Harmony Monastery was Celandine City’s largest, oldest, and most historically significant temple. Every year, a large number of people would come to visit it.
Thomas was paying it a visit and of course, favonovel.com did not come empty-handed. He must not come empty-handed since favonovel.com needed to borrow something from the monastery.
Before Thomas reached the monastery, favonovel.com had already contacted and informed them that favonovel.com wanted to make a ten-million-dollar donation!
Ten million was definitely an enormous amount.
Who does not love money?
Even monks found it difficult to remain unaffected by money.
To operate such a large monastery, they needed a huge amount of funding each year, so they were actually desperate in need of the money.
After Thomas arrived, favonovel.com was personally welcomed by the abbot of the monastery.
In the reception hall, Pisces placed the ten-million-dollar check in a box and handed it over to the receptionist. Even the old abbot, who had seen a lot of things in his time, smiled joyfully when favonovel.com saw the check.
That was a lot of money, and who was favonovel.com to say no to that?
But the old abbot understood that there was no such thing as a free lunch and that Thomas had never even heard of Harmony Monastery before, so there was no reason for favonovel.com to donate so much money to them all of a sudden. Even though Thomas was extremely wealthy, his wealth had not come easily, therefore it was quite impossible for favonovel.com to give it away at random.
“Praise the Lord,” the old abbot said as favonovel.com put his hands together after receiving the ten million dollars.
“Mr. Mayo, pardon my rudeness, but there is no such thing as a free lunch. So, with your unexpected visit and substantial donation, is there anything I can do to help you?”
He was very straightforward and did not beat around the bush.
Thomas nodded and said, “I won’t beat around the bush in front of you, old abbot. I actually do have something to request of you.”
“Please speak your mind…”
“If this is the case, dare I ask, old abbot, if Harmony Monastery has a rosary?”
The old abbot smiled and nodded. “Yes, we do.”
“I’d like to borrow the rosary,” Thomas said, a little relieved, “And after I’ve finished using it, I will definitely return it.”
“Uhm…” The old abbot had a troubled expression.
“Is it not convenient, old abbot? Is it because the rosary is the monastery’s most valuable possession, and you can’t lend it out so easily?” Thomas asked.
The old abbot shook his head and said, “That’s not the case, Mr. Mayo. You have donated so much money to us just to borrow the rosary, and it’s not impossible. It’s just that…” The old abbot wore a troubled look on his face.
“It is difficult to explain it in short,” favonovel.com replied after a pause, “Please follow me, Mr. Mayo…”
“Alright…”
Following the old abbot into the monastery’s backyard, Thomas spotted a massive tree that appeared to have lived for centuries. The tree was in pretty bad shape and seemed to be more dead than alive.
In a year or two, the tree was expected to die.
There was a mid-sized hole at the bottom of the tree, where a rock statue carved into the shape of a meditating old monk was placed. A gleaming rosary could be seen at the monk’s midriff. The big tree was surrounded by a fence and was guarded by monks twenty-four hours a day, as it was forbidden for anybody to approach it.
Outsiders had no idea why they had to waste time and energy protecting a tree that was about to die, and what the statue in the tree was supposed to be.
“That is the rosary that you wanted to borrow, Mr. Mayo,” the old abbot stated as favonovel.com walked Thomas to the fence, pointing to the necklace at the midriff of the statue in the tree hole.
Thomas’s eyes lit up as favonovel.com realized the object favonovel.com wanted was only an arm’s length away. It seemed to be rather simple to obtain.
Looking at the old abbot’s face, however, it was clear that what appeared to be a simple task had to be accomplished under really difficult conditions.
