In the evening, almost seven o'clock, the stagecoach arrived in Avignon. The distance from Marseille to Paris is almost 200 to 300 fars (the traditional French unit of length, one farey is equal to about four kilometers), which is obviously not something that can be reached by a stagecoach in a short time. In fact, there is no stagecoach directly from Marseille to Paris, and passengers who travel to Paris by stagecoach are generally constantly changing trains one by one.

In the twilight, the stagecoach drove through the towering walls of Avignon into the ancient city. After getting out of the car, Joseph looked up and could see the Papal Palace towering over the hill, hidden in the twilight. Avignon has been the residence of the Catholic Pope for a long time, and although the Pope has long since returned to the Vatican, the city is still a direct territory of the Holy See. This special status would not change until after the outbreak of the Revolution.

"That's the Papal Palace." Seeing Joseph looking up, Priest Alfonso explained, "Although His Holiness the Pope is no longer here, it is still a holy place. ”

"Can I go in and have a look?" Joseph asked.

"Ah, son, I'm afraid it won't work. It's not a place for anyone to get into. "As a messenger of the Church, I have traveled many times between Marseille and Paris, and each time I pass through here, but each time I can only look at this sacred palace." Well, Bishop Minière has been there, and if you are interested in what is going on inside, you can ask the bishop yourself in the future. ”

When Joseph heard this, he shook his head and said, "I don't need to ask the bishop, I think I should be able to go in myself in the future." ”

Alfonso heard this, thinking that he meant that he could become a bishop himself, so he smiled and said, "This is what the Bishop expects from you. ”

But that's not what Joseph really meant. Joseph knew that in a few years, the Great Revolution would break out. During the Revolution, especially during Robespierre, Catholicism was knocked to the ground and trampled on 10,000 feet. Almost all the churches were confiscated and converted into so-called "rationalist" churches. The icons in the churches have also been replaced with busts or full-length statues of revolutionary leaders and heroes of all ages. Such a bastion of reactionary forces as the Papal Palace is no exception. At that point, it would be so easy to get in and see.

Avignon is still a direct domain of the Holy See, and because Jesus had driven out the merchants who were doing business in the temple of Jehovah, the city of Avignon was much less commercial than other cities of similar size, and there were no noisy merchants in the city, and some of the people walking around were dressed in black robes, and most of the rest were devout pilgrims.

Of course, Joseph understood that this was only a superficial phenomenon, and that there were few institutions in the world that could compare with the Holy See in terms of greed for money and business. After all, people invented the amulet and could sell a feather of a poultry as an angel feather. But on the surface, they still have to pretend to be holy.

After getting off the bus, the passengers said goodbye to each other in a friendly manner, and Joseph followed Priest Alfonso along the street for about a hundred fathoms (the old French unit of length, about 1624 meters), and came to the dark gate of a monastery. However, Priest Alfonso did not go directly to the door, but turned to the right, to a small door on the right, which was also pitch black, and then raised his hand and knocked lightly.

The small door did not open, except that there was a window with an iron fence on the small door. The window was pulled open, and an eye appeared in the small window.

"I am a messenger sent to Paris by Bishop Minière, Bishop of Corsica. Going to spend the night here. This is the bishop's godson, and he will go with me to Paris. Priest Alfonso said as he handed over a document.

The eye looked at Alfonso, then at Joseph, then at the window with one hand to take the paper, and then the small window on the small door was closed.

After a while, with a creak, the small door, which seemed to be rusty, was opened. A large man dressed in black clergyman's attire with a hood covering most of his face was revealed. The hunched man stood hunched down the dark hallway, silently handing the paperwork back to Alfonso, then sideways. This action caused Joseph to notice that one of his legs seemed to be a little lame.

Alfonso went in with Joseph, and the big man closed the door again, dropped the lock, and then reached out and plucked a horse lamp from the wall, took it in his hand, and walked ahead to show them the way.

