| “ | Yuri. The colonel never forgot about you for a moment. He loved you and his wife with all his soul. | „ |
| ~ Zhongyun Zhen |
Zhongyun Zhen or simply Mr. Zhen is a minor character in the video-game Shadow Hearts. Zhen helped Ben Hyuga and Zhuzhen Li in their previous campaign against the mad adapt Dehuai fifteen years prior to the game but has since retired. When encountered, he and his daughter Qiuhua are at the mercy of the gangster Wugui, Dehuai's enforcer.
Background[]
Zhongyun Zhen was originally a humble sage living in China who acted as a contacted for the Japanese special agent Colonel Jinpachiro "Ben" Hyuga. Ben was sent to China by the Japanese government to deal with a sage called Dehuai, who was trying to expel Japan's forces from his country and take it over himself. Ben was a harmonixer, a human with the power to absorb monsters killed and use their Malice to transform into a monstrous form.
As a harmonixer, Colonel Hyuga was Japan's trouble-shooter for all supernatural problem that arose. Zhen was not only familiar with the Chinese main-land he was also a practitioner of summoning and binding magics so he was matched with Colonel Hyuga not only as a guide but as back-up. Ben and Zhen had worked together before and the two were good friends. On their sweep across Shanghai, Hyuga and Zhen happened upon a gangster named Wugui, who was an enforcer for Dehuai. Wugui was beating an old man named Zhuzhen to death, with the old man overpowered Hyuga and Zhen stepped in before it was too late, Zhen tended to Zhuzhen's wounds while Hyuga single-handedly beat Wugui to with-in-an-inch-of-his-life. Hyuga spared Wugui and let him leave with his tale between his legs.
Zhuzhen, Ben and Zhen all introduced themselves and found they all had a common enemy, Dehuai. Zhunzhen was Dehuai's brother and had trained side-by-side with his brother at the feet of the great sage Master Xifa. Dehuai opposed the occupation of his country by Japanese Imperial forces and plied his gifts to helping his country but his patriotism quickly turned to jingoism and soon following, lust for power of the country himself; Zhuzhen had tried to pull his brother back from the brink of insanity but it only earned him Dehuai's annoyance and Wugui was sent to deal with him from there. Zhuzhen refused to stand aside while Ben and Zhen dealt with his mad brother and joined the two on their quest.
Dehuai's plan to open a gate to hell and sic the infernal forces within on the Japanese occupation force was stopped but at the cost of Ben Hyuga's life. Zhuzhen and Zhen both said their goodbyes and mourned Colonel Hyuga tried to move on with their lives with Dehuai out of the picture. Little did Zhen or Zhuzhen know that though Dehuai had lost half his body in the fight and locked himself away in his tower while Ben dealt with the hell portal, he was still alive and intended to deal with those who had foiled his plans once he recovered.
Ben's family were the first ones to feel Dehuai's wrath and he sent demons to the village where his wife Anne and son Yuri lived. Zhen was dealt with later on; He and his daughter Quighua had bought a bar in Shanghai but ran into money problems with it. Wugui sent cut-outs to agree to loan him some money for the bar and once Zhen accepted Wugui revealed himself as he creditor, compounding interest quickly and seizing control of the bar to "pay-off Zhen's dept". For the better part of fifteen years Zhen's intended retirement in Shanghai was impeded by Wugui, who regularly tormented and humiliated the old man and his daughter.
Shadow Hearts[]
Zhen is first met in-game by the player when part member Zhuzhen, goes off on his own to visit his old friend while he Yuri Hyuga, Alice Elliot and Margarete Zelle are in Shanghai to instigate signs that Dehuai is still at large. Though at first Zhuzhen is pleased to see Quihua his joy quickly turns to outrage when he says a depressed Zhen under the heel of Wugui. Zhen explains his shameful situation which prompts Zhuzhen to deal with the sadistic gangster himself. The fight with Wugui is hopeless and Zhuzhen will again be beaten however, Yuri arrives with timing reminiscent of his father and is able to save Zhuzhen. Like Ben, Yuri will spare Wugui and tell him to go crying to his boss.
Wugui abandons the bar and his claim on Zhen and flees for his life. Zhuzhen and Zhen return to Yuri's hotel room to explain to him the situation and Zhuzhen reveals that he was in-fact the one who killed Ben Hyuga. Colonel Hyuga had merged with the demon that arose from Dehuai's gate to prevent it from destroying the city but could not control himself as he felt the demon possessing him. Ben asked Zhuzhen to kill him to keep the demon from using him to destroy Shanghai, a request Zhuzhen was grimly bound to oblige. Zhen stands-up for Zhuzhen, saying he had no choice and if Colonel Hyuga had asked him to do it he would have done the same thing as Zhuzhen. Yuri, also a harmonixer, understand the risks of demonic possession and lets takes what Zhuzhen did as necessary.
Once the situation cools down and Zhuzhen tells Zhen about Dehuai's current plans that seem to be focused on destroying Taoist totems Zhen points out that the remaining totems are held by Zhuzhen and Dehuai's teacher Master Xifa. Certain they must attend to Master Xifa before Dehuai strikes the team begin to organize a trek to the old sage's temple. Zhen invites the team to visit his bar before they live to allow him to show them his appreciation. Visiting Zhen will reveal he has opened a small alter in the the back of the bar to use as a pit-fit area. Zhen says he will summon the vestiges of monsters the team has defeated previously and allow them to fight them again in a ten round tournament.
Zhen insists that only one member of the party at a time should compete to test their skills. The matches are scaled difficulties but appear in no precise order, it is just as likely to fight Zhen's strongest conjuration in the first match as it could be in the tenth. Zhen will dismiss the monsters if the hero chosen falls in battle to prevent them from being killed but he will require them to start from scratch if they wish to try again. Zhen asks for three hundred coins to start a match to keep things interesting but will pay a couple thousand back with every fight won and will grant each character a special reward if they win all ten.