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- The taxi that Zhiqiu and Momo took was speeding along the spacious road, covering two kilometers in just over a minute. ././ When it was almost eight o'clock, they braked to a stop on the south side of **Lo Square. Without lira, Zhiqiu overpaid the driver in dollars. He and Momo jumped out of the car and found that the square was quiet, except for the laughter of a few locals, who were sitting outside the popular coffee shop - a place often visited by literati. The breeze carries the smell of espresso-filled pastries.
Zhiqiu is still stunned by the mistake his Pantheon made. However, after just a cursory glance at the square, his sixth sense was already excited. This square seems to be full of subtle hints of the importance of the cheating party. Not only does the square appear to be a complete oval, but an Egyptian obelisk stands high in the middle - a square stone pillar with a special pyramid-shaped tip. As a trophy of the empire, the obelisk walks among thousands of cities. Various places in the city are regarded by semioticians as "towering pyramids" - sacred pagoda shapes stretching into the sky.
When Zhiqu looked up the monolith, his eyes were suddenly attracted by something else in the background, which was more worthy of his attention.
¡°We¡¯ve found the right place,¡± he whispered, feeling a sudden sense of alarm. "Look at that." Zhiqiu pointed to the magnificent Luo Gate - the tall stone arch at the end of the square in the distance. That arch has overlooked the square for hundreds of years, and in the center of the highest point of the arch is a symbolic sculpture. "Does it look familiar?"
Momo looked up at this huge statue. "A shining star on a triangular stone?"
Zhiqiu shook his head. "It is the source of light on the pyramid."
Momo turned her head and suddenly opened her eyes wide: "It's likethe Great Seal of the United States."
"That's right. It's the logo of the Cheating Club on the one-dollar bill."
Momo took a deep breath and glanced at the square. ¡°So where is that damn church?¡±
?? **The Church of Our Lady of Los Angeles stands there, like a misplaced battleship, leaning at the foot of the mountain in the southeast corner of the square. Towering scaffolding obscures the facade of this 11th-century stone castle. Making it look even more clumsy.
They ran towards the building, Zhiqiu's thoughts were in chaos. He stared at the church in astonishment. Is a murder really going to happen here? He hoped Paul would hurry up. The gun in his pocket made him uncomfortable.
The steps in front of the church are fan-shaped, as if welcoming them with open arms, but at this time it is quite ironic. These steps are blocked by construction equipment such as scaffolding, and there is a warning sign that reads: Building maintenance, no entry.
Zhiqiu realizes that the church that was closed for repairs is a dangerous place for a killer. It means absolute secrecy. Unlike the Pantheon, there are no fancy tricks here, just finding a way in.
Momo slipped through the sawhorses without hesitation and ran straight up the steps.
"Momo," Zhiqiu reminded. "If he's still in there"
Momo didn¡¯t seem to hear what he said and ran up to the main porch, which led directly to the only wooden door of the church. Zhiqiu hurried up the steps behind her. He didn't have time to say a word. Momo grabbed the door handle and pushed it up. Zhiqiu held his breath, but the door didn't move at all.
"There must be another entrance." Momo said.
"It's very possible," Zhiqiu said with a breath. "But Paul won't be here until a while, and it's too dangerous to go in like this. We should monitor the church from outside and wait until-"
Momo turned around and glared at him: "If there is another way in, there will be another way out. If this guy runs away, we will be in trouble."
He knows Qiu by his Italian. Enough to know that she was right.
The passage on the right side of the church is narrow and dark, with high walls on both sides. The air reeked of urine¡ªa common smell in a city where bars outnumber public restrooms twenty to one.
Zhiqiu and Momo hurriedly ran into the smelly darkness. They walked about twenty meters when suddenly Momo pulled Zhiqiu's arm hard and pointed at something to show him.
Zhiqiu also saw it. Directly ahead is a plain wooden door with heavy hinges. Zhiqiu recognized this as a standard holy door¡ªa private door only for clergy. Continuous expansion of buildings and limited real estate have squeezed these side gates into inconvenient lanes, and most of these gates have been abandoned for many years.
Momo hurried towards the door, walked to the door and stared at the door handle below, obviously confused. Zhiqiu followed closely and arrived at the door, looking at this special ring-shaped hoop, which hung where their handles should have been.
¡°A??. "Zhiqiu whispered, stretched out his hand and gently lifted the ring. He pulled the ring in front of him, and the door knocker "clicked". Momo twisted her body, suddenly looking uncomfortable. Zhiqiu quietly opened the door The ring was twisted clockwise, but it turned three hundred and sixty degrees loosely without engaging. He frowned and tried turning it in the opposite direction, but the result was still the same as before.
Momo looked down at the other passages and asked: "Do you think there are other doors?"
Zhiqiu is suspicious. Most cathedrals designed during the Renaissance served as temporary castles in case the city was attacked, so they had as few entrances as possible. ¡°If there had been another way in,¡± he said, ¡°it would have been embedded in the fortress at the rear¡ªnot so much an entrance as an escape route.¡±
Momo has left.
