Indeed, soon Hu Ersao brought Song Ke a bowl of wontons and a pte of fried buns.

  Hu Ersao smiled and said to Song Ke, "Painter Song, do you know what happened in the town st night?"

  Song Ke took a bite of the fried bun and shook his head. "I don't know."

  Hu Ersao said, "The whole town knows, except you."

  Song Ke thought, "What does it matter to him what happens in Tang Town?" He is a lonely person, and now he only cares about San Laizi. It seems like if the sky fell in Tang Town, it wouldn't matter to him.

  Hu Ersao didn't care whether Song Ke wanted to listen or not; she just smiled and said to him, "Last night, Zhong Qi's wife, Shen Wenxiu, was caught cheating with You Wuqiang, right in Zhang Shaobing's coffin shop. They say when Zhong Qi and his men broke down the door, Shen Wenxiu was completely naked on the coffin board! You Wuqiang managed to escape, saying he fled through the back window of the coffin shop.

  I really can't believe it; that woman, Shen Wenxiu, is so promiscuous. You Wuqiang came back for just a few days, and she was already with him. It seems Shen Wenxiu won't live long either. Even if Zhong Qi is willing to be a cuckold, the Zhong cn won't let her off. I heard the Zhong family is threatening that if they catch You Wuqiang, they will skin him alive. Even if Mayor You steps in, it won't help. His nephew slept with someone else's wife; he is in the wrong!"

  Song Ke looked up: "Is there such a thing?"

  Hu Ersao nodded, her face full of disdain: "Putting aside that cunning fox Shen Wenxiu, You Wuqiang isn't any better. He's supposed to be a hero of the anti-Japanese war, and if he wanted to have fun at the Xiaoyao Pavilion, he could just go there. If that didn't work, he could go find the widow Yu Huaku, and no one would say anything. But he just had to go and sleep with someone else's wife."

  Song Ke looked at Hu Ersao in surprise, not understanding why she would say such a thing. While Song Ke was still puzzled, the street outside the snack shop became lively. Hu Ersao quickly rushed out of the snack shop, excited to see the commotion. Song Ke shrugged his shoulders; he couldn't eat the remaining two fried buns. A fishy smell was slowly wafting through the snack shop.

  Overnight, Shen Wenxiu had transformed into an entirely different figure. Her hair was disheveled, her face was dirty, and a rge bruise had swollen the corner of her right eye, squeezing it into a narrow slit. Her lower lip was split, and blood was still dripping from the corner of her mouth.

  Shen Wenxiu was bound hand and foot, her head drooping weakly, her torn clothes stained with blood, and her bare feet exposed. She was dragged through the town by the members of the Zhong family cn. An old man led the way, banging a gong and hoarsely shouting, "Come and see, come and see the woman who stole a man, Shen Wenxiu—" Several men were pushing her from behind.

  Song Ke was terrified when he saw this scene. He returned to the painting studio, closed the door, and went up to the attic. He looked down from the window. Many people on both sides of the street were pointing and discussing the disheveled Shen Wenxiu.

  People's expressions varied; some were indignant, others were gloating... and some even threw dirty things at Shen Wenxiu. As she passed by the painting studio, she looked up at Song Ke. One of her eyes showed a resolute look, and the corner of her bleeding mouth revealed a cold smile.

  Song Ke's heart trembled; he felt immense sympathy for the most beautiful woman in Tang Town. He could imagine the extent of the mental and physical torment Shen Wenxiu had endured. At this time, Song Ke truly wished that the self-procimed hero, You Wuqiang, would suddenly appear out of nowhere and rescue Shen Wenxiu from her dire situation. But this was just Song Ke's beautiful imagination. Until Shen Wenxiu's death, the hero You Wuqiang never appeared before her.

  Just then, Song Ke saw Hu Ersao from the snack shop carrying a toilet and walking up to Shen Wenxiu, cursing and spshing the contents of the toilet all over her. Song Ke's eyes widened in shock—how could Hu Ersao do such a thing! His stomach churned violently, and he couldn't bear to watch any longer, closing the window and door.

  Song Ke sat dejectedly on the chair, staring bnkly at the empty canvas, suddenly clutching his head and crying. He thought of another woman who felt extraordinarily distant from him. A strong, fishy smell filled the attic. Song Ke's heart sank into a huge ice cave. The noise from the town outside felt very far away to him. He didn't expect Shen Wenxiu to die so soon and so tragically.

  Just at this dusk, Shen Wenxiu was tied up by the Zhong cn members and taken to the turbulent Tang Creek. The rain had stopped for a day, and the sky had been overcast for a day. Now, the sky had returned to its gloomy state, although there were some dark red, blood-like clouds on the western horizon.

  Zhong Qi and the people from the town office did not appear by the Tang Creek. Many townspeople had come to the creek to watch the spectacle. Shen Wenxiu lifted her drooping head and gazed into the distance with the one remaining eye that could see the light.

  She was very clear in her heart that she would soon be submerged in the murky waters. According to the rules of the Zhong cn in Tang Town, women who committed adultery with other men were to be drowned. Shen Wenxiu's lips moved slightly, and she suddenly shouted out a few lines of a song:

  “Oh, my dear, my heart is higher than the heavens, but my fate is as fragile as paper, oh, my dear —”“Oh, my dear, the smoke has dispersed, the water has flowed away, my heart is shattered, oh, my dear —”“Oh, my dear, the sky is so distant, the road so long, where can I find your trace, oh, my dear —”“Oh, my dear, the wind is fierce, the rain is relentless, my tears are as sticky as blood, oh, my dear —”

  The cn elder of the Zhong family, a thin, wiry old man with a wisp of a mouse-like beard on his chin, held three lit sticks of incense and bowed several times toward the heavens. Then, with a booming voice, he decred, “Put the adulteress Shen Wenxiu into the pig cage—”

  A few sturdy men shoved Shen Wenxiu into the filthy pig cage. She didn't struggle, nor did she sing anymore. She closed her one good eye, the one still able to see the light, and curled her body into a tight ball. Among the crowd, some people ughed, some whispered, and others stood expressionless.

  After pcing Shen Wenxiu into the pig cage, the men added a rge stone and securely tied the cage shut with thick coir ropes. When they finished, the faint red clouds in the western sky had disappeared, and the world was descending into a deathly darkness.

  Under the Zhong cn elder's command, the cage containing Shen Wenxiu and the stone was pushed into the deep waters of Tang Creek. No one heard the voice of Tang Creek’s most beautiful woman again. The crowd watched as the cage hit the water, spun briefly, and sank to the bottom.

  That night, after Shen Wenxiu's death, Zhong Qi drank heavily. After finishing his drinks, he neither joined Town Chief You Changshui for a game of mahjong nor went to Xiaoyao House to torment the prostitute Yang Fei'e. Instead, in the dead of night, he knocked on the door of the painting studio.

  Song Ke, the painter, was sitting under the dim light of an oil mp, staring intently at a bck-and-white photograph. The photo captured the delicate face of a young woman. The attic of the shop was filled with a strong stench. Whenever Song Ke thought of this woman, the smell seemed to grow more pungent.

  At the sound of the knocking, Song Ke hastily shoved the photo into a drawer.

  When Song Ke opened the door, he saw Zhong Qi holding a small oil mp.