"So this... is Yùhǎi."

High above the city, three figures drifted along on a giant ginseng leaf, buoyed by salt air and blue sky. They weren't the only ones up there; others with spiritual powers floated towards the city on swords, clouds and flowers. For a tourist, the sight was a spectacular one – the necromancer and Spideóg both stared open-mouthed at the whole glittering scene – the people on their shining summons in the bright blue sky, the bustling vibrant city below, the teal opacity of the calm ocean pierced by natural pillars of pure white limestone.

"Shall we have a look around?" Sou Yuet asked with a smile. "We have plenty of time before the auction starts this evening."

The other two nodded dumbly, eyes still glued to the vista before them. The si dzi puppy produced a funny sound, a rasping, coughing bark, to demonstrate its pleasure. It was tucked into the front of the necromancer's robes and wouldn't stay still, constantly loosening his collar so that it gaped open and showed flashes of pale skin and dark ink. Sou Yuet sternly retrieved the little animal and sat it on their lap, then directed the leaf downwards.

They landed on a large viewing platform on the great sloping cliffs overlooking the city. The necromancer finally shook himself out of his awe and rounded on Spideóg. "Why the feck are ye still here?"

"I wanted to see -"

"I don't actually want an answer, I want ye to feck off."

Spideóg backed up a few steps as the necromancer advanced. He was a relatively solid man himself, but his frame was smaller than the irate witch bearing down on him. The bhard cast a pleading look at Sou Yuet. The monk smiled. "See you later, Bhard Spideóg."

"..."

With no other choice, Spideóg slunk away into the busy streets of Yùhǎi.

"Thank feck," the necromancer grumbled. "I was going to go mad at the thought of that creepy little weasel following us around."

"He's not little -"

"- I'm just uselessly big, I know." A sudden grin appeared on the necromancer's face. "Ye're the little one here. I could pick ye up and carry ye around in me pocket."

Sou Yuet considered this. "Sounds uncomfortable."

"Let's... just get some food."

Half an hour later found them down by the water, a small variety of food between them and the si dzi puppy paddling in the shallow pools formed by the limestone bedrock. They dipped their own feet in the water, Sou Yuet with an air of calm mindfulness, the necromancer watching all around him cautiously.

A few others had taken to the water too, mostly children, although a pretty young woman in cultivator's robes stood out among them as she splashed and laughed and talked to herself happily. The necromancer grimaced. "She sounds a bit..."

"There are many cultivators with eccentric personalities." Sou Yuet selected another piece of fruit. "You'll see a lot worse at the auction. There will be some very disturbed people... I've never seen such a flat peach before. White inside... Such a small pyrena... "

The witch was a little surprised by the seriousness of the monk's voice, although he caught himself smiling at the segue into botanical musings. He glanced over at the young woman again and her bright laughter. "I know she seems happy enough but... Isn't there anything ye can do?"

Sou Yuet's gaze slid in her direction too. For a moment, the necromancer thought that the monk's eyes flashed with a pale green light. "She seems... Never mind. I don't know much about hei deviations. "

"What?"

"Disturbances of a person's internal energy."

"Is that what ye call it here?"

"What do you call it?" Sou Yuet turned back to the food.

"A mental health issue."

"That seems a little limited. Hei deviations impact mind, body and soul."

"... Probably not the best name, I guess."

The young woman was gone. Sou Yuet called to the si dzi puppy and it came splashing back, soaking them both in water.

"So, now that it's just the two of us -"

The necromancer choked a little on the dumpling he was eating.

"- will you tell me what happened?"

Coughing, the witch waved away his incorrect thoughts. "I... uh... thought I'd take a bit of a look around."

"How did you get in?"

"I can... hitch a ride, I guess, with spirits of the dead. I got a ride in with a rat that had died recently."

Sou Yuet looked fascinated. "How does that work?"

"W-well, I just sort of... call out to passing spirits and see if any of them are willing to take me where I need to go. Not physically, of course, it's just me consciousness that goes with them-"

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"Isn't that dangerous?"

"I haven't died yet?"

For once, Sou Yuet's face wore a disapproving look.

"Anyway, this little lady was hiding in the cave still. I hinted to her to find me, and, well, I guess it worked. She came out herself after."

"After what?"

The necromancer took a deep breath to try and calm himself, but his anger burst out. "That fecking foxy psychopomp! I sure gave him something to think about, and I'm seriously hoping I run into him again. I'll-"

"A... foxy... what?"

The necromancer ran a hand through his long, loose black hair. "He's a psychopomp. A guide to the dead. They don't kill, they're just there when someone dies to lead them to the next place."

Sou Yuet was silent. The witch watched them with equal quietness, interested to see the usually unperturbed monk's brain clearly working overdrive.

"A wu lei dzing, a fox spirit, who is also a death guide?" they said at last. "We're going to have to get to the bottom of this." They sighed and absently rubbed the si dzi puppy's tummy as she wiggled about on her back in their lap. "This is getting more and more complicated."

"So we've got a magic fox that guides the dead," the necromancer began to summarise, "who may or may not have something to do with those people who've been capturing legendary creatures for so far unknown reasons."

"If the auction truly has legendary creatures for sale, and they match with those that have been kidnapped, then the reason is likely money," Sou Yuet pointed out. "But what a risk to take."

"Maybe whoever's behind it all has nothing to lose."

