Chapter 34 Chapter Thirty-Two

As Sophie and Langdon escaped from the Louvre and into the Parisian night, the sirens on the west side of the Denon Pavilion scared the pigeons in the Tuileries Gardens into scattering.As they ran across the square toward Sophie's car, Langdon heard sirens in the distance. "There," Sophie called, pointing to a red flat-topped two-seater parked in the square. Is she joking?Langdon had never seen such a small car before. "Urban elf," she said, "throw it away after driving a hundred kilometers." As soon as Langdon got into the passenger seat, Sophie started the "Urban Elf", and then drove slowly across the gravel separation line.The car slid off the pavement, bumped a bit, and drove into the circular Carrousel Galleries of the Louvre.Langdon clung tightly to the car's bulkhead.

At one point, Sophie seemed to want to take a shortcut, break through the protective fence in the middle, and drive through the middle of the circular lawn. "No!" Langdon cried, knowing that the fence around the Louvre's Carrousel Galleries concealed a dangerous pothole in the center of the lawn—an inverted glass pyramid.Just now, Langdon had seen the light shining through this glass pyramid in the museum.It is like a big mouth that can swallow their "urban elves" in one gulp.Fortunately, Sophie decided to follow the usual route again. She turned the steering wheel sharply to the left, exited the shopping gallery again, then turned left into a north-facing street, and drove rapidly towards Rue de Rivoli.

The sound of sirens from behind was getting closer and Langdon could already see the flashing police lights in the side mirrors.When Sophie was in a hurry to speed up and leave the Louvre, the urban elf's engine had already made a muffled sound and began to protest.Fifty yards ahead, the red light at the Rue de Rivoli came on again.Sophie cursed softly and continued to drive forward. "Sophie?" Arriving at the intersection, Sophie only slowed down a little, turned on the headlights, then quickly glanced left and right, and stepped on the accelerator again.The car made a sharp left turn, crossed the empty intersection, and pulled into the Rue de Rivoli.After accelerating west for a kilometer, Sophie turned the car over to the elevated road on the right.Soon, they came down from the other side of the elevated ring road and drove into the wide Champs-Elysées.

As the car began to drive straight, Langdon turned, craned his neck, and looked out the rear window in the direction of the Louvre.It didn't seem like the police were after them.The blue police lights in the distance gathered in front of the museum like an ocean. His heart hanging in the air finally let go, and he turned around and said, "This is really interesting." Sophie didn't seem to hear.She stared at the long Champs Elysees ahead.This section of street with its many trendy shops is often called Fifth Avenue in Paris.With the embassy only about a mile away, Langdon relaxed in his seat.

How dark is the deception of men. Langdon was already impressed by Sophie's quick thinking. "The Madonna of the Rocks". Sophie said her grandfather left something after the painting.Final message?Langdon couldn't help but marvel at Saunière's ability to find such a hidden treasure. Another link in the chain of interrelated symbols in The Madonna of the Rocks.It seems that with every session, Saunière shows a growing appreciation for Leonardo's rebellion and mischief. "The Madonna Among the Rocks" was originally an altar painting commissioned by Leonardo da Vinci for the chapel of San Francesco Church in Milan.The nuns determined in advance the size and subject of the paintings—the Virgin Mary in the cave, John the Baptist, Uriel and the baby Jesus.Although Da Vinci did the painting according to their request, when he handed in the painting, it caused panic in the charity.The painting is full of controversial and disturbing details.

The painting depicts the Virgin Mary in a blue robe sitting with a baby, who is supposed to be Jesus.Uriel was sitting across from Maria, also holding a baby in her arms, who was supposed to be John the Baptist.Strangely enough, the painting is counterintuitive, showing John praying for Jesus, not Jesus praying for John...Jesus is submitting to John's authority!Even more problematic is the fact that Maria is shown with one hand on John's head and a threatening gesture with the other—her fingers look like eagle claws, as if grasping an invisible human head.The most obvious and most gruesome image is of Uriel under Maria's crooked fingers—he makes a chopping gesture, as if to cut off the neck of the invisible human head Maria is holding.

