The Nine-tailed Fox goes to a brothel

"You said nothing in your defense, so I applied the usual sentence," King Songdi says.

His words are met with a chorus of cheers from the imps and demons.

Wu Yun doesn't have the time to be chained to a pillar for ten years while being grilled alive.

He clears his throat and addresses King Songdi, "There's something I want to say now! I only stole that food because my daughter was sick, and she needed to eat or she would die."

The crowd of dead start talking among themselves. Wu Yun can't make out what they're saying, but some of them have looks of consternation on their pale faces.

"Of course you'd say that now, but who can prove that what you say is the truth?" The King scowls at Wu Yun and slams his gavel against the table. "My sentence is final."

Wu Yun turns around and points at Lan Tian, "This man is my husband, and he can confirm everything I just said!"

Lan Tian's sword eyebrows climb up towards his hairline, and he shoots Wu Yun a panicked look, while mouthing the words, "What are you doing?"

King Songdi points his gavel at Lan Tian. "Are you his husband?"

Lan Tian doesn't waver under the King's intense scrutiny and the curious glances of all the dead surrounding them. "I am, your Majesty."

He shoots Wu Yun another warning look from the corner of his eyes, and walks forward towards the dais, to stand next to him.

King Songdi rakes his eyes over the scrolls in front of him, and then says, "Your sin is the same as his, so let's see if your version of the facts can be confirmed."

The King turns to the mirror. It shows Lan Tian picking up a pear and inspecting it before taking a bite, the image shows some of Wu Yun's profile as they talk, and then both of them while they eat and address someone else outside the mirror's frame.

"If the food was for your daughter, why were the two of you eating it?" The King bellows, pointing towards the mirror where the image of Lan Tian's smile as he eats the pear is beginning to fade.

Wu Yun doesn't allow himself time to panic and comes up with the first excuse he can think of. "Our daughter has a serious condition that makes her believe all food is poisoned. We have to eat everything first, before she'll eat it too."

The King doesn't seem convinced, and neither do many of the gathered ghosts. Wu Yun hears several murmurs of "I never heard of that condition," and, "they have to be making that up."

He ignores them and pushes on, determined to sell his lie at all cost. "That's how we died even! It seems our sweet Wan Mi had the gift of prophecy. Since she was a baby she would say food was poisoned, and like good parents we would try everything in front of her to show her it was not. Until the day we died, when we stumbled upon an old woman who offered us mantous and fell dead at the first bite."

He lets out a loud dramatic sigh, and throws himself into Lan Tian's arms, hiding his face against his chest. "My only solace is knowing our sacrifice saved our little Wan Mi."

Lan Tian sketches an awkward approximation of a bereaved look, and pats Wu Yun's back stiffly. "There, there...uhm...dear."

"Why did the old woman kill the two of you?" asks King Songdi, eyeing them both suspiciously.

Wu Yun curses against the fabric of Lan Tian's robes. Why is the old bastard trying to poke holes in his story?

"She wanted to steal our money," Wu Yun says, glaring at the King.

"If you had money, why did you have to steal food offerings to feed your child?" The King's beady eyes shine from under the shade of his unruly brows. Wu Yun thinks they resemble spiky caterpillars conferring maliciously above his nose.

"We managed to find work after the incident with the food offerings," Wu Yun says, hoping that keeping the story as vague as possible will prevent the King from continuing to needle at the details.

King Songdi leans back against his chair and strokes his long beard, he closes his eyes as if absorbed in deep thought. However, his lined face doesn't show any sign of complacency.

Wu Yun fears he and Lan Tian are really going to end up chained to heated copper pillars, with no hopes of getting out.

"Our village experienced a terrible drought," Lan Tian says, surprising Wu Yun. "We had to flee to survive, and those pears were the first food we saw in weeks, we couldn't let our daughter starve. We are sorry for our transgressions."

Lan Tian's grave expression and smooth voice give him an air of authority and credibility that not even Wu Yun's most compelling theatrics could achieve.

King Songdi opens his eyes and pins him with a dissecting look, searching for the chink in his armour. Lan Tian holds the King's gaze without wavering.

The wave of murmurs from the other dead is turning in their favour. Wu Yun can hear faint whispers of "Such a young couple, how sad," and, "What happened to their daughter? Poor girl must be so frightened without her parents."

Wu Yun decides the best course of action is to remain quiet. He clings harder to Lan Tian, and lets out a few choking sobs, for good measure.

He can almost feel Lan Tian straining not to roll his eyes.

The demons and imps have grown tired of waiting and start to kick up a fuss, jeering and shouting for the King to flay them both alive.

The King beats his gavel against the table to quiet the din. "The two of you have held up my court enough. There are still plenty of dead waiting their trials, and I won't waste any more time. You can go to Youdu and await for my sentence, someone will come collect you once I've reached a verdict."

Wu Yun's grin is so wide it almost splits the corners of his lips. That's exactly what they need. They will disappear in the crowds of Youdu and the King will never find them.

Lan Tian has a better grip on propriety, "Thank you, your Majesty, for your clemency."

