A scholar from Xuzhou named Dong (董) meets a fellow traveller from Liaoyang, Tong (佟), while on the road.

[1] Being a swordsmanship enthusiast and having long wanted to learn from a qualified swordsman, Dong asks if Tong has met any such person during his journeys.

[3] Dong walks out of the house to find that his father is unharmed, and had merely been socialising with a neighbour, whereas Tong has disappeared, leaving behind "piles of ash from grass torches".

[3] Pu notes the importance of filial piety in his postscript, and narrates another tale concerning a bailiff who initially orders his adulterous wife to hang herself, only to rescind his command when her pleas for mercy become intolerable; thereafter, the couple make amends.

[4][a] Loyalty and filial piety are the foundation of a man's heroic nature; since ancient times, men who proved unwilling to die for their fathers might originally have been brave enough to do so, but then changed their minds due to second thoughts.