Treasure hunt begins in England

Chapter 458 Finding the Portrait
The small church that Liang En and the others were looking for was located in a small town in that open space. The golden cross on the roof of the church could be seen far away from the small town.

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

Such a situation occurred, on the one hand, because the birth rate of the Japanese has dropped, so that the birth population is insufficient, and at the same time, the attraction of a big city like Tokyo is too great, making those young people less willing to stay in their hometown.

In this way, few young people in this remote village are willing to stay, and at the same time, young people from outside will not come here. After one plus and one minus, the average age of the people left in the village will naturally be younger. bigger.

After parking the car, they quickly came to the church in the center of the village, but when they were about to enter, they found 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 religious ceremonies, including the priest, seem to be 50 or [-] years old.

At the same time, even though the entire ceremony looks very solemn now, it seems that it should be a very important ceremony, but there are no more than ten people participating in this religious ceremony, and the age does not seem to be young.

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

After seven or eight minutes, the door of the church opened, and the believers came out in a single file. Then, under the greeting of Joan of Arc, Liang En and Fan Meng walked into this somewhat simple-looking church.

After entering the church, Liang En and the others realized that there was something special inside the 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 also some exquisite reliefs and sculptures inside the church, but these reliefs and sculptures do not seem to match the church itself.

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

"Yes, Father." Liang En said in a standard Japanese, "I think we can communicate in Japanese, because the following content may be a bit complicated, and an unfamiliar language is likely to speak on this matter I don't know-"

In the next few minutes, Liang En described the reason for his visit in Japanese, and also emphasized that he did not need this precious portrait himself.It was entrusted by someone to obtain such a portrait for the Catholic Church in Osaka.

"That's right, I understand." After Liang En explained 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 very decayed now, and maybe in 20 years there will be no one here to worship."

"So I think it's a good thing for such a treasure to be stored in a church in a big city like Osaka, so I should be able to help you with this matter, but—"

"Excuse me, is there anything I can do?" Seeing the priest's hesitant expression, Liang En immediately stepped forward and asked.For it was obvious to him that the priest had something to say.

"First of all, I think it's 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 storing those precious items." The priest said with a sigh.

To be honest, this religious portrait has been preserved here for so many years, so it is natural to be reluctant to send it away, but the priest also knows that this place is no longer suitable for preserving such a precious treasure.

Therefore, in the eyes of this priest, it is also a good thing that this icon can be handed over to another church that has the strength to preserve it. Take a little advantage.

"So I support handing over 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 to propose some exchange conditions. As for the initiative to disagree with him, it is in his hands, so it is okay to listen to the other party's request now.

"The first condition, I hope you can sponsor our church members who may meet our gods in a short period of time, but those who are still able to walk now go to Jerusalem for pilgrimage." The priest said seriously.

"We've read the name countless times in the scriptures, so we wanted to be able to really see with our own eyes and touch that place with our own hands."

"This request sounds like—" Liang En frowned and thought for a while, then asked straightforwardly. "Can you tell me how many people wish to complete this pilgrimage?"

"There are not many people." The priest shook his head sadly, "Even including me who needs to lead the team, we only have eight people in total. Of course, each person only needs 5000 euros to support us." This trip is over."

Because the proportion of elderly people among the local believers is really high, most people simply cannot bear the fatigue of long-distance travel, 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 tell the French Catholic Church over there in advance, you can find anything 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, but because the benefits did not fall into Liang En's own pocket, the churches in France maintained a relationship with Liang En. friendly relationship.

It is unlikely that this relationship wants to 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 also 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 last condition is also very simple, that is, I hope that I and the other two elected representatives can see the transfer process of the whole thing."

Obviously, this 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 expressed his understanding of the other party's thoughts. After all, it was only the first meeting between the two parties, so it was normal for the other party to feel distrust towards him.

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

(End of this chapter)