Forbidden Land – CH 081

The next day was Saturday. During dinner, Chen Rong found Zhang Chao and said, “After dinner, I’ll take you to a nice place.”

Zhang Chao smiled and said, “What a great place!”

Chen Rong said, “The fellowship.”

Zhang Chao looked puzzled. “What fellowship?”

Chen Rong said, “It’s that Brother Yang I mentioned to you last time. Didn’t he say he’d explain why you could see that?”

Zhang Chao asked, “Is Brother Yang free?”

Chen Rong shook her head. “Brother Yang is currently on a business trip and hasn’t returned to Hangzhou. Today, we’re going to the Zijingang Fellowship. A fellowship is a small group under a Christian pastoral district. The Zijingang Fellowship is near Wangyue Apartments.”

Wangyue Apartment was a residential complex located outside the back gate of Zijingang Park. It was made up of houses allocated to local farmers as part of their land expropriation, and now most of them are rented to students or people working nearby.

Zhang Chao was interested in Brother Yang, but he had no interest in this Christian fellowship. People had tried to evangelize him before, and whenever they mentioned “our Father in heaven,” he would bluntly say, “Your Father in heaven has nothing to do with me.” The evangelicals were generally good-natured and wouldn’t argue back, but seeing his “character” was clearly incorrigible, they wouldn’t continue preaching the Lord’s love to him.

Now, he was hesitant about attending the fellowship, wondering if he would encounter the evangelicals he had previously driven away.

Chen Rong pleaded, “Just go! The people in the church are all very nice. Whether you believe it or not, they are very welcoming. Besides, these past few days have been weighing on your mind. Going there to experience the power of the Bible and strengthen your faith would be a good thing.” Zhang Chao was reluctant to go, but seeing Chen Rong’s insistence, he had no choice but to agree.

Around 6 PM, the two left through the school’s back gate and arrived at Wangyue Apartment. Chen Rong led him to an apartment building, up to the fourth floor, and knocked on the door.

The door opened, and a round-headed, square-faced man wearing glasses came out. Upon seeing Chen Rong, he greeted her warmly, “Ah, Chen Rong is here! Come in, come in! And this is…”

Chen Rong smiled and said, “This is Mu Daoyou ^{(Fellow Daoist Mu)}.”

Zhang Chao, not understanding the meaning of “Fellow Daoist Mu,” simply nodded, “Yes, yes, I’m Mu Daoyou; I’m Mu Daoyou.”

Chen Rong then introduced the round-headed, square-faced man. “This is Chen Zhong; we all call him Brother Zhong.”

“Oh, Brother Zhong, hello,” Zhang Chao whispered in Chen Rong’s ear, “Why does it sound like a mob boss’s address?”

Chen Rong covered her mouth and chuckled. Chen Zhong welcomed them in. There were more than ten male and female classmates inside, who greeted them warmly. “Sister Rong, long time no see! You’re here!” “Sister Rong, you haven’t introduced this classmate yet…”

Chen Rong introduced everyone to Zhang Chao one by one. There were quite a few people, and he couldn’t remember them all, only two group leaders, both beautiful: Xu Haixia from the School of Economics and Sun Jing from the School of Foreign Languages. Both were older than him, so he reluctantly called them “Sister Haixia” and “Sister Jing.”

He wondered to himself, “Why do I have to call everyone ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ here? Are there even uncles and elder brothers here?”

They sat together for a while, chatting casually. Zhang Chao gradually felt that everyone here was incredibly sincere and warm, like a close-knit family, and a sense of belonging to a new community welled up within him.

After a while, Chen Zhong came over, looked at Zhang Chao, and said to Chen Rong, “Is this the one that Brother Yang mentioned, the one who encountered some difficulties?”

Chen Rong nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”

Chen Zhong smiled and said to Zhang Chao, “Don’t be afraid; it’s alright. As long as the Lord is in your heart, anything can be overcome.”

Zhang Chao said awkwardly, “But I haven’t become a Christian yet.”

Chen Zhong laughed. “It’s alright, fellow seekers. You all chat for a bit; I’ll go cook you a big plate of chicken. We’ll eat around 8 o’clock.”

The students all exclaimed happily, “Brother Zhong himself is cooking; the taste is so memorable!”

Chen Zhong smiled and went to the kitchen, closing the door, and the others sat down in a circle in the hall.

Sun Jing said, “Let’s pray first.”

Then, everyone closed their eyes, bowed their heads, and chanted, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…”

Zhang Chao sat there blankly. Chen Rong glanced at him and quickly tugged at him, urging him to bow his head as well, instead of standing there like a fool.

