Langdon immediately knew that the so-called Black Rock Dungeon was definitely not a good place; it didn't sound like a good place just from the name.
Damn it, I can't leave these two here.
If Langdon says anything reckless, it will be troublesome.
If the situation from yesterday happens again, William swore he wouldn't care about Langdon and Sophie anymore; these two better get killed.
William shouted a few words outside, and several airport police officers walked in. After William ordered the police to handcuff Langdon and Sophie, he led them out of the airport.
Sitting in the taxi, William didn't say a word the whole way. When they arrived at the Four Seasons Hotel, William booked two rooms for Langdon and Sophie, then led them to his own room, pointing to the sofa and saying, "Sit wherever you like. Would you like anything to drink?"
Langdon and Sophie sat on the sofa. One asked for water, the other for whiskey. William took off his jacket, threw it on the bar, poured two glasses of whiskey and a bottle of mineral water, and brought them over to the two. William himself sat on the sofa with a glass of whiskey.
Langdon and Sophie saw that William was wearing a gun holster with a Glock 17 in it. They exchanged glances, and Sophie said, "William, you carry a Glock everywhere you go. Is England that dangerous?"
It's good to have storage space; you throw your weapons into the space when you enter the airport and take them out when you leave. William rolled his eyes at Sophie and said, "It's not that England is so dangerous, it's that what I'm about to do is very dangerous. What do you think I left you behind for? Wasn't it for your safety? This isn't a movie. The people of the Guild won't give up looking for the Holy Grail.
Fortunately, I killed Teabing and Remy. Only the three of us know about this. It took a lot of courage for me to let you go, but I didn't expect you to be so ungrateful and follow me.
Just look at your grandfather and the other three elders of the Priory. These fanatics won't hesitate to kill. You, on the other hand, jumped right in. Now, even if you wanted to get off this ship, it's impossible.
Langdon, I hope you join the Priory. That would put my mind at ease. Otherwise, I can only lock you in the Black Stone Dungeon and keep you from contacting anyone for the rest of your life. As for you, Sophie, if your identity is known to the Guild, they will definitely capture you. After they've squeezed out your value, those guys won't mind throwing you into the river. You'd best live quietly under an assumed name."
"God, what kind of society is this? How could such a thing happen? You're scaring me, William," Sophie complained.
"You can ask Langdon, and he'll tell you how many dark places there are in this world, and how dark the methods of the Church of Light were in history," William said.
Sophie looked at Langdon, who nodded and said, "William, that was just in the past. The current Vatican is very different from before. The Vatican no longer has any power in the secular world. They are now just a pure faith community, not that dangerous."
William burst into laughter as if he had heard the funniest joke.
"What's so funny, William? Am I wrong? The current Vatican is being suffocated by the secular world. People only care about faith and the God of Light now, not the Vatican," Langdon said.
"Alright, perhaps you're right. But didn't we encounter a lunatic like Teabing yesterday? They don't care if the world falls into chaos. These fanatics are either after eternal fame or profit. For fame and profit, there are plenty of people who will do crazy things.
How many people around the world believe in the God of Light? People have become accustomed to the fact that the God of Light is a god. I can't imagine what kind of chaos the world would fall into if believers were to realize that the God of Light is just a mortal, and their faith collapsed."
"Then why does the Priory still protect the Holy Grail? Wouldn't it be better to just destroy it?" Sophie asked.
William was stumped. Yes, since it's so much trouble, why protect the Holy Grail? Wouldn't destroying it bring peace to the world? William shook his head. "I don't know. You should ask Professor Langdon."
Langdon thought for a moment and said, "I don't know. If it were me, it would probably be for history. A thousand years ago, the Knights Templar used the Holy Grail as a shield to blackmail the Vatican.
The current Priory probably just wants to protect the Holy Grail purely. The historical value of the Holy Grail is too great, and the Priory has protected it for over a thousand years. The Holy Grail has become the faith of the Priory."
William thought about it but didn't agree with Langdon's deduction. But what did the reason matter? As long as the Holy Grail itself still had destructive value, it was worth William protecting. It was like an ideological nuclear bomb, a trump card of immense power in his hand.
"Alright, Langdon, Sophie, you two go rest. Tomorrow, we'll go to Rosslyn Chapel together and see what's there," William said.
"Alright, then, see you tomorrow. Good night, William."
After William saw them off, he washed up and went to bed. None of the three realized that while Sophie and Langdon followed William to Edinburgh, a group of over a dozen mercenaries also followed Sophie and Langdon to Edinburgh, and these people were currently waiting outside the hotel where William and his companions were staying.
The next day, after finishing breakfast at 8 o'clock, the three drove the hotel's car towards Rosslyn Chapel, seven miles away. None of them noticed a circular drone, the size of a washbasin, flying several hundred meters above their heads.
Two kilometers away, four SUVs were following them towards Rosslyn Chapel. Sixteen fully armed mercenaries sat in the four vehicles. These people held heavy weapons like AKs and P5s, clearly up to no good.
William's mental power couldn't yet scan a drone hundreds of meters high. Although William constantly checked the rearview mirror, watching for anyone following them, the mercenaries' equipment was far more advanced than those in Black Mountain. William never expected that the one tracking him would be the drone above his head.
"Sir, looking at their route, it seems they're going to Rosslyn Chapel. What are these three doing at the chapel?" Mercenary A said to his mercenary group leader.
"Whatever they're doing, the client for this job is paying two million US dollars for us to snatch whatever those three targets find. Don't worry about them until we see the actual item, understood?"
"Understood, sir."
William drove for half an hour to reach Rosslyn Chapel. The chapel wasn't large and had no reputation in the world. Locally, it wasn't used for worship, so very few people came here. Before 9 AM, there wasn't a single tourist in the chapel, only a young staff member wearing glasses and a casual suit.
William dropped a 100-pound note into the chapel's offering box, and the young man no longer paid attention to the three of them.
As Sophie walked into Rosslyn Chapel, looking at the stone carvings and pillars inside, she slowly remembered coming here with her parents and brother when she was a child, on the day her family had a car accident.
"I came here when I was a child. God, on the day my family had a car accident," Sophie said with a pale face.
William and Langdon immediately knew they had found the right place, the place where the Holy Grail was kept. Seeing a staircase leading down nearby, William said, "Here, we can go down here."
After the three descended into the basement, they saw many Templar tomb sculptures displayed there. William forced open a locked room. After entering the room, Langdon looked at the oil paintings on the walls around the room. It wasn't long before he realized that these paintings all seemed to be by Leonardo da Vinci. Langdon exclaimed in surprise,
"These paintings are by Da Vinci! My God, how can there be so many Da Vinci oil paintings here?"
William ignored the paintings. His mind was constantly replaying those few lines: "Beneath ancient Rosslyn, the Holy Grail awaits, guarded by sword and chalice, resting with the Master's masterpiece, dreaming in peace, gazing at the stars."
Rosslyn was found, and the Master's masterpiece was also found. William looked at the ceiling of the room and saw many stars carved on it. Then he looked at the moon carpet on the floor. William quickly said to the two, "Stand clear!"
After Langdon and Sophie moved away, William ripped up the carpet and discovered the Priory of Sion's crest, a fleur-de-lis. William took a deep breath, touched the fleur-de-lis crest, and realized it was a mechanism. There was another layer beneath it. William pulled open the fleur-de-lis crest, and the secret passage was revealed.
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