Recorded Across Generations.
For Those Who Come After.
A human face upon a tiger's body. Everyone who returned alive told the same story: it was a horse with a swollen belly. So it entered the records as Ma Fu, the Horse-Belly, a name that bore no resemblance to the creature itself. But those who finally slew it and ate its heart told another tale. No horse at all, but a human face upon a tiger's body. Others swore it had been a wolf. Some a bear. Some remembered only a face they could never quite recall. No two accounts agreed, for each victim saw only what it wished them to see. Eat its heart, and that deception becomes yours. In the eyes of others, you may become whatever you choose: a harmless horse, a familiar face, a passerby no one notices. No witness can ever truly identify you. But from that day on, no one will ever see your true face again. Not even the one person you most wish would remember it.
人面虎身。 凡活着回来的人都说：杀死同伴的，是一头大腹的马。他们咬定那是匹马，于是书上便记它作“马腹”，一个与它真容毫不相干的名字。可那些最终杀了它、食其心的人，说的却是另一回事：它哪里是马，分明是人面虎身。还有人说是狼，有人说是熊，是虎，是一张始终看不真切的人脸。众口不一，无一相同。它让每个猎物，看见它想让人看见的模样。 食其心者，得这一副换形之能。你可令旁人眼中的你，成为你所愿的任何模样：一匹无害的马、一张相熟的脸、一个谁也不会多看一眼的路人。世间再无人能真正指认你。只是自此，你也永远无法以真面目示人。 纵是你想让他认出你的那个人，也不能。
棲 蔓渠之山 Mount Manqu
有獸焉，其名曰馬腹，其狀如人面虎身，其音如嬰兒，是食人。