The collection presents interwoven tales set around a revered hermit's tomb on a forested hill, where villagers perform offerings and seek cures. It recounts the hermit's renunciation and the shrine's emergence as a place of consolation, then follows three women whose hopes and losses lead them to the sacred wood: a mother yearning for a child, a young woman seeking healing and social acceptance, and another who confronts desire and duty. Through local rituals, daily scenes, and remembered stories, the narratives examine faith, communal memory, gendered expectations, and the ways personal longing and charity reshape relationships within a small rural community.