Chapter 8 Chapter Six

Robert Langdon was standing at the entrance to the Grand Gallery after squeezing through the locked door.He was staring toward the mouth of a long "Grand Canyon".On either side of the gallery, sheer walls were thirty feet high, plunging into the darkness above.Reddish durable lights diffuse upwards, casting an unnaturally dim light on the many da Vinci, Titian and Caravaggio paintings hanging from ropes from the ceiling. Still lifes, religious scenes, and landscapes were accompanied by portraits of nobles and statesmen. While the Grand Gallery houses the Louvre's most prestigious collection of Italian art, many visitors consider the wing's most stunning offering to be its famous parquet floor.It is made of opposite oak blocks in a dizzying geometric pattern, which can produce a momentary illusion of perspective, feeling that it is a three-dimensional network, and visitors feel that they are in each step with each step. Wander through the large gallery.Langdon began to inspect the marquetry of the floor.His eyes suddenly settled on an object on the floor a few yards to his left, surrounded by police tape.He didn't expect to see this.He hurried to Fache. "So, is that a Caravaggio painting on the floor?"

Fache nodded, but didn't look at it. Langdon guessed the painting was worth as much as two million dollars, but now it lay on the ground like a discarded poster. "Damn it, how could it be on the ground!" Fache glanced at it, apparently unmoved. "This is a crime scene, Mr. Langdon. We didn't touch anything. The curator ripped it off himself. That's how he activated the security system." Langdon turned to look at the door, trying to imagine the situation. "The curator was attacked in his office. He fled to the Grand Gallery, tore the painting from the wall, and activated the protective door. The protective door fell immediately, and no one could get in or out. This is the only way to enter and exit the Grand Gallery."

Langdon was confused. "So the curator actually caught his attacker and locked him up in the Grand Gallery?" Fache shook his head and said, "The protective door separates Saunière from the attackers. The killer was locked in the corridor outside, and he shot Saunière through this door." An orange shard on the door that had been climbed said, "Technical police found remnants of the gun's backfire. He shot through the fence. No one else was here when Saunière died." Langdon thought of Sonny. A photo of the dead body.They say Saunière made himself that way.Langdon looked at the huge corridor ahead and said, "So where's the body?"

Fache straightened his crucifix and started walking. "As you probably know, the gallery is long." The exact length, if Langdon remembers correctly, was about 1,500 feet, the length of the three Washington Monuments laid flat when they were docked.Also amazing is the width of the promenade, which can easily accommodate two parallel train passenger cars.The center of the corridor is occasionally dotted with statues and huge china urns, which just form a tasteful dividing line, dividing the flow of people, going forward along the wall and back along the wall. Fache said nothing, striding along the right side of the corridor, staring straight ahead.Langdon felt disrespectful in rushing past so many masterpieces without stopping to take a look.

Not because I can't see anything in this light, he thought. Unfortunately, the dim red light reminded Langdon of his last experience in the subduedly lit Vatican Secret Archives.Tonight was as unnerving as the last time he nearly lost Rome.Victoria flashed into his mind again.He had not dreamed of Victoria for months.Langdon couldn't bear to think that it had only been a year since the incident in Rome; it felt like decades to him.Live another life.The last time he had received an email from Victoria in December was a postcard saying she was leaving for the Java Sea to continue her research in tracking physics—using satellites to track the migration of manta rays.Langdon had never imagined that a woman like Victoria would live with him on campus, but their encounter in Paris inspired a longing he had never felt before.His years of fondness for the single life and the sense of freedom it brought had been shattered, replaced by a growing, unexpected void of the past year.

They continued walking quickly, but Langdon hadn't seen the body yet. "Has Saunière traveled so far?" "Saunière died some time after he was shot in the stomach, perhaps fifteen or twenty minutes. He was obviously a very strong man." Langdon turned around in surprise. "It took fifteen minutes for security to get here?" "Of course not. Louvre security responded immediately when they heard the alarm, but found that the door to the Grand Gallery was sealed. Through the door, they could hear someone moving at the other end of the gallery, but they saw It was not clear who it was. They shouted, but there was no answer. They thought the only ones could be criminals, so they called the judicial police as required. When we arrived, we raised the barricade so that people could climb through it. I sent A dozen or so policemen went in. They quickly searched the corridor, hoping to catch the criminal.

"The results of it?" "They found no one in there. Except..." He pointed down the corridor, "he". Langdon looked up and followed Fache's fingers.At first he thought Fache was referring to the giant marble statue in the middle of the corridor.But as they walked on, Langdon was able to see beyond the statue.In the gallery thirty yards away, a spotlight hung from a portable lamp pole shone on the floor, forming an extremely bright "island" in the dark red gallery.In the center of the halo, Saunière's naked corpse lay on the parquet floor like an insect under a microscope. "You've seen the pictures, so it's not too surprising," Fache said.

