Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 838 Do all beliefs have a place to go?

On June 1856, 6, the seven-day service at Tianxin Church was held as scheduled.

Everyone invited by Metien was present. They put down their work and showed up in this church that had gone through many hardships but people were willing to work hard for it, waiting to witness the moment it was reborn. Rows of new basswood benches were filled with people. The corners that had accumulated dust and cobwebs were cleaned up. The sunlight through the stained glass windows was filled with tiny dust particles, which made the statue of the goddess look so holy and solemn, with an awe-inspiring and approachable temperament.

Under the gaze of the goddess, the atmosphere was unexpectedly serious. Even Alice, who was always lively, stopped making noises and sat obediently in her seat, lowering her head, thinking about something. Occasionally, she would raise her head and glance at the goddess on the altar, then quickly retract her gaze and lower her head very deeply as if she was guilty, a bit like those naughty students in St. Lowood National School who like to sneak a peek at the teacher during class.

Saint Xia Liya was sitting next to her, so she naturally noticed these little movements. However, with Alice's personality, it was not easy for her to be so obedient, so she turned a blind eye and ignored her.

In comparison, there is another issue that deserves more attention.

She looked around, her eyes passing over Shemi and Leticia who were glaring at each other, over Olvera who was yawning stealthily, over Rosa who had moved the celebration fireworks under the chair at some point... She looked around the entire church, but still couldn't find the two people.

One is Gloria. It is said that Metien had invited her a few days ago, and she did promise to attend today's seven-day ceremony, but for some reason she has not shown up yet. Saint Xia Liya does not think that she will break her promise, so maybe she encountered some trouble and cannot get away for the time being?

The other person is Lingge.

If Saint Xia Liya could still find excuses to exonerate Gloria if she had not appeared, then Lingge had no excuse at all, because the young man had made his attitude clear a long time ago: he did not support the reopening of Tianxin Church, and had never thought about returning to Tianxin Church to continue serving as a pastor. He even quarreled with his most important sister for this, and still did not change his mind.

Who is right?

"Eh!" Metien was startled, then quickly shook his head: "I don't, how could I hate Linge?"

The pink-haired little girl pursed her lips. In a place where Sister Livia couldn't see, her eyes looked a little lonely: "Perhaps, the Tianxin Church that I have always wanted to inherit and the Tianxin Church in Lingge's mind are actually completely different?"

Metien seemed to be in a trance. After hearing this, he reacted a little bit late. He looked up and showed a very forced smile: "Ah, yes, it seems so. In this case, Sister Livia, we have to work harder and not let everyone down."

Livia was speechless for a moment.

Since Metien said this in this tone and on this occasion, it means that she has already subtly identified with the Tianxin Church represented by Lingge. She feels that no matter what she does, she is just following in her brother's footsteps and imitating his words and deeds. What's more, her imitation is not even close to that of the elder brother.

For matters like this involving sibling affection and family business, no matter how she comforted them, it seemed to have no good effect. After all, she was not the person involved, and speaking from the perspective of a bystander, she seemed somewhat powerless.

"Me? I'm fine. Look, I can't wait!" In order to prove that there was nothing wrong with her emotions, the pink-haired girl tried hard to pull the corners of her mouth, trying to make her smile look brighter, but after persisting for a while, she finally wilted and lowered her head and said sullenly: "I'm sorry, Sister Livia..."

That is why I am puzzled by his indifference and apathy.

She couldn't protect her companions, couldn't protect the True Spirit Church, and couldn't protect that great but blasphemous ideal... Today, could it be that she couldn't even protect a little girl?

This was something she had never dared to think about, as if once she had such a thought, Metien would no longer be Metien, but become another girl she did not know.

The nun considered her words and suddenly asked, "Metien, do you hate Linger now?"

"Yeah." Metien's voice was very low, and the amplitude of her nodding was almost invisible. If Livia had not been standing in front of her, she would have thought that she was actually talking to herself: "In the past, the seven-day ceremony of Tianxin Church was completed by Lingge alone. Whether it was receiving believers, praying for them, or distributing bread and milk, I could only do some simple things such as cleaning and registering names. Now that it is my turn to do this kind of thing, I will understand how heavy it is. It is not enough to just memorize the Goddess's "Canon"... In addition..."

