Chapter 64 Chapter 62

"Ray, I was wronged," Langdon said, trying to stay calm. "You know me. I will never kill." Teabing's tone remained stern. "Robert, your killing has been on TV. God, do you know the authorities are looking for you?" "Know." "Then you abused my confidence in you. You came to me and hid in my house talking about the Holy Grail with me. I am amazed at the danger you put me in this way." "But I didn't kill anyone." "Jacques Saunière was killed, and the police say you did it." Teabing looked very sad. "Such a man who has made great contributions to art..."

“Sir?” "Allow me to do this, please." Teabing staggered through the study, unlocked the glass door, and flung it open. "Please find your car and leave." Sophie didn't move. "We have news of the Priory keystone." Teabing stared at her for a few seconds, then said contemptuously, "Death throes. Langdon knows how badly I want to find it." Langdon said, "She's telling the truth. That's why we've come to you. We want to talk to you about the keystone." The male servant interjected, "Get out of here, or I'll call the police."

Langdon said softly, "Ray, we know where it is." Teabing shuddered, nearly losing his balance. Remi came across the room aggressively. "Leave immediately! Otherwise, I will forcibly..." "Remy!" Teabing snapped, turning around. "Let's be alone for a while." The manservant was tongue-tied. "Sir? I must protect you. These people are..." "You go out first, I'll handle this by myself." Teabing pointed to the corridor and said. Remy was stunned for a moment, then walked away dejectedly like a bereaved dog. A cool evening breeze blew in through the open door.Teabing turned and asked Sophie and Langdon suspiciously, "You better tell the truth. What do you know about the keystone?"

In the dense bushes outside the study, Silas was holding the pistol tightly, staring into the glass door with wide eyes.He had just walked around the house and found Langdon and the woman talking in the large study.He was about to break in when a man on crutches walked in, yelled at Langdon and slammed the door open, telling them to leave.Then the woman mentioned the keystone, and everything changed.Shouts turned to whispers.The atmosphere is harmonious.And the glass door was quickly closed. Now Silas crouched in the shadows, peering in through the glass.The keystone is in this house.Silas could feel it.

He moved slowly in the shadows toward the glass door, eager to hear what they were saying.He will give them five minutes.If they hadn't revealed where the keystone was by then, he would barge in and force them to tell. Standing in the study, Langdon could fully understand Teabing's doubts. "The leader of the Priory?" Teabing looked at Sophie and asked in surprise, "Jacques Saunière?" Sophie nodded, apparently surprised. "But you can't know such a thing!" "Jacques Saunière was my grandfather." Teabing stepped back on crutches and looked at Langdon suspiciously.Langdon nodded.Teabing turned to Sophie and said, "Miss Neveu, I have nothing to say. If this is true, I am sorry for your loss. I have to admit that I keep a lot of lists here for research purposes. The people on the list are most likely members of the Priory in Paris. But you said 'the leader of the Priory'? That's incredible." Teabing was silent for a moment, then shook his head again. "But it still doesn't make sense. Even if your grandfather was the head of the Priory and made the keystone, there's no way he could have told you how to find it. The keystone shows the route to the Priory's treasure. Even if you were his granddaughter, You are not qualified to know this secret."

Langdon said, "Mr. Saunière was dying when he told the secret. He had no choice." Teabing argued, "He doesn't need to choose at all. There are three other members of the Priory who also know the secret. That's the beauty of the Priory system. One of the three will rise to the leadership and then choose a candidate." Let's keep the secret of the keystone together." Sophie said, "I don't think you've read the news on TV. In addition to grandfather, three other Parisian socialites were killed today, and it can be seen that they were all interrogated and tortured."

Teabing opened his mouth in surprise. "You think they're all..." Langdon said, "Member of the Priory." "However, how is this possible? It is impossible for a murderer to know the true identities of the four top figures of the Priory of Sion Mountain! Although I have been looking for them for decades, until now even the name of a member of the Priory None. It’s unbelievable that three top figures and leaders were found and killed in one day.” Sophie said: "I suspect the information wasn't collected in one day. It looks like a well-planned operation. We use a technique to take down organized crime syndicates. If the police want to take down a gang, Will quietly eavesdrop and monitor for a few months. After all the criminal leaders are identified, they will suddenly go out and attack these leaders at the same time and kill them on the spot. Without the leader, the gang will be a mess, other secrets It will be leaked. Therefore, I think it is very likely that someone patiently monitored the activities of the Priory, and then made a surprise attack, hoping that the leaders would reveal the location of the keystone."

