Chapter 10: Dream of the Butterfly (莊周夢蝶)
The next morning, the entire circus came to town in their costumed best. The ringmaster in her tall hat and tails crossed the bridge at the front of the procession pumping her red umbrella into the rain as she marched. The qiongqi lumbered behind her. Though unclothed, Mangtun had brushed a shine into his striped fur and oiled a gleam into his scaled wings. Yanxi behind him was naked as well save for the nearly translucent silk sashes that wrapped and flowed around the phase spider. They caught the rain in glittering, star-like beads.
The mogui flew together under a single umbrella. Aili wore a butterfly-print sheath, Leiting wore moth-print, and Paopao wore dragonfly-print. Motou, Daiwen, and Langhai walked single-file behind them. Motou carried a blue umbrella and wore fancy blue overalls. Langhai carried a red umbrella and wore fancy red overalls. Daiwen used the hood of their spider silk jacket in place of an umbrella.
The citizens of Laoshi City stared as the circus paraded up to the courthouse, but there was no longer any hostility or suspicion in their faces, only curiosity and even delight. A crowd gathered behind Langhai at the back and followed them right into the plaza. The marketplace burst into cheers and applause. The citizens were on the verge of throwing confetti if not for the rain.
Mistress He popped a finger gun at the heavy, varnished red doors of the courthouse.
"Boom."
The doors flung themselves open. Esquire Kang jumped and hurried into the aisle. He escorted them to a well-worn wooden pew at the front of the court just behind him and his client. Though the yaoguai still wore the heavy iron collar, they'd been freed of their chains. They dwarfed the defense's desk from their seat.
The yaoguai managed to turn their head just enough for one burning black eye to meet Daiwen's. They opened their mouth to speak, but the lawyer nudged his client's shoulder.
An elderly judge in fine navy silk and a black miter hat with two stiff ribbons stretching from either side shuffled through the black curtains of a circular doorway. The very venerable justice took a seat behind their desk, facing the court. The room fell into a thick, prickling silence that sucked the sound even from the falling rain.
"I have heard the evidence, and thank Qi Zhong's balance I did. Like the rest of this city, I too was prepared to lay the blame of these crimes on the yaoguai. There are many cruelties in the world, but to warp the gods own justice is the most terrible of sins. No, the yaoguai is innocent."
The packed courthouse burst into roaring applause. Everyone rose to their feet, Yanxi and Mangtun sprawling over several pews. Esquire Kang turned with a laugh and open arms to Daiwen.
Daiwen hopped the bench and tackled him with an embrace. The yaoguai pulled both of them into a crushing group hug against their burning hide. Daiwen and Esquire Kang wheezed and laughed. The yaoguai suddenly released them.
The old judge stood before them with a heavy iron key in hand. The yaoguai lowered their bull's head, horns still towering over the judge. The collar opened with a clunk. The yaoguai handed it off to the judge, Esquire Kang springing to their aid before their venerable hands dropped the thing. They raised their arms with a triumphant, court-shaking roar.
The crowd roared with them. Yanxi and Mangtun picked up the yaoguai and sent them crowd-surfing out of the courthouse and into the free air. Esquire Kang and Daiwen followed on the waves of the cheering crowd. The whole circus flew or surfed out to join them in the plaza.
Mistress He clapped a hand on the yaoguai's arm and the lawyer's shoulder.
"On behalf of the greatest show in Shenmen, congratulations to you both! Here, two passes to our final show and a banquet with the cast and crew afterward."
Esquire Kang and the yaoguai had barely finished thanking the ringmaster when she turned to the troupe and clapped her hands.
"Alright everyone, back for rehearsals. Go, go, go!"
Daiwen gave the two a shrug and a smile and headed out with the circus.
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The spotlight opened on all of the circus performers lying head-to-foot in a ring on the dirt stage. They were naked except for a connecting silk harness strapped with thick bands around their torsos and thighs. Mistress He sat up at the head of the curve and sang into the quiet.
"I am not a stranger to the dark
Hide away, they say
'Cause we don't want your broken parts
I've learned to be ashamed of all my scars
Run away, they say
No one'll love you as you are."
She rose to her feet. One by one, the rest of them pushed up to all fours-Mangtun, Yanxi, Aili, Leiting, Paopao, Motou, Daiwen, and Langhai.
"But I won't let them break me down to dust
I know that there's a place for us
For we are glorious."
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Explicit encounter on AO3
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Esquire Kang and the yaoguai came to the show. They came to the dinner as well. The lawyer sat between Daiwen and Mistress He. The yaoguai sat between Daiwen and Yanxi. After dinner, they stayed beside Daiwen, sporting their punching doll backpack, at the edge of the circus ground with the rest of the troupe. The rain had stopped.
Mistress He walked out from the gathering with a conductor's baton in hand. As she raised her baton, Mangtun, Yanxi, the mogui and the mamians sang softly into the cool night.
"Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh, oh
This is me."
Mistress He pointed at the circus grounds and flicked her baton upward. Every stake popped out of the ground. The five tent tarps pulled off the tent posts like colorful skins and rose into the air.
"And I know that I deserve your love
There's nothing I'm not worthy of
When the sharpest words wanna cut me down
I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out
This is brave, this is proof
This is who I'm meant to be, this is me."
Every piece of equipment that wasn't bolted down followed the tent skins up into the air above the clearing. They gathered into tightly packed bundles under the tarps.
"Look out 'cause here I come
And I'm marching on to the beat I drum
I'm not scared to be seen
I make no apologies, this is me."
Mistress He snapped her baton at the tent poles. The long, sturdy poles of bamboo and lumber rose up from the ground as though on strings from above. They folded onto themselves into floating rafts under the tarp bundles.
"I'm gonna send a flood
Gonna drown them out."
She lowered her baton. The five rafts floated down until they were only a leg's length above the ground. The ringmaster turned, grinning and bowing with a flourish. Daiwen, Esquire Kang, and the yaoguai stirred themselves from sheer wonderment to applaud. Mistress He put her baton away and took Daiwen's hand.
"This is goodbye."
"Mistress He, Aili, Leiting, Paopao, Mangtun, Motou, Langhai, Yanxi-thank you so much. For everything."
"It was a pleasure to have you, Daiwen. I sincerely hope we'll meet again."
Mistress He snapped her fingers. The performers and the floating rafts followed her onto the stone road, all but Yanxi.
"Daiwen...you should really be more careful in your work, especially when you're doing full-body bondage. But you also saved a life, so I can't really hold that against you."
Daiwen's vision blurred with burning tears, their voice choked from their throat. The phase spider scooped them up into a many-legged hug.
"Alright, I gotta go. You be good."
She scuttled off after the circus, leaving Daiwen, Esquire Kang, and the yaoguai in the desolate clearing. The lawyer adjusted his spectacles.
"Daiwen, if you don't have anywhere to go, I could use a trusty assistant."
"Thanks, but I have to go home. Do either of you know where I could find a spirit gate?"
"My father," said the yaoguai, drawing their stares. "He didn't sire me. He made me. He knows many things. I'll take you."
"Thank you. Esquire Kang…"
Daiwen offered their hand. He took it.
"Thank you for your help. Take care, Daiwen."
"I will."
The starless night sky rumbled, its unbroken sea of clouds pregnant with rain. With one last wave to the lawyer, Daiwen followed the yaoguai into the woods.