A Simple Divination, Confession And Punishment

36

　　It was early in the morning, just as the sky was getting light. The shops in the streets of the Municipal Building were not open yet, but people were already going in and out of the alleys next to them, carrying baskets.

　　The small farmers' market gathers people from all over the world who come to Hong Kong to make a living. As a ray of sunlight penetrates the thin mist and shines into the corridor, the light in the sky becomes brighter and brighter.

　　For a moment, the sounds of washing vegetables, killing fish, and sharpening knives were heard, with Cantonese, Mandarin, and English all interweaving together, and the voices gradually became more and more noisy.

　　A large group of uniformed police officers began to patrol the market. Unlike usual, the number of uniformed police officers patrolling today increased from five to ten. Some stall owners were dissatisfied with the uniformed police officers with guns.

　　"What's going on? There are so many uniformed police officers, scaring away customers. Who will pay the bill?"

　　"That's right, we are all supported by the neighbors! With so many people coming, customers will think we have done something wrong!"

　　The one who spoke was the uncle who was butchering the fish. He was wearing a turquoise apron with cuffs of the same color. He pressed the fish onto the chopping board and said a few words while he was busy butchering the fish. He quickly gutted the fish, and the fish's tail swung excitedly. The fish died before he could even call for help.

　　The fish butcher handed the fish to the neighbors who were buying vegetables, shook his head and sighed, "Day patrol and night patrol, I really don't understand what the government is doing."

　　The pretty girl selling vegetables was holding a morning newspaper of "Hong Kong Today" and occasionally discussing with the man who was in isolation selling mantis shrimps. Her face was sallow due to years of staying up late and getting up early, and she was filled with fear when she saw the uniformed police.

　　"If you ask me, the presence of so many uniformed police officers today must be related to the murder last night."

　　Mantis Shrimp Brother hadn't watched the news yet. He stopped putting seawater into the seafood box and asked, "Murder case? Another murder case?"

　　"Yes, another female corpse was found in Songhuangtai Garden last night. The body was chopped into pieces." The person who answered the phone was a housewife who was buying groceries. She was terrified when she thought of the situation reported by the news station. "It is said that except for the head, there is not a single piece of intact skin on the body."

　　"Hiss—" The mantis shrimp brother was so scared that he took a deep breath and opened his eyes wide, "Isn't it like someone peeled off a layer of skin alive?"

　　"That's it!" The housewife also sighed and shook her head, "With no skin on your body, how will you be reborn in the next life? It's really pitiful that you can't even die peacefully."

　　The older generation said that when a person dies, he or she must be buried intact, so that when he or she is reborn as a human being in the next life, nothing is missing.

　　I heard that the reason there were so many uniformed police officers was because of a homicide case, and no one in the market complained anymore.

　　No one noticed that there was a stall in the corner.

　　Chu Yuening parked the stall and began to clear the food materials on the glass cabinet. She placed the mangoes for making sweet soup on the top, then bent down and dragged out the small wooden table under the stall.