Jackson understood, "Your family misses you?"
Jack Stewart paused for a second, then smiled and said, "Yes."
Hannah had sent him a message saying that everyone would be at this year's New Year's Eve gathering, telling him not to wander anymore, and to come home if he felt tired.
Before leaving the Ruins, Jack Stewart visited a mountain temple. It was the off-season for tourism, so there weren't many visitors. The layered temple buildings seemed to stretch endlessly upward, filling him with awe the higher he climbed.
In the distance, the blue sky embraced the snow-capped mountains, as if he had reached the world's edge, leaving only silence behind.
Someone was chanting sutras, the prayer wheel in their hand emitting faint humming sounds, reverent and devout.
At the temple, he ran into someone he knew — the man he had met at the foot of Mount Anty the year before. The man had shaved his head, donned a hat, and wore simple robes, appearing serene and tranquil.
