Chapter 910: [Bonus chapter] Temple

Chapter 910: [Bonus chapter] TempleBoth of them started to climb up with a trail of people following them. Along the way, as Raelle had said, the trees provided enough shade and even blocked some heat for them. But it still wasn't enough. By the time they climbed all the way up, they were all sweating profusely. Through this climbing, Raelle managed to understand the condition of her body.        

Well, it had to be said, it wasn't doing well considering how she was feeling breathless from just this much. Of course, she didn't say it out loud.      

Along the way, she could hear the chirping of the birds echoing the silence of the mountain but once they appeared in the temple space, everything was quiet. It was a sacred place of worship, it wasn't surprising that it was so peaceful here. But this silence in the air gave a very tranquil feeling.    

Temples had always been a place full of history, intrigue, impressive architecture, and carved relief. And this was no different. Raelle had seen some temples from afar that was known as tourist attractions and those places were always crowded with people. And maybe that was one of the reasons, she didn't go to such sites while traveling around the Continent.    

But this place was certainly different from what she expected. This didn't seem to be a tourist attraction, but then again, it was hidden in such a secluded place, that it wasn't all that surprising. So, it meant this was indeed just a place of worship.    

Taking off their shoes at the designated places, they went inside the temple. A monk greeted them with his hands held together in front of him.      

Everything was quite new to the newbie Raelle here so she just followed her husband to do what he did. Like greeting the monks, burning the incense, and kneeling to pray.      

To be honest, Raelle's mind blanks as she held up her hands to pray. She had never been this lost for words. She had never even prayed before. She never felt the need to. She didn't think there was anything in her life that she needed to pray for. She always worked for what she wanted and didn't wait for some miraculous help from above.    

So, it wasn't surprising that right now, she didn't know what to say or ask for.      

She looked at Shui Xian who had his eyes closed and seemed to be praying earnestly. Then her eyes wandered around and fell on another figure who sat behind in a far corner. The only reason she paid attention to that figure was that he didn't look like a monk. He was the only person apart from the monks of the temple here.    

And currently, he kneeled there and held a brush in his hand as he wrote something on the paper. With his back straight, his eyes focused on the sheet of paper, he looked very serious. As Raelle's eyes lingered on that figure, that person raised his head and caught her eyes.    

Raelle didn't look away and met his green eyes. The person offered her a smile before he went back to writing. Raelle turned her head back and closed her eyes.    

Hmmm... Let's think about it. What did she come here for?    

Ah! She came to pray for her child.    

So, her prayer started something like this:    

'I don't know how to begin. I have nothing to ask for myself. As always. I still believe I'm capable of getting whatever I want in life. I'm more than capable. But I realized, that not everything is under my control. Even if I want to control everything. Some things can't be controlled. Of course, I understood this point before as well but this time, it hit very close. This time, I experienced it myself by losing our child. I, Raelle Xiang who thought she was invincible, couldn't even protect her own child.    

I hope, our child doesn't think I'm an irresponsible mother and refuse to come back to us. But I also hope where our child is now, he knows that his parents really wanted to protect him. I hope he is in a better place now.'    

She opened her eyes and looked over at Shui Xian as she silently mumbled, 'And I really hope that my husband is able to leave behind the bitter things in life. I might not be good at it but I can tell he is hurting. Probably, way more than me. So, I really hope, he is able to grow out of this pain and look forward. I know he is trying and I know it'll take time as well. I just want you to help in easing his pain.'    

Shui Xian opened his eyes at that moment and turned to see her looking back at him. His eyes softened and he smiled at her.      

At that very moment, Raelle really wanted to smile back at him. And she did lift up her lips. It only lifted slightly into an arc. It was almost inconspicuous but to Shui Xian who always had his eyes on her face and was more familiar with her expressions than even she was, he could see it very clearly.      

So clearly that his heart thudded.    

It wasn't even a proper smile but he knew it came from her heart. She wasn't just doing it for formality, she really wanted to offer him a smile right now. His eyes moistened a bit and lowered his head to hide it.    

He looked back at the statue before him in disbelief. Just now, he wished to see his family smile. He wanted to see her smile. And he hadn't even stood up before he was able to see a sign that his prayer had reached somewhere. He didn't know how to feel about this.    

His mother once said, 'The prayer from the sincerest heart is always returned.'    

It seemed she was right. And his sincerest prayer did reach heaven and he was able to see the smile on his wife's face even if it was just a shadow of it. It was enough to keep him up for days.