why it never ends

4623 years.

The third largest district, 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 sagging, slightly drooping. Even when her face was expressionless, she still had a frightening severity.

The entire picking team was stretched 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 surprised expression, "Look what I found!"

The girl approached, 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 little soil. The young man quickly waved the short knife in his hand to cut off the soil-stained 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 seems to be spitting out spores. Many people didn't like to eat this kind of overly mature mushroom before - but compared with ordinary fungi, it is still very delicious."

As he spoke, Bo Heng turned the morele mushroom upside down in his hand.

"Look at these puffy places under the umbrella... We need to scrape it off now, at least 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 aside to watch, "The same goes for chelate fungi?"

"Since they are all fungi, there shouldn't be any. Come on." Bo Heng stood up and put the processed tripe mushrooms into his bag, "We will have extra food tonight."

As soon as the two people straightened up, there was a rush of bells in front of them - it was Sister Gerding's order. All the children who heard the bells quickly put down their work and ran in the direction of Miss Gerding.

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.

"Frasan found a poor squirrel." Sister Gerdin looked sternly, "Frasan, tell me."

A girl who looked about the same age as Hesta timidly held a bloody squirrel.

The squirrel is still alive, but there are blood holes all over his body.

"I just saw a vulture circling in the distance, so I followed it and saw this squirrel. I thought it...it must have been pecked in the eye by a vulture...it also had several bloody holes pecked out on its body, and I couldn't save it..."

"I think this is a good opportunity." Sister Gerding whispered, "Let us pray for this poor little thing, may it rest in peace - I have taught you how to pray a few days ago, haven't I?"

"Yes, Miss Gerding." The children replied in unison.

"Then, let's begin."

Everyone put down the cloth bags or baskets containing vegetables in their hands, put their hands together, and began to recite prayers softly.

"Jane, what are you doing?"

A cold voice came from above the head, causing the eleven-year-old Hesta to suddenly come back to reality.

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 sullen.

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 Hestad, answer me, what are you doing?"

"I am looking at the dead squirrel...Miss Gerding." Hestad replied softly.

"Yes," Gerdin's voice softened slightly, "but you should close your eyes when praying, Hesta."

"...I don't understand a little."

"What don't you understand?"

"Are we going to bury it in the ground like this?"

"A clear soul is not easy to be parasitized by chelate fungi, Miss Hesta, do you understand. ”

Hesta frowned and remained silent.

Gerdin frowned again, "What are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking...why don't we 'reverently'...eat it right away."< /p>

In an instant, everyone around him stopped breathing. Boy Heng, who had been kneeling next to Hesta, couldn't help but open his eyes and looked at his friend worriedly.

Gerdin's face suddenly turned livid: "What...what..."

"It died just now. It's only noon now, so it's still fresh. If you peel it and pickle it now -"

"Jane Hestad." Sister Gerding's voice was so serious that it was shuddering. She whispered with disbelief, "What are you talking about..."

"We don't have to eat it ourselves," Hestad quickly added, "As long as we process it like this, hang it outside for those who need it. "Although this bit of meat may not be much to an adult, it can save a life for a very hungry person. It would be too wasteful to bury it in the ground like this -" Before she could finish her words, Hesta was lifted up by the nun like an eagle catching a chicken, and she was carried to the dead squirrel.

"Look at it," the nun ordered, her voice carrying a pitiful cry, "Look at this poor little thing, I can't believe my ears, Miss Hester - what did I always teach you?"

" ...You can't kill." Hesta looked at the nun, "But we didn't kill it, and we didn't eat it ourselves-"

"Pa-"

A slap hit Hesta on the 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! It will take several days of solitary confinement to wake up!"

...

Late at night, in the solitary room of St. Anne's Monastery, Hesta huddled in an iron cage.

Her red hair was spread over 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 is asleep. I brought you something from the kitchen. You come out to 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.