deformed bone

"It's time, let's go."

The nun climbed into the car, and she frowned and closed the door, blocking Madeleine and the other mothers from the cold compartment.

The van quickly drove towards an unknown destination in the night.

Some of the children who could barely maintain their composure before sobbed uncontrollably, and the nun gave those children an unusually stern look.Her face was like a ghost in the occasional light from the car window

"Let me repeat, you should be quiet and joyful."

She spoke in that soft tone on purpose, not knowing that it would only make her voice sound like a rattlesnake squawking.But in a sense, she achieved her goal, and the sobbing children immediately shut up, but it was more out of fear.

Isa sat in the front row with a blank expression, and next to her was another little girl, who was much younger than her (Isha suspects that she was probably only seven or eight years old, she was the youngest of the group of children) of).

The girl's round face was like freshly baked bread.

"Bread" stretched out his hand, grabbed Isa's arm in fear, and let out a slight hum from his nose, which is a ridiculous sound that you always involuntarily make when you forcefully hold back your sobs.Isa glanced at "Bread" and then turned her head. She didn't refuse the little girl's reliance, but she didn't offer more tenderness either.

The car had already left the residential area in the suburbs and was heading towards the edge of the city. A little further on, it was about to enter the desert. The driver of the car didn't turn on the lights until this time.

There were two dry tears on her face.

Noticing this, the nun smirked and reached out to stroke Isa's hair, but Isa ducked her neck to escape the bony hands.

The nun's face suddenly turned livid.

However, she finally put the mask back on after a deep breath as the other children watched.

She shifted her target and stroked "Bread"'s hair.

"Don't be so depressed, you are not the sad Ismail, in fact, you are the children chosen by God, you are candidates for the Holy Child, if you can become the Holy Child, it represents your flesh— —This flesh and blood born with original sin will wash away all sins and become a container for the Supreme Being—”

Amidst the nun's ramblings, "Bread" was as stiff as a frog stared at by a snake, daring not to move.

Isa's face became paler and paler. For a moment, she really wanted to jump up, dig her fingers into the nun's eye sockets, dig out the two warm meat beads and throw them on the ground. She wanted to Tore out the woman's tongue, smashed her teeth—

Isa hates hearing the word "Holy Child".

Hated like never before.

-

Madeleine tells Isha that she needs Isha to do her a favour...

And that job is to become a holy child.

This is an extremely secret and large-scale selection conducted within the Adventist faction.

What they need are children between the ages of 6 and 13, who must be white, as light-skinned as possible, with blond hair and a beautiful face.

Isa didn't know what it was going to do. Madeleine told her that the holy boy would become the spokesperson of the Son of Light in reality, just like God sent Jesus to the world.

Isa thought it was all very strange, but Madeleine obviously didn't think so.

"Only the most loyal believers who have been proven to be devout and pure are eligible to let their children participate in the selection of holy children-Isha, shut your mouth and purify your heart, what a precious opportunity... ...Do you know what I paid for you to be selected..."

Just asking questions, Madeleine jumped up like a fire dragon with its nose bitten. She pinched Isa's body with countless bruises while pushing and cursing.Then she would shrink in the corner of the room, kneel in front of the statue of the so-called Son of Light and pray over and over again, crying day and night.

Until Isha succumbed, until Isha honestly became a candidate for this so-called Holy Child.

The moment she said "yes," Madeleine's gentle smile almost made her cry.

She just wants Madeleine to go back to the way she was, and that's all.

But she didn't know that what she needs to experience to become a holy child is...

-

"Isa? Isa—"

Someone pushed Isha.

Isa snapped her eyes open, waking up from the cold nightmare.She almost hit "Bread", but fortunately she calmed down after seeing "Bread"'s timid face, and then realized that the car had stopped and other children were about to get out of the car.

"Are we there yet?"

Isa asked in a low voice.

"Bread" nodded.

Isa fell asleep uncontrollably when she was in the car. She was so sleepy that she didn't know how long the car had been driving. brighten up.

The other children huddled together spontaneously after getting out of the car, like a flock of frightened chicken cubs.Isa glanced at them and walked into the crowd with "bread".

