“Have all humans evolved to have such foolish expressions now, or is it just you?” the handsome celestial said dryly, looking at Lanyun in disdain.

Lanyun’s grandmother had warned him of being deceived by strangers with fair appearances but rotten personalities underneath. He could now see her wise words reflected in the man before him. Although the man had the appearance of someone in their late twenties or early thirties, Lanyun knew that celestials were near immortals, and their appearances could not be trusted. 

“Where am I?” Lanyun asked, though he already had a vague idea from the iron bars separating them. 

“You’re in the Heavenly Court’s holding cell for criminals awaiting trial,” the man explained.

“Why am I here?” Lanyun continued to ask. He hadn’t expected the man to actually answer his questions, so he wasn’t going to miss the opportunity now. “And who are you?”

“I’m a lawyer,” the man said. “You may call me ‘Renwu’. And as for your charges, you’ll find out when you stand on trial.”

“Ren?” Lanyun repeated. “My surname is also ‘Ren’.”

“It’s not the same kind,” Renwu immediately said. “‘Renwu is the name assigned to me due to my occupation and not my given name.”

“Okay,” Lanyun said slowly, not entirely understanding the celestials’ naming system. “So are you my lawyer then?” He attempted to appear calm and collected on the surface. He’d never been on trial before, though there was that one close encounter with the village philanderer.

“That’ll depend on how you choose,” Renwu said with an enigmatic smile. He then turned away, ending their conversation.

“Wait, when will I get to choose?” Lanyun hurriedly asked, running up to the iron bars. He pressed his face between them but couldn’t see any trace of Renwu in the dimly lit hallway. Lanyun sighed in disappointment, resigning himself to his fate of waiting once again. 

Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait very long this time before a stone-faced guard appeared to open the cell door. The guard swiftly bound Lanyun’s wrists in front of him using a golden rope and led him out of the cell. He was ushered through the steel door at the end of the hall and entered a bright room on the other side. Blinking as his eyes adjusted to the sudden change in lighting, Lanyun realized that he was standing in the center of an opulently decorated circular room. 

Golden iconography of dragons flying through clouds decorated the walls as red pillars supported the intricately carved ceiling. Looking to his left, Lanyun noticed a door different from the one he had entered from with two familiar faces beside. Renwu leaned languidly against the wall, appearing entirely bored out of his mind, while Erluan fiddled nervously with his sleeves. Directly before Lanyun, three men and four women sat in carved lacquer chairs on an elevated platform. There was another man behind them, sitting stoically on a golden throne elevated to overlook the entire room. Lanyun knew only one being who could hold such a superior position. The Emperor of the Heavens, Yushen. 

Yushen appeared more imposing in person than the legends. His very being seemed to emit a golden aura, no doubt amplified by his imperial robes. And though his face would suggest that he was no older than forty years to a human, the wise and tranquil gaze in his jade colored eyes hinted at  his immortality. 

Erluan walked in front of Lanyun, facing the eight seated individuals and bowed deeply. “The defendant, Ren Lanyun from Duomeng Village, has arrived, Your Imperial Majesty.” 

“Thank you, Erluan,” Yushen said magnanimously. “Read the charges for the court, please.” His voice reverberated throughout the entire room, commanding the attention of anyone who heard it and causing Lanyun to unconsciously straighten his posture.

Erluan cleared his throat. “The defendant had reached the peak of Mount Tiankou with the intention of altering a contract signed by someone else. After being told that the request was impossible, he proceeded to cause a commotion at the gate, which included yelling, hysterical crying, and staining the doors with mud.”

“I wasn’t crying hysterically,” Lanyun objected. 

All eyes turned to look at him, and Lanyun shifted uncomfortably at where he stood, realizing that he had spoken without permission.

“The defendant is to remain silent unless spoken to,” Yushen warned.

Lanyun nodded. “Sorry.”

“The defendant also insulted Your Imperial Majesty during his tantrum,” Erluan added.

