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n‘”A praying ceremony?” Yomite asked, his head tilted.

n“You see, every year, old man Zho—…Our dear Archon, Rex Lapis, descends to give our city his blessings and to pass down knowledge. And each year, people pray right before his descension, in order for their wishes to be fulfilled. Some of them end up being ignored, some of them not. Of course, being a God, he should have plenty of power at his disposal, yet even he isn’t omnipotent.” Hu Tao explained.

n“Ohh… I get it now.” Yomite nodded in understanding, “Why don’t we follow suit and also wish for something? Seems fun.”

n“Paimon wants an unlimited number of sweets!”

n“…”

nLumine remained silent, but the expression in her eyes revealed everything.

nFinding her brother was her greatest desire.

nTo be able to see him again was a goal she wished to achieve. No, a goal she would achieve.

nBut, no matter how hard she tried, she could never seem to catch wind of him.

n“Hm…I do have a small wish of my own as well. Let’s go! Let’s go!” Hu Tao smiled as the four of them made their way towards the Yujing Terrace’s open area.

nYomite didn’t expect anything extravagant from the prayers; knowing he was scammed by Zhongli earlier today, he doubted these wishes would ever come true.

nAs they walked, they saw Barbara kneeling in front of them, hands clasped tightly together as she prayed earnestly. She was preoccupied with her prayer and was unaware of the arrival of others.

nIris was standing right next to her, munching on something while gazing disinterestingly at a huge censer Barbara was praying to.

nShe turned around when she smelled the scent of her master behind her. When she did so, her eyes immediately lit up, “Master. Welcome.”

n“Hey there, aren’t you bored?”

n“Indeed. But food is good. So it doesn’t matter.”

nIris answered simply with a slight nod.

n“Yo, Barbara! No need to take the praying so seriously.” Yomite patted her shoulder lightly.

nBarbara smiled faintly but her eyes remained fixated on the censer.

n“These couple of days, my faith had been waning, like an empty bucket. Ever since getting to know the real identy of Lord Barbatos…and also meeting the esteemed Rex Lapis…I no longer know what to do…” Barbara admitted, a trace of faint sadness seeping into her words.

n“Since I began working at the Cathedral, I was responsible for praying and ensuring the Church of Favonius was in excellent condition. Ever since I was a young child. But lately…my faith has been slipping away. Was I lied to this whole time? What am I supposed to do? My life has been thrown out of balance, like a leaf that got caught between two waves. How can I make things better?” her voice broke at the last part.

nThe five stood in silence, uncertain of what to say or do. Even Iris appeared troubled.

nThen Yomite took a step forward.

n“I know it must have been a shock…that’s why we didn’t want Venti’s real identity to be exposed…but don’t worry about it too much, okay?” He gave her shoulder another pat.

n“If you enjoy praying, then continue doing so. However, if it’s more like a chore to you at the moment, something you no longer wish to do because it’s annoying, then you shouldn’t force yourself to do it.” He gave her a thumbs up.

n“Yep Yep! We’ll help you figure out your problems.” Hu Tao added.

nBarbara let out a sigh and smiled gratefully before rising to her feet, “I’ve taken enough of your time. If you wish to pray, put the incense into the censer.”

nBarbara then moved past them and sat on the stairs in front of the altar, her attention returning to the censer as if nothing had occurred.

n“Alrighty! It’s my turn to pray then!” Hu Tao declared cheerily.

nShe put the incense stick into the censer.

n‘For a healthy family.’

nAnd bowed.

nThe flame within the censer shone brilliantly, illuminating the area.

nWith that, Lumine followed suit, but unlike Hu Tao, she used two incense sticks instead of one.

n‘To find my brother…and…’

nShe glanced at the second incense in her hand before averting her gaze and turning red.

n“Uu..umm…um…ummmm…” As she felt the fire’s heat scorching her cheeks, her speech became incoherent.

nHu Tao watched as Lumine stared at her own hand in embarrassment, until she seemingly realized what was going on, “Heyaaaa Lumi-Lumi, are you gonna continue with your prayer later or what?” she teased her, leaning forward to whisper in her ear, “I know you feel the same. I bet my lovely assistant would be overjoyed if you prayed for him~”

nShe winked at Lumine playfully, before giving her a slight shove.

n“S-Sssshhh Sssshh!!” Lumine shushed her quickly, her face even redder than before, “I-I-I’m just having a momentary lapse of thought!”

nShe quickly darted her eyes towards Yomite and sighed in relief when she realized he was too far away for him to hear.

nBefore Hu Tao could say anything else, Lumine quickly threw the second incense in, and hurried away from her.

nHu Tao chuckled. “So cute…Lumi-Lumi is very shy. I wonder why though…” she pondered, watching Lumine run into the crowd.

nYomite observed them from the distance but had no idea what just transpired, “I guess it’s my turn.” He sighed before walking over to the incense and placed it in the censer.

nOnce he had done so, he bowed a little awkwardly to the altar, ‘For a peaceful life. And for the people around me to be happy. Also, don’t be a scammer Zhongli, or I’ll get strong enough to kick your butt.’

nHe repeated in his head. Following which, Paimon carried the incense stick with both of her hands, having a bit of difficulty due to her size.

nAs such, Yomite put it in for her.

nAfter that, they returned to where everyone else was waiting.

nIris wasn’t interested in praying, so currently they were just waiting for this so called ‘Descension’ finale to begin.

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