The Song Dynasty's Hat Demon Chronicles

The Treatise on the Five Phases in the History of Song records: “In the fifth month of the second year of Tianxi, rumors spread in the Western Capital of a creature resembling a black official hat that flew into people's homes at night, then changed into the shape of a dog or wolf. The people were all terrified. Families gathered together and sat in a circle, shouting and making a commotion until dawn. An imperial decree ordered it captured, and only after several months did things settle down.” The Continuation of the Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance records: “That evening, rumors spread among the people of the capital that the Hat Demon had come from the Western Capital, entered people's homes, and eaten them. The tale spread, causing widespread fear. Families gathered together and sat in a circle, shouting and making a commotion until dawn. The military camps were especially affected.” Emperor Zhenzong issued a decree: The monk Tianshang and the occultist Geng Gai were beheaded. The snake catcher from the Eastern Capital, Jian Sanlang, was convicted of creating books and spreading rumors about demons, and executed by slow slicing. Jian Sanlang knew the Hat Demon was no mere rumor. And the Hat Demon was not the only strange thing in this world. He had a divine iron ruler and eyes that could see the future, and he established a mysterious society. It took him less than a year to go from a ruined house in the south of the city to an audience with Crown Prince Zhao Zhen in the Eastern Palace. Only then did he discover that demons were not in the wilderness. They were among the people. But his destiny lay beyond the human world.