Chapter 98: Chapter 87: Praying for Blessings

Isla Prescott and her two friends spent six days on Surfsong Island, returning on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year.

The fifth day of the Lunar New Year, traditionally known as “Po Wu,” is a day for welcoming the God of Wealth. Isla Prescott and Annabelle Leighton made plans to visit The Serene Peak Monastery to offer incense and pray for blessings, hoping for a prosperous year for their dance studio and smooth sailing in their own careers.

Isla Prescott had always believed that love and career were both indispensable parts of life. But after two heartbreaks, her focus on her career had gradually eclipsed her desire for love. She’d come to feel that a solid material foundation offered a more tangible sense of security than something as ethereal as emotion.

The Serene Peak Monastery was the largest temple in Meritopia and was always thriving with worshippers.

Before the sky had fully brightened in the early morning, a long line had already formed outside the main gate. The moment the great vermilion doors opened, worshippers began to pour into the temple in a steady stream.

A sincere heart before The Buddha is worth more than ten thousand taels of gold.

Isla Prescott and Annabelle Leighton were both devout. They entered the temple with offerings, lit incense, and recited verses. They then completed the full ritual: bowing to the four cardinal directions, presenting their offerings to The Buddha while making wishes, circumambulating the statues while chanting sutras, and making a merit donation.

At noon, they ate a vegetarian meal at the temple.

After their meal, Annabelle Leighton said to Isla Prescott, “Isabelle, since we’re already here, I want to go draw a love fortune. I want to see what my luck with romance will be like this year. And whether or not I’ll be able to win over Morgan Hayes.”

“Sure. Want me to come with you?”

“You don’t have to. You can wander around a bit. Or if you’re tired, you can just wait for me in the car.”

“Alright.”

Isla Prescott had planned to go nap in the car for a while, but as she passed the front of a main hall, she saw a woman getting peace charms for her family. It made her think she should get them for her mother and sister, too.

She purchased the peace charms, and an eminent monk stamped them with the monastery’s seal. He then placed them inside small brocade pouches and instructed her to take them into the hall.

Once inside, Isla Prescott knelt on a prayer cushion. Cradling the peace charms in her palms, she pressed her hands together, raised them to her brow, and bowed her head to make a wish.

She had just finished her prayer when she heard footsteps behind her.

’Perhaps it was some special awareness that came from being before The Buddha,’ but for some reason, her heart gave a sudden, sharp tremor.

Before she had time to react, a dark figure knelt on the prayer cushion beside her.

Isla Prescott turned her head and saw Shane Sterling.

She hadn’t seen him in a while. Her first impression was that he’d gotten thinner. The line of his jaw was sharper, his eyes seemed more deep-set, and even the bob of his Adam’s apple carried a more restrained, keen edge.

Her gaze suddenly met Shane Sterling’s dark eyes, and a faint crackle echoed in her ears, like the surface of ice giving way to the pressure of a spring thaw.

’I never thought we’d run into each other here.’

That familiar pain, like a blunt object being driven into her heart, slowly resurfaced. Isla Prescott felt her breathing grow thick and heavy. A wave of awkwardness washed over her, but it was Shane Sterling who broke the silence, offering her a small smile.

“So, you believe in Buddhism,” he began.

“I’m kneeling before The Buddha, so of course I believe.” Afraid he might say something sacrilegious and offend The Buddha, Isla Prescott couldn’t help but warn him, “Watch what you say.”

“I haven’t even said anything, and you already assume I’m going to speak recklessly? You know me that well, do you?”

’He really has no sense of propriety.’

Isla Prescott didn’t want him to ruin her chance at earning merit, so she started to get up and leave. But Shane Sterling’s hand shot out, his grip firm as he pulled her right back down onto the prayer cushion.

The two of them knelt side by side before the altar. Shane Sterling gazed at the statue of The Buddha and asked with a perfectly straight face, “Your Holiness, this disciple of yours claims she doesn’t love me at all. I was wondering if you might be able to help me determine whether she’s telling the truth.”

Isla Prescott frowned. “You’re not supposed to discuss worldly affairs before The Buddha. It’s one of the monastery’s prohibitions. You’re breaking the rules.”

Shane Sterling was unfazed. “The struggles of making a living, the tribulations of love, the shackles of obsession, the sorrows of impermanence—are any of these not worldly affairs? And the worshippers outside, what prayers or wishes do they have that don’t revolve around such things?”

For a moment, Isla Prescott was at a loss for words.

Shane Sterling turned to look at her. “Isabelle, I’ve been… tied up, dealing with some nasty business, so I couldn’t come see you. But I swear, there hasn’t been a single moment that I wasn’t thinking of you.”

“Don’t say that…”

“I know you don’t believe me, but you believe in The Buddha.” Shane Sterling raised three fingers in a solemn vow. “I can swear an oath, right here, that my heart has never wavered.”

A gust of wind swept past, setting the bronze bells under the eaves to chiming.

“Mr. Sterling,” a clear, young voice called from outside the hall. “The abbot wishes to see you.”

Shane Sterling rose from the prayer cushion and brushed the incense ash from his overcoat.

“Isabelle, give me a little time. Once I’ve handled everything, I’ll come find you.”

With that, he walked out of the hall.

Isla Prescott remained kneeling for a long time, stunned. By the time she looked back, Shane Sterling was gone. All she could see were the embers in the large incense burner outside, flaring and fading, sending a thin ribbon of blue-gray smoke straight into the air. It had started to snow.

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