（Note: This bell is a large, typically metal instrument that produces a deep, resonant sound when struck. Bells are often hung in temples, towers, or public places and are used to signal the time, call people to prayer, or mark special events. Traditionally, bells are quite heavy and have a hollow, rounded shape that amplifies their sound over a wide area. In contrast, a small bell or handbell is much smaller and lighter. It is usually held in the hand and produces a higher-pitched, tinkling sound. Handbells are often used in music ensembles or as decorative items and are easy to carry or wear.）
The incident happened with a large bell about fifty meters away from us. When I jumped down, I vaguely saw it fixed to the floor. But at that time, all my attention was on the red-haired monster and the black cat, so I didn't pay much mind to the bell. Just now, when Xiao Heshang was piercing the living corpse, Director Hao had already gone over and noticed that the bell was showing changes.
By the time we arrived, we could clearly see it was a bronze bell, completely covered in verdigris, making it impossible to tell how old it was. Pojun took an oil lamp down from the wall. Under the lamp's light, close up, one could see strange, grotesque characters engraved beneath the rust. On the side of the bell facing away from us, a crack about fifteen or sixteen centimeters long had appeared. Although I had lost my Heavenly Eye, I could still see the area around the crack beginning to distort irregularly.
When Xiao Heshang mentioned "the trouble spot," he was most likely referring to this crack. Sun Fatty stopped in his tracks from afar. I hesitated, then stood behind Pojun, retreating about ten meters away from the bell. Xiao Heshang and Director Hao held their breath, staring at the crack for over half a minute. Then they stepped back a few paces to a safe distance. Only then did Xiao Heshang exhale heavily and say, "I couldn't see this crack just a few minutes ago. Now it's this big? Damn it, something supernatural is going on!"
Director Hao said beside him, "I was startled too when I saw it earlier. That unlucky guy must have gotten hit by this. Probably stood right next to the bell when it cracked, and when he breathed, he got filled with dead aura."
"Bosses, what's this bell for? There's a layer of purple, mist-like gas drifting around it. Looks pretty creepy," Sun Fatty said cautiously as he walked over and stood behind me, after seeing no immediate danger. But I couldn't see any mist at all.
Sun Fatty's words startled Director Hao and Xiao Heshang. Director Hao didn't quite believe it and widened his eyes. "You can see mist drifting around the Soul-Calming Bell? Great Sage, what else can you see? Can you even see different layers of the mist?"
"Isn't it just mist? Layers?" Sun Fatty squinted and muttered a few words, staring at the bell again. Then he shook his head and said, "Director Hao, I don't get what you mean. I barely see anything clearly. How am I supposed to see layers? Tell me exactly what you mean by 'layers'?"
"Little Fatty, if you can't see it, then don't bother. Besides this bell, what else can you see?" Xiao Heshang became interested in Sun Fatty. Sun Fatty scratched his head and said, "Same as before, nothing more or less." I added, "The Great Sage's Heavenly Eye hasn't changed. He can see and hear what I can't."
Seeing I wasn't making it up, Director Hao turned to Sun Fatty and said, "Great Sage Sun, why didn't you say anything earlier if you could see it?"
Sun Fatty looked aggrieved. "You never asked me. How would I know whether to say it or not?"
"Forget it." Xiao Heshang waved to Director Hao, then turned back to Sun Fatty. "Little Fatty, whether you can see layers in the mist doesn't matter. Come take a look at the mist's movement and tell me what you see. Don't worry, just hold your breath here — you'll be safe."
Seeing Sun Fatty hesitant to step forward, Xiao Heshang explained, "Dead aura only moves through the mouth and nose, not through the seven orifices. As long as you don't take deep breaths directly at the crack, you'll be fine. Come look — how does the mist flow, from where to where?"
Sun Fatty hesitated, then finally walked over, held his breath, and circled the bell for almost two or three minutes. His face turned an unhealthy pig-blood red before he quickly stepped back ten or so paces. When he thought it was enough, he gasped for air.
Before Sun Fatty could catch his breath, Xiao Heshang asked, "Little Fatty, what did you see? How does the mist flow?"
"The flow… of the mist… I can't really say." Sun Fatty panted heavily. Just before Xiao Heshang and Director Hao's expressions changed, he added, "But I saw a whirl here." He pointed toward a spot near the crack.
