812 Tough Penance

Qin Guan put forward a second question.

"Is there a Catholic church willing to rent their hall out to us?"

"Um... Actually, we've had some successful negotiations. Our success rate is 60%."

"How many churches did you contact?"

"Three."

Okay, they had a long way to go. Qin Guan knew that renting a church was expensive, but the firm wanted to spend up to 100,000 pounds on it.

"So?"

"We lost Westminster, but Lincoln and Rosslyn are good alternatives. We'll use them for the interior scenes. They are Catholic abbeys after all. They contradict our film with their orthodox ideas."

"Branch churches do not think much of the film. They just want to promote their doctrines."

Qin Guan was Chinese, so he was not under much pressure. The Chinese tended to tolerate different schools of religion, as most of them just believed in themselves.

Thus, Qin Guan didn't take the situation seriously.

A few hours later, the director and producer returned with great news. Thanks to the approval of the French president, they could film in the museum and in the actual room where "Mona Lisa" was.

The government had offered its support for the sake of the French actress and supporting male actor. Besides, the film glorified the French police, which made a good impression on the president.

Politics were all about propaganda, so a Hollywood film would be the best way to show the world the best side of their country.

The three sides had reached a strange compromise. Except for Qin Guan, who was an actor registered in the American Union, there was no other American actor joining the cast. Even the figurants all came from the UK and France.

To be honest, portraying a Harvard professor was the perfect job for Qin Guan. He was the actor with the highest level of education in the entertainment circle after all.

In the first scene, he would be giving a guest lecture about semiotics at a French university. It would be as simple as drinking water for him.

The following night, Qin Guan was standing on a podium. On the large screen behind him were different pictures that changed as he spoke.

Qin Guan exceeded the director's expectations. His lecture was so good that one would have thought that he was an expert on semiotics himself.

The credit belonged to Professor Mark though. Qin Guan had just copied his words and actions.

While he was signing his own book for the students, the director couldn't help but pay him a compliment. This actor looks like an academic!

Qin Guan's suit made him look like a puritanical, powerful professor. The talented students talked with him with worship in their eyes.

A few policemen broke in and interrupted them. A good friend of his had been murdered. Before dying, he had left several symbols in the Louvre. Nobody knew what they meant, so as an expert, Qin Guan had attracted the attention of the French police. They wanted to cooperate with him to find the killer.

Qin Guan finished his long scene in one take. Howard, who was a guy who noticed details, looked like he was choking.

He decided to vent his frustration on the poor killer. The unlucky man was a friar who would be punishing himself in the next scene. One could imagine the misery of the English actor.

Qin Guan, who was a sympathetic guy, was reminded by Wang to follow them. He took a bag of snacks with him.

He was only going for fun.

...

There were still a few traditional friars in some Catholic abbeys. Their school used to prevail in the Middle Ages, but was now experiencing a decline. Those guys tortured their own flesh to repent for their sins and experience the suffering of Jesus on the cross.

Their method was to beat their backs with thick, heavy whips late at night. The sincere men beat themselves until their skin split and their flesh broke as they suffered through the pain of the Father.

The killer was one of them.