In this chapter, we learn about the robbery that took place in Ming-era China. The thieves were called "ba niu" and sentenced to death, but the victim's son, Zillah, says that his father resigned his position in order to take revenge on his father. Zillah also tells us that he found letters between his father and his two brothers, who are also named Ba Niu, and that the identity of the man who stole their father's papers was Fang. Fang is the owner of a talent press, and he stole Zillah's work and set up the whole family to die