Chapter 42 Chapter Forty

Langdon tried desperately to shift gears.After the taxi turned off twice, it was finally pulled over to the side of the road.However, the ease of the moment was broken by the voice of the taxi dispatcher. "Hello? Please answer if you hear it." Langdon managed to drive the car to the gate of the park, but couldn't go any further.So, he had to let go of his masculine airs and said to Sophie, "It's up to you to drive." Sophie jumped into the driver's seat and let out a long breath.A few seconds later, the taxi smoothly drove away from "Earthly Land".

Sophie drove faster and faster, gradually raising the speed to more than 100 kilometers.Langdon asked, "Do you know the way?" Sophie stared at the road ahead and said, "According to the taxi driver's description, I should know that place." Langdon took out the key again, finding it heavy.He realizes that the key has a lot at stake, and maybe his own freedom. When he was telling Sophie the story of the Knights Templar just now, he suddenly realized that apart from bearing the mark of the Priory, this key also had a more subtle relationship with the Priory.In addition to representing the Templars, the equilateral cross also symbolizes balance and harmony.Anyone who has seen portraits of Templar warriors will have seen red equilateral crosses embroidered on their white tabards.

equilateral cross.Exactly the same as the pattern on this key. As Langdon wondered what they might find, he marveled at how rich his imagination was.holy grail.He couldn't help laughing at his absurd guess.You know, it is believed that the Holy Grail has been hidden under the ground of a church in England for more than 1,500 years. It has been hidden there since the time of Leonardo da Vinci. In the early hundreds of years, the Priory was forced to relocate many times in order to protect the documents with magical powers.According to estimates by historians, since the Monastery moved from Jerusalem to Europe, it has changed the place where the Holy Grail was buried six times.The last "sight" of the Holy Grail was in 1447.At the time, many testified that a fire nearly engulfed the documents, but fortunately they were packed into boxes that could only be lifted by six people and transported to safety.Since then, no one has seen a trace of the Holy Grail.There are only occasional legends that it is hidden in the place where King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table were raised - the British Empire.

No matter where it is hidden, two important facts are certain: Da Vinci knew where the Holy Grail was hidden while he was alive! The location where the Holy Grail is buried is most likely unchanged! Therefore, those avid seekers of the Holy Grail are still delving madly into Leonardo da Vinci's artwork and diaries, trying to find clues about where the Holy Grail is buried.It has been claimed that the mountainous background of The Madonna of the Rocks seems to be a painting of some cave-ridden hills in Scotland.Others insist that the suspicious placement of Jesus' disciples in "The Last Supper" is a code that hints at the location of the Holy Grail.Others have claimed that X-rays of the Mona Lisa revealed that the Mona Lisa was originally wearing lapis lazuli earrings bearing a portrait of Isis, the ancient Egyptian goddess of fertility.However, it is said that Da Vinci later painted the earrings with oil paint.Langdon had never seen any sign of earrings in the painting, nor could he imagine it had anything to do with the Holy Grail.However, the Holy Grail fans still rage about the hypothesis on Internet message boards and chat rooms.

Everyone loves a legendary secret. There are many such miraculous secrets.One of the most recently unraveled secrets is the new discovery of Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting "The Adored Magi".Italian artist Maurizio Sarasini has uncovered a little-known truth, and the New York Times magazine has featured it extensively under the headline "The Secret Leonardo Covered Up." Sarasini affirms that although Da Vinci drafted The Adored Magi, he did not complete it.In fact, it was made by an anonymous painter from that sketch many years after da Vinci's death.And the anonymous painter also hides secrets in the painting.Photos taken with infrared reflectometers and X-rays show that the mischievous painter, when completing da Vinci's sketches, made inexplicable changes to the original work, as if deliberately changing da Vinci's true intentions.Whatever the intent of the original painting, it should be made public.After the report was published, however, officials at Florence's Joves Museum stopped displaying the painting and put it in a storage room across the street.Visitors who go to that exhibition hall to visit the "Da Vinci Exhibition Hall" can only see a perfunctory tourist sign in the place where the painting was originally hung, which reads:

The painting is being examined for restoration. For seekers of the Holy Grail, Leonardo da Vinci remains the greatest mystery.His work seems to be full of secrets, but all the secrets are hidden: maybe hidden under the paint, maybe hidden in the code of the plan, maybe not hidden anywhere at all.Maybe so many teasing clues are just there to keep curious tourists from giggling at the Mona Lisa. Sophie tugged Langdon and asked, "Could that be the key to the place where the Holy Grail is buried?" Langdon laughed, "I don't think that's possible at all. Besides, the Holy Grail is said to be hidden somewhere in England, not France."

He then gave Sophie a brief introduction to the history of the Grail. "However, it is the only reasonable explanation for finding the Holy Grail through this key." She insisted that we have a very safe key, and this key is stamped with the seal of the Priory.In addition, this key was left to us by members of the Priory, and as you said just now, the Priory is the protector of the Holy Grail. " Langdon thought her point of view was very logical, but instinctively, he still couldn't accept the reasoning.Rumor has it that the Priory swore to bring the Grail back to France and bury it there forever.However, there is no conclusive historical evidence for this.Even if the Priory did bring the Grail back to France, "24 Rue Haux" doesn't sound like the Grail's permanent burial place. "Sophie, it's really hard for me to imagine that this key has anything to do with the Holy Grail."

"Is it because people think the Holy Grail is hidden in England?" "Not only that. The Grail's burial site is one of the best-kept secrets in history. People have to wait decades to prove themselves worthy of trust before being elected to the top leadership of the Priory, thus gaining Know the burial place of the Holy Grail. This secret has always been passed on through indirect means. Moreover, although the Priory is huge, at any time, only the Grand Master and the other three high-level leaders know this secret. Your grandfather is the high-level leader. The odds are slim to none.”

Grandfather was the top leader, Sophie thought.She stepped up the gas pedal.The imprint in her mind convinced her that her grandfather was the senior leader of the Priory. "Even if your grandfather was one of the top leaders, he would never have revealed this secret to anyone outside the Priory. He couldn't have introduced you into the core leadership." "I've already entered the core leadership." Sophie thought Dao, she recalled the ceremony in the basement again.She was indecisive as to whether or not to tell Langdon about her night in Normandy.Ten years passed, and out of shame, she never told anyone what she had seen.She shuddered at the thought of that night.A police siren sounded in the distance, and a strong sense of tiredness hit her.

"Look!" Langdon exclaimed excitedly, as he saw the Roland Garros tennis court ahead. Sophie drove the car towards the tennis court.After a few intersections, they found Hawkes Street.And began to look for the house number on the street.Both sides of the street are becoming more and more prosperous, and there are more shops. "We're looking for number 24," Langdon said to himself.Suddenly, he realized that he was subconsciously searching the steeple of the church.Don't be silly! How can there be a forgotten church in such a busy area? "It's there!" Sophie shouted, pointing ahead.

Langdon looked up. What exactly is that? It is a modern building.A large equilateral neon cross was installed directly above the fortress.There are several large characters below the cross: savings bank zurich Langdon was glad he didn't, like Sophie, think of it as a Templar church.As a semiotician, it is easy to impose hidden meanings on things.Just now, Langdon had completely forgotten that this peaceful equilateral cross was also the national flag of neutral Switzerland. The mystery has been solved. Sophie and Langdon were holding the keys to a Swiss bank safe.