Main Story
Long ago, Lü Dongbin, one of the Eight Immortals (a group of legendary immortals; transcendents; saints in Chinese mythology whose’ power can be transferred to a power tool that can bestow life or destroy evil) disguised himself as a man selling tang yuan (a Chinese food made from glutinous rice flour mixed with a small amount of water to form balls and is then cooked and served in boiling water that is traditionally eaten on the Lantern Festival) at the Broken Bridge near the West Lake in Hangzhou. A boy called Xu Xian saw Lü Dongbin and, since he was hungry, bought some tang yuan. Little did he know, that was no ordinary tang yuan. They were actually immortality pills. Xu Xian noticed that in the following three days, he had not been hungry. Confused, he went back to Lü Dongbin to ask why he had not been hungry. After the boy asked him, Lü Dongbin laughed and carried Xu Xian to the bridge at the lake and flipped him upside down. Xu Xian then vomited the tang yuan into the lake.
Meanwhile, inside the lake was a white snake spirit who had been practising Taoist magical arts in the hope of becoming an immortal after centuries of training and cultivation. She then found the pills that Xu Xian had vomited. She ate the pills and gained 500 years' worth of magical powers. She felt grateful to Xu Xian and their fates became intertwined. There was another tortoise spirit also training in the lake who did not manage to consume any of the pills. He became very jealous of the white snake. One day, the white snake saw a beggar on the bridge who had caught a green snake, wanting to dig out the snake's gall and sell it. The white snake had to act fast. She transformed into a woman and bought the green snake from the beggar and saved the green snake's life. The green snake became so grateful to the white snake that it regarded her as an elder sister.
Eighteen years later, during the Qingming Festival, the white and green snakes transformed themselves into two beautiful young women and called themselves Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing. They Xu Xian at the Broken Bridge in Hangzhou. It was raining, so Xu Xian lent them his umbrella. Eventually, Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen fell in love and then married. They moved to Zhenjiang, where they opened a medicine shop.
In the meantime, the terrapin spirit had accumulated enough powers to take human form, so he transformed into a Buddhist monk called Fahai. Still angry with Bai Suzhen, Fahai plotted to break up her relationship with Xu Xian. He approached Xu Xian and whispered in his ear him that during the Duanwu Festival his wife should drink realgar wine, a wine associated with that festival. Bai Suzhen unsuspectingly drinked the wine. Then the magical wine revealed her true form as a large white snake. Xu Xian died of shock after seeing that his wife was not human. Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing then decided to travel to Mount Emei, where they had to face danger and steal a magical herb that restored Xu Xian’s life.
After coming back to life, Xu Xian maintained his love for Bai Suzhen despite knowing her true identity. Fahai tried to separate them again by capturing Xu Xian and imprisoning him in the Jinshan Temple. Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing fought with Fahai with all their might to rescue Xu Xian. Bai used her powers to flood the temple, many innocent people were drowned. However, her powers are limited because she was already pregnant with Xu Xian's child, so she fails to save her husband. Xu Xian later managed to escape from Jinshan Temple and reunite with his wife in Hangzhou, where Bai Suzhen gave birth to their son, Xu Mengjiao. Fahai tracked them down, defeated Bai Suzhen and imprisoned her in Leifeng Pagoda.
Twenty years later, Xu Mengjiao earned the zhuangyuan (top scholar) degree in the imperial examination and returned home in glory to visit his parents. At the same time, Xiaoqing, who escaped when Bai Suzhen was captured by Fahai, traveled to Jinshan Temple to confront Fahai and defeated him. Bai Suzhen was freed from Leifeng Pagoda and reunited with her husband and son, while Fahai fled and hid inside the stomach of a crab. There is a saying that a crab's internal fat is orange because it resembles the colour of Fahai's kasaya.
Meanwhile, inside the lake was a white snake spirit who had been practising Taoist magical arts in the hope of becoming an immortal after centuries of training and cultivation. She then found the pills that Xu Xian had vomited. She ate the pills and gained 500 years' worth of magical powers. She felt grateful to Xu Xian and their fates became intertwined. There was another tortoise spirit also training in the lake who did not manage to consume any of the pills. He became very jealous of the white snake. One day, the white snake saw a beggar on the bridge who had caught a green snake, wanting to dig out the snake's gall and sell it. The white snake had to act fast. She transformed into a woman and bought the green snake from the beggar and saved the green snake's life. The green snake became so grateful to the white snake that it regarded her as an elder sister.
Eighteen years later, during the Qingming Festival, the white and green snakes transformed themselves into two beautiful young women and called themselves Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing. They Xu Xian at the Broken Bridge in Hangzhou. It was raining, so Xu Xian lent them his umbrella. Eventually, Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen fell in love and then married. They moved to Zhenjiang, where they opened a medicine shop.
In the meantime, the terrapin spirit had accumulated enough powers to take human form, so he transformed into a Buddhist monk called Fahai. Still angry with Bai Suzhen, Fahai plotted to break up her relationship with Xu Xian. He approached Xu Xian and whispered in his ear him that during the Duanwu Festival his wife should drink realgar wine, a wine associated with that festival. Bai Suzhen unsuspectingly drinked the wine. Then the magical wine revealed her true form as a large white snake. Xu Xian died of shock after seeing that his wife was not human. Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing then decided to travel to Mount Emei, where they had to face danger and steal a magical herb that restored Xu Xian’s life.
After coming back to life, Xu Xian maintained his love for Bai Suzhen despite knowing her true identity. Fahai tried to separate them again by capturing Xu Xian and imprisoning him in the Jinshan Temple. Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing fought with Fahai with all their might to rescue Xu Xian. Bai used her powers to flood the temple, many innocent people were drowned. However, her powers are limited because she was already pregnant with Xu Xian's child, so she fails to save her husband. Xu Xian later managed to escape from Jinshan Temple and reunite with his wife in Hangzhou, where Bai Suzhen gave birth to their son, Xu Mengjiao. Fahai tracked them down, defeated Bai Suzhen and imprisoned her in Leifeng Pagoda.
Twenty years later, Xu Mengjiao earned the zhuangyuan (top scholar) degree in the imperial examination and returned home in glory to visit his parents. At the same time, Xiaoqing, who escaped when Bai Suzhen was captured by Fahai, traveled to Jinshan Temple to confront Fahai and defeated him. Bai Suzhen was freed from Leifeng Pagoda and reunited with her husband and son, while Fahai fled and hid inside the stomach of a crab. There is a saying that a crab's internal fat is orange because it resembles the colour of Fahai's kasaya.