She is a demon, yet the people offer her incense. He is human, yet he must kill her to prove his Dao. The distinction between good and evil crumbles in the face of genuine folk faith.
The heroine has guarded Poyang Lake for a thousand years, witnessing countless dynasties rise and fall and all the joys and sorrows of human life, yet remaining forever alone. The hero is the first person in a thousand years to "see" her, though as her enemy.
I've lived at the bottom of Poyang Lake for eight hundred years.
I've seen the naval forces of Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang fight each other to the death across the lake, blood staining half the sky. I've seen merchant ships run into trouble and lifted every person who fell overboard safely to shore. They knelt by the lake and kowtowed, saying, "The Lake God has answered our prayers."
But that young Daoist priest from Mount Longhu insisted I was a "thousand-year-old demon."
He chased me with a peachwood sword for three days and three nights, finally cornering me near Laoye Temple.
"Demon! You've been entrenched here for a thousand years. How many lives have you taken?"
I pointed to the stele in front of the temple. "See for yourself."
It read: "Lord of Poyang Lake, honored by imperial decree through the ages, guardian of fishermen, of boundless merit."
He froze. "You... you're the Lake Lord?"
I smiled. "What, does being the Lake Lord mean I'm not a demon?"
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