Chapter 983

We went down from one end of the stone bridge, which happened to be connected to the eighth embankment, and the evil bag was immediately displayed in front of us.

I saw a lot of snakes inside, it was creepy, and there were so many different shapes and shapes of snakes, it is still difficult for my blood to circulate when I think about it.

——Dante's "Divine Comedy: Inferno"

With a "bang", a very thick file with a lot of dust accumulated was placed in front of Joseph. He couldn't help but take a step back, and waved his hands to drive away the oncoming dust.

"This is what you want, Father Gordon's investigation record." The administrator of the Vatican Secret Archives said to Joseph, "You know the rules."

"Yes, can I get a table to sit?"

The administrator signaled to Joseph to let him go, so he carried the thick stack of files to the reading area opposite the service desk, where several scholars were already gathered around to read the borrowed materials.

Nothing is allowed to be brought into the archives, including water and food, and nothing is allowed to be taken away. The experience of body search and inspection is very unpleasant. It is not something ordinary people can do without eating or drinking for a day.

All this is due to the credit of the former curator. The copied papyrus says that UFOs were discovered in Egypt in 1480 BC. What a great feat.

Ordinary people were happy for a while, but those who borrowed books had a hard time. Even if Joseph enjoyed certain privileges, he could not take this material away. He could only borrow secret materials that he was not qualified to read before.

Father Gordon's "Miracle Investigation Report" was only read by bishops and above 30 years ago, and even now it is still not accessible to ordinary priests.

Joseph took a deep breath and opened the black folder. The first page at the beginning was the table of contents.

Father Gordon used to be an army chaplain. During World War II, he did not conduct a "miracle investigation" because of the war. Later, he cooperated with the Taylors for a long time.

He was sort of a celebrity, in a sense, but before he met the Taylors in America he had gone to a monastery in Romania, and no one knew what happened there, not even Joseph I just overheard other people talking about this happening.

He looked through the catalog hopefully, but he didn't find any incidents related to "Romania" and "Monastery". Without giving up, he began to search page by page, hoping to find a few words related to the incidents of that year.

This is a good pastime for him, at least much more meaningful than watching TV in the duty room.

"...There are still a lot of mouse traps in the city, which means that the city is plagued by rats..."

Joseph heard scholars not far away discussing in low voices that "city dwellers are afraid of being infected, so they have to abandon the city."

"They built a sun-shaped cemetery. There must be a reason. In the summer of 375, there was heavy snowfall in Rome. If there was a volcanic eruption in Asia, the volcanic ash covered the sky near Loulan, and even caused the global climate to cool down. They can’t see the sun, so it’s not a tomb, trees may be cut down to build a sun altar for human sacrifices, and it’s also because of climate change that the Kongque River dries up, and Loulan residents migrate because of lack of water.”

"Maybe it's because of the lack of water and the plague." Another scholar said, "Do you think there is any relationship between the frequent activities of rats and climate change?"

Joseph listened intently. Around the 4th century, Loulan, which was once very prosperous, suddenly disappeared from the literature of the East and the West, and was not rediscovered until the 20th century by a Swiss explorer.

The most famous one is the mummy of "Xiaohe Beauty". She was found near a "sun tomb". Her body posture looks normal. The buried people in the sun tomb are all men, and their posture looks like they are embracing the sun. No matter how you look at it, this doesn't look like a normal way of encoffining.

The Basilica of Notre Dame is located in the center of Rome, and the altitude is not very high. Was the snow in 375 a local climate anomaly, or was it global climate change as those scholars said?

It is now recognized that the origin of the Black Death was introduced into Europe with the Mongol invasion, but no definite evidence has been found. These scholars seem to think that the Black Death appeared in Loulan in the fourth century.

Loulan's location was indeed on the way of the Mongols' march. He flipped through the file while thinking, and a photo suddenly appeared in front of his eyes.

It was a painting with a nun in it, only black and white. I don't know if the photo itself is black and white or because the painting is only black and white.

The nun in the painting looked very peaceful, but Joseph felt very uncomfortable. He took the photo out of the file and turned it to the back.

"Valak."

Joseph read the words on the back of the photo, but there was a question mark behind the string of characters, and it seemed that the person who wrote the words was not sure.

Immediately afterwards, he began to read this file, and the moment he buried his head, a person sat down across from him.

Although the reading area was not big, there were plenty of vacant seats. It was obvious that he sat down on purpose, not to mention that Joseph knew this person, and they had met him during lunch.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Baducci, we meet again." Joseph said dryly, Corrado Baducci smiled hypocritically, and he was full of fighting spirit.

"Good afternoon." Baducci said slowly, "You don't follow the Pope, what are you doing here?"

"The devil doesn't show up anytime, anywhere, I'm here to 'reload'."

"I thought you loaded enough ammunition in the 'Holy Cave' yesterday."

"That's material, and now I'm filling it with spirituality." Joseph pointed to his head, "Are you familiar with Father Gordon?"

"Which Gordon?"

"Who else? It's the 'miracle investigator'."

Baducci stared at him and unbuttoned his coat.

"What do you want to know?"

"About his whereabouts in Romania around 1950." Joseph said bluntly, "I heard that he went to a monastery in the mountains."

"How did you know?"

"So, you also know?" Joseph crossed his arms and leaned on the chair, no longer looking at the file. "Tell me what happened."

"Why should I tell you?" Baducci raised his eyebrows, looking at Joseph with a half-smile.

"If Gordon doesn't send the devil back to hell, I will help him finish it." Joseph raised the corners of his mouth and smiled arrogantly, "Have you ever seen a real devil?"

Baducci looked at Joseph calmly.

His fingers were twirling under the table, spinning as fast as his brain.

"Do you know where I was yesterday?" Baducci asked after a moment.

"Playing with blocks with your grandson?"

"I was indeed with a young man, but we didn't play with blocks, we were in Albania, in an abandoned castle." Baducci said, "The Impaler is a demon in the eyes of the enemy, but in the eyes of the Romanians But he is a national hero. Skanderbeg is also heavily indebted with blood. Not only his hands are stained with the blood of fellow Christians, but also the blood of Turks. This 'butcher' is also regarded as a national hero by the Albanians. "

"Have you gone to investigate him?"

"No, to be precise, it is one of his generals. It is said that he, like a Romanian grand duke, planned to make a deal with the devil, but was interrupted midway."

"you mean……"

"After the Pope is safe, you go to Albania with me, and I will tell you what Gordon did in Romania." Baducci said, "Let me explain in advance, that place is not for liars, you will die There."

"Why do you think I'm a liar?" Joseph asked with a smile.

"You look like a liar." Baducci looked Joseph up and down. "Or worse, like a psychic."

"Why do you think so?"

"You look like a hypocrite." Baducci said straightforwardly, "I will strip away your disguise and let you reveal your true colors."

"I wish for it." Joseph glanced at the few scholars, who were still discussing in a low voice, and didn't pay attention to it. "Let's talk in another place."

After speaking, he closed the folder, stood up and returned it to the service desk.