A Bandit Enters the Bedchamber

At the foot of the mountain lived a scholar of extraordinary beauty.

On the mountain lived a female bandit who took a fancy to him.

One dark night, the bandit slipped into the scholar's bed. “I'm a fox spirit from the mountains, here to repay a debt from a past life.”

The scholar was shocked and suspicious, but whether he burned incense and prayed to Buddha, asked an expert to perform an exorcism, or set a trap, the bandit still came to visit every night.

Just as the scholar was furious and at his wits' end, the bandit suddenly disappeared and never came back.

The scholar stared at the empty bed curtains, tossing and turning night after night.

Many years later, the scholar became the county magistrate and was ordered to wipe out the nearby Black Wind Stronghold.

The bandit slipped into his bed again. “The bandits of Black Wind Stronghold helped me. Don't hurt them.”

The scholar held her down, his voice trembling. “Then promise me first that you won't leave again.”

Also known as: The Handsome Scholar's Daily Life of Being Fooled

Theme: Superstition leads people astray.