Zhiqiu followed her into the depths of the passage. The walls on both sides soared into the sky. A bell rang somewhere, it was eight o'clock
Zhiqiu didn¡¯t hear Momo calling him at first. He slowly approached a stained glass window blocked by a fence and was about to look into the church.
"Zhiqiu!" She called softly, raising her voice.
Zhiqiu looked up and saw Momo at the end of the passage. She pointed to the back of the church and waved to him again. Zhiqiu reluctantly ran towards her slowly. At the base of the back wall, a barrier of stone stretched out to cover a narrow hole¡ªa flat passage. Cut right into the church's foundation.
"An entrance?" Momo asked.
Zhiqiu nodded. It's actually an outlet, but we don't have to be too particular about the words.
Momo knelt down and looked hard into the tunnel. "Let's go check the door and see if it's open."
Zhiqiu opened his mouth to object. But Momo took his hand and dragged him to the entrance of the cave.
"Wait a minute." Zhiqiu said.
She turned to look at him impatiently.
Zhiqiu sighed and said, "I'll go in first."
Momo looked surprised. "More chivalrous?"
¡°The older ones come first than the pretty ones.¡±
"Is this a compliment?"
Zhiqiu smiled slightly, walked past her, and got into the dark hole. "Be careful and wait on the steps."
He held on to the wall with one hand and moved slowly in the darkness. The rock felt sharp to his fingertips. For a moment, he recalled the ancient myth and how the young man held one hand on the wall when crossing the maze. He knew that as long as he kept holding on to the wall, he would definitely reach the end. Zhiqiu walked forward, not sure if he wanted to find the end.
The tunnel slowly narrowed, and Zhiqiu slowed down his pace. He noticed that Momo was following him closely. As the wall turned to the left, the tunnel opened into a semicircular alcove. The weird thing is. There's a little bit of a shimmer here. In the darkness, Zhiqiu saw the outline of a heavy wooden door.
¡°Oh,¡± he said.
"Is it locked?"
"Previously."
"Before?" Momo came to his side.
Zhiqiu pointed over. The door was ajar, and a beam of light shot out from inside The hinges of the door were cracked by an old crossbar and were still stuck in the wood.
They stood in silence for a while. Then. In the darkness, Zhiqiu felt Momo's hands groping on his chest and quietly reaching into his coat.
"Relax, detective," she said, "I'm just looking for a gun."
At that moment, a garden guard task force was spreading out in all directions within the Land of the Prophet Museum. The museum was dark. The guardsmen all wore U.S. Navy military-style infrared goggles. Wearing these glasses, everything looks like a weird green shade. Each guard wears headphones with an antenna-like detector attached to them. The detector sways rhythmically in front of them¡ªa device they use twice a week. Used to detect eavesdropping devices within the Holy See. They methodically examined behind statues, in alcoves and hidden cupboards. And under the furniture. Those antennas make a sound when they detect even the smallest magnetic field.
But tonight, they didn't detect anything.
In the gradually dimming light. **The interior of Notre Dame de Los Angeles is like a dark, deep cave. It is less like a cathedral and more like an unfinished subway station. The main hall is like an obstacle course; cracked floors, brick platforms, small earth pushers, wheelbarrows and even a rusty backhoe are everywhere. Giant columns rise from the ground to support the vaults. Then, in the soft light reflected from the stained glass, you can see fine grains of sand floating leisurely in the air. Zhiqiu and Momo stood under the unfolded murals and looked at the destroyed altar.
? ??No movement. There was dead silence.
Momo held the gun in front of him with both hands. Zhiqiu looked at his watch: 8:04 pm. We must be crazy to stay here, Zhiqiu thought, it's too dangerous. He knew very well that even if the murderer was inside, he could go out through any exit. It was obviously useless to rely on a gun to monitor outside. Catching him inside was the only way outif he was still here. Zhiqiu made a mistake in the Pantheon that caused everyone to miss a good opportunity. This mistake made him feel guilty. Now he no longer insists on taking precautions; he is the one who got everyone into this predicament.
Momo glanced at the church, looking anxious. "So," she whispered, "where is Ziggy's Chapel?"
Zhiqiu stared at the back of the church in the dim light, carefully observing the outer wall. Unlike ordinary churches, Renaissance churches always had a chapel, and large churches like Notre Dame in Paris even had several chapels. The chapels were not so much rooms as apertures¡ªsemi-circular niches within the church's perimeter walls that contained tombs.
¡°Oops,¡± Zhiqiu said, looking at the four niches on each side wall. There are eight chapels in total, and although eight is not a particularly large number, due to maintenance, all eight openings are blocked by huge polyurethane curtains. The translucent curtains are apparently intended to prevent layers of ash from falling into the tombs in the niches. middle.
"Every opening with a curtain may be one." Zhiqiu said, "There's no way to know which one is Ziggy Chapel without going in and taking a look. This is a valid reason, let's wait for Paul¡ª¡ª"
"Which semicircular niche is the second from the left?" Momo asked.
Zhiqiu looked at her carefully and was surprised that she could speak such architectural terms. "The semicircular alcove second from the left?"
