Paul looked at the mysterious box in Dorian's hand which has no lock "Why did you steal it?"
Dorian shrugged "I was curious as to what made so many police officers chase after him, there were even helicopters. A normal thief wouldn't need that much force"
Lane scoffed "Those police officers said he stole jewelry but they didn't even open to confirm if it was there but I stead electrified the guy and kept the bag in the car"
Paul said as he covered his mouth and chuckled at the last part "I did notice that they were being secretive but now they'll go back only to meet stones"
Dorian was about to open the box when the door opened and he portaled it into the bathroom then portaled his phone into his hands to make it seem like he was playing games and the other two were watching
Yilao folded her arms "The police are at the door asking for three young boys with a fat orange cat. Suits the four of you now come on out"
Lane gulped and Paul picked up Milky "How did those police officers track us down"
Paul stood up "We didn't exactly run away"
They got to the living room and two police officers were sitting on the couch talking with Yanghu
The police officer who spoke with them earlier stood up "Hello boys, remember me? I'm Officer Hawkins"
Dorian sat on the table with his legs crossed and Milky in his arms "We only just met a few hours ago how are we supposed to forget you so quickly? Also don't treat us like little kids and just state your business barging into our house. I hope you have a warrant or I'll call my uncle to send you to court"
Yanghu, Yilao, Paul and Lane sat on a couch and just watched the drama unfold
Officer Hawkins was speechless and the other officer spoke up showing the search warrant "My name is Officer Jones and we would like to search your house and yes, we have a warrant"
Dorian nodded "So why have you decided that of all houses in the neighborhood, you picked ours to search or is it because the thief bumped into us or because we did not go back with you for a statement. Let me emphasize the thief bumped into me and fell because he was weak"
Officer Jones sat upright "This matter is of national welfare and what we want to search for cannot be disclosed to you civilians"
Dorian asked as he caressed Milky's fur "What district are you from?"
Officer Jones replied "The neighborhood police station"
Dorian raised an eyebrow "Now you're lying. Tell the truth, officer"
Officer Jones raised an eyebrow but said "Fine. We're from the City District Police Station. Special Corps Section"
Dorian smiled "No wonder you're dressed in normal clothes and the others are in uniforms. You can search the house, Officer but please don't make a mess"
Officer Jones nodded and his men entered to search the house
Lane asked "Officer, do you have kids?"
Officer Jones asked "Why do you wanna know?"
Dorian raised an eyebrow at Lane then he shrunk into the couch "Don't look at me like that, I just wanted to have small talk and besides he looks like Jane from my class"
Officer Jones shook his head "I do not base in your neighborhood and I don't have a daughter"
Paul rolled his eyes "Happy now, Lan?"
Lane was all giddy and bouncy on the couch "Yes, I'm gonna tell my classmates that Jane looks like a police officer"
Paul facepalmed and Officer Hawkins chuckled slightly
Dorian raised an eyebrow at him "Not funny, you're the only one laughing"
Officer Hawkins kept quiet in that instant and a thought appeared in Officer Jones's mind 'This boy is too smart and calm for his age'
When the police officers were done searching, the left
Yanghu patted Dorian's head "Good job my boy"
Yilao laughed "You scared that Hawkins guy speechless"
Paul looked at the duo with confused eyes "Shouldn't you two be furious that police officers came to the house?"
Yanghu smiled "We never liked police officers in the first place"
Paul nodded "That's true. Everyone in the family seems to disdain the police"
The three went back to Dorian's and Paul locked the door from behind "Okay so where did you send the box to?"
Dorian grinned as the box appeared in his hand "To my room in Uncle Kelvin and Uncle Shawn's house"
Lane gave a thumbs up "Smart!"
Dorian sat on the ground "Let's open it"
When they opened the box, they found three small metal toys inside
Lane was appalled "A Hammer, a bunch of small knives and an umbrella!? They're all so tiny, is this what the police officers say is national welfare? Toys!?"
Dorian raised an eyebrow "Everything is not always as it seems, Lan"
Paul nodded "Ian's right. We should search-"
Lane yelped before Paul could finish his sentence
Dorian glared at Lane and when Paul realized what happened, he shouted "Lan, why would you touch it!"
Lane sucked his finger "I didn't know it would cut my finger and draw blood"
The trio watched as the hammer glowed red and absorbed the blood then it rose in the air growing to one meter in height
It floated in front of Lane and he sucked his breath "This thing is huge"
The other two were astounded then Paul said "A weapon that absorbs blood then increases in size. This is from one of those ancient stories Grandpa always told us. It's tied to you, Lan!"