King Songdi snorts. "Save your gratitude. If I find out the two of you lied to me, it will be hell to pay."

---

An imp guides them outside King Songdi's court, mumbling all the while about how the Underworld isn't what it used to be, and how in the good old days the King would have taken their eyeballs out and fed them to the crowd of demons for the disrespect.

Wu Yun barely listens, too amazed by the city that opens around them when they leave the court to notice anything else.

Youdu is a collection of improbable building, stacked upon improbable building. Several towers raise among the roughly cobbled streets, leaning perilously in every direction. Some of the floors are made of wood, others of stone.

The ground level buildings aren't much different. Showing a mish-mash of construction materials, architecture, and odd designs that don't fit together but still somehow create an harmonious sort of chaos. Everything looks wrong and weirdly put together, including Youdu's inhabitants.

Demons and monsters walk the streets besides human ghost, almost in harmony, if not for the huge Toad sitting at a table near a food stall, shoving what looks like human tongues into his gaping, slippery mouth.

"It's amazing," Wu Yun says, looking up at the colorful banners and lanterns swinging gently in the soft night breeze.

Youdu is the most colourful city he has ever seen. Each ghost wears the clothes they had on at the time of their death, and the streets are teeming with a parade of ancient robes, outdated styles of dress and vibrant fabrics that Wu Yun has never seen before.

The imp notices the wonder in Wu Yun's eyes and stuffs out his chest, making his small potbelly even more prominent. "Youdu is the greatest city in the three realms, mark my words boy. Your life only starts after you die."

Somehow, Wu Yun has no trouble believing him. He has never seen streets so lively. In every corner a vendors peddle their wares, drawing in droves of smiling customers, humans and demons alike.

"Well, the two of you don't go far, and don't get too used to Youdu's charms. I'll be back for you once King Songdi decides what to do with the two of you."

The imp disappears back into the circular wall surrounding Youdu, where the ten courts are held.

"We have to find Lu Meng," Lan Tian says, pulling Wu Yun back by his robes when he looks in danger of being distracted by a stall selling kites that seem made of actual fish scales.

Wu Yun nods distractedly, still overwhelmed by all the sights and sounds around him. He wishes they had more time to explore Youdu.

A large building taking up several roads draws his attention. It's made of dark wood, and raises from the street like an ancient tree that took up the shape of a pavilion. Hundreds of tiny red lanterns hang from the sweeping eaves, giving at a festive look. All the windows are thrown open letting the warm light shine out and the sound of riotous laughter drift in the breeze.

Crowds of laughing ghosts are headed towards it.

"Let's check if he's there," Wu Yun says, pointing in that direction.

Lan Tian sticks close to Wu Yun, wary of the people and demons who pass them by and smile with mouths full of jagged teeth and call them 'fresh meat'.

He understands why Wu Yun is so enchanted by the city. There's a wild charm to it. It's completely different from the orderly human villages they visited, the majestic Kunlun mountains or the dignified Immortal Mountain sect.

It's easy to see why someone unrestrained like Wu Yun would be taken by it.

He wonders if Wu Yun wouldn't be happy to stay.

There's no time to dwell on that bleak thought before they arrive at the pavilion with the red lanterns.

A huge plaque over the double gates announces it as the "Pavilion of plum blossoms crushed beneath the heel".

The inside of the pavilion is a brilliantly lit as the outside, hundreds of candlesticks and chandeliers hang from every corner, and around every pillar. The pavilion has a central platform around which the balconies of the upper floors are arranged.

Ghosts and demons mill about in chaises and couches in different states of undress, clinging to each other, and dripping wine into eager waiting mouths.

Waiters carry platters filled with steaming food of a dubious nature, almost bumping into the many patrons scattered about, but avoiding collision at the last second.

The sound of laughter permeates the whole building, drowning out the lively sound of the dizi someone is playing out of sight.

Lan Tian comes to a troublesome realization. "I think this is a brothel."

Wu Yun can't hear him over the din. "A what?"

Wu Yun walks towards the central platform, trying to look around at the rooms and upper floors from a vantage point in the hopes of spotting Lu Meng among the riotous crowd.

In the middle of the platform sits a long couch, where an exquisitely beautiful man with long wavy hair, a brilliant slash of a mouth, and eyes like crushed gems, lays with his head pillowed on another man's lap, while a woman wearing flimsy robes feeds him peeled lychees.

The man's jade white throat moves as he swallows the lychee, and his pink tongue darts out between the pillow of his lips to lick the juices from the woman's fingers.

His humid phoenix eyes are reddened at the corners, as if he hasn't been getting enough sleep. His teeth are like polished seashells when he smiles at the woman, and says, "Delicious."

Wu Yun almost stumbles in embarrassment, watching the scene in front of him.

The sound draws the man's attention and his alluring gaze falls on Wu Yun.

He sits up on the couch with a start. All signs of lassitude gone from his sculpted features.

"Ling Yan?"

He curls his lips around the name, as if it tastes sweeter than any fruit.

---

A.N.: Youdu is the specific name of the capital of the Underworld, yet something else I didn't come up with, and that is clearly defined by mythology. However, I took liberties with its aesthetic.