Up high in the sky, a realm that isn't visible to the mortal's eye. The heaven of golden palaces and busy deities is something people believe and won't believe. Close to the jade emperor's palace, a building stood. Three loud bangs from drums could be heard outside, signalling the beginning of today's evening session.
In the centre of the court, there is a platform for the convicted to be sentenced. Across from the platform, a long table with five seats could be seen. In those seats are five judges, the jade emperor personally chosen, sat elegantly and powerfully.
The judges are talented in judgement and are intelligent. They used to be mortals as magistrates of different ranks and cities. Amongst them is a youth who's one of the most respected judges of the court.
He who sat in the middle of the table with the most authority, who announces their verdicts. The other judges announce what the convict did wrong in four categories; relationship, responsibility, action and values.
After three bangs of the drums, the court is now in session. The five looked through the documents handed to them. Some eyebrows are raised and others flat as a line, not surprised.
This style of court procedure is different from what the mortal realm has. The procedure is short and simple and not open to the public's ears until after the session has ended. The documents are produced by the deities who have investigated and arrested the convicts. And only those deities are incredibly trusted and chosen specifically by the jade emperor. Therefore, the heavenly court has nothing to worry about other than their own judgements.
"Mr. Bui, do you have a lawyer to defend you?"
In heaven, lawyers are useless.
Mr. Bui spat, "No one would defend me, those stupid little shits..."
"Very well, Let's begin," the judge cleared her throat, "Mr. Bui, you have been found using women and men for your own sexual and torturous desires. In many cases, using a whip to shred their backs and your nails to claw their organs, and so on forth. Therefore, you are guilty," the judge of relationships declared, her face formed into a dark scowl.
Mr. Bui rolled his eyes, seemingly didn't care.
The judge of responsibility continued, "Mr. Bui, You have been found to cause deaths amongst the northern region of Vietnam, resulting in one hundred casualties and fifty injured-"
Mr. Bui interrupted, "It would have been one hundred and fifty if those people aren't luck-"
"-Mr. Bui! You can't interrupt when a judge is speaking! Do you understand?" the judge of responsibility queried.
Mr. Bui rolled his eyes again mockingly. "I understand, Honourable Judge."
"Resulting in one hundred casualties and fifty injured, plus two hundred dead cats and ten dogs. Therefore, you are guilty."
At this point, Mr. Bui didn't bother to listen. These numbers sound ridiculous!
"Mr. Bui, you have been found to cause havoc amongst the northern region of Vietnam for three years. You have joined hands with the mafia with hundreds of underlings working for you, caused many cars to explode and houses robbed, taken individuals hostage and demanded ransom for your own greed, and manipulated others to do what you desire," the judge of action glared at Mr. Bui through his golden glasses, "Therefore, you are found guilty."
"Mr. Bui you are a malicious, manipulative, and destructive man. You don't respect mortals, those from the heavens and those from the underworld as well. You crossed lines with women, men, and children for devious acts, and you hold no values for the world and only think for yourself. Therefore, you are guilty," the judge of values announced, her face scrunched with fury.
Mr. Bui stood there with nothing but a bored look.
And finally, the last judge to declare their judgment. The one who stands under the jade emperor and above the four judges.
The judge asked, soft and light, "Mr. Bui, do you have anything else to say?"
Mr. Bui hissed, "Do you fucking dogs have any evidence? Huh?! You can't punish me when I'm innocent!"
Ah, damn! Here he goes.
The judge of relationships scowled, "Is he for real?! What is he spouting!?"
The judge of action sighed. "Judge Hoa, should we present the evidence?"
Judge Hoa nodded. On cue, the young man who caught Mr. Bui stepped out onto another platform on the side. His face glowing with justice as he held a remote. A TV on a cart was rolled out by a guard, setting the TV next to the young man.
The young man began speaking, "Thank you, honourable judges. I'm Hoa Khuong, investigating this demon fox, and I'm prepared with evidence anytime, anywhere." He clicked on the remote, displaying an image of Mr. Bui beating a group of men and women. He began, "This is two years ago on the night of March 15. He was infuriated because they brought him less money than usual. That night, he told his underlings to bring a group of people. Three women and five men were wrongfully beaten to death. Four other people survived after Mr. Bui calmed down."
Mr. Bui's face darkened. "Where the fuck did he get that image!?"
Hoa Khuong would never tell. He boasted, "I got all of this evidence in less than a year. Good thing CCTV cameras are a thing."
Another image appeared. Mr. Bui was sitting in a chair in the dark villa. A young boy was kneeling with bruises and blood escaping from his cuts. Behind him were his mother and little sister dishevelled and tied up.
"This happened just a few moments ago. He was using this kid to steal money from his wealthy family, including jewelry and other prized possessions. Mr. Bui threatened the young boy, if he doesn't bring anything to him then the boy's family will die."
The judge of values muttered, "How terrible..."
The young man smiled with victory at Mr. Bui, who's fuming in anger and sweating nervously. His hands tied behind him twitched, wanting to kill the god right then and there.
The young man turned back towards the judges and asked, "Now, there's more evidence saved in a hard drive, but there's too much to go through. Would this be enough?"
Judge Hoa shooked his head. "This is enough, thank you."
Judge Hoa fixed his gaze on Mr. Bui, declaring, "Mr. Bui, you have been found guilty on all five categories. Once you're sentenced, you won't be able to reverse your sentence, or testify again."
Mr. Bui's corner of his mouth twitched.
"You are sentenced to death and reincarnate to a chicken for ten lifetimes. The court is now closed."
Mr. Bui thrashed around as he was dragged away, exploding with profanities and curse words, angered. He didn't want to die and become a chicken for ten lifetimes. He thinks it's ridiculous. All he could do is cluck around and butchered to create oily but delicious fried chicken!
The court has now turned silent after the departure of Mr. Bui. Every demon knew if the heavenly officials caught them, they'll just have to give up on life. The demon king can't even save them. They knew the heaven's court wouldn't go lightly on punishments, believing convicts should be punished heavily for what type of disaster they caused.
Considering this, most demons or deities have not caused any trouble and lived out their lives in the mortal realm, or the underworld. Of course, there are still rebellious demons now and then. The world isn't perfect. People just want to have fun, that's all.