Chapter 35 Chapter Thirty-Three

Sophie's "urban elf" brushed past embassies and consulates, crossed the embassy district, and finally rushed onto a sidewalk, turning right back onto the broad Champs-Elysées. Langdon sat in the passenger seat with clenched fists and turned to look back for signs of the police.Suddenly, he wished he hadn't made the decision to run away.You didn't actually make such a decision, he reminded himself.When Sophie threw the GPS tracker out of the toilet, she had already made the decision for Langdon.Now, they are speeding away from the embassy, ​​passing through the sparsely trafficked Champs-Elysées.Langdon felt that his decision to return to the National Gallery had made matters worse.Although Sophie got rid of the police at the moment, who knows how long this good luck will last.

Sophie steered the steering wheel with one hand and fumbled in her sweater pocket with the other.She produced a small metal bauble and handed it to Langdon. "Robert, you'd better look at this. It's what my grandfather left behind Madonna of the Rocks." Langdon eagerly took the object and examined it carefully.It is cross-shaped and heavy.Langdon felt as if he was holding a miniature grave crucifix—the kind of stake placed on a grave to honor the dead.However, he also noticed that the key body under the cross-shaped key handle was in the shape of a triangular prism, with hundreds of exquisite small holes randomly arranged on it.

"It's a laser-molded key," Sophie told him, "and the electronic holes in the lock read the arrangement of the holes in the key." A key? Langdon had never seen a key like it. "Look the other side," Sophie said as she drove through an intersection and onto another street. Langdon turned the key over, dumbfounded, to see French lilies and the initials P. S． "Sophie," he said, "this is the design I was talking about. It's the emblem of the Priory of Sion." Sophie nodded: "As I said, I saw this key a long time ago. Grandpa told me not to mention it again."

Langdon was still staring intently at the engraved key.It is manufactured using high technology, but engraved with ancient symbols, reflecting the wonderful fusion of ancient and modern worlds. "He told me that the key would unlock a box that held many of his secrets." What kind of secret would someone like Jacques Saunière keep? Langdon shuddered at the thought.He couldn't understand why an ancient church would use such a modern key.The Priory exists for one purpose only, and that is to keep a secret—a secret of great power.Could the key have anything to do with it? Langdon couldn't help but wonder. "Do you know what it's for?"

Sophie looked disappointed: "I hope you'll know." Langdon stopped talking, just turning and looking at the cross-shaped key in his hand. "It looks like it has something to do with Christianity," Sophie went on. Langdon could not confirm whether this claim was true.The handle of the key is not a traditional Christian cross, but a square cross - as long as two lines intersecting.The birth of this symbol predates the establishment of Christianity by 1,500 years.The traditional Christian cross is derived from a Roman instrument of torture, but the square cross is completely unrelated.Langdon was always amazed how few Christians knew that the names of their symbols reflected a violent history: the English word 'cross', the crucifix from the Latin 'cruciare', and the The word means "torture", "torture".

"Sophie," Langdon said, "as far as I know, this square cross is considered a 'peace' cross. Its shape makes it impossible to use as a torture instrument, and the two lines that intersect are the same length, implying It symbolizes the natural fusion of man and woman. Its symbolism is consistent with the thought of the Priory." Sophie gave him an impatient look, "Don't you know what it's for?" Langdon frowned. "Not at all." "Okay, we have to park the car." Sophie looked in the rear mirror. "We have to find a place to figure out what the key is for."Langdon was eager to return to the comfort of his room at the Ritz, but it was clear that was not possible. "How about going to the hostess of the American University in Paris?"

"Too easy to expose targets. Fache will check them out." "You must know people. You live here." "Fache will get in touch with my colleagues based on my phone and email records, and they will listen to Fache. You can't find a restaurant, you need an ID card." Again, Langdon thought it would be better to be arrested by Fache at the Louvre than it was now. "Then let's call the embassy. I can explain the situation to them and ask the embassy to send someone to pick us up somewhere." "Collect us?" Sophie turned her head to look at Langdon, as if asking Langdon if he was talking crazy.

"Robert, don't dream. Your embassy has no jurisdiction outside the territory. Sending someone to meet us is tantamount to aiding the fugitives of the French government. It is impossible. If you walk into the embassy and ask for temporary asylum, it will Forget it, but let them take action against French law in this regard?" Sophie shook her head. "If you call the embassy now, they will only let you avoid greater losses and surrender to Fache. Then, they will guarantee that you will receive a fair trial through diplomatic channels." She looked at Champs Elysees The row of elegant fashion shops on Sher Avenue. "How much cash did you bring?"

Langdon looked at his wallet. "One hundred dollars. And a few euros. What's the matter?" "Have you brought your credit card?" "certainly." Sophie picked up the speed.Langdon intuitively knew she was hatching another plan.Dead end ahead, the Champs-Elysées ends at the Arc de Triomphe—a 164-foot arch built by Napoleon to show off his victories.It is surrounded by France's largest ring road, a behemoth with nine lanes. When they reached the ring road, Sophie looked in the rear mirror again. "We got rid of them for a while," Sophie said, "but if we don't get out of the car, they'll find us again in five minutes."

Then steal a car, Langdon thought to himself, we're criminals anyway. Sophie stepped on the accelerator and drove the car onto the ring road. "Believe me." Langdon didn't answer. "Believe" got him into too much trouble tonight.He pulled up the sleeve of his jacket and looked at his watch. It was a collector's edition Mickey Mouse watch that Langdon's parents had given him for his tenth birthday.It was the only watch Langdon owned, though the boyish dial often drew odd glances.It's Disney.The animation introduced him to the magical world of shape and color, and now Mickey Mouse reminds Langdon to always be a child at heart every day.At this moment, Mickey's two arms formed an unnatural angle, indicating the time:

2:51A. M． "Interesting watch," said Sophie, as the car made a sharp counterclockwise turn down the ring road. "It's a long story," Langdon said, pulling down his cuffs. "I think so," she smiled at Langdon, and drove off the ring road, and continued north, out of downtown.They crossed two intersections with green lights, and at the third they made a sharp right turn onto Mershebe Avenue.They had already left the luxurious three-lane embassy area and entered the slightly dark industrial area.Sophie made a sharp left turn, and it took several minutes for Langdon to make out their position. Saint-Lachale train station. Ahead of them, the glass-roofed train terminal was crowded with newly disembarked trains.Train stations in Europe are open all night.Even at this time, there are plenty of taxis picking up passengers at the exit.Vendors pushed trolleys selling sandwiches and mineral water. The little guy who had just come out of the station and was carried by an adult blinked his eyes, as if he was trying hard to remember the city in front of him.At the intersection, a few policemen stood on the side of the road, pointing the way for the tourists who couldn't find the north. Although there was plenty of parking across the street, Sophie parked the Urban Elf behind the row of taxis.Before Langdon could ask what was going on, Sophie jumped out of the car.She hurried to the window of a taxi and chatted with the driver. When Langdon jumped out of the car, he saw Sophie handing over a wad of cash to the taxi driver.The driver nodded.To Langdon's bewilderment, the driver did not take them with him, but drove off by himself. "What's wrong?" Langdon stepped up the curb and stood in front of Sophie.By this time the car had disappeared from their sight. Sophie walked towards the entrance of the station again. "Come on, let's buy two tickets and take the next train out of Paris." Langdon hurried after her.Now, the one-mile sprint to the American embassy has turned into a full-fledged escape from Paris.Langdon grew to dislike the idea.