Later, in order to comfort the charity, Da Vinci painted a second picture of "Our Lady of the Rocks" for it, and the arrangement of the picture is more orthodox.The second painting is now in the National Gallery, London, and is titled "Maria Among the Rocks".Whenever Langdon's students heard this, they would be in an uproar.However, Langdon still prefers the one with hidden mysteries in the Louvre. As the car sped down the Champs Elysees, Langdon asked Sophie, "What's behind that painting?" "I'll show you when we're safely inside the embassy." Sophie kept her eyes on the road ahead.

"You'll show me?" Langdon asked in surprise. "Is that an item?" Sophie nodded, "It has French lilies and the initials PS engraved on it." Langdon could hardly believe his ears. We'll be there soon, Sophie thought, turning the steering wheel to the right, past the luxurious Clionce Hotel, and into the three-lane embassy quarter of Paris.It is less than one kilometer away from the embassy.She finally felt she could breathe normally again. Sophie was thinking about the key in her pocket while driving, and memories of that key from many years ago emerged in her mind, the plus-shaped golden key handle, the triangular prism-shaped key body, and the key on the key. The small hole, as well as the pattern and the letter PS engraved on the key handle.

Over the years, she rarely thought of this key, but her years of experience working in the technology security department told her that such a key design is not mysterious.Laser molded, cannot be reproduced.Instead of turning the tumblers with the serrations in the key, that lock has an electronic hole that detects a laser-burned hole in the key.If the electronic hole detects that the small holes on the six sections of the key body are rotated as required, the lock will be opened. Sophie couldn't imagine what the key would unlock, but she felt that Robert could tell her the answer.After all, he could draw the pattern on the key without seeing it.The cross-shaped handle of the key suggested that the key must be associated with a Christian organization, but as far as Sophie knew, no churches used laser-molded keys.

Besides, my grandfather wasn't a Christian... What she saw and heard ten years ago can confirm this.Ironically, it was another key that revealed her grandfather's true nature - a far more common key than this one. The afternoon she arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport was warm.She hailed a taxi, and my grandfather would be surprised to see me, she thought.She came home for spring break a few days early from graduate school in the UK and couldn't wait to tell her grandfather about her new encryption method. When she rushed to her home in Paris, she found that her grandfather was not at home.She was rather disappointed.She knew her grandfather didn't know she was coming back, probably still working at the Louvre.But it was Sunday afternoon, she remembered.Grandfather rarely worked weekends.On weekends, he usually—