"That's true."

They both fell into a contemplative silence, lost in their own thoughts, until the si dzi puppy sneezed suddenly and licked at her snub nose with her bright blue tongue.

"What'll we do with the kid? We can't be bringing her the auction."

"We'll have to find somewhere safe for her." Sou Yuet stood up. "Let's find somewhere to rest. I need to send a message to Si fu."

"Is that safe?"

"Of course."

The necromancer's concerns were put at ease as soon as he saw Sou Yuet's message. The monk had borrowed a brush and some paper at a large teahouse, as they drank some expensive tea ("brought all the way from over the Eastern Sea!"), and begun to draw a series of plants. They were a very good artist, but in no way did any of the plants seem to tell a message.

"A code."

Sou Yuet smiled.

"How are ye sending it?"

"By horseback messenger. My summon being a plant, I'm unable to send the message that way."

"Give it here."

Sou Yuet handed over the message easily. The necromancer paused for a brief moment, but he finished his tea and walked outside.

The monk followed him down to the water, along the harbour edge until they had reached a secluded area out of sight of anyone. The witch closed his eyes, and Sou Yuet watched and waited, the squirming puppy in their arms.

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then, out of the water, and a pale shape emerged. A half-skeletal seabird, a yin au, rose from the blue and glided over to where they stood. Its transparent feet, the toe bones visible through the skin, landed silently on the stone dock.

The necromancer knelt down respectfully. His brilliant green eyes met the bird's small dark ones, and for a long while, they stared in silence. Then the witch handed the folded paper to the yin au, which took it in its beak, turned and lifted off into the seaside air.

They watched it wheel away over the water before the air currents lifted it inland.

The necromancer started, surprised, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright? Was that tiring?" Sou Yuet's small, round face was looking up at him.

"Ah, t'was nothing. When I... There are other things more tiring."

"Such as?"

The witch grinned and leaned down. "Well now, why don't ye take a guess?"

"Walking up a mountain?"

"What?"

"You seemed to really struggle with that back in-"

The necromancer stormed away.

"Pang Yau?"

"What."

"What happened with Lí?"

"Who?"

"The wu lei dzing."

"Why do ye know his name?

"He told me."

"Was that before or after he assaulted ye?"

"Before."

The necromancer stormed back. "How are ye so calm about this?" he growled, seizing Sou Yuet's shoulders as if he was going to shake the monk back and forth.

"Why are you avoiding answering my question?" Sou Yuet replied calmly.

The witch looked away shiftily.

"Pang Yau..."

"I just... I fought him and won, okay? I mean, he ran away, I guess I didn't completely win, but..."

Sou Yuet looked thoughtful. "Did you punch him in the face or something?"

"Nearly. He dodged."

"Hm."

"Is there a problem? Ye..." The necromancer suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "Am I... misunderstanding what happened? Ye said he tried seducing ye."

"I also said it didn't work? What's wrong?"

The necromancer looked uncomfortable. "Why'd ye let him touch ye, then?"

"Because it didn't mean anything."

They stared at each other. The necromancer was the first to break the silence, his voice lower and even more husky than usual. "Look... I'm sorry I'm being so touchy. There's some things... Me mind is a bit of a mess right now. This whole situation's confusing as all hell and I'm not really that smart. And right now I've got a lot of thoughts... Can ye... Can ye wait for me to sort things out and then maybe we'll talk again?"

The monk looked surprised. "... Yes. Yes, of course. I think... I too have some things to think about."

"Okay."

An awkward silence stretched out.

"I'm really not interested in Lí."

"Ye don't have to convince me!"

"I told him he's not my type."

"Even though he's rare good-looking?"

"Oh, is he your type?"

"NO! I told ye before-"

"Hm?"

"NOTHING! Let's just go!"

"It's still too early for the auction though?"

"ARGH!"

They retreated back into the city, bickering amicably.

----------------------------------------

"Identification?"

The necromancer, in female form again, glared at Spideóg. They had been halted at the entrance of a nondescript teahouse in a less fashionable part of town, by a tall guard with a stern expression. She was not as tall as the necromancer, but she was nonetheless an impressive figure, and her expression showed that she unlikely to be easily tricked or swayed.

Spideóg, for once, seemed to be using his brain and had refused to tell the other two where exactly the auction was taking place. The unlikely couple of the bhard and the necromancer had come about as Sou Yuet had volunteered to babysit the si dzi puppy nearby, although they were on alert at any moment to assist.

The bhard fumbled nervously about in his bag before finally producing a round badge, bearing the silhouetted face of a fox surrounded by a circle in gold, against a black background.

The guard inspected it, then gestured with her chin at the necromancer. "And this one?"

"Ah... My... colleague..."

Arms crossed over her chest, the necromancer casually flexed her arm muscles, the tattoos twitching, and stared at the guard. They eyed each other like a pair of wild dogs sizing each other up until the guard nodded curtly. Spideóg surreptitiously wiped nervous sweat from his brow.

Entering the teahouse, a waiter gestured them to follow him further in. A huge hall opened up beyond the superficial room at the front – tunnels and caverns had been carved into the soft limestone of the cliffs, invisible to anyone examining the place from the outside. The seating was tiered downwards, with a large, semi-circular stage far below them.

Narrowing her bright green eyes, the necromancer decisively made her descent, the bhard following nervously behind.