Throughout the entire meal, Kale and his daughter remained kneeling until Leo and Lucy left. With the help of a server, they finally stood up, Isabel still shaken from the experience.
“Dad, is this matter resolved?” she asked.
Kale sighed. “Since he didn’t say much, I don’t think he’ll bother us again. But who is this young man? How does he have so much power?”
“Dad, I want to marry him,” Isabel suddenly said.
Kale was taken aback before shaking his head. “I know you want to marry into a wealthy family, but this man’s status is far higher than ours. You’re not good enough for him and he won’t even consider you. Forget about it.”
Isabel hung her head in defeat; her outburst earlier had been impulsive.
After leaving the restaurant, Leo dropped off Lucy at school and suggested that if she needed a part-time job in the future, she could try Kale’s company since he wouldn’t make things difficult for her.
“Leo, thank you for helping me so much,” Lucy said gratefully.
“How many times do I have to hear ‘thank you’? Stop saying that,” Leo replied with a smile as Lucy blushed slightly.
“Go back to school. I should also return to Langstel,” Leo said.
“Leo, when I graduate and find a job to earn money, I will definitely treat you to the most expensive meal,” Lucy suddenly said.
The meal they just had was paid for by Leo.
Leo smiled and nodded, “I’ll be waiting for that day. Go inside.”
After watching Lucy enter the school gate, Leo turned and left.
In the evening, Leo treated Irene and Michelle, the twin sisters, to a dinner to thank them for their help.
After the meal, Leo booked a plane ticket and stayed overnight in the capital. The next morning, he took an early morning flight back to Langstel.
At noon, the plane arrived at Langstel International Airport.
As soon as Leo turned on his phone, a call came in from Coral.
“Leo, I went to the clinic to find you. The people at the clinic said you went to the capital, is that true?” Coral asked.
“I’ve already come back. I’m at the airport now,” Leo replied.
“Great, wait for me at the airport, I’ll come to pick you up,” Coral said and hung up the phone.
Leo didn’t know what Coral wanted to talk about, but he patiently waited.
While waiting for Coral, Leo saw a striking headline news.
Glathe tycoon Baltasar had died of illness.
Clare had returned to Glathe and started taking over the family business.
Leo could only sigh at this news.
If Baltasar and his daughter Clare hadn’t been so aggressive and domineering, if Baltasar had been willing to lower his posture at his clinic, he wouldn’t have met such a fate in Langstel.
You reap what you sow, that’s the situation.
Half an hour later, Coral’s Porsche appeared in front of Leo.
Coral got out of the car and signaled Leo to drive.
After they got into the car, Coral pointed to the car navigation system and said, “Follow the navigation.”
The navigation showed the direction towards the outskirts of West Town, but Coral didn’t say where they were going exactly.
After following the navigation for a little over an hour, they arrived at their destination.
It was a beautiful place, with distant green mountains and light clouds swirling.
There were meandering waters and numerous stones, with several wooden bridges crossing the water, curving without railings, like neon spewing.
Temples began to appear along the way, with towering Buddhist halls and solemn Buddha statues, with the distant sound of Buddhist chants.
The houses in this area were all made of wood, with low eaves and thatched roofs. People and animals lived together, and middle-aged women worked in the fields.
Leo was amazed that there was such a place like a paradise outside Langstel.
Following the direction indicated by Coral, the car slowly moved forward, and soon a large temple appeared in front of them.
At this moment, Coral unbuckled her seatbelt and said, “We’re here.”
“A temple? What are we doing here?” Leo was very puzzled.
Coral seemed to have planned this visit in advance and had a mischievous look on her face. “The temple ahead is the largest one here, called the White Dragon Temple. There’s a high monk in the temple who can read fortunes. They say he’s quite accurate.”
Leo was surprised. “You brought me here to have my fortune read!?”
Coral covered her mouth and smiled. “Yes, don’t you think it’s an interesting thing to do? Let’s find a place to park.”
Coral’s face was full of enthusiasm, and Leo understood instantly that she must have planned this in advance.
Finding a suitable spot to park the car, the two of them got out.
Leo suddenly had a strange feeling in his heart. Having a monk read the fortune of a Cultivator… this… why does it feel so awkward?
Looking at the stone steps ahead that seemed endless, and then at Coral who had already climbed up, Leo couldn’t help but marvel at the woman’s strong determination.
“I think this temple must be deserted with no one around,” Leo said, already a bit out of breath from relying solely on physical strength to climb a portion of the steps.
Coral turned her head and glanced at him, asking, “What makes you think that?”
“Just think about it, with such terrifying stairs, even if someone wants to visit the White Dragon Temple, they would only sigh at the sight of the staircase,” Leo replied.
“That’s not necessarily true. Maybe it’s intentional on the part of the White Dragon Temple to test whether the pilgrims have sincere hearts,” Coral offered her own insight.
“Perhaps, building such a long staircase for the pilgrims to climb, this temple is indeed quite peculiar.”
Finally, they managed to climb all the steps.
Taking a few deep breaths, Leo lifted his head and was stunned by the scene in front of him.
There were many pagodas, which went against the usual layout.
The pagoda is where the Buddha’s teachings reside, and it’s also the burial place of the Buddhas, called a stupa in Buddhist scriptures.
Because of the different number of levels in the architecture, the name varies accordingly. The most common one is called the “Seven-tiered Stupa,” meaning that most pagodas are seven stories tall.
Having a pagoda in front of the temple gate was indeed peculiar.
Coral didn’t understand the peculiarity, she just clasped her hands together and bowed towards the pagoda.
After Coral finished her bow, she looked at Leo and said, “Building pagodas and worshiping them brings great merits. Sincerely circumambulating and paying respect to the pagoda can purify our sins accumulated since time immemorial and attain a pure body and mind.”
This statement caught Leo off guard, and he curiously scrutinized Coral, saying, “I didn’t expect you to have such knowledge about pagodas.”