73 | Flowers in the Rain 2

Xie Ren remembered something, gently “eek”.

The bandaged face inevitably reminded him of the little child he’d met three years ago. But he wasn’t sure. Pessimistically, he wondered if that young child would really live for another three years after fleeing down Tai Cang Mountain alone.

At that moment, the boy came over, stood on his tiptoes, removed the flowers from the clay statue’s hand, and replaced them with his own. Xie Ren was sitting on the altar, and could see clearly that the new bouquet of flowers, with more delicate, fuller, and more fragrant petals, must have been picked just now. Could it be that he came to this inconspicuous temple every day to put a bouquet of freshly picked flowers on the left hand of this clay statue?

Moreover, after offering flowers, the young man stood under the clay Prince statue, palms together, silently praying for blessings, but not like the others that indiscriminately knelt and then said, really Xie Ren’s words into it.

It’s been three years. So many worshiped Xie Ren’s believers, there are dignitaries, there are the world’s celebrities, there are amazing talent, however, let Xie Ren really feel “heart”, actually is such a 12 or 13-year-old child. And it is a poorly dressed, those gorgeous and expensive golden temple will not be put in the small children, so only to this grassroots temple to worship.

It’s a real wonder what it’s like.

At this time, the temple entrance came a snap of water, a group of children holding umbrellas, playfully running through. Originally, Xie Ren thought they were just passing by, but who knows that this group of teenagers ran past and then ran back, as if they had discovered something unimaginably rare, clapping their hands and saying, “Woohoo woohoo woohoo, the ugly monster has been driven out again!”

The teenagers were about the same age as the young devotee in the temple, but they were all taller than he was, and looked like they had been raised well by their parents. They were probably wearing new clothes and shoes because the festival was approaching. They were treading water in front of the temple, their smiles innocent and lively, without the slightest bit of malice, as if they didn’t think “ugly” was a bad word, nor did they feel their words were hurtful, they really just thought it was fun to yell. The young man clenched his fist, but the fist is too small, no deterrent, the door and shouted: “ugly monster today to sleep in the temple again, beware of home your mother to kill you!”

Xie Ren frowned. The teenager’s one eye exposed under the bandage crawled with blood, raising his fist and roaring, “I don’t have a home! I don’t have a mother! She’s not my mother! Get lost! All get out! Shout again and I’ll kill you all!!!”

The kids, however, were emboldened and spat out their tongues, “If you dare to hit us, beware that we will tell your father again so that he can teach you a lesson.”

Some of them made a wink and said, “Yes, you don’t have a mother, because your mother doesn’t want you. You don’t have a home either, your family all dislikes you. So you can only be in this broken temple …….”

When he got here, the teenager suddenly yelled and lunged.

Although he was small, he had enough momentum, and with a bellowing voice, he scared a few children to run, however, the teenager who was wrestling with him shouted, “What are you afraid of? We’re outnumbered!” So they all came back, seven hands and feet to pull him to beat him. Xie Ren couldn’t stand it any longer and waved his hand, a sudden strange force in the air separated the two groups of children. Immediately, a powerful splash of water flew up from the ground, lifting the group of teenagers into a row of heels.

After all, it is a child, was inexplicably fell a weird heel, and a mouthful of mud and dirty water, the body of the new clothes are all wet, become more than the object of their ridicule is still dirty and ugly, immediately from laughing into a wow wow cry, from the ground to get up, crying and grabbing the umbrella a smoke ran away.

Xie Ren shook his head. It was the first time he had intervened in this kind of toddler strife, even if he had driven away the bad side, he had no sense of accomplishment at all. He turned back to look at the teenager and was slightly stunned.

In the chaos, the teenager’s head bandage was ripped off half, revealing half of his face was bruised, swollen and purple, obviously not beaten just now. Before Xie Ren had time to take a closer look, he wrapped the bandage without saying a word, hugged his knees, and sat down at the foot of the clay statue.

Xie Ren to this Prince Temple, the original intention is to be close, here to convene the wind letter and Mu love, pass orders to discuss important matters, who knows encountered such a small child, can not help but care about it, after sending the order, squatting next to him staring at him to see. Squatting not a moment, the teenager abdomen came from the sound of cooing. There were a few fruits and snacks in the offering plate, although they looked dried up and not very tasty, they were better than nothing. Xie Ren then chose one and gently threw it at him.

The boy was hit by the fruit, and at once held his head in his hands and curled up into a ball, assuming a defensive posture, as if what was thrown at him was a stone, and there would be more stones coming soon. After a long time, looking around and realizing that it was just a fruit and there was no second person present, he hesitated for a moment, picked up the fruit, wiped it twice on his clothes, and put it back on the offering plate, preferring to starve rather than eat the offerings on the plate.

Then he went to the door, looked out of the temple at the pouring rain, and seemed to want to go out to look for food. But the rain was too heavy to want to get wet again, so he came back and curled up at the foot of the clay statue and went to sleep.

At this time, Feng Xin and Mu Yi arrived in response to the order. The two turned out from behind the temple, and Feng Xin said in a depressed manner, “Your Highness, where did you find such a small prince temple? Why are you passing orders here?” As soon as he lowered his head, he suddenly saw a mass of people cowering on the ground, almost stepping on it, and said offhandedly, “Damn how is there a child here?!”