The pale body of Jacques Saunière lay on the parquet floor, exactly as it appeared in the photograph.Langdon stood beside the body, squinting under the glare to observe.In consternation, he reminded himself that Saunière had put his body into this strange position in the last few minutes of his life. For a man of his age Saunière looked extremely fit, with all his musculature well distributed.He had taken off every shred of clothing on his body and laid it neatly on the floor in the middle of the corridor, exactly on the same line as the long axis of the room.His arms and legs are splayed out like a fully extended hawk, or like a child's snow angel, or perhaps more accurately like a man being thrust in four directions by invisible forces. pulling.Just below Saunière's breastbone was a spot of blood where the bullet had passed through his muscle.Strangely, there was very little bleeding from the wound, and only a small piece of blackened blood pooled underground.

There was also blood on Saunière's index finger, which he had apparently inserted into the wound to make his creepiest coffin ever.Using his own blood as ink and his bare belly as a canvas, Saunière drew a very simple symbol—a five-pointed star formed by the intersection of five straight lines.Pentagonal talisman. The blood star is centered on Saunière's navel, which makes the corpse all the more terrifying.The photos had already made Langdon shudder, and now that he had arrived at the scene in person, Langdon was even more frightened out of his wits. He did it himself. "Mr. Langdon?" Fache's dark eyes were on him again.

"It's a pentagonal talisman in witchcraft," Langdon said.His voice seemed a bit dull in such a large space. "This is one of the earliest symbols in the world, used before the fourth millennium BC." "What does it represent?" Langdon always hesitated to answer this question.Telling someone what a symbol "means" is like telling someone how they feel when they hear a song—everyone feels differently.The Ku Klux Klan's white scarf is an image of hatred and racism in the United States, while the same dress in Spain expresses a religious belief. "Symbols mean different things in different contexts," Langdon said. "The pentagon is primarily a pagan symbol."