Paul quickly touched the umbrella and it drew his blood too then grew in size to one meter in height
The two nudged Dorian and he sighed "Fine"
He touched the knives and it also drew his blood then grew to seven swords one meter each "Turn back"
Surprisingly, the swords shrunk again at Dorian's will
Lane was excited and shrunk his too "I want to try my weapon out on someone!"
Paul kept his small umbrella on his pocket "Don't be so eager or trouble will come for you. We have to keep these weapons a secret even from the entire family"
Dorian was about to close the box when he noticed a hidden compartment with a folded old looking paper in it
Lane exclaimed "A map!"
Paul rolled his eyes "You can't just expect a map to come out of every secretive box, Lan"
Dorian opened it "It is a map and a note"
Now it was Paul's turn to be surprised "To where?"
Dorian stood up to get his laptop "To the next treasure piece which is in a Temple of Legends but as to how to get there, it seems to be underground"
Dorian typed something into the laptop for a few minutes then said "Found it!"
Paul read it aloud "Natural Forensic Mountain located in.. Washington DC!?"
Dorian said "The mountain is located behind the Corseus Wildlife Park which is now closed due to a previous incident which claimed the lives of ten people"
Paul took a deep breath "Looks like we were meant to go to Washington"
Lane excited jumped around "I cannot wait to tell Baebae and Lala about this"
Dorian nodded "It would be fun to include those two"
Lane asked "Should we tell Sister Lao?"
Paul was against the idea "Although Sister Lao tolerates our small antics, she definitely would be against this one, she would scold us"
Lane sighed and Paul held his forehead "Now I'm starting to rethink this idea"
Dorian stated "We can hold our own fort and if anything bad happens or we're in danger, I'll teleport us back home"
The next day, the four of them had packed their bags and the parents came to bid farewell
Lujin pulled Lane and Paul's ears "You two better not make trouble for your Aunt Molly and Aunt Gaeul"
The two boys whined as they nodded then Lujin smiled and released their ears
Carrie and Yanghu came out of the kitchen with a big food container "Here are some snacks for the road"
Lane's eyes brightened at the sight of food "Thanks, Mum and Grandpa Yanghu"
Yanghu hugged his grandson "Be good okay?"
Dorian nodded and Yanghu beckoned for the other two boys to join the hug
The four of them bid goodbye to the ones in the house as Yilao drove away
Lane who was in the passenger seat asked "Sister Lao, how long will it take us to reach there?"
Yilao replied "Well, approximately five hours including the time taken to reach their place and the possible traffic stops on the way also the checkpoint for when we enter Washington"
Lane asked "Can you drive for five hours straight?"
Yilao nodded "Yeah. Piece of cake"
Lane inquired "That's we set out immediately after breakfast so you could go to sleep once we get there"
Yilao chuckled "Yeah, you got me"
Yilao glanced at the rear mirror "And what are you two up to there?"
Dorian had headphones on and couldn't hear so Paul answered her "I'm playing a crossword puzzle while Ian's playing an online game"
Yilao nodded with an "Oh"
An hour later on the road, Dorian widened his eyes in shock as he sensed something then took off his headphones while looking to his right and shouted "Lan!"
The other three turned to look at what made Dorian yell and they're astonished to see an out of control truck speeding their way from the other lane
Lane slowed it down but it's force was strong and it was still coming
Paul said as he grabbed Milky "We won't survive that if it collides, Ian open up a portal already!"
Dorian was already opening a portal which was encompassing them "I'm opening as fast as I can! Grab whatever is important"
Yilao grabbed the food container just in time as they disappeared from the car and appeared in the forest ten meters away from the road
They watched as the fuel truck hit their car and blew up in flames
Lane sat on the ground exasperated "Damnit! We got lucky!"
Dorian quickly grabbed his and Paul's laptops which were about to fall to the ground "And luckily, these were on our laps"
Paul sighed "Luckily I had my backpack on which contained my clothes"
Yilao hugged Lane and Dorian "You two did well!"
Paul asked "So how are we going to get to Washington now?"
Yilao eagerly responded "By foot"
Paul exclaimed "That would take three and a half days!"
Yilao chuckled "You silly boy, we only have to walk to Philadelphia then book a train which would take us to Washington"
Paul said "But that would still take us a day"
Yilao snapped her fingers "Eighteen hours if we don't sleep"
Dorian offered an idea "Or I could just portal us to the next train station"
Paul, Yilao and Lane shouted in unison "No!"
Yilao spoke up with worry "Ian, have you forgotten that you will bleed if you try to portal to somewhere you've never been to?"
