Chapter 103 Chapter 102

Piazza Navona, The Fountain of the Four Rivers. The night in Rome is like the night in the desert. Even though it is warm during the day, it is still surprisingly lingering at night.Langdon wrapped his coat around his body at this time, and huddled beside Piazza Navona.Like the white noise of vehicles in the distance, the news reports echoed through the city of Rome.He glanced at his watch, fifteen minutes to go.It would be nice if he could rest for a while. The square was empty.This beautiful fountain designed by Bernini sizzled before him like a terrible witchcraft.Under the illumination of underwater searchlights, a magical mist rises from the foamy pool.Langdon felt an indescribable nervousness.

The most striking feature of this fountain is its height. The central part alone is more than twenty feet high-it is a rough rockery made of many travertine marbles, and water jets are sprayed from various openings.The entire rockery is covered with statues of pagans.Above the rockery stands a forty-foot obelisk.Langdon looked up and saw a lone dove perched quietly on top of the obelisk, a dim shadow against the night sky. A crucifix, Langdon thought, still amazed at the Marker's arrangement in Rome.Bernini's "Fountain of the Four Rivers" is the last altar of science.Just a few hours ago, Langdon was still standing in the Pantheon, convinced that the Path of Light had been destroyed and he would never find it again.This is really a low-level mistake.In fact, this path of light is intact.Earth, Air, Fire, Water.He's been down this road for a long time... from beginning to end.

We're not at the finish line yet, Langdon reminded himself.The road has five stops, not four.The fountain, the fourth sign, always somehow points to the final destination - the sacred hiding place of the Illuminati - the Church of the Illuminati.He wanted to know if the hiding place still existed, and he also wanted to know if the Black Fiend had brought Victoria there. Langdon unknowingly explored the statue on the fountain, looking for clues as to where the hiding place was.Let the angels guide you on your noble adventure.He suddenly had an uneasy feeling that there were no angels on this fountain.From where he was standing now, there really were no angels there...never seen one before. The Fountain of the Four Rivers is a pagan work, carved with mundane objects—humans, animals, and even a lumbering armadillo.It would be extremely inappropriate for an angel to appear here.

Isn't it here?Gazing at the cross shape formed by the four obelisks, Langdon clenched his fists.This is the fountain. It was just 10:46 p.m. when a black van drove out of an alley far from the square.If it hadn't been for the lack of headlights on the car, Langdon wouldn't have even had to take a second look.Like a shark in a moonlit bay, the car circled the square twice. Langdon crouched down again, crouching in the shadows near the broad staircase leading to St. Agnes' Church.He stared at the square outside, his heart beating faster with nervousness. After two full laps around the piazza, the van turned diagonally toward the Bernini Fountain.

Drive to the side of the pool, and then drive along the edge of the pool until the side of the car is next to the fountain.Then the car came to a stop, the sliding doors just inches above the swirling pool water. Fog filled the air. Langdon had a sense of foreboding.Did the black evil star arrive first?Did you come by car?The last time Lang registered that the killer had led the victim across the square on foot, like in St. Peter's Basilica, Langdon had almost spotted him.But if the Black Fiend came by car, then the rules would have changed. Suddenly, the sliding door of the van opened with a bang.

A naked man was writhing in pain in the car, wrapped in long and heavy chains.He struggled desperately, but the chains were too heavy to break free.A chain split his mouth in half like a horse in a bit, preventing him from calling for help.At this moment, Langdon saw another person walking behind the bound man in the darkness, as if making final preparations. Langdon knew he had to act now. He took out his pistol, quickly took off his coat and dropped it on the ground.He didn't want the tweed coat to be a nuisance, nor did he want that page in Galileo's Diagrams to be near water.This document is safe here and will not get wet.

Langdon stooped to the right, circled the fountain, and stopped directly opposite the van.The mass of statues at the center of the fountain obscured his vision.He got up and ran straight to the sink.He hoped the thunderous sound of the water would drown out the sound of his footsteps.When he came to the fountain, he jumped over the edge into the foaming pool. The water was waist deep and icy cold.Langdon gritted his teeth and struggled through the water. The already smooth bottom of the pool becomes more slippery when it is covered with a layer of coins that people drop in for good luck.He realizes he needs more than good luck.The surrounding area was filled with mist. He didn't know whether it was because of the cold or fear, but the gun in his hand trembled.

Langdon came to the interior view of the fountain and walked in a circle to the left.He trudged through the water and hid beside the marble sculpture.He hid behind a marble statue of a giant horse and squinted out.The van was fifteen feet away, and Black Star was hunched in the car, hands on the chained Bishop, about to throw him through the open door and into the fountain. Robert Langdon came through the mist in the waist-deep water with his pistol raised, sort of like a cowboy in the water making a last stand. "Don't move." He spoke more steadily than holding a gun. Heixixing looked up.For a moment he looked flustered and thought he had seen a ghost.Immediately afterwards, he curled his lips, smiled evilly, raised his hands as a sign of surrender, and said, "That's fine."