Fache nodded. "Devil worship." "No," Langdon corrected.He realized right away that his words should have been more precise. Today, pagan, the word for paganism, is almost synonymous with "devil worship"—a completely false notion.The root of the word goes back to the Latin paganus, which refers to a person who lives in the country. The original literal meaning of "pagan" refers to those country people who have not received any religious indoctrination and still abide by the ancient worship of natural gods.In fact, the church was so afraid of those who lived in country villages (villes) that the word vilain, which originally meant a villager, was used to mean a "villain." "The pentagon," Langdon explained, "was a pre-Christian symbol of nature worship." The ancients believed that the world consisted of two parts—half male, half female.Gods and goddesses work together to maintain a balance of power, the balance of yin and yang.When Yin and Yang are balanced, the world is in a state of harmony.When there is imbalance, the world is in chaos.Langdon then pointed to Saunière's belly and said, "This pentagon represents the feminine half of everything—a concept that historians of religion call the 'divine woman' or 'divine goddess.' Saunière should know that." "Saunière painted the goddess symbol on his stomach?" Langdon had to admit, this seemed odd. "In the most specific interpretation, the pentacle symbolizes Venus—the goddess of eroticism and beauty in women." Fache looked at the naked man and grunted. "Early religions were based on the divine order of nature. The goddesses Venus and Venus are one and the same. Goddesses also have a place in the night sky, and the goddess of the night sky has many names—Venus, Eastern Star, Ishtar, Astarte, etc., are all energetic female concepts closely related to nature and Mother Earth." Langdon decided not to tell him the pentagram's most startling feature—its shape was derived from the planet Venus.When Langdon was a fledgling astronomy student, he was astonished to learn that the orbit of Venus in the sky every four years was a regular pentagon.So astonished were the ancients to observe this phenomenon, that Venus and her pentacle became symbols of perfection, beauty, and the cyclic qualities of sexual love.In honor of the magic of Venus, the Greeks organized the Olympic Games in a four-year cycle.Few people today know that the modern Olympic Games, held every four years, follow the cycle of Venus.Even fewer people know that the five-pointed star came close to becoming the official Olympic logo, only to have the five pointed points replaced with five interlocking rings at the last minute to better reflect the Olympic spirit of tolerance and harmony.Fache said suddenly, "Mr. Langdon, the pentagram is obviously also associated with demons. Your American horror movies clearly show this." Langdon frowned.Thank you so much, Hollywood.The pentagram appears almost every time in the series of Demon Slayer films, and it's usually scribbled on the walls of some Demon Slayer's residence, along with other things that have been accused of being demonic symbols.Whenever Langdon saw the symbol in this situation, he felt very annoyed.The true origin of the pentacle is divine. "I can tell you with certainty," Langdon said, "that while the pentacle is interpreted as a demon, as you can see in the movie, it is not historically accurate. Its original female connotation is correct. Yes. But for a thousand years, the symbolism of the pentagram has been distorted. In this case, blood was shed." "I'm not sure I understand." Langdon glanced at Fache's crucifix.His following expression was somewhat incoherent. "The Church, Sir, symbols are flexible, and the meaning of the pentagram was altered by the early Roman Catholic Church. As part of the Vatican's campaign to eradicate paganism and convert the masses to Christianity, the Catholic Church has launched a campaign of slander. A movement of pagan gods and goddesses to reinterpret their sacred symbols as evil ones." "Go on." "This phenomenon is also common in troubled times," Langdon went on, "where a new power replaces existing symbols and degrades them for a long time in an attempt to erase their meaning completely. In Pagan Symbols and Christian Symbols The pagans lost the battle. Poseidon's trident became the devil's pitchfork, the conical hat symbolizing wisdom became the symbol of the witch, and the five points of Venus became the symbol of evil." Langdon paused. stop. "Unfortunately, the U.S. military has also misinterpreted the pentagram, and now it has become the most important symbol of war. We put it on fighter jets and hang it on the shoulders of generals." The goddess of love and beauty has suffered so much misfortune . "Interesting," Fache said, nodding at the unfurled hawk-like corpse. "So, the placement of the body? What do you see in it?" Langdon shrugged. "This placement only cements the association of the pentacle with the feminine deity." Fache looked blank. "Sorry, I didn't understand." "Replication. Repeating a symbol is the easiest way to reinforce its meaning. Jacques Saunière placed himself in the shape of a pentagram." One pentagram is fine, two are better. Fache ran his hands through his greasy hair again, looking at Saunière's five corners—arms, legs, and head. "Interesting analysis," he said after a pause, "then why the nudity?" He said somewhat dissatisfied, as if he hated seeing an elderly man naked. "Why did he take all his clothes off?" Good question, Langdon thought.He's been puzzled by this question since he first saw the Polaroid snapshot.His closest guess is that nudity is something that Venus, the goddess of sex, approves of.Although modern culture has basically eliminated the connection between Venus and the physical union of men and women, those who have studied etymology can still keenly find that "Venus" is originally intended to be related to "Venereal". clues.Langdon wasn't going to discuss that, though. "Monsieur Fache, obviously I can't say why Saunière painted himself that way or why he positioned himself that way, but I can tell you that a man like Jacques Saunière would see the pentagram A feminine deity. The association of this symbol with a feminine deity is well known to art historians and experts in the symbology of signs." "Okay. So why did he use his own blood as ink?" "But obviously, he has nothing else to write about." Fache was silent for a moment. "I think there are parallels between the fact that he used blood and the police performing certain forensic procedures." "I do not understand." "Look at his left hand." Langdon followed the curator's pale arm to his left hand, but saw nothing.Not sure if he really saw nothing, he walked around the body and finally squatted down, only to be surprised to see that the curator was clutching a large felt-tipped marker. "Saunière was holding it when we found him," Fache said, walking a few yards away from Langdon to a portable table strewn with investigative tools, wires, and accompanying electronics. "I told you," he said, rummaging on the table, "that we didn't move anything. Are you familiar with these pens?" Langdon knelt closer so he could see the brand of the pen.There are French words on the pen: black light pen. He glanced up in surprise. A black light pen, or watermark pen, is a special felt-tipped marker originally designed by museums, restoration experts, or anti-counterfeiting police to make invisible marks on objects.The pen uses a non-corrosive, alcohol-based fluorescent ink.The ink is only visible under "black light" such as ultraviolet or infrared.Now museum maintenance staff often carry this kind of pen in their daily work, so that they can tick and mark the frames of paintings that need to be restored. After Langdon stood up, Fache went to the spotlight and turned it off.The gallery was suddenly dark. For a moment, Langdon couldn't see anything, and an inexplicable feeling came over him suddenly.Fache's silhouette was revealed in the intense purple light.He came with a handheld light source, shrouded in violet mist. "You probably know," Fache said.His eyes glowed in a dim violet light. "The police used black lights to look for blood and other forensic evidence at the crime scene. So you can imagine how surprised we were...." Suddenly he pointed the light at the body. Langdon glanced down, jumping back in horror. His heart pounded as he saw the strange glow on the parquet floor.The curator scribbled the last words with a highlighter, which glowed coldly purple beside the corpse. Looking at the glowing text, Langdon felt the fog surrounding him deepen tonight. Langdon looked up at Ci after reading the text again. "What the hell does that even mean?" Fache's eyes glowed white. "Sir, that's the very question you've come here to answer tonight." In Saunière's office not far away, Lieutenant Collet was leaning against a recording stand on the curator's large desk.Collet would be fine if it wasn't for the weird, robotic toy medieval warrior staring at him.He adjusted his AKG headphones and checked the input levels on the hard drive recording system.All systems are working fine, the mics are flawless and the sound transmission is crystal clear. The sound was completely real now, he thought. Smiling, closing his eyes, he sits and enjoys the conversation being taped today in the Grand Gallery.