But the contradiction in this matter is that anyone with a discerning eye can see that Lingge's feelings for Tianxin Church are no less than Metien's, and may even be deeper. Because Mr. Yang Ke's last wish for the brother and sister was that they could live in peace, and he never asked the young people to inherit or insist on anything. It was he who made the choice to give up his studies and become a pastor. This is enough to show that the young people may have regarded Tianxin Church as a spiritual sustenance after their adoptive father's death?
Will the things that are placed in people's hearts fade away one day? But Lingge is not such a fickle person. Not only Saint Xia Liya believes this, but also other people on Yunjingkong Island and even Metian believe it.

"Ling Ge once said that I didn't understand faith, nor did I understand the real purpose of my father opening Tianxin Church. From faith to life, from ideals to beliefs... I didn't understand many things. I was just doing things purely based on the passion and willfulness of a child. He also said that I needed to calm down and think about what I really wanted. However, I didn't do that. I still stubbornly wanted to reopen Tianxin Church. Maybe it was my willfulness that made him angry, so he didn't want to come."

"That's true, but," Livia looked at the little girl with obvious worry in her eyes: "Are you okay, Metien?"

Even his words of encouragement were so weak, it was hard not to be worried.

"It's okay, it's not your fault." Livia reached out her hand, gently stroked the little girl's soft hair, and whispered, "You feel uneasy because Mr. Linger is not here, right?"

"besides?"

But she couldn't be depressed all the time. After all, today was a happy day. There were so many people waiting for Metien to appear. If they saw the pink-haired girl's current appearance, would they be very distressed? As the guardian and guide of the Holy Spirit, Livia suddenly had a strong sense of mission and felt that it was time for her to play a role.

In the small room behind the altar, Sister Livia looked through the dim aisle and saw a row of dark heads. She turned around and said to the pink-haired girl, "A lot of people came, Metien. It seems that this seven-day ceremony was very successful."

"Then I believe that Lingge will not hate you." Livia said softly: "Besides your father, the person Lingge loves most in this world must be you, Metien. All the indifference and severity he showed must be to help you grow better. When you grow up to be a strong and independent person one day, I think he will be the one who is most pleased, right?"

"But," the pink-haired little girl pouted, "I have obviously disappointed Lingge..."

"But he is still the person who loves you the most in the world. His disappointment in you is based on his expectations, not that he thinks you are unteachable." The nun stretched out her hand and gently placed it on the little girl's shoulder. Through physical contact and the power of language, she conveyed something called confidence to her: "It is not terrible to make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. What is terrible is knowing that you have made a mistake but not wanting to face it. Metien, if you feel that your decision to insist on reopening Tianxin Church is wrong, then what you should do is not to blame yourself here, but to work hard to make it right, until one day you can hold your head high and say that you never regretted making such a decision. I think this must be what Linger expects of you."

Metien was slightly startled when she heard this, with an uneasy and thoughtful light flashing in her eyes. She hesitated and said, "But how can I make it right?"

Making a wrong thing right is too profound knowledge that the little girl has not yet been exposed to.

But actually, the answer is very simple.

Sister Livia pointed to the people outside the door who were quietly waiting for the seven-day ceremony to begin, and said, "Let's start with this step. By understanding everyone's thoughts and the goddess's teachings, we can understand what Mr. Ling said about 'true faith'. Is it in the scriptures, or in your heart, Metien?"

The pink-haired girl thought blankly for a while, then suddenly raised her hand and rubbed her eyes vigorously. When she let go of her hand, the confusion and insecurity in her eyes disappeared, replaced by a firm look: "I understand, Miss Livia!" "I will never let Lingge down!"

She took a deep breath, hugged the "Scripture" that recorded the words of the goddess tightly, and said word by word: "Then, I will go!"

Livia stood there, watching her back as she walked toward the aisle, and breathed a sigh of relief. It was difficult to coax a little girl, even more difficult than teaching those tone-deaf juniors to sing hymns in the choir. Fortunately, it had a happy ending in the end. On the one hand, it was because Metien's character was much more mature than girls of the same age, and on the other hand, it was because the relationship between the siblings was very deep. They loved each other the most in the world. If the relationship was not deep, what I said just now might not have had any effect.

but.

