and paintings. There are also many antique utensils that I have never seen before, which emit a mysterious luster in the dim light.

"Oh my god..." Qin Xue covered her mouth and exclaimed, "This is simply an underground treasure house!"

Professor Li pushed up his glasses, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "If these ancient books and cultural relics could be made public, they would be such precious historical materials!"

My attention was drawn to a table in the corner. The table looked very old, with a somewhat rotten surface. On it was a thick diary and an exquisite wooden box beside it.

I walked over and gently opened the diary. The paper was yellow and brittle, and the handwriting was a little blurry, but I could vaguely tell it was written by a woman.

"On the seventh day of the seventh month, I secretly came to see him again. He taught me how to write today and gave me a peach blossom hairpin that he carved himself..."

"On August 15th, he said he would take me to see the most beautiful fireworks, but my father wouldn't let me. I cried secretly for a long time..."

"September 9th. He looked very depressed today. I asked him what was wrong, but he just shook his head and refused to say anything..."

The content of the diary is intermittent, recording the love story of a woman and a man. Between the lines, the woman's love and longing for the man are revealed.

The more I read, the more my heart sank. The man in the diary seemed to have some connection with me, but the identity of the woman was even more confusing.

It was not until the last page that I saw the signature of the diary - Li Ruoshui.

Li Ruoshui? How come this name is so similar to mine?

My heart was full of doubts, as if there was a fog covering me and I couldn't see the direction clearly.

At this time, Zhong Yuxuan's voice came from behind, "Luo Xue, look at this."

I turned around and saw him standing on the other side of the room, holding a parchment scroll in his hand. The scroll looked very old, with a map drawn on it, and a place name marked on the map that I had never seen before.

"What is this place?" I asked, pointing to the place name on the map.

Zhong Yuxuan shook his head. "I don't know either, but this map looks very old. Maybe it's related to your life experience."

My heart moved. Could it be that the key to unlocking the mystery of my life lies in the unknown place marked on this map?

I clutched the diary tightly, my heart filled with anticipation and anxiety. I knew that the mystery of my origins was about to be revealed...

I clutched the diary tightly. Li Ruoshui, this name lingered in my mind. Who was she? What did she have to do with the mystery of my life? I felt as if I had fallen into a huge maze, unable to find the entrance or the exit.

"Who wrote this diary?" Zhong Yuxuan's voice interrupted my thoughts. He came to my side without knowing when, frowning slightly, and was obviously attracted by the contents of the diary.

"I don't know," I shook my head and handed him the diary. "It's signed by Li Ruoshui. This name..."

"Very similar to you." He took the diary, with an imperceptible tremor in his tone.

I nodded, feeling mixed emotions.

At this moment, Qin Xue's excited voice came from the other end of the room: "Come and see, I think I found something!"

Zhong Yuxuan and I looked at each other and walked over quickly. I saw Qin Xue holding a thick ancient book and pointing at one of the pages excitedly.

"Look, this is where the bloodline inheritance of the Li family is recorded!"

I took a closer look and saw the words written in beautiful handwriting on the ancient book: "The Li family has been guarding the artifact for generations. Their bloodline inheritance needs to undergo the test of destiny before they can awaken their innate power..."

"Innate power?" Zhong Yuxuan asked doubtfully, "What innate power?"

"There is no detailed record here," Qin Xue shook her head and pointed to another passage in the ancient book, "but it is mentioned here that in every generation of the Li family, there will be a person with special abilities. They can sense things that ordinary people cannot sense, and can even control the power of nature."

My heart skipped a beat. Could it be that I also have this special ability?

"Luo Xue, do you remember?" Qin Xue suddenly grabbed my hand, with a hint of excitement in her tone, "Do you remember when you were a child, you once said that you could hear the flowers, plants and trees talking? At that time we all thought you were joking, but now think about it..."

A vague picture flashed through my mind. When I was a child, I seemed to be able to hear the sounds of flowers, plants and trees, and feel their joys and sorrows, but as I grew older, this ability gradually disappeared.

"Could it be that I really have the blood of the Li family?" I murmured to myself, feeling both excited and scared.

"It seems that we have to continue looking for clues." Zhong Yuxuan said in a deep voice, "There must be more secrets about your life hidden in this secret room."

We continued to search in the secret room, hoping to find more clues. Zhong Yuxuan found an old map in a corner, on which was marked an unknown location, and below the map were written the three words "Taoyuan Valley" in beautiful handwriting.

"Taoyuan Valley?" I muttered to myself, "What is this place?"

"Perhaps this is the key to unlocking the mystery of your life." Zhong Yuxuan looked at the map with a determined light in his eyes.

At this moment, Li Luoyao, who had been silent all the time, suddenly said, "I know this place."

We all looked at her in surprise, and saw a complicated look flash across her eyes.

"Follow me." She said, turning and walking deeper into the secret room.

We followed closely, filled with anticipation and anxiety, not knowing what was waiting for us...

Li Luoyao's words were like thunder, exploding in our ears. She actually knew about Taoyuan Valley? This was too unbelievable. I looked at her suspiciously, trying to find the answer from her expression, but she just smiled faintly and turned to walk deeper into the secret room.

Deep in the secret room, there was only a narrow passage. We groped our way forward. The air was filled with a damp and moldy smell, which made people feel inexplicably depressed. After walking for about ten minutes, the view suddenly opened up and a smaller secret room appeared in front of us.

"Where is this place?" Qin Xue looked around curiously, only to see that the walls were engraved with ancient totems, which looked mysterious and strange.

Li Luoyao did not answer. She walked straight to a wall and stretched out her hand to gently press a brick a few times. There was a "boom" sound, and the wall slowly moved away, revealing a hidden safe.

I covered my mouth in surprise, unable to believe my eyes. How did Li Luoyao know this secret? She seemed to see through my thoughts, smiled faintly, and explained: "I accidentally discovered this secret room before, but I didn't know how to open the safe at that time."

Zhong Yuxuan stepped forward and skillfully opened the safe. In the safe, there were some documents, photos and some old objects neatly arranged. We carefully took out everything inside and checked them one by one.

Most of the documents were business contracts and agreements, covering a wide range of time, with the earliest dating back decades. The photos were group photos of several generations of the Li family, and one of them caught my attention. It was of a young and beautiful woman, who looked a bit like me.

"Who... who is this?" I pointed at the woman in the photo, my voice trembling a little.

"She is Li Ruoshui, your mother." Li Luoyao, who had been silent all the time, suddenly spoke.

My heart suddenly trembled. Mother? I actually found a photo of my mother? With trembling hands, I gently stroked the face of the woman in the photo, tears blurring my eyes.

In addition to documents and photos, there are some old objects in the safe, including an exquisite jade pendant, a yellowed diary and an antique key.

"This diary..." I recognized it at a glance. It was exactly the same diary we found in the study before, except that this one was obviously older.

We opened the diary and read the contents carefully. The diary recorded Li Ruoshui's life and her love and longing for a man. That man was my father.

We put all the discoveries together like putting together a puzzle, and a complete love story gradually emerged. My parents were forced to separate because of family feuds and eventually both died, and I was secretly sent to an orphanage...

The truth was finally revealed, but I felt extremely heavy. I finally knew my life experience, but I also understood the responsibility on my shoulders more clearly.

At this moment, the secret room suddenly began to shake violently, and rocks above began to fall.

"Oh no! This place is going to collapse!" Qin Xue exclaimed.

Before we could react, we felt a powerful force knocking us to the ground...