Momo pointed at the wall behind him. A decorative tile is set deep into the stone. Engraved on it was a mark exactly like what they had seen outside - a pyramid beneath a shining star. The dusty sign next to it read:
Ziggy¡¯s Shield
His mausoleum is located in
The second semicircular niche from the left of the church
Zhiqiu nodded. Ziggy's coat of arms is a pyramid and a star? He suddenly found himself wondering whether his wealthy sponsor had been a member of the Traitor Faction. He nodded towards Momo. "Well done."
"What?"
¡°It¡¯s nothing, I¡ª¡ª¡±
Just a few meters away, a piece of metal suddenly fell to the floor, and the clang echoed throughout the church. Momo quickly pointed the muzzle of the gun at the place where the noise came from, and Zhiqiu pulled her behind a pillar. There was a moment of dead silence. They wait. Then another sound was heard, this time a different sound. Zhiqiu held his breath. We shouldn't have come in the first place! The sound was getting closer and closer, mixed with intermittent sounds of scuffles. It's like a person walking with a limp. Suddenly, something came into view near the base of the pillar.
"Son of a bitch!" Momo cursed in a low voice and jumped back in fright. Zhiqiu also stepped back with her.
Next to the pillar. A fat mouse dragged a half-eaten sandwich wrapped in paper. The mouse paused when it saw them and stared at Momo's gun barrel for a long time. However, it was obviously unmoved and continued to drag its "standing object" towards the church niche.
"Fuck" Zhiqiu's heartbeat accelerated. He gasped and muttered.
Momo put down the pistol and immediately raised it again. Zhiqiu peeked from the side of the pillar and found a worker's lunch box scattered on the floor. It was obvious that a thief rat had knocked down the sawhorse.
Zhiqiu glanced at the church to see if there was any movement. Then he whispered: "If this guy were here, he would definitely hear that voice. Are you sure you don't want to wait for Paul anymore?"
"The second semicircular niche from the left." Momo repeated, "Where is it?"
Zhiqiu turned around reluctantly and tried to determine her position. Church terminology is like directions for a stage. It's completely unintuitive. He faced the main altar, center stage, and pointed his thumb behind his shoulder.
They turned around to determine where Zhiqiu was pointing.
The Ziggi Chapel appears to be the third of four niches to their right. Fortunately, Zhiqiu and Momo happened to be standing on this side of the church; unfortunately, they were on the wrong end. They would have to cross the length of the church and pass through three other chapels, each of which, like the Ziggy Chapel, is concealed by a translucent plastic curtain.
"Wait a minute," Zhiqiu said, "let me come first."
"forget it."
"I messed up things at the Pantheon."
She turned around. "But yes?Hold a pistol. "
Zhiqiu understood her true thoughts from her eyes I lost my father, I helped create weapons of mass destruction, and I want to smash this guy's kneecaps with my own hands
Zhiqiu realized that it was useless to argue anymore and simply let her go. He followed her, moving cautiously toward the east side of the cathedral. As they passed the first covered alcove, Zhiqiu felt extremely nervous, as if he were participating in some bizarre exhibition game. I'm going to the third curtain, he thought.
There was no sound in the church, and the thick stone walls blocked all outside movement. As they hurried through a chapel, a gray-white humanoid figure swayed like a ghost behind the curtain. Marble carving, Zhiqiu said to himself, hoping that his judgment was correct. Evening, 8:06. Did the murderer time it right and escape before they came in? Or is he still here now? He wasn't sure which scenario he would prefer.
They passed through the second alcove, and the gradually darkening church was filled with an ominous atmosphere. Night seems to be falling quickly at this time, and the changes in light reflected from the stained glass accentuate this feeling. As they walked forward, the plastic curtain next to them suddenly swayed violently, like a gust of wind. Zhiqiu wondered if someone had opened a door somewhere.
When the third alcove loomed in front of them, Momo slowed down. She raised her gun and looked at the stone tablet next to the niche. Engraved on the granite:
Chigi Chapel
Zhiqiu nodded, and they quietly moved to a corner of the cave entrance and hid behind a thick pillar. Momo held up the gun, pointed at the corner of the curtain, and then signaled Zhiqiu to open the curtain.
Better to pray first, he thought. He reluctantly reached behind her and carefully pulled the curtain aside. The curtain moved a little and made a loud rustling sound. They stood frozen there. Deathly silence. After a while, Momo moved slowly, hunched over, and peeked in from the narrow gap. Zhiqiu was also watching behind her.
For a long time, none of them breathed a breath.
"Empty," Momo finally said, and she put down the pistol. "We came too late."
Zhiqiu didn¡¯t hear it. He was full of awe and was immersed in another world for a while. Never in his life had he imagined such a chapel. The Chigi Chapel is entirely built of dark brown marble and is breathtaking. Zhiqiu looked at it greedily. This is what Zhiqiu can understand as an earthly chapel, almost as if it was designed by that guy and the members of the Cheating Faction himself. (Your support on this site is my greatest motivation.)
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