"get off." "You look wet." "You came too early." "I am anxious to go back to my beauty." Langdon pointed his gun at him and said, "I will kill you without hesitation." "You are already hesitating." Langdon tightened his grip on the pistol.The cardinal now lay motionless, looking exhausted and dying. "Let him go." "Leave him alone, you're here to find that woman, don't pretend." Langdon couldn't bear to stop the topic, and asked, "Where is she?" "In a safe place, waiting for me to go back."

She was alive, and Langdon had a glimmer of hope.He then asked, "Is it in the Illuminati church?" The killer laughed out loud: "You will never find that place." Langdon couldn't believe that the Illuminati hideout was still there.He aimed at the black evil star and asked, "Where is it?" "This place has been hidden from outsiders for hundreds of years, and even I only recently. I will die without breaking my word." "I could have found it without you." "wishful thinking." Langdon took a few steps towards the fountain and said, "I'm very close to you."

"Then come closer. It's hard to say who will win." Langdon moved closer, hesitant under the water.Heixixing looked particularly calm and calm, with his hands raised on his head, squatting at the back of the car.Langdon aimed at his chest, wondering if he should have simply finished him off with one shot.No, he knows where Victoria is and where the antimatter is, I need that information!Heixixing stared out at his attacker from the dark van, feeling pitiful and ridiculous.The American is very brave, he shows it clearly.But he was untrained, and that was also evident.Brutality can only lead to self-destruction.Survival is about laws, and that is an ancient law.This American is breaking the law. You had the upper hand - you could catch him off guard, but you screwed up. The American is indecisive...maybe waiting for reinforcements...maybe he wants the killer to make a slip of the tongue and get some important information out. Don't interrogate him until you have landed on your prey. A trapped daredevil is the most dangerous enemy. The American was still gossiping, trying to get his words out. The killer almost laughed out loud.This is not your Hollywood movie... You shouldn't be holding a gun and making a long speech before the final gunshot.You'll see what happens right away. The killer's eyes were still fixed on Langdon, and his hands slowly touched the thing he was looking for on the roof of the car.He stared straight ahead, grasping the thing tightly. Then he took effective action. The killer's actions were extremely unexpected.For a moment, Langdon thought that the laws of physics no longer existed.The killer raised his legs and hung in the air like weightless. He kicked the cardinal's waist with his boots and kicked the chained bishop out of the car door.The cardinal fell into the pool with a splash. Langdon splashed water all over his face, realizing what had happened by the time it was too late.The killer grabbed the van's roll bar and jumped out.At this moment, Heishixing flew towards Langdon through the spray of water with his feet ahead. Langdon pulled the trigger hastily, and the pistol with the suppressor "snapped" through Heishixing's left toe.He immediately felt the soles of Heixixing's shoes step on his chest, kicking him down heavily. The two fell into the water immediately, splashing a spray mixed with blood. The cold water flooded Langdon's body. He first felt a burst of pain, followed by a survival instinct.He realized that he was now empty-handed. It turned out that the pistol had just been kicked away. Plunging headlong into the deep water, he fumbled for the gun on the sticky bottom of the pool.He caught something metallic, found it to be a handful of coins, and threw it away.He opened his eyes and looked around the bright pool.The water rolled around me like a cold Jacuzzi. Langdon was terrified and hid under the water, holding his breath.He kept moving, but he didn't know where the killer would come from next.Gotta find that gun!His hands fumbled desperately in front of him. You still have the edge, Langdon said to himself. Swimming is your forte.Even submerged in a turtleneck, he's still a nimble swimmer.You are handy in the water. When he touched the metal object again, Langdon was convinced that his luck had come.This time it was no longer a handful of coins.He grabbed it out and aimed it at the killer, but that's when he found himself slipping in the water.It turned out that the thing was fixed. Before he could swim up to the bishop's writhing body, Langdon realized that what he was holding was the chains that were causing the bishop to sink.The bishop looked up at Langdon from the bottom of the pool, with a terrified expression on his face. Seeing his appearance, Langdon was so frightened that he couldn't move for a moment. The desire to survive in the bishop's eyes made Langdon very surprised. Shocked, Langdon dove headlong underwater, clung to the chain, and tried to lift him out of the water.His body rose slowly... like an anchor.Langdon pulled him harder.When the bishop's head emerged from the water, the old man took several deep breaths.Immediately afterwards, the old man's body rolled violently, and the slippery chain fell from Langdon's hand.Bishop Bagger sank again like a boulder, disappearing into the foaming water. Langdon plunged into the murky water, eyes wide.He found the bishop.This time, when he grabbed the chain, it moved away from Bishop Bagger's chest... revealing a more sinister mark... a mark that was burned into the flesh. Then, Langdon saw two big feet approaching, one still bleeding.