Teabing didn't look convinced. "But those people will not tell. They have all been sworn to keep secrets. Even in the face of death, they will not tell secrets." Langdon said, "That's right. But imagine this: If none of them leaked the secret, and they were all killed', then..." Teabing said in surprise, "Then no one will ever know where the keystone is hidden." Langdon added: "And where the Holy Grail is buried." Teabing's body seemed to shake with Langdon's heavy words.He seemed to be too tired to stand up, and sat down on the sofa, staring straight out of the window.

Sophie walked over and said softly, "Grandfather, in his utter despair, might have told this secret to someone outside the Priory. Someone he could trust. Someone in the family." Teabing's face was pale, and he murmured, "But, someone who can launch such an attack...", who can discover so many secrets about the Priory..." He stopped suddenly, and a new wave of fear came over him staring at him. "There's only one power that can do it.Such an attack could only come from the Priory's old enemies. " Langdon raised his head: "The Holy See."

"Who else? For centuries, the Holy See has sought the Holy Grail." Sophie was skeptical: "You think the Holy See killed grandfather?" Teabing replied, "This isn't the first time the Holy See has killed to protect itself. The Grail documents are like high explosives, and the Holy See has been trying to destroy them for years." Langdon disagreed with Teabing's inference that the Holy See would not make a big show of killing people to obtain documents.Langdon had met the new pope and other cardinals, and felt that they were very noble people who would never resort to assassination.Success or failure will not employ this tactic.

