Chapter 14: The favor of the Holy Grandson is not over yet
"Thank you very much, Saint Grandson Horn, for giving me food to nourish my body. I can never repay your kindness. May all the blessings be upon you, Saint Lord and Saint Grandson."

The villagers' mocking and unpleasant singing and the aroma of thick porridge floated in the air, disturbing Horn's ears and nose.

This song is actually the most common song sung by villagers to thank them for their meals.

Every year at Advent, everyone gathers in the village lobby and sings this song around a long wooden table, led by a wandering priest.

Horn sped up the original tune and changed some of the lyrics. It doesn't matter whether it sounds good or not, what matters is that it is sung in unison and loudly.

This is also part of shaping order and discipline.

Wiping the sweat off his back with a handkerchief, Horn could still feel his heart pounding. He had spent the entire afternoon practicing the Knight's Breathing Technique under Jeanne's guidance.

Horn was tired of the feeling of being helpless. A breathing technique might not mean much, but at least he had some strength to protect himself.

But to be honest, Horn was really not good at breathing techniques. In his previous life, he was a small town test-taker and knew nothing about sports. This breathing method first required strenuous exercise and strength training, and then suddenly doing yoga.

Anyway, Horn practiced for the entire afternoon and didn't feel the "cold and hot" auras that Jeanna mentioned at all.

Horn raised his head and looked outside the shed. The rain finally stopped in the afternoon, but unexpectedly it was only intermittent. It started drizzling again in the evening.

At this time, in Horn's sight, a young man came over with a bowl of rice porridge. It should be that Busak had prepared it in advance and asked someone to deliver it.

Taking the wooden bowl, Horn lowered his head and stirred it with a spoon, and sure enough, he found a chicken leg at the bottom.

This is today's dinner.

This porridge is made of fifty pounds of rice crackers, twenty pounds of berries, ten pounds of wild vegetables and mushrooms, three fish, two pheasants, and seven or eight pounds of acorn flour, plus water to make one hundred and fifty pounds of porridge.

Those in the hunting team can eat meat, those in the gathering team can eat a bowl, and the rest can only eat half a bowl.

In one afternoon, the hunting team of twenty people killed two pheasants. This record was not very good. Horn could roughly understand it. After all, the time was tight and the task was heavy. They had not yet worked well with each other. It was normal for this situation to occur.

After a while, the hunting team should be able to produce quite a lot of results.

But soon, Jeshka brought him some bad news.

"What do you mean by there are few prey?" Horn frowned and put down the wooden bowl in his hand. "Is someone messing with us?"

“No, no, no, it’s just what it says.” Jieshka’s expression was equally solemn, “Master Saint Grandson, you know, logically speaking, late summer and early autumn are the times when there are the most prey.

But there are not many animal footprints or animal trails in this forest. Not even rabbits or voles can be found. There are only birds. It's so weird."

"Only birds..." Horn stroked his chin, which was already covered with a layer of short, hard stubble.

The Thousand River Valley is famous for its hills and river bends. Some main roads must be crossed by bridges. Generally, whether it is the relief of the church, the king, or other vibrant social organizations, they are concentrated in urban areas.

If Horn wanted to leave, the first step must be to get to the vicinity of the town. Whether it was buying food or renting a carriage for guards, he had to go to the town.

The rain is gradually decreasing in the past two days.

Generally speaking, floodwaters will recede in about one to two weeks after the rain stops.

But it will take another week or two to repair the bridges before the roads are passable, especially since the floods were so severe.

Horn and his men have to last at least two weeks, and at most four weeks.

If we rely solely on birds, with the current food reserves and the output of the gathering teams, we will definitely not be able to last until that time.

This shouldn't be the case. The Archbishop of the High Castle in the forest only sends special hunters here once every two or three years. There should be a lot of animals in the forest.

These prey can provide valuable meat, protein and fat. Combined with wild vegetables, acorn flour and other foods, an animal about the same size as a deer is enough to feed more than 200 villagers for a day.

Although the black pine forest is not big, there should be at least thirty or forty medium-sized animals, right?

"Go deeper tomorrow. Jeanne and I will go with you." After thinking for a moment, Horn tapped the bottom of the empty bowl with a spoon. "I want to see what's going on."

"Yes, Master Saint Grandson."

As soon as Jeshka left, Busak came up to him, followed by six children, five boys and one girl.

Their faces were gray, their lips were cracked and pale, they looked like bean sprouts, with big heads and thin bodies, and they were wearing clothes that looked like rags.

These should be the orphans in each of the ten households.

"Master Sheng Sunzi, these are the orphans from each of the ten households. Four of them were refugees, and two were farmers. I have selected them. They have no disabilities and their teeth are good."

Busak was a rare armed peasant who had attended a church Sunday school and even almost entered the Salim Academy. He was very organized in his work and managed logistics in an orderly manner. He was also very thoughtful in selecting orphans.

"How old are you?" Several orphans' lips trembled. They huddled together, too nervous to speak.

