Lovers in the Book of the Afterlife

“They say that any creature with a spirit can become a monster, and anyone with feelings can take human form. Today, this old man will tell you a strange tale of a fox immortal repaying a kindness. It happened in Baishui Town, at the foot of Qingqiu Mountain. It was the dead of winter, and heavy snow had sealed off the mountain. There was once a poor scholar...”

“The scholar's surname was Liu, and his given name was Minglan. He was a bookish man who had failed the imperial examinations time and again. One night, as he trudged home through the snow, he encountered something strange on the mountain road...”