After breakfast, he stood in front of his home with Lisa beside him, while his parents gave their final instructions.
Mr. Chen crossed his arms.
"Don't kill anyone, but don't hold back either."
"Putting someone in bed rest for a few weeks is perfectly fine."
Alexander grinned.
"Got it."
Mrs. Chen stepped forward, gently fixing his collar.
"Stay safe."
"Try not to get hurt."
Alexander laughed and pulled both of them into a hug.
"I'll be fine."
"I'll see you guys soon."
Mrs. Chen held onto him for a second longer.
"Remember…"
"We will always be your parents."
Alexander smiled warmly.
"I know."
Then he gave them a smirk,
"And I'll always be your handsome, rich son."
Mr. Chen snorted and looked at his watch.
"Alright, enough."
"It's time."
He looked at the house elf.
"Take care of him."
Lisa bowed.
"Yes, Master."
"I will protect Young Master."
Alexander rolled his eyes playfully.
"Let's go."
Both of them grabbed onto the coin.
The moment their fingers touched.
The world twisted and spun.
Space folded in on itself.
After a few seconds, the spinning stopped.
Alexander steadied himself to look around and froze.
"…Whoa."
Behind him—
Mountains stretched endlessly into the sky.
No matter how hard he looked, he only saw clouds and never the top of the mountains.
Below was a vast valley opened up like something out of a painting.
It was breathtaking.
Alexander immediately turned the house elf.
"Lisa!"
"Quick! Let's take pictures right now!"
Lisa scrambled to take the camera out of her pouch.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Alexander posed dramatically in front of the scenery.
Arms crossed.
Back turned.
Side profile.
After being satisfied with his poses, he grabbed the camera from the house elf.
He spent a few minutes looking through them.
"Lisa, you need to improve on your picture-taking skills."
"We have time and plenty of pictures to take."
The house elf quickly nodded her head.
Alexander then found a better angle.
"Your turn."
Lisa froze.
"…Me?"
Alexander nodded.
"Yeah, come on."
She stiffly stood there.
Trying to pose, but tears started forming in her eyes.
Alexander blinked.
"Why are you crying?"
Lisa sniffled.
"I—I don't know how to pose…"
Alexander burst out laughing.
"Stay strong!"
"Silver and Copper don't cry when I take pictures of them!"
"You can do it too!"
Lisa wiped her tears quickly.
"I—I'll try!"
After a few awkward poses, Alexander managed to get some decent shots.
"See? Not that hard."
Lisa nodded, still sniffling, but had a bright smile on her face.
Once he was satisfied, he gave the camera back to the house elf.
Alexander finally turned toward his real destination.
A massive wall stood before him.
Pure white and towering high into the sky.
At its center were two enormous red doors.
The red gate was ancient-looking and gave off a strong presence.
Above it, carved into the wood in bold characters:
Chen Family – Order Through Strength
Alexander, after reading the words, felt an intimidating presence and was amazed at how such simple words gave off a strong presence.
Next, he looked at both sides of the gate.
Two big stone lion statues stood guard.
Their eyes glowed faintly red.
Alexander felt like they were watching, observing, and judging anyone in front of the gate.
His lips curled into a grin, ignoring the feeling of being watched.
"Oh… this is cool."
He immediately started posing again.
"Lisa—get this angle."
Click.
Click.
After both of them had taken pictures of each other.
Instead of knocking, Alexander bent his knees.
Grabbed Lisa and placed her on his shoulder.
"Hold on."
He jumped and tried to fly over the wall.
BOOM.
He bounced back like he hit an invisible barrier.
"…Huh."
He tried again.
BOOM.
Again.
BOOM.
Alexander landed and narrowed his eyes.
"Interesting."
He stepped closer to the gate to try to find out why he kept getting pushed backward.
Alexander pulled out his wand and flicked it.
A spell shot out of the wand at the gate, and it was blocked.
He tried again and again until he noticed the runes.
The runes were layered and very complex.
Thousands or tens of thousands of runes were carved onto the surface of the gate and the walls.
His eyes lit up instantly.
"Oh… now THIS is interesting."
He immediately pulled out parchment and an auto-writing quill.
He poured magic into the quill.
"Copy everything!"
The quill sprang to life and rapidly documented every rune.
Alexander stood there, completely absorbed.
Analyzing, memorizing, and trying to understand the runes.
Halfway through.
Creeeeak.
The massive gate slowly opened.
Alexander didn't even look.
Still focused on the runes.
"Almost done?"
A voice echoed from inside.
"You know, most people knock first."
Hearing the familiar voice, Alexander paused and glanced up.
Uncle Ken stood there, arms crossed, and amused.
Alexander grinned.
"Give me a second."
"I'm halfway finished."
Ken shook his head and waited patiently.
After another half hour, Alexander finally put everything away.
He walked forward.
"Hello Uncle Kenny, how'd you know to come get me?"
Ken chuckled.
"I was eating breakfast and waiting for the report about you showing up."
"After I finished breakfast, I didn't hear anything."
"So I decided to check the security room."
Alexander's gaze flicked back to the stone lions.
More specifically, their glowing eyes.
Ken smirked.
"Sharp. Those are surveillance constructs."
"They track motion, heat, basically everything."
"Everything they see feeds directly to our security room."
Alexander nodded slowly.
"That's impressive."
Ken continued,
"The guards saw you, but you were taking pictures."
"They thought you were a lost tourist."
Alexander laughed.
"That's fair."
Ken smirked.
"They flagged you when you tried flying over the gate."
"That's when I knew it was you."
Alexander grinned.
"So… was that a test?"
Ken shook his head.
"No. You just don't know how to follow the rules."
"Most people knock; they just don't jump over a gate."
"…Very American of you."
Alexander laughed.
"Hey, that's how we do things."
He tilted his head.
"So what are rules?"
"Something edible?"
Ken stared at him and burst out laughing.
He began to lead Alexander in.
"Wait! Before we go in!"
Alexander suddenly said.
"Pictures."
Ken stared at his nephew in disbelief and sighed.
"…Fine."
Alexander grabbed him and pulled him into position.
"Smile!"
"Say cheese!"
Ken awkwardly looked around.
"…Where's the camera?"
Then he spotted a small house elf quietly holding one.
Click.
Click.
Alexander dragged him into multiple different spots.
Different angles.
Different backgrounds.
Ken barely kept up.
After a few minutes, he finally stopped.
"Enough, Alex, let's go inside."
Alexander nodded.
He turned to Lisa.
"Take lots of pictures inside."
"Remember the good spots."
"We'll come back later to take more pictures."
Lisa nodded enthusiastically.
"I understand, Young Master!"
Only spending one hour with Alexander, Lisa finally understood why Silver and Copper loved photos.
Ken led Alexander through the gate.
The moment he stepped inside, everything changed.
The air, atmosphere, and scenery.
The world itself seemed to change.
Alexander's eyes widened.
"…No way."
Stone pathways stretched across the land.
Elegant wooden pavilions stood beside calm ponds filled with fish.
Bridges arched gracefully over flowing streams.
Lanterns hung everywhere, even in daylight.
The architecture of every building was curved rooftops with dark wood and red pillars.
Everything felt ancient and timeless.
Alexander slowly turned his head, taking it all in.
"Did we just time-travel?"
Ken chuckled as he jumped on his flying sword.
"Keep up."
Alexander was shocked because Ken was flying on a sword and not on a broom!
He quickly pulled out his broom and placed Lisa on his shoulder.
Flying through the sky, over a world that looked untouched by modern time.
If not for Ken leading him, he would have truly believed.
He had gone back to ancient China.