"A whirl?" Xiao Heshang pointed to where Sun Fatty indicated. "Is the center of the whirl here?"
"One centimeter to the left. Don't move, right here." Following Sun Fatty's guidance, Xiao Heshang pointed at a spot and pulled out his "knitting needle," then started to pierce the spot with the needle tip.
This was much harder than the earlier piercing on the living corpse's skull. When Xiao Heshang pushed hard, the knitting needle bent. Fortunately, it was tough and resilient. When he eased the pressure, the needle straightened again. After several attempts, the needle didn't even leave a mark, let alone pierce the bronze bell.
Xiao Heshang patted the bell and said, "Good bronze. This really isn't a fake — the Soul-Calming Bell is truly a Soul-Calming Bell." Then he bit his thumb, dabbed some fresh blood on the tip of the knitting needle, sucked the wound in his mouth for a while, and spat a mouthful of blood mixed with saliva onto the spot of the whirl.
The moment the blood splashed onto the bell, the rust in that area seemed to worsen. Seizing this chance, Xiao Heshang tried drilling the knitting needle into the bell again. A sharp sizzling sound rang out — the needle actually penetrated the bronze bell, going in more than halfway.
"Everyone, back away!" Xiao Heshang shouted, turning to us. When he saw we had retreated to the corner, he held his breath, then yanked the knitting needle out of the bell. The moment the needle left, he immediately turned and ran back to us before finally breathing normally.
I wanted to ask Xiao Heshang what he was doing, but before I could, a spicy, stinging sensation burst from my mouth, nose, ears, and eyes. It felt like swallowing a big bowl of wasabi all at once.
Everyone except Sun Fatty had a similar reaction. Pojun's reaction seemed even stronger — he crouched on the ground, covering his face, with every hair on his head standing on end.
However, after the discomfort faded away, the previously blurry surroundings gradually became clear. I turned back to look at Xiao Heshang, who was still rubbing his face and adjusting his hair, and asked, "Old Master Xiao, is this the Prohibition Formation you mentioned earlier? What's the origin of this bell? The corpse aura is also coming from inside it, and there's a Prohibition Formation that blocks our Heavenly Eyes?"
"Lower your voice, the noise hurts my ears," Xiao Heshang said, covering his ears. "That was too sudden and intense — these old bones of mine still aren't used to it. Lazi, speak slowly." Seeing his condition, I lowered my voice and summarized, "Old Master Xiao, what's going on with this bell?"
Xiao Heshang nodded and said, "You should have said this earlier." Then he turned back to the bronze bell and raised his chin, saying, "Have you heard of the Soul-Calming Bell?"
Seeing me shake my head, he continued, "This is that very big one. Do you know what bells were used for in ancient times?" I thought for a moment but wasn't sure: "Musical instrument?"
"Sort of," Xiao Heshang said. "But have you ever heard of a punishment called the 'Bell Execution'?"
I was too lazy to think about it and sighed, "Old Master Xiao, I'm not Baidu (Chinese search engine), I don't know everything. Just tell me straight, don't keep it a secret."
Xiao Heshang curled his lips and snorted, "Baidu? Even it would know..." And with that, Advisor Xiao officially began to tell the origin of the Soul-Calming Bell.
During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960 CE), the spread of Buddhism in China reached its peak, with tens of thousands of Buddhist temples across the country. Because Buddhism holds the belief in reincarnation, many high-ranking officials and nobles, seeking to be reborn into wealth and honor in their next life, donated huge amounts of wealth and land to temples while alive. This practice became quite popular for a period. By the time of the Later Zhou Dynasty (951–960 CE), Buddhist temples controlled about 30 to 40 percent of the national land.
Since temple lands were exempt from taxes, this caused resentment from the Later Zhou imperial government, which was newly established and financially strained. That wasn't all — the government needed to mint new coins after the regime change, but brass for minting was hard to come by. Upon investigation, it was discovered that the brass originally meant for minting coins had been sent to temples across the country, where it was melted down to cast bronze Buddha statues and various ritual implements.