Mu Qi also lowered her head and took a couple of close looks, and immediately asked, “Your Highness, is this the child who ran away from Tai Cang Mountain three years ago?”

Xie Ren shook his head, “Can’t be sure. I don’t know what his name is or what his face looks like.”

The three of them surrounded a child who was oblivious to the fact that the teenager rolled over on the ground and wiped his face, actually wiping out blood by the corners of his mouth, nose and mouth. Seeing this, Xie Ren felt more and more that he couldn’t let him continue to lie down, saying: ”Let this child leave first. It’s getting dark, and this temple is not a good place to spend the night.”

Feng Xin said, “Does he have nowhere to go? If so, I’m afraid he can only spend the night here.”

Xie Ren said, “He has a home, but it’s probably not very good. But this temple isn’t good either, so let’s leave first before we can find food for him. The boy still has injuries on his body.”

Mu Qi, however, said, “Your Highness, with all due respect, there’s no time to worry about such trivial matters at the moment. Have you summoned us here, but have you made any decisions?”

None of the magi in the heavenly court ever accepts all the prayers of the believers. They knew that there were thousands of believers in the world, and it would be annoying for them to be in charge of each and every one of them, so sometimes they would turn a blind eye, and pretend not to hear some insignificant or subtle prayers, which could save them a lot of trouble. However, it was probably because Xie Ren was too young and energetic to recognize such flexibility. After some thought, he carried the umbrella given by the passerby and walked outside the small temple.

Xie Ren slowly opened the umbrella, and the raindrops crackled on top of the umbrella surface. The teenager on the ground heard this sound and thought that someone was approaching, moving slightly. But probably thinking that it was none of his business if someone came, he lay back down again. Xie Ren put the open umbrella on the door, that teenager heard the sound has not disappeared, probably finally strange, get up and come out to see, saw a red umbrella diagonally resting on the ground in the rain, as if a lone blooming red flower, immediately froze.

Seeing that the teenager rushed over and hugged the umbrella, Mu Yi said, “Your Highness, it’s fine up to this point, right? Doing it too obviously for him to find out will create more complications.”

Who knows, before Xie Ren could reply, the teenager rushed back and shouted behind them, “Your Highness the Crown Prince!”

The three of them were startled and looked back. Only to see that teenager holding the umbrella, red eyes, excited to the extreme, tilting his head and shouting at the clay statue, “Your Highness the Crown Prince! Is that you?!”

Feng Xin didn’t know that Xie Ren had already helped him drive away a group of children and lost the fruit before, and wondered, “This kid is quite astute, I can’t believe he found out.” Mu Qi, however, seemed to have guessed the prospect and glanced at Xie Ren.

The teenager said, “If you’re right here, please answer me a question!”

Sitting on the high altar of God, Xie Ren had to hear countless times a day, “Please show your spirit. After hearing any voice too many times, one would become numb. However, whenever he heard such a voice, he still couldn’t help but notice it and stop for it. Mu Qi reminded from the side, “Your Highness, there’s no need to pay attention to it.”

Xie Ren was silent. That teenager clutched that umbrella tightly with both hands and gritted his teeth, ”I’m in pain! I hate to die every day, every day I want to kill all the people in this world and then kill myself! I’m living in agony!”

The picture of a little child of twelve or thirteen years of age, shouting out these words, was about as ludicrous and pathetic as it gets. Yet, there was an outburst of something in that little body that sustained his anger and hissing.

Feng Xin frowned, “What’s wrong with him? Killing all the people in this world, is that something a child would say?”

Mu Yi said faintly, “It’s just that he’s too young. When he grows up a bit, he’ll realize that what he’s going through now is nothing.”

After a pause, he looked at Xie Ren and said, ”There are too many people suffering in this world. Let’s just say Yongan’s great drought, which Yongan person is not suffering more than him. Your Highness doesn’t have to care. Do what you need to do.”

Xie Ren said softly, “Maybe.”

One person’s pain is probably just a small, insignificant annoyance to another.

The youngster looked up at him, one eye reddened, but no tears were shed, and with one hand holding the umbrella, one hand reached out and grasped the hem of the clay statue’s coat, questioning, “Why in the world am I still alive? What is the point of living?”

There was silence for a long time, no one answered, and the teenager seemed to have expected this result, slowly hanging his head.

Who knows, suddenly, a voice broke the silence and resounded above him, “If you don’t know how you’re going to live, then live for me.”

Xie Ren beside the wind letter and Mu love did not expect him to really answer, and still this kind of answer, both stared wide-eyed, said, “…… Your Highness?!”

The teenager jerked his head up, but saw no one, only a soft, ethereal voice coming from the clay statue:

“I don’t know how to answer the question you asked. However, if I don’t know what the point of you living is, then why don’t you just take me as that point for now.”

Feng Xin and Mu Yi’s faces cracked as they both reached out to plug Xie Ren’s mouth, exclaiming, ”Stop it Your Highness! You’ve violated the law! Violated the rules!”

Before being muffled by them, Xie Ren still snatched and shouted again, “Thank you for the flowers! It’s beautiful, I love it!”