Starting My Treasure Hunting In England

The small church that Liang En and the others were looking for was located in a small town on the open space on the edge of the town. The golden cross on the roof of the church could be seen far away from the town.

Like ordinary Japanese villages, the villages here are obviously suffering from an aging population. At least Liang En rarely sees young people under the age of 30 along the way.

This situation occurs, on the one hand, because the fertility rate of Japanese people has dropped, so that the number of births is insufficient. At the same time, the attractiveness of big cities like Tokyo is too great, making those young people reluctant to stay in their hometowns.

As a result, there will be few young people willing to stay in a remote village like this, and young people from outside will not come here. After one plus one subtraction, the average age of the people left in the village will naturally be higher. Bigger.

After parking the car, they quickly arrived at the church in the center of the village. As they were about to enter, they discovered that a religious ceremony was being held inside the church.

The decline of the village can also be seen from the people in the church, because the youngest people attending the religious ceremony, including the priest, look to be in their forties or fifties.

At the same time, even though the entire ceremony looks very solemn and seems to be a very important ceremony, there are no more than ten people participating in this religious ceremony, and none of them look young.

Soon, Liang En and Fan Meng walked out of the church and waited at the door. Although they did not believe in this religion, they also knew that they should maintain a certain degree of respect at this time, while Joan of Arc participated in the ceremony inside.

Seven or eight minutes later, the door of the church opened, and the believers filed out. Then, under Joan's greeting, Liang En and Fan Meng walked into the church, which looked a little rough on the outside.

After entering the church, Liang En and the others discovered that there was something special inside this church, because this church was not a common reinforced concrete building, but a traditional Western stone building.

What's more interesting is that there are some exquisite reliefs and sculptures inside the church, but these reliefs and sculptures feel obviously inconsistent with the church itself.

"I heard this lady say that you hope to get the grimace of Jesus from this church. Is this true?" After seeing Liang En, the priest in a cassock asked Liang En in broken English.

"Yes, Father." Liang En said in standard Japanese, "I think we can communicate in Japanese, because the following content may be a bit complicated, and there is an unfamiliar language that may be spoken on this matter. I don’t know—”

In the next few minutes, Liang En described the reason for his coming here in Japanese. At the same time, he also emphasized that he did not need this precious portrait. Rather, he was asked to obtain such a portrait for the Catholic Church in Osaka.

"That's right, I understand." After listening to Liang En explain the cause and effect, the priest nodded and said.

"Actually, this painting is very important to us, but I think you have also seen that our community is in great decline now. Maybe in 20 years there will be no more people coming to worship here."

"So I think it is a good thing that such a treasure is stored in a church in a big city like Osaka, so I should be able to help you in this matter, but -"

"Is there anything you need me to do?" After seeing the priest showing some hesitation, Liang En immediately stepped forward and asked. Because it seemed to him that the priest obviously had something to say.

"First of all, I think it would be a good thing to send this thing to Osaka. After all, there are fewer and fewer believers in this place, so this place is not very suitable for preserving those precious items." The priest sighed.

To be honest, it was natural to be reluctant to send this religious portrait away after being kept here for so many years, but the priest also knew that this place was no longer suitable for storing such a precious treasure.

Therefore, in the eyes of this priest, it is a good thing that this icon can be handed over to another church that has the ability to preserve it. However, before that, he hopes that this portrait can eventually provide a blessing to alumni in the entire region. Bring some benefit.

"So I support handing this portrait to the Catholic Church in Osaka as you said, but before that, I hope you can agree to two conditions." The priest looked at Liang En seriously and said.

"Please tell me!" Liang En nodded slightly.

Since the other party is willing to hand over this thing, it is normal for him to propose some exchange conditions. As for whether he agrees or disagrees, the initiative is in his hands, so it doesn't matter if he listens to the other party's request now.

"The first condition is that I hope you can sponsor our parishioners who may see our gods in the short to medium term, but who are still able to walk, to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem." The priest said seriously.

"We have read this name countless times in scriptures, so we hope to really see it with our own eyes and touch that place with our own hands."

"This request sounds like-" Liang En frowned and thought for a moment, then asked directly. "Can you tell me how many people hope to complete this pilgrimage?"

"There are not many people left." The priest shook his head sadly, "Even including me who needs to lead the team, there are only eight of us. Of course, each of us only needs 5,000 euros to support us. This trip is over.”

Because the proportion of elderly people among local believers is quite high, most people simply cannot bear the fatigue of traveling long distances, so they can only choose these people.

"No problem, I think I can afford the money." Liang En nodded seriously, "And if you go to Jerusalem, I can say hello to the French Catholic Church over there in advance. If you have anything, you can contact me. them."

Although Liang En returned the items belonging to various churches last time and donated a batch of cultural relics to China as a price, the benefits did not fall into Liang En's own pocket, so the churches in France maintained a relationship with Liang En. Friendly relations.

It is unlikely that this relationship will do some complicated things, but it is basically no problem to do some simple things, such as asking them to take care of a group of believers from Japan in Jerusalem.

The reason why they have people in Jerusalem is very simple, because almost all branches of Christianity have permanent personnel in Jerusalem, so it is normal for the French Catholic Church to send people there.

"The second and final condition is very simple, which is that I want myself and the other two elected representatives to be able to see the entire transfer process."

Obviously, the priest also knew the price of such a portrait, so he was a little worried that Liang En might obtain such a thing for himself through some despicable means.

Liang En understood the other party's thoughts. After all, this was only the first time that the two parties met, so it was normal for the other party to have distrust in him.

"Don't worry, I promise you this." Liang En solemnly promised. "When the time comes, we will hand these things over to the Catholic Church in Osaka together."