Later Zhou Emperor Shizong (Chai Rong) was furious when he learned this. In one night, he issued nine imperial edicts, launching a large-scale Buddhist destruction campaign. From then on, monks were ordered to return to secular life, temple lands were confiscated, and all brass ritual items and bronze Buddhas were destroyed to mint coins. A total of 30,336 temples under Later Zhou were either demolished or repurposed.
Despite the imperial crackdown, some devoted Buddhist followers fled to remote regions and continued secret missionary work. Some monks even began rebuilding temples deep in the mountains. To suppress these, some strange and cruel punishments were invented. Among the most severe was the Bell Execution.
Because monks had a special status during the Five Dynasties period, punishments specifically targeting them were rare. The Later Zhou didn't dare be too harsh either. The official in charge of punishments devised a special extreme penalty for monks. When destroying ritual implements, a giant bronze bell was left behind to serve as an execution device. When an escaped monk who refused to return to secular life was captured and brought to the capital, he would be tied up and placed inside the bell. Then, the bell would be struck ninety-nine times with a mallet. Most monks inside died after about fifty strikes from internal injuries caused by the powerful vibrations.
Since the introduction of the Bell Execution until half a year later when Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou died of illness, 1,019 monks had died under the bell. Soon after, Emperor Taizu of Song (Zhao Kuangyin), who usurped the Later Zhou throne and founded the Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE), revived Buddhism. Emperor Taizu considered the bronze bell a great omen of misfortune and sent it to the Daxiangguo Temple in Kaifeng to be sealed and stored.
It wasn't until the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song (r. 997–1022 CE) that a Buddhist monk from India named Xiao Keye came to the capital Kaifeng and stayed temporarily at Daxiangguo Temple. Whether it was bad luck or lack of protection from Buddha, that afternoon, the monk's meditation room caught fire due to a water leak. Fortunately, the fire was noticed early and was small, but the room became uninhabitable. Xiao Keye was relocated to a storage room.
The first half of the night was fine, but later something happened. Xiao Keye was awakened from a hazy sleep by strange noises. When he opened his eyes, he was nearly scared faint by what he saw. The storage room, which was supposed to be empty except for him, was now filled with countless people.
There were men and women, all kneeling in the same posture with hands clasped, chanting in front of the giant bronze bell in the corner. From their backs, they looked like monks and nuns. Although Xiao Keye's Chinese was still rudimentary and he couldn't clearly hear what they were saying, he vaguely heard some Buddhist chants. Xiao Keye was a novice in the Dao, but even he could tell that the kneeling monks and nuns were not alive. He could only watch silently, not daring to breathe.
At dawn, the temple's bell rang. As Xiao Keye was stunned, all the monks and nuns in the room suddenly disappeared. Even after daylight, Xiao Keye didn't dare stay in the storage room. He rushed out and only felt relieved after reaching the Mahavira Hall, collapsing on the floor.
The news that the storage room was haunted by monk ghosts scared even the foreign monk. Several senior monks of Daxiangguo Temple arrived. Some gossipy ones mentioned that old incident again. The temple's abbot was alerted and personally led the monks in a 100-day ritual to pacify the spirits of the bell and suppress the ghosts inside it. At that time, the bell was named the Soul-Calming Bell.
After the 100-day ritual, no more haunting occurred with the bell. Later, due to war, the Soul-Calming Bell changed hands several times. Unexpectedly, it appeared again on a ghost ship. When Xiao Heshang and the others arrived, they immediately recognized the bell's origin and found that someone had added a new Prohibition Formation on the bell, which blocked the Heavenly Eyes of everyone on the ship.
After Xiao Heshang finished, I asked another question: "Old Master Xiao, everyone's Heavenly Eyes are blocked, but why is Sun Dasheng unaffected at all?"
This question left Xiao Heshang scratching his head in confusion. He looked at Sun Pangzi (Fatty Sun) and said, "Little Fatty, when you were with Lazi earlier, did anything happen to you?"
Sun Pangzi looked up, thought for a while, and shook his head, "Nothing special… Lazi, help me think, was there anything?"
I also helped him recall. From boarding the ship until now, Sun Pangzi had mostly stayed with me. If anything had happened, I would have known. But after careful thought, we could not think of anything unusual.