After praying for a few minutes, everyone looked up. Zhang Chao was surprised to see that several girls had red eyes and clearly moved to tears during the prayer. He couldn’t help but marvel, “The power of faith is truly immense. If I had that kind of power, I could destroy all demons and monsters.”

Afterward, everyone sang hymns together. Christian songs were generally simple; you could learn them after a few repetitions. Although Zhang Chao sang along, his voice was noticeably soft, barely audible to himself. Looking at the expressions of the others, they became increasingly happy as they sang, eventually standing up and dancing. He couldn’t understand it at all. It was just singing; even in karaoke, they weren’t this excited. Now, without any background music, they were actually reaching a climax.

After the singing, there was a sermon. Afterwards, Chen Zhong brought out a large plate of chicken, and everyone ate together. Afterwards, everyone returned to school, but Chen Zhong called Zhang Chao down. “Zhang Chao, do you have time to talk today?”

Zhang Chao immediately knew what they wanted to talk about. He had a lot of unanswered questions and desperately needed someone to explain them to him, so he quickly replied, “Yes, I have time.”

Chen Zhong smiled and saw the other students off, and now only he, Chen Rong, and Zhang Chao remained in the house. Chen Zhong said warmly, “Come, sit down. Make yourself at home.”

After Zhang Chao and Chen Rong sat down, Chen Zhong spoke first, “I heard from Brother Yang that you saw a ghost?”

Zhang Chao was taken aback, then said, “I don’t know if it was a ghost, but my girlfriend died before, and I don’t know why, but I later lost my memory and forgot that she was dead. As a result, for the next few weeks, she came to see me almost every night, and I talked to her.”

Chen Zhong nodded and said, “Hmm… if I may ask an inappropriate question, did she ever harm you?”

Zhang Chao was startled, then shook his head. “No. By the way, do Christians believe in ghosts and spirits?”

Chen Zhong chuckled, “We only believe in Jehovah, but demons do exist. We Christians have always believed this. The Bible records many stories about demons. Many people feel unwell or get sick; some are due to bacteria or viruses—we firmly believe in science, haha—but some illnesses are caused by demons. For example, if someone goes to a dark place, sometimes it might be because dark places breed more bacteria and viruses, and sometimes it’s the work of demons. The Bible records the most about leprosy in ancient times. Leprosy was very common in ancient times, but Jesus Christ rebuked the demons from their bodies, and they recovered quickly.”

Zhang Chao’s curiosity was piqued. “Brother Zhong,” he asked, “then tell me, was what I saw a demon?”

Chen Zhong smiled and shook his head. “I don’t know either. Maybe someone did it on purpose, haha. But whether it’s a person or a demon, as long as you have faith, you won’t be afraid, and you can overcome it.”

Zhang Chao asked, “Faith? What do you mean?”

Chen Zhongdao said, “For us Christians, the faith to overcome the devil comes from our faith in the Lord. We live through faith in the Lord. You aren’t a Christian, but the principle is the same: through your faith.”

“Through my faith?” This sounded so familiar. Even though it was easy to understand—if one’s faith was strong enough, one naturally feared nothing—it was incredibly difficult to actually do it.

If you suddenly found someone standing behind you in the middle of the night, would you dare shout, “Go to hell! My faith is so strong I could crush you!”

Zhang Chao knew it was difficult to do, so he sought a shortcut, asking, “Brother Zhong, if it really is an evil spirit or a ghost, can you exorcise it?”

Upon hearing this, Chen Rong and Chen Zhong both burst out laughing. Chen Rong said, “Do you think Brother Zhong is a sorcerer?”

Zhang Chao said seriously, “The movie The Exorcist—I think it’s based on a true story. Isn’t it just a Christian pastor performing exorcisms?”

Chen Zhong laughed. “I can’t do that. I’m good enough to protect myself, but I don’t have the ability to help others. You’ll have to rely on yourself. Talk to Brother Yang when he gets back. He knows your reason.”

Zhang Chao nodded helplessly.

After they returned, walking along the road, Chen Rong asked, “How did you feel today?”

Zhang Chao replied, “Today completely changed my view of the Christian church.”

Chen Rong asked, “How so?”

Zhang Chao laughed. “I used to think they were just a bunch of brainwashed people, like a pyramid scheme. Today I realized it’s genuine faith. Seeing how warm and sincere each of them was, and how happy they all seemed, like brothers and sisters, no wonder they all call each other ‘brother’ and ‘sister.’ It’s really a good thing to have faith; it’s a pity I do not.”

Chen Rong said, “Going to their gathering made me much more relaxed. Sigh, so many strange things have been happening lately; I really need to relax.”