Sophie smiled and ran to the garage.To be sure, his car was taken away.It's the weekend.Jacques Saunière didn't like driving in the city. He would only go to one place by car, and that was his vacation home in Normandy, north of Paris.Sophie has been in crowded London for several months and was eager to feel the breath of nature, so she decided to go there for a holiday.It was early evening, and Sophie decided to start at once to surprise her grandfather.She borrowed a car from a friend and drove north, on the winding roads near Crowley--the moonlit hills filled with no one else.It was just past ten o'clock when she arrived at the villa.She drove up the mile-long driveway to the villa.When she was halfway there, she could see the house through the trees—a large house of old stone, set among the trees on the hillside. Sophie had guessed that her grandfather might have fallen asleep, and she was very excited when she saw the lights still flickering in the house.Immediately, her excitement was replaced by surprise as she saw the driveway filled with cars—Mercedes, BMWs, Audis, and Rolls-Royces. Sophie looked at it and couldn't help laughing.My grandfather was a famous hermit!Jacques Saunière was a recluse who did not live up to his name.Apparently he was throwing a party here while Sophie was at school, and judging by the cars in the driveway, some of the most famous Parisians were in attendance. Sophie couldn't wait to surprise her grandfather, so she hurried to the front door.However, the front door was locked.She knocked, but no one answered.Puzzled, she turned to the back door, pushed it, and the back door was also locked.No one opened the door. Sophie stood there in bewilderment, pricking up her ears to listen to the movement around her.All she heard was the low moan of the chill Normandy air swirling in the valley. no music. There was no voice. There was no sound at all. Sophie hurried to the side of the house, climbed a log pile, and pressed her face against the living room window.She simply could not comprehend what she saw. "Not a single person!" The entire first floor was empty. Where have all these people gone? Sophie's heart was pounding, and she ran to the woodshed and took from under the kindling the spare key that her grandfather had hidden there.She ran to the front door, unlocked it and entered the house.When she walked into the empty living room, the red light on the security system control panel flickered—it reminded visitors to enter the correct code within ten seconds, or the alarm would be sounded. Use the alarm for a party? Sophie typed in the code quickly to keep the alarm from going off. She went further in and found that the whole house, including the upstairs, was deserted.When she came down from the stairs to the empty living room, she stood silently for a moment, wondering what the hell was going on. Just then, Sophie heard a voice. muffled sound.It sounded like it was coming from under Sophie's own feet.Puzzled, Sophie lay on the floor, pressing her ears to the ground.That's right, the sound came from underground.It's like someone's singing or... singing hymns?Sophie felt a little scared.She was even more frightened when she remembered that the house had no basement. At least I don't see a basement. Sophie turned and scanned the living room, fixing her eyes on the palace tapestry - it was grandfather's favorite antique, but today it was the only thing in the whole house that had shifted its place.It had originally hung on the east wall by the fire, but tonight it had been pulled over to the side of the pole, exposing the otherwise concealed wall. As Sophie walked towards the blank wooden wall, she felt the hymn grow louder.She hesitated, and pressed her ear against the wooden wall.Now, the voice became very clear.Those people must be singing praises...but Sophie couldn't make out the tune or the words. There are compartments behind this wall! Sophie groped along the wall, and found a sunken, delicately crafted fingertip.a sliding door.Sophie's heart was beating wildly as she dug her fingers into the little slot and moved the sliding door away.The heavy sliding doors moved silently to both sides.Psalms echoed in the darkness in front of them. Sophie slipped through the door and stood on the winding staircase made of stones.She often came to the villa when she was a child, but she never knew there was such a stair passage! Along the stairs, the further you go down, the cooler the air and the clearer the vocals.She could tell now that there were men's and women's voices in it.The spiral staircase partially blocked her view, but she could see the last step now.Before the steps, there was a small piece of ground in the basement—paved with stones, lit by flickering orange flames. Sophie held her breath, walked down a few more steps, and looked down.It took her a while to realize what she had seen. The basement is actually a cavern, a cavity formed by hollowing out the rock mass on the hillside.The only source of light is a torch on the wall.Amidst the glowing flames stood a circle of about thirty persons in the middle of the chamber. I'm dreaming, Sophie said to herself.Isn't this a dream? Everyone in the cave is veiled.The women wore white gossamer gowns and golden shoes.Their veils are white, and they hold golden orbs in their hands.The men wore black knee-length shirts and black veils.They look like pieces on a big chessboard.They rocked back and forth, singing respectfully to something on the floor in front of them... Sophie couldn't see what it was. The tune of the hymn eased, then gradually increased, and finally the rhythm increased and was very high-pitched.The men took a step forward and fell to their knees.At that moment, Sophie finally saw what they were looking at.While she took a few steps back in fright, that scene was forever etched in her memory.Feeling intensely sick, she stood up, clutching at the stones in the wall, and walked back down the stairs.She closed the sliding door, fled the empty villa, and drove back to Paris in tears. That night, she felt that the ideal of life had been shattered by the betrayal of her loved ones.She packed her things and left the house.She left a note on the dining table. I've been there.Don't come to me. She put the old spare key she took out from the firewood room of the villa next to the note. "Sophie!" Langdon interrupted her recollection, "Stop! Stop!" Sophie came back to her senses, slammed on the brakes, and stopped the car. "What's wrong? What happened?" Langdon pointed down the long street ahead. Sophie looked up, feeling cold.A hundred yards ahead, several police cars were blocked diagonally at the intersection, with obvious intentions.They've sealed off Gabriel Street! Langdon sighed with a straight face, "It seems that the embassy has become a restricted area tonight?" At the end of the street, the policemen standing next to the car were watching this direction. They obviously noticed a car suddenly stopped on the street ahead, and they became suspicious of it. "Okay," Sophie slowly turned the car around. Sophie reversed the car, turned the corner, and turned the car around.As she started the car, she heard the squeal of tires rubbing against the ground from behind and the siren blaring. "Damn it." Sophie stepped on the gas pedal.