From the ninth year of the Renguang reign of Emperor Wuhuang of Ningwu, as recorded in the Jinyun Pavilion edition of Strange Tales:
The Fusang painter Qianxi lived in Tai'an and loved painting carp. A lotus pond lay before his courtyard, where koi swam to and fro. Qianxi often played with them.
It was the time of the Zhengwu Rebellion. The regional warlords held sway, battles raged without pause, and demons and monsters ran rampant along the roads. War threatened Tai'an, and all the neighbors fled. Qianxi alone could not bear to leave the koi behind, so he stayed.
That night, the courtyard suddenly caught fire. Someone entered the flames to protect Qianxi, saying that he was a demon who had once been a carp and had intended to take Qianxi's life, but had fallen in love with him and could no longer bring himself to do it. By dawn the fire had gradually died down, and the man had vanished.
Only then did Qianxi realize it might have been a dream. He ran to the pond, only to find it dried up, its lotus leaves all withered, and the koi gone without a trace.
From beginning to end, he never saw the man's face clearly. He remembered only the layers of lotus blossoms on his lapel, their alluring color like blood mixed with tears.
Later, when the recluse Qingyan heard the tale, he sighed and said, "When demons fall in love, they are doomed to turn to ash and vanish. Like moths flying into a flame, it is not foolishness, but fate."
Theme:
Family members are human beings. It would be too cruel to clean up the family members.
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