Chapter 106 Chapter 105

Langdon returned to the deep water from the dead bishop's side, and the feeling of physical and mental exhaustion gradually disappeared.Exhausted and alone in the fountain, he almost thought he was going to collapse.However, he felt an irresistible impulse reappear in his heart.This impulse was undeniably strong, bordering on madness.He felt a sudden surge of strength all over his body, and his will was firmer than he had imagined. He didn't think about the pain in his heart, put the previous things aside, and concentrated on thinking about the next difficult task. Find the Illuminati hideout.After rescuing Victoria, Langdon now faces the rockery in the middle of the fountain designed by Bernini, hoping to devote himself to the work of finding the last Illuminati logo.He knew that somewhere in this jagged mass of statues, there was a clue that pointed to the hiding place.But as he surveyed the fountain, his hopes were quickly dashed. The word "logo" seemed to "cluck" all around him and mock him.Let the angels guide you on that noble journey.He glared at the statue in front of him.This fountain is a pagan work!How could there be a damned angel!After looking in vain at the statue in the center of the fountain, Langdon subconsciously looked up at the towering stone pillar.Four signs, he thought, forming a huge cross in the city of Rome.

Repeatedly inspecting the hieroglyphs carved on the obelisk, he wondered if there might be clues hidden in these ancient Egyptian symbols.But he dropped that idea immediately.Hieroglyphs predated Bernini by centuries, and people didn't start deciphering them until they were discovered.Even so, he still boldly guessed, would Bernini engrave another logo?Could it be that one of these hieroglyphs is somewhere neglected?A glimmer of hope rose in Langdon's heart, and he looked around the fountain again, carefully examining the four planes of each obelisk.It took him two minutes to circle around, but his hopes were dashed when he saw the last plane of the last obelisk.There's nothing in those hieroglyphs that could be -- anything special for a sign, and certainly no angels.

Langdon checked his watch. It was eleven o'clock sharp.He didn't know whether the time was flying by or wriggling slowly like a bug.As he trudged around the fountain, Victoria and Blackstar kept haunting his mind.After going around again with great nervousness, he still found nothing, and the frustration slowly came to his heart. He was so exhausted that he almost fell down.He threw his head back into the night sky and let out a scream. But the scream suddenly caught in his throat. Langdon looked up at the obelisk.He had seen the thing on the top of the obelisk before, but ignored it.But this time, the thing made him stop screaming.That's not an angel, nothing like it.In fact, Langdon hadn't even considered it part of Bernini's fountain just now.He thought it was alive, another cleaner perched on a tower in the city.

That's a pigeon. Langdon squinted his eyes to look at the object in the sky, and the surrounding mist obscured his vision under the illumination of the searchlight.Isn't that a pigeon?He could clearly see the outline of the dove's head and beak against the cluster of stars.The pigeon hadn't moved since Langdon's arrival, and even the fierce fighting below couldn't scare it away.It had been there since Langdon stepped into the plaza, perched high on the spire, gazing calmly to the west. Langdon stared at it for a moment, then reached under the water, grabbed a handful of coins, and tossed them in the air.Those coins "jingled" on the granite obelisk, and the pigeon still didn't fly away.Langdon tried again, and this time a coin landed right on the pigeon.

A faint sound of metal hitting metal echoed throughout the square. That damned pigeon turned out to be cast in bronze. You are looking for an angel, not a dove, a voice reminded him.But it was too late, he had already made contact.He realized that the bird was not a pigeon at all. That's still a pigeon. Involuntarily, Langdon prayed toward the center of the pool, and then began to climb up the travertine rockery, climbing onto the arms and heads of the giant statues to give himself some height.Just before reaching the base of the obelisk, he stepped out of the mist and saw the bird's head more clearly.

There was no doubt that it was a pigeon.The pollution of the city of Rome covered the original bronze-colored bird body with a deceptive black layer.He suddenly understood that when he was in the Pantheon early this morning, he had seen a pair of pigeons.A pair of doves means nothing, but here is just one dove. The fact that a single dove was the pagan symbol of an angel of peace almost inspired Langdon to come to the obelisk.Instead of the Angel of Peace, Bernini chose a pagan symbol so that he could disguise it in this pagan fountain.Let the angels guide you on your noble adventure.This pigeon is an angel!Langdon could hardly think of a higher place than the top of the obelisk for the last symbol of the Illuminati.

The bird was looking west.Langdon tried to look in the direction the bird was looking, but couldn't see beyond the building, so he climbed to higher ground.Suddenly he remembered a saying of St. Gregory, Bishop of Nice: The soul, once inspired...forms a beautiful dove. Langdon climbed up, towards the pigeon, and now he seemed to be flying.He came to the platform where the obelisk stood, and there was no higher place to climb.Looking around, he knew there was no need to climb any further.The whole city of Rome was before my eyes, and the sight was simply astounding. On his left, the spotlights of the media from all over the world are scattered around St. Peter's Basilica; on the right, clouds of smoke are lingering on the dome of the Church of Our Lady of Victoria; far in front is Piazza del Popolo, and behind him is the fourth and final a location.Those four obelisks formed a huge cross.

Langdon looked tremblingly at the pigeons overhead.He turned his head to look in the direction the pigeon was facing, and then to the distant horizon. He saw the place immediately. The answer is so obvious, so clear, so simple. Now, Langdon stared at the place, unable to believe that the Illuminati hideout had been hidden for so many years.Looking at the large stone building on the other side of the river, he felt that the entire city of Rome seemed to disappear.That building is as prestigious as any other in Rome.The building is located on the banks of the Tiber River, facing the Vatican diagonally. Its shape is a clear geometric figure - a square fortress with a circular castle inside, and a pentagram-shaped garden surrounding the entire castle outside the fortress. .

Under the soft light of the searchlights, the ancient castle loomed before him.On the heights of the castle stands a huge bronze angel.The angel pointed his spear at the very center of the castle.As if that wasn't enough, on the only road that leads directly to the gates of the castle stands the famous Angel Bridge... This striking passage is decorated with twelve tall angels, carved by Berni Nenny himself. Finally, thrillingly, Langdon realized that this city-sized cruciform of Bernini-designed obelisks marked out the castle entirely in Illuminati fashion.The cross-shaped main support runs right through the middle of the Angel Bridge, dividing it into two identical halves.

Langdon retrieved his tweed coat and held it in his hand to keep from getting wet from his wet clothes. Immediately afterwards, he jumped into the snatched car, wearing wet shoes, slammed on the gas pedal, and disappeared into the night quickly.

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