This chapter's epigraph is from a famous poem by the famous poet and playwright Henry David Thoreau. The poem is about a young man who is about to be killed by his own father. The young man, who is a member of the Heilin family, is being chased by a mad man who wants to devour the young man's spirit. The old man, the poet, and the playwright are all in the middle of a conversation about the future when the old man asks the poet to help him kill the mad man. The poet says that he has come to help the man, but he looks like he doesn't need his help. He tells the poet that he is a loyal friend of the man and that his father will not forgive him if something happens to him. He asks the young poet to go with him to the city of Hong di, which is the largest city in the province of Jiangxi.