(TN: The Chinese term for time used here, rather than the typical 时间, is the term 光阴, which literally translates to ‘light and shadow’. It can also be thought of as the passage of time, day and night.)
In the Great Hall of Light, the archbishops were thinking of a massacre in the darkness—to resolve the conflict triggered by the youths of the Orthodox Academy, to give all sides an acceptable resolution, if the Pope no longer protected Chen Changsheng, then it was certainly acceptable that Zhou Tong be killed.
However, Zhou Tong was no ordinary individual. Just when everyone believed that the situation in the courtyard of drifting crabapple blossoms had reached an impasse, he was still not willing to accept a conclusion decided by others. He gave the world a conclusion that no one had expected.
The Pope turned his gaze away from the sky and turned to Linghai Zhiwang, the faintest of smiles on his lips.
