How I died

Fan Wujiu exchanged a couple of words with Horse Face and Ox Head, both of whom kept casting curious glances Xie Bian's way.

Xie Bian wasn't listening. His gaze was fixed in the horizon, trying to gleam an end to the stark landscape.

"Let's go," Fan Wujiu said, walking ahead in a direction that seemed chosen at random to Xie Bian.

"Is there an end to it?" Xie Bian asked, looking out into the middle distance.

"No. Youdu is as good as it gets."

"It's so desolate."

"There's almost no spiritual energy in the Underworld. Yanluo says there used to be plenty, thousands of years ago. But who knows. Yanluo says a lot of things."

"Are we ghosts?"

"Somewhat."

Xie Bian exhaled out of his nose in annoyance. "What does that mean?"

"We are temporarily removed from the cycle of reincarnation while holding our position as Generals, same as the judges."

Xie Bian hummed in silent acknowledgement. Did that mean they could quit and go back into the cycle like everyone else? Why were the two of them chosen to begin with?

He knew better than to voice any of those questions, but they niggled at him.

"Hold on to me," Fan Wujiu said, coming to a sudden stop.

"What?"

An arm snaked around his waist, pulling him against Fan Wujiu's chest. Xie Bian struggled but Fan Wujiu held him tighter.

"Close your eyes."

Between one breath and the next everything vanished.

Xie Bian felt as if his body was being pulled into a whirlpool, struggling to stay afloat among suffocating currents. His only anchor was Fan Wujiu's strong chest and his unwavering hold. In his despair he reached for his shoulders, clawing at his fine black robes for all he was worth. He clung to him now as fiercely as he had pushed him away before.

As suddenly as it had started, everything stopped.

Fan Wujiu let go of him and Xie Bian fell to his knees, overcome by an intense bout of nausea. He retched on all fours, but not even the terrible tea he had drunk came up. He was so beset by his own misery that he didn't even notice that there was fresh grass sticking between the gaps of his stiff fingers.

After the tide receded, he got up to his feet with a groan. "I felt like I was drowning."

"That's how I died," Fan Wujiu said, as naturally as if remarking on the weather.

"I have no idea how I died," Xie Bian admitted. "How come you remember?"

They were on top of a hill, overlooking a bustling city; a vision of warm wooden buildings with thatched roofs among regal whitewashed stone constructions with gleaming black tiles and avenues peppered with flowering trees.

It was the middle of winter, and the plum trees were in bloom.

Fan Wujiu climbed to the top of the hill, backlit by a heavy, round moon. He cut a severe, lonely figure with the city for a backdrop, and his long silver hair whipping in the wind.

"I didn't deserve to forget."

Xie Bian joined him on top of the hill. The air was so fresh and fragrant, he wanted to fill his lungs until they burst. "I didn't think you had a choice."

Fan Wujiu shrugged dismissively.

"Not everyone does. Youdu is filled with ghosts who can't forget. They can't reincarnate until they do. And some go mad with it. Some don't remember their whole lives, just a heartbreak or an attachment so strong that it doesn't allow them to move on."

That seemed to Xie Bian like a particularly cruel existence. Shackled forever to the memories of a life with no hopes of ever returning to it.

"How lucky that I don't remember a thing," he said, stretching his arms above his head, delighting on how great it felt to be back on the human realm.

Fan Wujiu's crimson eyes glimmered with something akin to regret, but it was gone in a blink of his sooty lashes. "We should find an inn to stay for the night."

Xie Bian agreed, but he couldn't help giving Fan Wujiu's a long once-over. They were bound to attract plenty of unwanted attention what with him having long silver-spun hair and red eyes. Would Xie Bian's appearance change that dramatically after he spent some years in the Underworld?

"Should we just tell people we're from the Underworld?"

Fan Wujiu snorted impatiently. "Yanluo really didn't tell you anything before dropping you in my lap, did he? As agents of the Underworld we are not supposed to interfere with the mortal realm."

Xie Bian's eyebrows climbed up to his hairline. "That's going to be hard to do, considering we're supposed to, you know...investigate."

Fan Wujiu looked at Xie Bian as if he was being obtuse on purpose. "I'm aware. But the least we can do is not go around announcing our identities like an opera troupe."

He reached inside his infinity pouch and took out a spherical pill. He popped it into his mouth and in a matter of seconds his appearance changed, his silver hair became a glossy black colour, and his crimson eyes turned brown. His features changed subtly as well, turning his otherworldly beauty into average good looks.

Like a trick of the light, he shifted in place and Xie Bian could again see the true shape of his features under the disguise.

"You're also from the Underworld so you'll always be able to see my real appearance, as well as that of any other beings who try to disguise themselves. It would be difficult for us to find any runaway imps, ghosts or demons, otherwise..."

Fan Wujiu pulled out another pill and handed it to Xie Bian who eyed it warily.

"Is this really necessary in my case? I don't look any different than any other human."

Fan Wujiu stared back at him with a cold gaze. "It's necessary."