The narrator tells the story of how he came to be supported by his sister-in-law, who is also a local official. Shenzhen has been accused of stealing millions of silver from the government, but he does not know him. The narrator explains that he has just gone to the forest to "exorcise demons" , and his brother is also there. He says that he cannot hide anything from his son, and that he should learn to look at the empty sky and feel its "total dark sublime" . He tells the father that he is blushing because he has guessed the meaning of the name "Qingxuan," which means "to feel its total darkness sublime." The narrator says that his son is growing up, and one day he found out that his parents were not his real parents. He was estranged from Mingshi, and they had a lantern festival together.