“Oh?” Yushen observed Lanyun with a raised eyebrow. “What did he say?”

“He called Your Imperial Majesty a…coward,” Erluan reported hesitantly.

There was a loud slam as one of the seven figures stood up in his seat and pointed an accusatory finger at Lanyun. “He should be executed immediately for such slanderous words!”

“Unlike Mudan, who prefers to think with his hands, I’d like to know the reasoning behind the defendant’s actions before deciding on a sentence,” a young woman spoke up with a soft-spoken voice and elegant demeanor. “His Imperial Majesty is known amongst the humans to be a firm yet benevolent ruler. We wouldn’t want any hasty judgements to affect his well-deserved reputation.” Her pale blue eyes flitted towards Mudan. “No?”

“Have a seat, Mudan,” Yushen commanded to a red-faced Mudan, who stiffly sat back down. “I appreciate the concern, but Lianbing raises a valid concern. It is always important to understand the context behind an action, even if the action was incorrect.” He looked down to address Lanyun. “Why have you come to our realm to try to change another’s contract, and what did you hope to accomplish by defiling the entrance to our city?”

“My sister was abducted,” Lanyun said. “One moon ago, Emperor Huangbo ascended to the summit of Mount Tiankou and signed a contract with the celestials here. One of the required payments was sixty unmarried young ladies. My sister was taken by the imperial guards as one of the sixty to fulfill that promise. I’ve come a long distance to ascend the summit myself to ask the celestials to please amend this clause with Emperor Huangbo and ensure my sister’s safe return.” Getting down on his knees, Lanyun bowed deeply and knocked his forehead against the white marble floor. “Please find it in your noble hearts to forgive me for any ill words I may have said in my anger yesterday. I truly did not mean them, but I will accept any punishment that you may deem fit after my sister is returned.”

“You may stand, child,” Yushen said. “You speak well, and your devotion to your family is commendable. But we have certain regulations here. After all, without them, society will fall, as you humans have witnessed throughout history many times. The rules cannot be broken. Since you did not sign the original contract, you cannot change it. It would’ve served you better to have asked Huangbo to find a substitute for your sister instead. After all, he still has a week until he has to pay his share of the bargain.”

“I tried that at first, but the imperial guards threw me out before I could make it past the front gates of the palace,” Lanyun admitted. “I figured that I’d have a better chance reasoning with the celestials instead.” He heard a sound and turned to find Mudan snickering with a hand covering his mouth. 

“Well then,” Yushen said, “in light of your courage in reaching here, I offer you an alternative. You see, when Huangbo arrived here, he didn’t sign a contract with just one executor, but with three.” He proceeded to gesture individually to three of the celestials sitting below him as he spoke. “Baili will cure the deadly illness sweeping through the western region of the Yuanhai Empire, Yingliu will resolve the famine issue afflicting the southern region, and Wenzhu will bring rain to alleviate the ten-year drought in the northern region. After the execution of the contract between them and Huangbo, the return of your sister can be arranged in a new contract with you.”   

“What do I have to do?” Lanyun asked, cautious. 

“We had originally offered a few alternative stipulations to the human emperor in exchange for granting his requests,” the celestial called Baili explained. She held a pale green fan with painted pear flowers, covering the lower half of her face. “It would only be fair for you to fulfill them instead for your sister’s life.”

Lanyun nodded slowly in agreement, thinking that the reasoning appeared to be sound. 

“I would like you to give me a ghost flower,” Baili said.

“Is that a real thing?” Lanyun questioned. He had read all of his grandmother’s horticulture books, and he couldn’t recall any mention of such a plant.

“Why would I resort to trickery?” Baili asked with a raised eyebrow. Though Lanyun couldn’t see her entire face, it was evident that she was disgusted by the accusation.

“No, I didn’t mean anything like that,” Lanyun hurriedly said, knowing that this may be his only hope of seeing his sister again. “Please continue listing your requirements from me.”