"Advisor Xiao, let's talk about the Monkey King later. For now, focus on the present," Hao Wenming, who had been silent while Xiao Heshang recounted the Soul-Calming Bell's history, circled the bell several times with a serious expression. "The crack is getting bigger, corpse aura is spilling out. I'm telling you, I'm afraid the Soul-Calming Bell won't hold much longer."
Hao's tone was grave. Earlier, I had been too focused on Xiao Heshang's story to notice the actual bell. After his reminder, I looked again. A layer of purple-black mist was drifting from the cracks, already enveloping the bell. From my perspective, the Soul-Calming Bell was trembling slightly, as if some powerful energy inside was about to break free.
"Boss Hao, is the bell about to explode?" I asked.
Hao Wenming stared at the bell and replied, "Not yet, but with the crack, I'm afraid it won't last long." Then he turned to Xiao Heshang: "Advisor Xiao, prepare yourself. If the Soul-Calming Bell breaks, no one on this ship, living or dead, will escape."
"Let's retreat. We can't stay here… Little Fatty, what's that on your neck?" Xiao Heshang said, noticing a red string with a white jade pendant hanging from Sun Dasheng's neck. The jade pendant looked familiar, but he couldn't recall where he had seen it.
Xiao Heshang couldn't remember the pendant's origin, but I recognized it clearly. I had seen and even kept it for a while recently. It was the same jade pendant Wu Rendi had given to Shao Yiyi. But I remembered Shao Yiyi had already taken the pendant. It had only been a few days, so how did the pendant get to Sun Pangzi?
"A little trinket, nothing special," Sun Pangzi said, not wanting to show the pendant and tucked it back under his clothes. Xiao Heshang ignored this and reached out his hand, "Take it off and let me see."
Sun Pangzi reluctantly took off the pendant and handed it to Xiao Heshang. "Old Master Xiao, just have a look, be careful not to drop it. And… give it back after."
Xiao Heshang barely glanced at the jade pendant. His expression changed to one of slight surprise. He looked up at Sun Pangzi as if to ask something, but held back. Just as Sun Pangzi reached to take it back, Xiao Heshang turned and quickly walked to the Soul-Calming Bell, still holding the pendant.
The corpse aura inside the bell was nearly boiling over, and not long ago, we had seen a living corpse injected with corpse aura. The bell was somewhat ominous to Sun Pangzi, so he hesitated and didn't follow. He could only watch as Xiao Heshang hung the red string with the jade pendant on the bell.
The moment the pendant touched the bell, the purple-black mist covering the bell's surface slowly dissipated. The Soul-Calming Bell stopped trembling and returned to normal. Then, Hao Wenming and Po Jun cautiously approached the bell. Hao was also surprised by the pendant and glanced at Xiao Heshang without speaking, making a hand gesture for "six." Xiao Heshang nodded slightly and ignored Hao afterward.
"I told you, everyone's Heavenly Eyes are blocked, but only Little Fatty's is fine. There must be some trick. This little pendant can suppress the corpse aura inside the Soul-Calming Bell — who would've thought?" Xiao Heshang stood next to the bell, smiling and no longer avoiding the corpse aura as he spoke to Sun Pangzi.
But Sun Pangzi couldn't smile. He frowned and said, "Old Master Xiao, can I still take off this jade pendant? It's not mine. What if he comes to ask for it later?"
"Let him come get it himself," Xiao Heshang said with a half-smile, "That person's skills are great. He doesn't even care about the Soul-Calming Bell." From this, Xiao Heshang seemed to know the pendant's origin.
Sun Pangzi sighed. He guessed the pendant probably wouldn't come off easily. But whether the pendant could fully suppress the corpse aura, he wasn't sure.
He changed the subject, "Old Master Xiao, Boss Hao, what now? Should we keep going down or wait upstairs for Director Gao and reinforcements?"
After Sun Pangzi spoke, Xiao Heshang and Hao Wenming exchanged looks. Finally, Xiao Heshang said, "We've come this far. It won't hurt to check the next level. Better than regretting later."
As Xiao Heshang said this, the little financial rat in Sun Pangzi's jacket pocket poked its head out and chattered at Xiao Heshang, seemingly agreeing with the idea. This rare scene made Xiao Heshang smile slightly.