The Unpredictables

Legends whispered by the wise speak of two men who once walked the earth of Anxi Province during the Song Dynasty - sworn brothers whose friendship knew no bounds. Xie, the elder, was known for his prodigious height, while the physique of Fan, the younger, bespoke stocky strength. Both served as constables in the local yamen, and gained a reputation for being upright and distinguished officers of the law who always got their man.

The pair were dispatched to hunt down a notorious band of brigands one fateful day. Fan, ever eager to impress his brother-in-arms, struck out on his own with the intention of eliminating the enemy single-handedly, only to be captured, bound and flung into a fast-flowing river.

Xie rushed into the fray and eliminated the opposition to a man, but was too late to save Fan, whom he pulled blue, bloated and lifeless from the water. Stricken with grief, the loyal lawman chose to throw a rope over the nearest tree branch and hang himself rather than carry on without his dear friend.

Moved by their devotion, Netherworld ruler King Yama received the inseparable duo upon their arrival in the infernal regions, and ordained them chief constables in the shadow realm's justice system. They now roam the mortal world, seeking out the wicked and capturing their souls during their final hours before transporting the prisoners to Hell for judgement and sentencing.

It is said, however, that their work is not always grim. The twosome supposedly have a propensity to randomly bless individuals who cross their paths, this hinging on whether said individuals' virtues outweigh their vices. Few, though, are those who dare deem themselves worthy and dice with these harbingers of death, the fearful common man usually opting to give them a wide berth. Such is the conduct that has dubbed them the Unpredictable Phantoms.

Xie's deathly pallor and long, protruding tongue, and Fan's bluish-black complexion and bloated appearance, reflect their respective demises. The former carries a magic fan, the waving of which over a living being serves to draw out its soul, while the latter carries a plaque of arrest and mystic manacles that restrain even the brawniest captives.

In accordance with their purported tendency to randomly bless those they encounter, Xie wears the inscription 'See Me and Prosper' on his headgear, while Fan's reads 'See Me and Know Peace'. The inscriptions also represent the ultimate in irony... a sickly humorous dichotomy probably lost on untold dozens who initially expected fortune upon meeting their welcoming committee, only to be roughed up, arrested and consigned to eternal damnation.

Xie and Fan have since been joined by others virtually identical to them - a minimum one pair of Unpredictables for each of the Netherworld's Ten Courts, according to certain sources. But it is they, the original duo, whose stories are told the most, albeit in hushed tones, and send shivers down the spines of guilty and innocent alike.