Paul chimed in "Sister Lao's right, you cannot do something that dangerous"
Lane said "It's just a few hours, we can take it and besides, we'll rest on the train"
Dorian shrugged "I would only bleed from my nose but okay, since you guys say you can walk, let's walk"
Dorian collected the heavy backpack from Paul and Lane collected the food container from Yilao while Yilao carried Milky and Paul helped Dorian carry the laptops since they wouldn't fit in the bag
Lane asked as they set on their way "Why don't we just hitch a ride to Philadelphia?"
Yilao shook her head "Hitchhiking is dangerous, we don't know who we might run into"
Lane shrugged "We're strong, we can deal with anyone"
Paul stated "We can't deal with armed men though"
Lane told Paul "But Ian can just use his powers to stop the bullets mid air"
Dorian said "I can't if it's too close. I wouldn't be able to react fast enough"
Lane pursed his lips and kept quiet
Eight hours later in the evening around six o'clock, Paul complained as he leaned against a tree "Okay I think my legs are about to turn into spaghetti"
Yilao looked around "It's already dark, we have to find a place to take shelter for the night since the forest is usually more dangerous at night"
Lane snickered "It's only in movies"
A wolf howl sounded in the distance and the trio raised an eyebrow at Lane who was shaking "Okay! Let's find shelter"
Half an hour later, they spotted a cave but it was at the top of a mountain which was thirty meters high but Paul couldn't walk anymore
Dorian gave his backpack to Paul "Hey! I can't walk, why are you giving me?"
The other two were also puzzled but Dorian didn't answer and collected the laptops in his hands then gave Yilao
Dorian then bent down with his back facing Paul "Get on"
Paul asked with worry "But it's thirty meters and looks steep"
Lane said "If he asked you to get on, it means he can do it. Ian does attempt what he can't do now come on before something creeps on us"
Paul got onto Dorian's back with his arms around his neck then Dorian stood up and supported Paul by gripping his legs
They started scaling the mountain in a steady manner because it was a bit steep and funny enough although Dorian was carrying someone, he was still a meter ahead of the duo
Paul looked at Dorian who hadn't broken a sweat and smiled softly then suddenly, a snake sprang towards them
Yilao and Lane yelled "Ian! Paw!"
Dorian grabbed the snake by its neck then portaled its organs out of its body to somewhere far from them and dropped the lifeless skin on the ground
Dorian portaled all of them into the cave since they were almost there
Yilao checked Dorian after he dropped Paul to the ground gently "Ian! Are you alright? Did it bite you?"
Dorian shook his head "No, I killed it"
Lane curiously inquired "How did you kill it, I only saw you drop it on the ground before you portaled us in here"
Dorian said as he opened up another portal "I'll tell you when I get back from gathering sticks to make a fire"
Dorian disappeared and the trio used their phones to search the cave and fortunately it was empty exempt for some eggs
Lane said "Must be that snake's eggs. What should we do with it?"
Paul and Yilao backed off in fright with Milky "Ew, Ian will portal it away when he comes back"
Lane chuckled "I'll watch it so they don't hatch"
Fifteen minutes later, Dorian was back with a bunch of sticks and twelve washed long palm leaves
Yilao was astonished by her nephew "Where did you get palm leaves?"
Dorian dropped it all on the ground "Saw one on our way here so I portaled back to it"
Paul was puzzled "What's a palm tree doing in an evergreen forest?"
Lane shrugged "Does it matter? Works for us anyways"
Dorian was about to start the fire when Paul stopped him and he raised his head to look at him then looked away and clutched his fists "What?"
Paul collected the matches from him "I'll light the wood, just get rid of the snake eggs first"
Dorian hastily stood up "What snake eggs?"
Lane lead Dorian the deeper part of the cave where the eggs where found then Dorian portaled the eggs as far as he could from their place "Is that all?"
Lane nodded then they went back
Dorian saw that Paul had successfully made fire so he went to the entrance of the cave and portaled a huge stone to block it completely
Yilao was super curious as she distributed the food "And where did you find that one?"
Dorian replied "Searched for it"
There was even food for Milky too and the cat happily gobbled down it's dinner
Dorian drank his milk and gave the rest to Milky "You guys can have the rest, this is enough for me"
Yilao refuted "No, we're still going to walk ten hours tomorrow before we can safely reach Philadelphia and get something to eat"
Paul agreed "You worked the hardest of us this evening so you need to eat for strength tomorrow"
Dorian waved his hands "I won't bother explaining myself, you guys should eat especially Paw and Sister Lao, you guys need it more. Although, Lane loves food, he can last a while without food so don't try to convince me. I'll get some fruits for us to eat tomorrow"