Records of the Hidden and Manifest

On a night with bright moon and clear breeze, a scholar reads by lamplight in a deserted mansion; beneath a deep pool, water creatures whisper without cease; on an ancient painting, ink traces stir as if about to move; beyond the battlefield, loyal souls still grasp broken halberds. All these are beyond the mundane. "Records of the Hidden and Manifest" comprises eight volumes, chronicling tales of strange beings and fox spirits. Yet the brush does not aim to seek novelty, but to illuminate the human heart through the eyes of the netherworld. A fox maiden may abandon the Dao for love; a painted soul would rather shatter than forsake its original heart; a snake spirit carries gratitude for a century to repay; a ghost general refuses to leave camp without orders—such beings surpass the heartless and faithless of the human world. Under the cold moonlight by the western window, as the lamp flickers in the dead of night, the reader with a discerning heart will know that among fox spirits and ghosts, there is true human sentiment, while those in fine robes may harbor demonic hearts. Heaven and earth have the hidden and manifest, but reason and emotion are one. This is the record.