They are now located in a strange town close to the desert. It must have been prosperous a long time ago, but now there are only dilapidated streets and badly weathered buildings left here.There are several buildings that Isa is not sure are abandoned.It was already morning, but there was no one on the road except them. It would take a few minutes for cars to occasionally drive by on the street, and those cars looked very old.

But in such a place, there stood a rather imposing Adventist church—it was far more imposing than any formal Christian church Isa had ever seen.Even though it is such a dry place, there is a large piece of green lawn in front of the church, and the mushroom-shaped sprinkler is spraying water in circles on the lawn, shooting out beautiful white mist.On the other side of the lawn is a newly built Baroque-style building.The buildings with about four floors up and down are made of white marble, which is so white that it can almost reflect light in the sunrise.And in front of the classical theater-like building, there is a pretty fountain. In the center of the fountain stands the statue of the Son of Light. Its pupils are made of real priceless purple tourmalines. Its face is soft, as if it is about to come alive. generally.

Isa stared at the statue, and she felt more and more familiar with the amazingly beautiful silhouette of the statue.

"You are very honored to be the first few groups of people to live here-you know, according to regulations, only selected people are allowed to enter here."

The nun led the group of children into the building, her face looked much better than when she was in the car, and her eyes brightened with wild joy after seeing the statue of the Son of Light.

"This is an opportunity, and you need to cherish it. You are all very, very happy children, because there is a high possibility that one of you will get the supreme honor and be bathed in the vast grace—"

The nun became more and more hyperactive, and her speech became more and more neurotic.

Compared with the nun, Isa's heart was getting heavier and heavier, as if someone had stuffed a handful of marbles down her throat, and she felt her body was getting heavier and heavier.

After waiting in the hall for a while, two priests came over.

They looked to be in their 50s, with one a dumpy man with a red nose hanging from his bloated face and eyes hidden by swollen eyelids, while the other was as one might imagine a priest , tall and thin, with thin cheeks and gray hair brushed back.Two crosses hang on the outside of the black robes of both men, and they are also equipped with gold broochs inlaid with the portrait of the "Children of Light".It can be seen that their status is far higher than that of nuns.

"Oh, these children..."

The tall pastor glanced at Isa and the others, picked up the roster from the nun's hand, and started flipping through it.

During this time, the short and fat priest had been standing behind his companion, and he kept looking at the faces of Isa and the others. His gaze seemed to have substance, sticky and moist, and disgusting.

Isa felt that "Bread"'s hands trembled. She lowered her head and was shocked to see that "Bread"'s eyes were filled with tears unconsciously.

"Do not……"

Isa's eyes widened, and she bit her lip tightly to keep from screaming.

She wished she had guessed wrong, or that it was all her imagination.

But her dream was soon shattered.

After the handover was complete, two priests came in front of the children.

They introduced themselves, the tall one as "Albert" and the short one as "George".Immediately afterwards, Pastor George bent down towards the "bread"——

"Praise the Son of Light, it must be God's brilliance and favor that made us meet again, 'cute'."

Pastor George's voice became sticky as he said the last word, and Isa got goosebumps on her back—she felt like a slug had crawled into her eardrum along Pastor George's voice.

Bread looked like he was about to pass out.Isa remembered that this girl was transferred from another city to the sisters' home in Angel City not long ago, and she had obviously met Pastor George before that.However, she probably never expected that she would meet him again after moving...

Yisha subconsciously stood in front of her.

Her eyes were much sharper than those of other children, but until this moment, Pastor George seemed to see Isa suddenly.

His sharp eyes scrutinized Isa, and the muscles around his lips twitched.

"...Are you 13 years old?"

he asks.

The upper limit for the selection of holy children is 13 years old, but generally speaking, nuns and priests will not choose children of this age, just like the group of children in Isa's car, almost all of them are younger than Isa - this is It makes sense, Madeleine must have spent a lot of effort to convince the carefully selected nuns to agree to let Isa be selected.

Isa nodded silently.

"May you be bathed in the glory of God."

Reverend George said dryly.

He didn't hide it well. For him, Isa, who had a fierce expression and had gradually begun to develop, was not his favorite.Isa was keenly aware of this, and she breathed a sigh of relief in her heart, but then felt angry and ashamed for her relief.