The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories

Thirteen-year-old Liang is going on his first hulijing hunt with his father. The hulijing is a demon that looks like a woman and steals hearts. Liang and his father have tied the merchant’s son, whom the hulijing has bewitched, to a bed. The merchant’s son’s cries attract the hulijing, and when Liang sees her, he feels mesmerized. He didn’t realize she would be so beautiful or so sad.

Liang’s father attacks the hulijing with the sword Swallow Tail, but he misses and hits a door. Liang’s job is to throw a pot full of dog urine on her, but the demon talks to him, calling him brave, and he hesitates. Still, a small amount of dog urine is enough, and it freezes her in the act of transforming into a fox. She runs, and Liang’s father chases her.

Determined to redeem himself, Liang traps the hulijing, only it is smaller than he remembered. It’s one of the hulijing’s children. He fights with the creature until it turns into a young girl, who asks him why he is chasing them. Liang explains that her mother bewitched the merchant’s son, but the girl says that her mother was trying to keep the merchant’s son alive.