Chapter 16: The Temple Hidden Inside the Mountains

The mountains felt endless.

Cold winds moved through snow-covered cliffs while ancient pine forests disappeared beneath silver fog stretching across the Himalayas like forgotten dreams.

Shruti Talwar had not slept properly in four days.

Her eyes burned from exhaustion.

Her hands trembled from cold.

But none of it mattered anymore.

Because William was gone.

After Ridhima’s betrayal… after the collapse of their hidden systems… after governments intensified global manhunts…

William Singh had disappeared without leaving a trace.

No signals.

No drone activity.

No hacked transmissions.

Nothing.

And somehow that silence terrified Shruti more than chaos ever had.

Because William was never truly silent.

Even when hiding, he protected forests secretly.

Rescued animals.

Disrupted illegal systems.

Left encrypted warnings.

But now…

The world had gone quiet around him.

As if the jungle ghost himself no longer wanted to be found.

Snow crunched beneath Shruti’s boots while she climbed another dangerous mountain path guided only by fragmented clues from old monks, villagers, and abandoned wildlife trails.

Most people denied seeing him.

Others whispered strange stories.

“A boy feeding wolves near the mountains…”

“A man praying beside injured snow leopards…”

“A ghost living near forgotten temples…”

One old shepherd had finally pointed toward hidden mountain valleys before whispering softly:

“If you find him… don’t bring the world back with you.”

The sentence stayed inside her mind painfully.

Because deep down…

Shruti understood why William ran from humanity now.

The world had betrayed him repeatedly.

Governments hunted him.

Corporations manipulated him.

Even people close to him had used his trust.

And despite all that…

He still protected life.

That was what shattered her emotionally most.

William had every reason to hate humanity.

Yet somehow…

He didn’t.

Not completely.

Which meant something inside him remained pure despite all the darkness.

And Shruti finally understood what protected that part of him.

Waheguru.

Faith.

Silence.

Spirituality.

Without it…

William Singh would have become a monster long ago.

—

By evening snowstorms began covering the mountains heavily.

Shruti wrapped her jacket tighter while following narrow trails along cliffs disappearing into white fog.

Then suddenly—

She heard it.

Very faintly.

A distant sound carried softly through mountain winds.

Kirtan.

Her heartbeat stopped.

Not recorded music.

Real voices.

Peaceful.

Sacred.

The sound seemed impossible in such isolated mountains.

She followed it slowly through thick fog until ancient stone stairs finally emerged ahead.

And there—

Hidden between cliffs and cedar forests—

Stood a small mountain gurudwara.

It looked untouched by modern civilization.

Warm golden lights glowed softly from inside while prayer flags moved gently through snow-filled winds.

The entire place felt unreal.

Peaceful in a way cities could never understand.

And surrounding the temple grounds…

Animals moved freely.

Deer rested near frozen trees.

Wolves slept peacefully beside stone walls.

Birds perched along rooftops.

Even injured mountain foxes wandered without fear.

Shruti froze emotionally.

Because she already knew.

William was here.