“Well then, I would like you to bring me a specific zijin gourd,” Yingliu said. She had a soft-spoken voice that required Lanyun’s full attention to not miss her words.

“And I would like a chalice of water from the Ningshi spring,” Wenzhu said simply. There were a few murmurs among the celestials after hearing his request, but they fell silent after Yushen gave his nod of approval. 

“These are the requests for your sister’s return,” Yushen stated. “Do you have any stipulations or qualms to raise?”

“Yes, actually,” Lanyun said. “Technically, the sixty women is a tribute to all three celestials, correct? Divided up evenly, that’s twenty for each of them, and this also means that my sister would only be going to one of them.”

“That is how the contract states,” Yushen agreed. 

“So if I’m going to be fulfilling all three of their requests, then I should earn the return of all sixty of the women,” Lanyun argued. 

“Give him an inch and he’ll want a foot,” Mudan scoffed. “How typical of a human.”

“This is just smart business,” Lanyun retorted. “I’m not asking for the gold, silk, or other luxuries that I’m sure Emperor Huangbo is also offering. I’m only asking for the women.”

“I accept,” Yingliu spoke first before Mudan could reply. “If you can bring me what I asked for, then I will hand over all twenty of the women promised to me.”

Seeing Yingliu agree, Baili also nodded in acceptance to the new terms. Wenzhu, on the other hand, had more to add.

“In that case, you will have three moons to complete these tasks, and no more than one moon cycle may pass between each item’s presentation,” Wenzhu proposed. “If you fail to find and offer all three items, then you will automatically forfeit whatever you have already handed over, and lose the rights to any of the women.”

“But you will all receive Emperor Huangbo’s offering next week,” Lanyun pointed out. “What will happen to the women during that time? You cannot eat their hearts while I am still searching for the items.”

There was an immediate uproar amongst the celestials.

“We do not eat humans,” Baili gasped, fanning herself furiously. “Do you think of us like those ghastly merpeople in the sea?”

“Well then why do you request human sacrifices?” Lanyun asked. 

“For the manual labor of course,” Mudan said, looking at Lanyun like he was staring at an imbecile.

“We will ensure the safety of the women during these three moons,” Yushen said. His voice instantly hushed the chatter amongst the other celestials. “They will be treated fairly and without any cruel or unjust punishments.”

“Alright, that’s fine,” Lanyun agreed, knowing that would probably be the best offer he could have. “How do I sign the contract?”

“Renwu, do you have it all written down?” Yushen asked, looking behind Lanyun. 

Turning around, Lanyun saw that Renwu had moved to a desk, where he was finishing up on writing something down on a scroll. 

“It’s ready,” Renwu said, bringing the scroll over for the celestials to inspect. 

After confirming the contents, Baili, Yingliu, and Wuzhen brought out their individual seals and stamped their signatures onto the scroll. Renwu then brought the contract over for Lanyun to sign.

“I don’t have a seal,” Lanyun softly said. Standing face to face with the lawyer, Lanyun found that he was half a head shorter than the celestial. There was obvious contempt in Renwu’s golden eyes at Lanyun’s words.

“You can use this,” Renwu said, handing Lanyun a bamboo ink brush. “If you don’t know how to write, you can just draw an ‘X’.”

“I can read and write very well,” Lanyun snapped, snatching the brush from Renwu. Contrary to his confident words, his hands shook uncontrollably as he wrote the three characters making up his name, barely legible. Lanyun could feel the tips of his ears burn in shame as Renwu stifled his laughter. His writing was like a toddler’s when compared to Renwu’s elegant and precise strokes. 

“I can write better than this,” Lanyun insisted as Renwu collected the scroll. “I’m just tired and hungry.”

Remaining silent, Renwu merely gave Lanyun a doubtful look and returned to the desk. 

“Now that we have that settled,” Yushen said, regaining everyone’s attention, “let’s move onto the matter of the defendant’s punishment.”