My dream connects to three thousand years later.

Chapter 65 Zhang Zihai

Zhang Xu followed behind Zhang Hai, and his face darkened as he looked at Zhang Hai's attitude and Chu Zhu's utterly disrespectful words.

But seeing that Zhang Hai had no objections, he ultimately said nothing... If the old man had no objections, what could he say?
……

The inner nave of the church.

Compared to the outer hall where Mass is held, this place is slightly smaller. However, the walls are adorned with various statues of angels, and the ceiling above the inner hall isn't a wall, but rather covered with glazed tiles—

Sunlight shines through the glazed tiles, casting a dazzling array of colors that illuminate the golden angel statues, making them appear lifelike and almost alive.

This doesn't look like a room; it looks more like an art gallery!
Chu Zhu surveyed her surroundings with admiration.

"I only wish to believe in God!" Zhang Hai said respectfully, his hands clasped together.

The nuns and priests who had rushed out with Zhang Hai earlier and surrounded him also put their hands together, murmured a phrase, and then tactfully indicated that they were taking their leave.

A moment later, only Zhang Hai, Zhang Xu, and Chu Zhu remained in the room.

"Mr. Zhu!" Zhang Hai narrowed his eyes. "Let's skip the pleasantries... Since you want to get straight to the point, let's get started!"

He said calmly, "What brings you here? Do you need my help? ... If you do, judging from your previous attitude, I'm afraid you'll have to give something in return."

Chu Zhu's previous attitude made it clear that he was not there to convert to the God Worshipping Society—in that case, he had to set a price to get the church's help!

"Are you sure you don't want to kick your good apprentice out?" Chu Zhu didn't reply. He raised his eyebrows and stared at Zhang Xu with interest.

“…You!” Zhang Xu was somewhat annoyed, but then looked at Zhang Hai with some concern.

“Why rush?” Zhang Hai said calmly. “There’s nothing I can’t reveal to outsiders! Everything I’ve done in my life is crystal clear!”

"Oh, including the fact that you were once a Buddhist, later betrayed Buddhism, and then joined the God Worshipping Society?" Chu Zhu rubbed his chin.

The emotion on Zhang Xu's face froze: "...?"

He stared at Zhang Hai in disbelief. "No... Master, are you an undercover agent?"

Then why were you so confident before?!

"...So you knew!" Zhang Hai paused for a moment, because Zhang Zihai was his secular name when he entered the Buddhist order. But the problem was, according to Buddhist records, he should already be dead...

Even within the God Worshipping Society, only that one person knew his Buddhist identity!
"Are you...an acquaintance of Senior Brother Zide?" After thinking it over, Zhang Hai felt that the person most likely to reveal his identity was his senior brother in Buddhism—the person in the God Worshipping Society who knew his identity would never reveal it!

However, even if he is a senior brother in his Buddhist sect... theoretically, a senior brother would not reveal this identity to an ordinary person.

My senior brother lives in the snowy mountains of western Sichuan! That's more than a thousand miles away from Jinghai City.
However, he was also quite certain that Chu Zhu could not possibly be his senior brother's disciple—

The reason is simple: if Mr. Zhu from the shantytown redevelopment area is indeed the abbot of Baima Temple, one of the thirty-two Buddhist temples in the snowy mountains, and a disciple of Brother Zide, then the number of Buddhists in the shantytown redevelopment area should already be overwhelming.

In reality, Buddhists in the shantytown redevelopment area are practically non-existent.

"No, no, no!" Chu Zhu smiled and held up a finger, shaking it gently. She asked in a mysterious tone, "Do you remember why you defected from Buddhism?" Zhang Hai didn't speak, but his gaze towards Chu Zhu sharpened.

"Sixteen years ago, you went to Tianjing, hoping to spread Buddhism from the Western Regions! However, Tianjing was full of hidden talents, and you encountered great setbacks there. You were no match for the local Buddhist masters in Tianjing when it came to Buddhism! You lost every single one of the twelve battles." Chu Zhu said calmly, "Afterwards, in order to prove your Buddhist heart, you wanted to reenact the Buddha's story, offering your own flesh to feed the eagles and saving the suffering people."

“However,” Chu Zhu said firmly, her gaze intense, “the final result will exceed your imagination! You had good intentions, but you have been met with extremely bad consequences.”

Zhang Hai's gaze became distant at this moment, as if he were recalling something.

“Sun Xuemei is still alive,” Chu Zhu finally said.

Zhang Hai's emotions finally surged violently. He stared at Chu Zhu in disbelief, "...What did you say?"

"I said, that woman is still alive!" Chu Zhu said calmly. "She's in the shantytown redevelopment area. In fact, she even had a child, who's thirteen years old now!"

Zhang Hai closed his eyes, and after a brief silence, he laughed, "In that case... that's good! That's good!"

Sixteen years ago, he defiantly clashed with the Buddhist community in Tianjing to save a prostitute. But in the end, he still couldn't save that woman…

Just because that woman was a prostitute?
So, in the eyes of Buddhism, they are not worth saving?

Even if he dies, he deserves it.

He doesn't accept that!
He even came to believe that all the Buddhist masters in Tianjing were hypocrites. Even though he had lost twelve consecutive Buddhist debates, and he acknowledged that the Buddhist masters in Tianjing were highly accomplished in their teachings—he absolutely refused to acknowledge that these people, these hypocritical individuals, were truly devout Buddhists!

Those who believe in the Dharma but lack humanity are not true Buddhists!

But in the end, he didn't even get to see that woman one last time... He only heard the news of her death!

Even later, at the official level, he, or rather Zhang Zihai, was also dead...

Now, he heard news of that woman again...

Even if that woman had a child, perhaps she could truly be living a normal life now?

If that's the case, then even though he made such a sacrifice back then... even though he lost all his Buddhist power, it was all worth it!
A hint of memory surfaced in his eyes, as if recalling the past, the near-death experience... After his official identity was destroyed, he was rescued by the God Worshipping Society and chose to join the God Worshipping Society!
He believes that there must be a religion in this world that is truly dedicated to the people at the bottom of society!
Since Buddhism was not the religion he desired, he went to search for it!

Although at present, the God Worshipping Society seems... however, Zhang Hai is willing to spend the rest of his life influencing and changing it.

"Alright, tonight, an assassin will likely come to kill me! This assassin is the same one who killed several high-ranking members of the guild." Chu Zhu changed the subject.

"Mr. Zhu, do you want me to help you?" Zhang Hai asked with a smile. He had already realized Chu Zhu's subtext!

In the shantytown redevelopment area...

This means that the woman was under Chu Zhu's protection.

Or rather, in the entire shantytown redevelopment area, who wasn't protected by Chu Zhu?

(End of this chapter)