The Priest Kept a Ghost in His Gourd and Let Him Out Every Night novel · Chapter 22 of 24
Chapter 22: The Bell Rings
Zhuoran ate three bowls of noodles at Auntie Xu's long table, in the middle of the morning, with half the village watching from the doorway.
He ate every noodle.
Then he put his chopsticks down and said, "I would like to ring the bell."
Nobody told him no.
They went down to the dock together, the whole straggling line of them, with Auntie in front.
The clerk walked behind, and the Bureau priests stood back by the boats with their hats in their hands.
The great bronze bell hung from its post, green with age.
Zhuoran took the rope in both hands.
"First," he said, turning to face the crowd, "I will read the stone."
He walked up to the memorial in the morning light.
He read it aloud, from the first name to the last, in a clear steady voice that did not break once.
It took a long time.
When he reached a name, someone in the crowd would murmur an answer, a grandfather or a mother or a child.
When he reached the end he stood in front of it with his hands at his sides.
"I do not ask you to forgive me," he said. "I only wanted to say them."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of The Priest Kept a Ghost in His Gourd and Let Him Out Every Night are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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