Dawn Blossom

Chapter Five

Stella walks next to Harold and whispers to him.

"Why did she steal my portrait in the first place?" Stella whispered to Harold.

"She said she and another guy stole the portrait. I'll find out more." He whispered back to her.

Mei gives a sideway glance to Stella and Harold. She knows they were talking about her. It is obvious.

"Talking about me?!" asked Mei. "I could hear you guys whispering, you know."

Stella flinches a bit. Harold keeps walking as if nothing had happened.

"I was actually." Harold answered. "Can you explain why you and a random guy that you don't know decide to steal someone's portrait?"

"Portrait or painting?" Mei said with a mischievous smile. She looks at Stella for a second and then her turquoise-colored eyes lit up. "Ooohhh! You're the one in the portrait. I just realized that."

"Yes, it is my portrait. Would you mind telling us why you have it?" Stella said.

"You see, this guy approached me a few days ago about a theft job. He said it'll be easy." Mei responded.

"It seems like you don't even know this guy. How and why did you trust him?" asked Harold.

Mei thinks to herself for about a minute."I'm not sure exactly…"

"So, a random guy approached you to ask for your help and you went along with it? He could have just stolen it himself. What did he need you for?" asked Harold.

"Hmmm…." Mei made another show of thought. "You know, now that you asked, I really don't know."

"There has to be a reason why you were there with him. Did you help him with anything?" asked Harold.

"Hmmm…." Mei thought to herself as she put her hand on her chin. "Not really… I just went with him and he basically did everything."

"He could have brought along someone that he knew for that. I'm guessing there's another reason." Harold said and thought to himself.

The group have now arrived at the silk store. They enter through the front. Mei greets the employees as she leads the group upstairs.

"You know everyone here?" asked Stella.

"Yeah, it's my parents' store." answered Mei.

"Your parents sell silk and you work at your own restaurant?" Harold asked to clarify.

"Yeah, it's not hard to understand, guys." Mei responded. She leads them up the stairs to the second floor. "Almost there." She walks the group down a hallway. Finally, she opens the door to reveal a room that is the size of a living room of a house.

"Wow! Fancy place here." Stella said.

"And the painting is here…" Mei said and she pointed to the northwest corner of the room, but nothing was there. "What?! It was here this morning!"

"Huh?" Stella said.

"Maybe you misplaced it?" Harold said.

"No! I wouldn't do that!" Mei said, upset.

Bruno and Lyla look around the room. They were too busy admiring the large room to notice anything.

"You're saying it was here this morning, and now it's gone?" Harold asked.

"Yes!" Mei answered.

"Then someone must have stolen it." Harold suggested. "Who knows that the painting was here besides you?"

"Just me and… that guy!" Mei said.

"Did he have jade-colored eyes?" Harold asked.

Mei's eyes light up with surprise. "Yeah, how do you know?"

"Bruno and I were here earlier. We saw this guy walk past us, turned around, went upstairs, and left again with a white cloth. That white cloth must be the painting. Bruno followed him." Harold said and then turned to Bruno.

"I followed him to a cottage and fought this other guy. After beating the other guy, I checked what's in the white cloth and it was empty." Bruno said.

"Ah. I see now. He intended to put the theft on you. If anything should happen, you would take all the blame for the theft. He was never going to split the profit with you." Harold explained.

"I can't believe this…" Mei said quietly and turned to Stella. "I'm sorry for all this."

"It's fine, I guess," Stella said and turned to Harold. "So, what now?"

"We'll find this guy, and he'll have your portrait." Harold answered and looked at Mei. "So, Mei, do you know where this guy could have gone?"

"No… but if I had to guess, probably to the beach. He said he wanted to relax someplace warmer." Mei answered.

"Where is the beach and what's it called?"

"It's called Boluo Beach and it's southwest of here."

"Alright, that's our next stop!" Harold said.

A knock on the door was heard by everyone in the room. Mei walks to the door and opens the door and a guy bursts in frantically.

"Mei! Mei! Mei!" the guy said out loud in a panic.

Stella and Lyla look at the guy and are surprised to see him. It's the guy with spiky hair.

"What? Calm down!" Mei said.

The spiky-haired guy slows his breathing and notices there were guests in the room. He sees Stella and Lyla and shrieks in panic.

"It's them!" he shouted.

"Fen!!! What is it?!" Mei said.

"They're here!" said the spiky-haired guy whose name is apparently Fen.

Mei sighs. "Oh… I know…"

"They beat me up!" Fen was breathing frantically still. "Aiiieeeee! Those are the ones that beat me up!" Fen points to Stella and Lyla.

"You too, huh!" Mei sighed again. "I'm thinking Chen also got beat up". She turns to Bruno to ask for a confirmation.

"You mean that Dragon guy? Yeah, I defeated him." Bruno confirmed.

"They're not here to fight. It was a misunderstanding. I'll explain." Mei said to Fen. She explains the entire situation to him.

"You got beat by him?!" Fen shouted as he pointed to Harold. "And Chen got beat up by him?!" He points to Bruno.

With that said, Stella, Harold, Lyla, and Bruno spend the night at the inn and say goodbye to Mei in the morning. As they make their way to Boluo Beach, Fen is secretly following them from behind. This marks the end of this arc.