Chapter 26 opens with a flashback to the beginning of the story, when the narrator was a child. He tells us that he saw a human being who looked like his brother, and that the human looked very much like his own brother. The narrator is terrified, and he wonders how he could have become a human. He also wonders how a fairy could become a man. He wonders where his brother's brother is, and wonders if his brother is still alive. He asks his senior brother if he knows why he has the inner demon. The senior brother tells him that the taoist spirit originates from benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and goodness.