There are no windows in the monastery against the street, and the windows in the courtyard are small, and even during the day, the aisles are very dark, and the silence becomes more and more eerie. Only the light of the lantern and the shadow of the lame man carrying it in front flickered.

This kind of scene, inexplicably, reminds Joseph of the dark underground passage of Sacalam Cathedral in the Dark Game. And the big man who walked in front of him hobbled in front of him inexplicably reminded him of the "Dark Wanderer". So Joseph couldn't help but look vigilantly on both sides, for fear that one or a group of red demons with small torches would suddenly jump out of nowhere.

However, Joseph crossed into a normal world after all, so in the dark and long alleyway, only rats suddenly appeared, and there were no monsters, and the big man walking in front was just a taciturn janitor, and there was no inexplicable fire in the place he walked.

After walking a little further, the janitor stopped, took a bunch of keys from his waist, opened a small door in the aisle, and then turned back and said in a deep and incoherent voice, "You guys...... Tonight...... Over here. ”

Then he raised the lamp, lowered his head, and walked in. Alfonso walked in with Joseph. By this time, the big man had lit the candle in the middle of the room. The room was filled with a faint yellow light.

The candle was lit, and the janitor got up and walked out, and when he went out, he walked out of the low doorway with his head bowed. By the light of the candle and the lantern in his hand, Joseph saw a long scar on his face.

As if noticing Joseph's gaze, after the janitor had gone out, Alfonso sat down at the table and said, "He was originally a captain of His Majesty's Majesty. After being wounded in the seven-year war and unable to find anything to do after retiring from the army, he came here to work as a janitor. ”

Then he sighed and said, "Now life is getting more and more difficult, and it is difficult for able-bodied people to live, let alone people like him?" Fortunately, the Church will not forget those who fought for the Catholic Church. God will bless him, Amen. ”

"Amen." Joseph followed.

The next day, just after dawn, Joseph and Alfonso left the monastery again and bought two stagecoach tickets to Lesturstoy. As soon as the two of them got into the car, they heard a voice in amazement: "Brother Alfonso? Little Joseph? ”

The two looked over, but saw that the two young couples they saw yesterday were also sitting in the car.

"Ah, is that you? You guys also go to Lesturstoy? Alfonso asked.

"Ah, we're going to Lyon." The husband happily replied, "I got a job at a school there. ”

"Sounds like a good job." Alfon Cableway.

"Thank you." The husband replied.

So everyone started chatting, as if they had forgotten the argument that had taken place in the car the day before. However, when they arrived at Leon, after separating from them, Alfonso sighed to Joseph: "I really didn't expect that the influence of that apostate would be so great. ”

"What apostate?" Joseph asked.

"It's the same Voltaire who was dragged by the devil and plunged into hell last year." Alfonso replied in a rare, caustic tone, "This damned apostate, when he was dying, is said to have uttered blasphemy that he would bury himself half in the church and leave him half outside. So that if he gets away with going to heaven, he will go to heaven from that half of the church, and if he will be sent to hell if - not really if but definitely - he can escape from the outer half. Oh, where can he escape from the hand of the living God? He must be very warm in that big fire pit now, hahahaha......"

"But Mr. Gregor doesn't seem to have mentioned Voltaire just now." "And there doesn't seem to be anything particularly unreasonable about what he said." ”

"You're right." "He didn't really mention the apostate directly. But a lot of his views, well, the ideas that you think are not unreasonable, even very reasonable, actually come from that apostate. You see, Joseph, this is exactly where the devil is terrible.

The devil never shows his true colors to people, on the contrary, they disguise themselves as prophets, saints, and tempt you and lead you to evil with their seemingly brilliant 'teachings'. This is the most terrible and dangerous place for those apostas, the devils, the false prophets, the antichrists. Child, you must know that the Demon King Lucifer was originally the most glorious archangel beside God. It also has a deceptive glow on it. So, if we don't trust the church, it's easy to be deceived by them. May God punish them, Amen! ”