4623 years.
The third largest district is Severn Mountain in the southern district of Tanyi City.
On the winding mountain road, more than twenty children from St. Anne's Monastery, wearing gray linen robes, were following a stern-faced nun to pick wild vegetables on the roadside.
The nun was around fifty years old, her hair was graying, and the skin on her cheeks was old and saggy, slightly drooping. Even when her face was expressionless, she still had a frightening sternness.
The entire picking team was very long, with the nun standing at the front. The children were scattered and working in their own company. From time to time, they would bring vegetables to the nun and ask if they could eat them.
At the end of the team, a girl with short red hair followed a black-haired boy. Her light blue eyes were like two crystals soaked in the stream. At this moment, she was looking at the grass around her with some vigilance.
"Jane, come here!" The young man waved to her with a surprise expression on his face, "Look what I found!"
The girl came closer, squatted down, and saw a dark brown mushroom growing on the ground. This made her expression change quickly and she took a step back involuntarily.
"Don't be afraid," Bo Heng said softly, "This is either a chelate fungus or an ordinary mushroom, the kind you can eat. Look..."
The girl approached suspiciously.
The boy took out his knife and pried the whole mushroom up from the ground.
Its umbrella cover was brown, and the mycorrhizae underneath contained a bit of soil. The boy quickly waved the short knife in his hand to cut off the soil-covered roots, and quickly blew away the dust that fell on it.
The mushroom has a milky white color under its canopy.
"This is a morele mushroom. It looks like it is already spitting out spores. Many people didn't like to eat this kind of overly mature mushroom in the past - but compared with ordinary fungi, it is still very delicious."
As he spoke, Bo Heng turned the morele mushroom in his hand upside down.
"Look at these puffy places under its canopy... We need to scrape it off now, at least to remove the spores. They fall to the ground and will take root and sprout again after a while."
The girl held her knees with her hands and squatted beside her, watching, "The same goes for chelate bacteria?"
"Since they are all fungi, there should be no problem." Bo Heng stood up and put the processed morels into his bag, "We will have extra food tonight."
As soon as the two people straightened up, there was a rush of bells ringing in front of them - it was Sister Gerding's order. All the children who heard the bells quickly put down their work and headed towards where Miss Gerding was. Run in the direction.
The eleven-year-old Hesta was still very thin. She was led forward by the boy, and more than twenty children soon stood in a circle around Sister Gerding.
"Frassan found a poor squirrel." Sister Gerding looked sternly, "Frasan, please tell me."
A girl who looked about the same age as Hesta timidly held a bloody squirrel.
The squirrel was still alive, but it was covered in blood holes.
"I just saw a vulture circling in the distance, so I followed it and saw this squirrel. I think it... it must have been pecked by a vulture... and its eyes were pecked out... There were several bloody holes and I couldn't save it..."
"I think this is a good opportunity." Sister Gerding said softly, "Let us pray together for this poor little thing, may it rest in peace - I have taught you how to pray a few days ago, Yes or no?"
"Yes, Miss Golding," the children replied in unison.
"Then, let's get started."
Everyone put down the cloth bags or baskets containing vegetables in their hands, clasped their hands together, and began to recite prayers softly.
"Jane, what are you doing?"
A cold voice came from above her head, causing the eleven-year-old Hesta to suddenly come back to her senses.
She raised her head, and Sister Gerding, who had a solemn face, was staring at her. The nun's hands in white gloves were clasped in front of her chest, and her eyes were a bit sulky.
Several children around him secretly opened their eyes and looked towards Hesta.
"Everyone else close their eyes." The nun said solemnly.
All the children kneeling on the ground shivered, and quickly clasped their hands and resumed their previous praying posture.
"Everyone is praying attentively, but you are the only one with your eyes open." Sister Gerding's voice echoed over the foothills, "Miss Hesta, answer me, what are you doing?"
"I was looking at the dead squirrel... Miss Golding," Hestad replied softly.
"Yes," Gerdin's voice softened slightly, "but you should close your eyes when you pray, Hesta."
"...I don't understand a little bit."
"What don't you understand?"
"Are we going to bury it in the ground like this?"
"Yes." Gerding replied in a pious tone, "My body returns to dust, but our souls come from heaven. If we can pray for the dead devoutly, then when this prayer reaches the place of the Holy Spirit, His mercy will be It will also cleanse your souls...
"A clear soul is not easily parasitized by chelate fungi. Miss Hesta, do you understand?"
Hesta frowned and remained silent.
Gerdin frowned again, "What are you thinking about again?"
"I wonder... why don't we 'religiously'... eat it right away."
In an instant, everyone around him stopped breathing. The young boy Bo Heng, who had been kneeling next to Hesta, couldn't help but open his eyes and looked at his friend worriedly.
Gerding's face suddenly turned livid: "What...what..."
"It died just now. It's only noon now, so it's still fresh. If we peel it and pickle it now -"
"Jane Hestad." Sister Gerding's voice was so serious that it made people tremble. She whispered with disbelief, "What are you talking about..."
"We don't have to eat it ourselves," Hesta added quickly, "We just need to process it like this and hang it outside for those who need it. Although this bit of meat may not be a big deal to an adult, but in It would be too wasteful to bury a life of a very hungry person in the ground——"
Before she finished speaking, Hesta was lifted up by the nun like an eagle catching a chicken, and she was carried to the dead squirrel.
"Look at it," ordered the nun, her voice filled with a pitiful cry. "Look at this poor little thing. I can't believe my ears, Miss Hestad - how do I teach your?"
"...You can't kill." Hesta looked at the nun, "But we didn't kill it, and we don't eat it ourselves -"
"Snapped--"
A slap hit Hesta's head.
"Bo Heng! Take Jane Hestad to the solitary room on the top of the mountain now..." The nun's voice trembled, "Her mind is occupied by evil spirits! She will have to be kept in solitary confinement for several days before she wakes up!"
…
Late at night, in the solitary room of St. Anne's Monastery, Hesta huddled in an iron cage.
Her red hair fell around her face and she slept lightly.
"Jane, Jane..." A voice woke her up. Hesta opened her eyes and saw Bo Heng's face outside the iron cage.
"Sister Gerding has gone to bed. I brought you something from the kitchen. Come out and eat."
Hesta's eyes lit up immediately.
Bo Heng removed the heavy lock on the iron cage. It looks like it is wrapped in layers, as if the cage is locked tightly, but in fact it is just a cover-up - the lock is hanging on the cage, not trapping the cage at all.
