Chapter 92 Chapter 91

Langdon and Victoria rushed to the main entrance of Our Lady of Victoria Church, only to find the wooden door locked.Victoria pulled out Olivetti's semi-automatic pistol and fired three shots at the dilapidated door latch, which shattered with a crash. There was no vestibule in the church. Langdon and Victoria slammed open the door and took a closer look, panting. They had a panoramic view of the whole church.The scene in front of them was beyond the two's expectations, and it was so weird that Langdon had to blink hard to confirm what was happening before his eyes. This is a richly decorated baroque church...the walls and altar are resplendent.

Under the dome in the center of the church, chairs are piled high, and a raging fire is burning like a spectacular cremation pyre.The fire continued to spray to the high dome.Looking at the eerie scene in front of him, a wave of fear suddenly hit Langdon's heart. High overhead, on the left and right sides of the ceiling hang a cord of frankincense—the cords used to hang the vases of frankincense, suspended over the heads of congregants.However, these ropes are not hanging or swinging the frankincense bottle at this time, but are used for other purposes... There was a person hanging from the rope.He was naked, his wrists were pulled to the sides by ropes, and his whole body was almost torn apart.His arms were stretched out like an eagle with outstretched wings, and he seemed to be nailed to an invisible cross, hanging above the church.

Gazing at the scene above, Langdon was too scared to move.Immediately afterwards, he saw an extremely cruel scene.The old man was not dead, he raised his head, his frightened eyes stared down intently, as if he was begging for help.There was a burnt mark on the old man's chest.It turned out that he had already been branded. Although he couldn't see it clearly, Langdon had no doubts about what was written on the mark.The flames jumped higher and higher, and had already reached the old man's feet. The victim screamed in pain and his body shook uncontrollably. Out of nowhere, Langdon involuntarily rushed out, making a beeline for the fire down the main aisle.A large amount of smoke rushed towards him.A wall of fire stopped him when he was ten feet away from the sea of ​​flames.The flames burned his face, and he, shielding his eyes, fell backwards, slamming heavily on the marble floor.After staggering to his feet, he covered his face with his hands and rushed forward again.

But Langdon soon realized that the fire was too intense. Langdon stepped back again, scanning the church walls.Gotta get a thick tapestry, he thought, if I could manage to extinguish it...but he knew there was no tapestry to be found here.Robert, you have to know that this is a baroque church, not a German castle!Use your brain!He bit the bullet and turned his gaze to the hanging man again. High in the sky, clouds of burning smoke billowed under the dome.The frankincense rope was wrapped around the old man's arm, passed up through the pulleys on the ceiling, and tied to the iron horns on both sides of the church.Langdon looked up at the iron horn on one side.The iron horn was nailed high to the wall, but if he could get close to it and let go of one end of the rope, the taut rope would loosen and the old man would slide out of the fire.

There was a sudden crackling, a taller flame burst from the fire, and Langdon heard a piercing scream overhead.The old man had blisters on his feet, and he was about to be roasted to death.Langdon ran over, staring at the iron horn. At the back of the church, Victoria clutches the back of a chair, trying to clear herself up.The sight above was so terrifying that she forced herself to turn her attention elsewhere.do something!She wondered where Olivetti had gone.Did Olivetti see the Black Fiend?Got him?Where are they now?Victoria walked forward to help Langdon, but at this moment, a voice stopped her.

The crackling of the fire was getting louder now, but there was another sound in the air—a metallic vibration.The vibrating sound kept coming from nearby, seemingly at the end of the chair to her left. It was a crisp crashing sound, much like a cell phone ringing, but this sound was cold and harsh.Victoria walked towards the end of the bench, holding her pistol tightly.The sound became louder and louder, sometimes intermittent, vibrating regularly. Near the end of the aisle, Victoria became aware that the voice was coming from the floor in the corner at the end of the chair.She walked forward with a gun in her right hand, and suddenly realized that she was holding something in her left hand—a mobile phone.Before entering the church, she used her mobile phone to call the commander; in her panic, she forgot all about it... The commander set the mobile phone to a silent vibration state as an incoming call reminder.Victoria picked up the phone and put it to her ear to listen. The call was still ringing, but the commander never answered.

She was frightened, and suddenly realized what was making the noise.She walked forward tremblingly. Seeing the body on the floor, Victoria felt as if the entire church was about to collapse under her feet.The corpse had long since ceased to bleed, nor did it leave any traces of violence, but the Commander's head had been wrung into a terrifying shape...the head was twisted 180 degrees backward abnormally.Victoria tried not to think about the bloody body when her father was killed. The mobile phone hanging on the commander's belt was close to the ground, vibrating constantly on the cold marble floor.Victoria hung up the phone, and the vibrating sound disappeared.In the dead silence, she heard another voice.There was a gasp behind her in the darkness.

Victoria raised her pistol and hurriedly turned around, but it was still a step too late.The killer slammed his elbow on her neck, and she felt a rush of heat rushing through her body. "You are mine now," said a voice. After that, Victoria only felt that her eyes went dark. On the other side of the chapel, Langdon was balancing on a bench, groping along the left wall trying to reach the iron horn, but the rope was still six feet overhead.Such iron horns are very common in churches, but in order to prevent people from messing around, the iron horns are nailed to a high place.Langdon knew that the priests had to use a ladder to get to the iron corner.Obviously, the killer also climbed the wooden ladder to lift the victim.But where the hell is that wooden ladder right now!Langdon looked down at the floor around him.He vaguely remembered seeing it here and somewhere.But where is it?Then, his heart sank, and he remembered.He turned his head to look at the blazing fire, and sure enough, the wooden ladder was on top of the fire, engulfed by the flames.

At this moment, Langdon, in despair, stood on the raised platform, scanning the entire church, hoping to find something that would allow him to reach the iron corner.He scanned the church with his eyes, and suddenly remembered something. hell!Where did Victoria go?she is gone.Have you gone to someone for help?Langdon called her name aloud, but there was no answer.Why even Olivetti disappeared! There was a wail of pain from above, but Langdon realized it was too late.He looked up at the old man who was being slowly roasted to death again, and there was only one thought in his mind.Water, lots and lots of water.Put out the fire, or at least reduce it. "Damn it! I want water!" he yelled.

"That's the next target," a voice roared from the back of the church. Langdon spun around, almost falling off the chair. A brunette thug was striding towards him along the side aisle.Under the reflection of the flames, the thugs showed vicious eyes.He recognized the gun in the thug's hand as the one that had been in his coat pocket . . . the same pistol that Victoria was holding when she entered. Langdon panicked suddenly, panic tinged with anger.He immediately thought of Victoria. What had this beast done to her?Is she hurt?or worse?At the same time, Langdon heard the screams of the man above him grow louder.The cardinal was burning to death, but there was nothing Langdon could do to save him right now.Heixixing raised his pistol and aimed at Langdon's chest. Langdon panicked and his nerves tensed up.When the gunshot rang out, Langdon reacted instinctively.He jumped off the chair and threw himself on the rows of chairs in the church.

Langdon rolled to the floor as soon as he hit the chair, never expecting to fall so hard.The marble floor below was as hard as cold steel, and he fell hard.Footsteps were heard from the right, and Langdon turned to face the front of the church, crawling under a chair and fleeing for his life. Bishop Guidole, who was hung high in the church, could not bear the torture and was about to lose consciousness.He looked down at the naked body and noticed that the skin on his legs was starting to blister and peel off.I'm in hell, he thought: Lord, why did you cast me out?He looked backwards at the brand mark on his chest, and decided that this was hell... But, what a strange coincidence, he actually fully recognized the word.