Sophie seemed to think the same: "Is it possible that someone outside the Holy See killed the members of the Priory? People who didn't understand the meaning of the Holy Grail? After all, the Holy Grail of Jesus is a very tempting treasure. Those treasure hunters It will definitely kill anyone who competes with them for their treasure." Teabing said, "From my experience, people would rather suppress their desires than approach their fears. I feel that this attack on the Priory was a desperate struggle. " Langdon said, "Ray, you're contradicting yourself. Why would Catholic priests kill Priory men for what they see as perjury?" Teabing pursed his lips and said with a smile: "Robert, the ivory tower has made you stupid. That's right, the priests in Rome have very devout beliefs. Their beliefs can go through all kinds of wind and rain, including those that completely contradict their beliefs. Those documents. But what about the rest of the world? What about those whose faith is not so strong? What about those who see the indifference of the world and ask 'Where is God?' What about people who ask, 'Why did a man who preached the truth about Jesus lie to cover up a priest's sexual abuse of children'?" Teabing paused, then continued, "Robert, if someone finds enough scientific evidence to prove What are the Holy See’s stories about Jesus that are inaccurate and can prove to be nothing but lies about the great things that are told about Jesus?” Langdon didn't answer. Teabing said, "Let me tell you about the consequences of those documents being unearthed. The Vatican will face a crisis of faith that has never been seen in two thousand years." Langdon was silent for a long time, and said, "But, if it was indeed the Holy See who launched this attack, why did they take action only now? Why did they wait for so many years? The Priory has been keeping the Holy Grail documents in its collection all these years. They It does not pose a direct threat to the Holy See." Teabing sighed, "Robert, I think you should be very familiar with the final duties of the Priory." Langdon choked at the thought. "yes." Teabing said: "Miss Neveu, the Holy See and the Priory have maintained a tacit agreement over the years. That is: the Holy See will not attack the Priory, and the Priory will keep the Holy Grail document and will not publicize it to the outside world. " He paused, then continued: "However, the Priory has always had a plan to reveal this secret. When a specific historical moment comes, the Priory will break the silence, announce to the world the existence of the Holy Grail Document and preach The true story of Jesus Christ, and complete victory." Sophie looked at Teabing silently.Finally, she sat down too. "And you think that moment in history is coming, don't you? And the Holy See knows about it?" Teabing said, "Just speculation. But it's enough to prompt the Holy See to launch an all-out assault to find the Grail Documents before it's too late." Langdon was disturbed. He thought Teabing was right. "Do you think the Holy See can really find enough evidence to prove when the Priory revealed its secret?" "Why not? If the Holy See can find out who the Priory members really are, they must already know about the Priory's plans. Even if they don't know the exact time, their superstition will serve them well." "Superstition?" Sophie asked puzzled. Teabing said: "According to the prophecy, we are in an era of great change. The millennium has just passed, and then the age of Pisces, which lasted for two thousand years, ended. You must know that the fish is also a sign of Jesus. Just like the star symbol According to scholars, the idea of ​​Pisces is that humans must be told what to do by something greater than themselves, because humans cannot think for themselves. Therefore, it was an era full of strong religious beliefs. But now, we We entered the age of Aquarius. And the idea of ​​this era is that human beings will grasp the truth and think independently. The conceptual shift is so great, and this shift is happening." Langdon shuddered.He has never been interested in the prophecies of the stars, and he doesn't really believe in them.But he knew there were some in the Holy See who believed it. "The Holy See calls this transitional period 'the end of the world'." Sophie asked suspiciously: "Are you saying that the Age of Aquarius is the end of the world?" Langdon said, "No. This is a very common misunderstanding. Many religions refer to 'the end of the day', but that does not refer to the end of the world, but to the end of an era—the Age of Pisces. You know, this Pisces The age started from the year Jesus was born, went through two thousand years, and ended after the millennium. Now, we have entered the age of Aquarius, and the end of the age of Pisces has come." Teabing added: "Many historians of the Holy Grail believe that this moment in history is indeed symbolic if the Priory really intends to reveal the secret. Many scholars of the Priory, including myself Inside, it was predicted that the Priory would reveal the secret in the millennium. Now it seems that they didn't do that. Of course, the Roman calendar doesn't exactly match the astrological signs, so the prediction is up in the air. Whether the Holy See has now Whether the inside sources say the exact date is imminent, or just superstitious belief in astrological prophecy has made them very nervous, I cannot be sure. It does not matter, however. Either of these two assumptions is enough to explain why the Holy See Make a pre-emptive attack on the Priory." Teabing frowned. "Believe me, if the Holy See finds the Holy Grail, they will destroy it. They will take those documents and the venerable Mary Magdalene." Destroy all the remains of Rah." His eyes were red. "Then, my dear, with the disappearance of the Holy Grail document, all the evidence is gone. The Holy See will win the battle of the century and rewrite history. The truth of history will be erased forever." Sophie slowly He took out the cross-shaped key from his sweater pocket and handed it to Teabing. Teabing took it over and looked at it carefully. "God, the emblem of the Priory. Where did you get it?" "My grandfather gave it to me tonight before he died." Teabing fumbled with the cross-shaped key. "It's a church key, isn't it?" She took a deep breath. "This key led us to the keystone." Teabing jerked his head up, unable to believe his ears. "That's impossible! Which church did I miss? I searched all the churches in France!" Sophie said, "The keystone isn't in the church, it's in a Swiss savings bank." The excitement faded from Teabing's face. "The keystone is in a bank?" Langdon said, "In a vault." Teabing shook his head vigorously. "A bank vault? Impossible. The keystone should be hidden under the rose." Langdon said, "That's right. It's in a rosewood box with a five-petal rose." Teabing was taken aback. "Have you ever seen a keystone?" Sophie nodded. "We went to the bank." Teabing walked toward them, fear in his eyes. "My friends, we have to do something. The stone is in danger! It is our duty to keep the keystone safe. What if there are other keys? Stolen from other dead, perhaps. Enter the bank as well..." Sophie said: "Then they are one step too late. We got the keystone." "What! You have taken the keystone from its place?" Langdon said, "Don't worry. The keystone is in a safe place." "I want to be absolutely safe!" Langdon couldn't hold back the smug grin on his face. "That depends on how often you clean the sofa." The wind outside the villa picked up.Silas was sprawled by the window, his robes fluttering in the wind.Although he didn't hear much of the conversation, the word "keystone" floated through the glass countless times. It's in there. The words of the "mentor" still echoed in his ears. "Sneak into the villa. Take the keystone. Don't hurt anyone." Now Langdon and the others stopped talking abruptly and moved into another room.Before leaving, they turned off the lights in the study.Silas crept up to the glass door like a cheetah stalking its prey.He found that the door was not locked, so he got in with a "swish", and then closed the door quietly.He could faintly hear voices coming from the next room.Silas took the pistol from his pocket, removed the safety catch, and moved slowly down the corridor.