Ox heads & horse faces

In Chinese mythology, when a person is dead their spirit will be separated from their body. Yan Luo Wang(阎罗王), king of the Chinese underworld, or one of his subordinates, the Ten Yama Kings, will send the Ox and Horse Head Messenger (牛頭馬面) to retrieve the soul and bring s/he down to hell to receive their punishment or straight to reincarnations. Some souls would then try to run away from the messengers but it is the messengers duty to capture the lost soul. zh-cn:牛头马面