"The oldest is thirteen and the youngest is nine," Busak answered for them.

Horn nodded. He was neither too old nor too young. But that was normal. If he was younger and had no parents, he would have starved to death some time ago. If he was older, he would be considered an adult labor force.

"Don't be nervous. All beings are equal under the Mother. I am the son of Mircella, but I was once an orphan just like you." With a gentle smile on his face, Horn reached out and touched the youngest child's head. "Your parents were all devout believers, my fellow countrymen, and beloved relatives. I am also sad that they passed away.

Without the protection of your parents, you must have suffered a lot of grievances and injustices just like me. I gritted my teeth and persevered back then, but when I saw you, it was as if I saw myself again, and I thought, maybe there was something I could do, so I called you all over.

Although we are not related by blood, we both have no home. In this case, why don't you become my godsons, and I will baptize you and become your godfather. This way, we will both have a home again. How do you think?"

Horn's fatherly gaze swept over them, and although the orphans still looked down at the ground, they didn't react much.

Well, it seems that his words have touched their souls. Horn waved his hand awkwardly. He would not say any more and let the orphans go quickly.

"Jeanne, take them to wash and change their clothes... Why are you crying?"

"I didn't, you got it wrong."

After seeing Jeanne off, Horn picked up the book from the box and wanted to continue reading while it was still light, but he was once again interrupted by the sound of messy footsteps.

The young monk, Armand, pulled Father Cosset's sleeve and walked into Horn's hunting lodge.

These things really come one after another. How can people study hard? If they don’t study at this age, when they take the college entrance examination and civil service examination in the future... Oh, there is nothing here, so it’s okay.

With a sigh, Horn put down the poetry collection in his hand and sat up: "Is there anything that Father Cosset wants to talk to me about?"

"Master Saint Grandson, as the son of Mircella, is the person closest to the Holy Lord. My nephew is not very knowledgeable and has some doubts about doctrine. Can I ask you?"

"Ask, you can ask anything, what can't you ask?" As expected, Horn had already expected that this day would come sooner or later.

As the only person who has received scholastic education, the young monk Armand must have doubted the existence of the "holy grandson" and "holy daughter", and would be confused by the things that contradict the doctrine.

Cosset was a butcher and didn't know many words, so the real itinerant priest of Moulin Rouge Village was actually this very clever little monk.

Horn needs him in many ways. If he doesn't obey, the damage will be even greater. Then, Horn will have no choice but to let Jeanne go with tears.

"Your Excellency the Holy Grandson, the Holy Father, the Holy Tree, and the Holy Lord are a trinity, forming the Holy Triangle. Why do we have an adopted son like you?"

"But I was adopted by Myrcella." After straightening his posture, Horn spread his hands and said, "Facts speak louder than words. Your view of the Trinity must be wrong."

"So what exactly is this Trinity?"

"There are four of us in our family. Why do we say we are a Trinity? It's very simple. These three actually refer to the father, the mother, and the child. The Holy Father is the father, the Holy Tree is the mother, and the Mother is the child. Now that I am here, the Holy Father is still the supreme original father, Myrcella has become the mother, and I have become the child.

Therefore, the Trinity first refers to the unity of a big family consisting of parents and children, which requires each of us to have a harmonious family, for children to be filial to their parents, and for parents to care for their children, passing on love from generation to generation.

The second finger, the Father, represents the past, the Tree represents the present, the Lord represents the future, and the future will become the present, and I will become the future again.

Just like a wheel spinning, the ants under the wheel see different patterns and think they are different objects, but they are actually part of the same moving wheel. No matter how it moves, it is still essentially the same wheel. We are all aspects of the Holy Spirit.

"But doctrinally speaking, the Trinity is the unity of the Holy Spirit, but different persons..."

"False scriptures, the church misunderstood the meaning of it."

Armand looked a little surprised: "Can the Gospel be wrong?"

Horne smiled and said: "The Gospels are hundreds of years old, how can they be correct when they are copied and recited?
Besides, is it necessary to have a book to approach the Holy Tree and Myrcella? It is better to have no book than to believe in it. Why can't people communicate with Myrcella without going beyond the Gospel?

If everyone has light in their heart, everyone can become a saint. Messiah asked me to preach the gospel to correct this mistake. "

Seeing the confusion and thoughtful look on Armand's face, Horn almost couldn't hold back his laughter.

This is the patch Horn made for his identity as the "holy grandson". Its essence is similar to that of Zen Buddhism and Yangming's philosophy of mind. In the history of Europe in his hometown, there was also a similar idea proposed by Münzer.

He could see that Armand was a smart man who had received a scholastic education, and the smarter such a person was, the more likely he would get stuck in a rut on this point.

Rather than letting Armand's confusion ferment into doubt, it is better to make him more confused.

As for the subsequent explanation, just like Horn's remote leadership, it is not considered at all.

Anyway, once the flood receded, he would just roll up his money and flee with his loyal guards.

(End of this chapter)