Livia looked up to the window, her azure eyes seemed somewhat deep, the slanting sunlight formed transparent beams of light in her eyes, illuminating every speck of dust in the narrow space.

If you really are the person who loves Metien the most in the world, there is no way you wouldn't show up, right?

Where are you at this moment?
Mr. Ling.

……

Deep in the woods, the young man looked up and could see the spire of Tianxin Church through the gaps between the branches and leaves. It was not magnificent, but rather a little short, which gave him a sense of déjà vu. Metien had a deep affection for the church where he grew up, so much so that he remembered every detail of it clearly, from the appearance to the structure, from the display of furniture to the painted patterns on the stained glass windows, and even the short spire... They were all exactly the same. However, this similarity did not resonate with the young man after the long journey, and he was only worried in vain.

Everyone's faith has its destination, just like every river flows into a different ocean. When the pink-haired little girl insists on painting new colors for the church that has long been in the painting, will she understand this truth: gaining comfort is faith.

The wind brought her voice, and her tender but firm lips were pouring out every word the goddess had said, in order to let the believers under the altar understand what faith is, although sometimes even the people standing on the altar could not explain it. Apart from her voice, there was silence in Tianxin Church, and everyone listened silently, just as the goddess watched silently. These scenes sometimes reminded Lingge of the homeless or poor people who lined up on time to receive bread and milk on weekends, and then thought of the snow in Linville City, imagining how they wandered in the snow, just like the wind blowing through the forest and the leaves falling, breathing rhythmically.

When he came to his senses, he realized that there was no snow in front of him, only leaves falling. He calmly withdrew his gaze and turned to leave, but his steps subconsciously stopped because he saw a person who should not be there appeared here.

“Ah, hahaha…” Miss Gloria smiled awkwardly: “Actually, actually I was just about to go to Tianxin Church to attend the Seven Days Ceremony. Metien also invited me, but I overslept and was late. I didn’t expect to meet you here, Mr. Ling…”

"Then you should take the main road." Linger calmly exposed her lie: "No matter how lost you get, you can't get here."

"Well." The Third Princess blinked her eyes: "It's not fun to talk about it, is it?"

"Please."

Ling'er said expressionlessly, then walked away. When he passed by Gloria, he glanced sideways and found that Gloria was holding a little bird with gray feathers in her arms. There was a bandage on the left wing, and it seemed to be injured. Its expression was a little listless. After noticing Ling'er's gaze, it shrank a little uneasily into the girl's arms.

Lingge recognized it as a gray-feathered falcon, a common bird in Lunkwell. It must have mistakenly entered the Cloud Whale Island when leaving Lunweiting.

"Ah, you found me, Mr. Ling." Gloria said with a smile without trying to hide it at all: "I picked it up nearby a few days ago. It was injured and looked pitiful, so I took it back to heal its wounds. As a result, it seems to have become attached to me, hahaha. By the way, it has a name, do you want to guess it?"

"Not interested." Ling said coldly.

Someone's threat came from my mind: "Shut up, Gloria! If you dare to say its name——"

"Its name is Xiaobai."

noob?

The young man who wanted to leave couldn't help but take another look at the bird. He couldn't see how it met these characteristics. It would be almost the same if it was Saint Shallia's lamb.

"You must be wondering why it's called this, right? But actually, the "bai" in "Xiaobai" doesn't refer to the white feathers, but to..."

"Shut up! Don't say it!!!"

"Bai oh of Bai Ye."

"..."

The voice in my mind suddenly fell silent. In the unsettling silence, the girl with gray hair and gray eyes smiled happily: "Although it is always abandoned and hurt by others, and I don’t know where to go, fortunately, it has finally found a home now!"

thump—

Suddenly, the sound of church bells was heard in the distance, echoing throughout the entire Yunjingkong Island, long and peaceful.

The young man subconsciously raised his head with a melancholy look.

He remembered it very clearly...the original Tianxin Church should not have had this bell.

"Oh, I seem to have missed the seven-day ceremony this time." Gloria's leisurely voice came from the side: "But it doesn't matter, I can go next time, right, Mr. Ling?"

It turns out that all beliefs have their place.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)