Legend of the White Snake

Poster image: https://i.postimg.cc/BvBZH59Y/230450-0.png

Cast:
Xu Xian: Wang Xue
Bai Suzhen: Yonaguni Hikari
Fahai: Senju Koyomi

Act 1

Deep in the mountains of Mount Emei there once lived a beautiful white snake.

She lived a lonely and poor life, but lived modestly, with her only pleasure being a walk along the banks of a busy lake called West Lake.

After a thousand years, the white snake learned how to transform into a human.

Transformed into a young and beautiful girl, the white snake called herself ‘Bai Suzhen’.

‘I want to become a real human one day.’

‘Human life is free and fun, and surely wonderful.’

Bai Suzhen harbored such a faint dream, and it became her daily habit to look at her reflection on the surface of the West Lake.

Meanwhile, one day, a young apothecary named Xu Xian was caught in heavy rain on his way home from visiting a grave. He gave up on the land route and tried to return home by boat from the Broken Bridge of the West Lake.

By chance, Bai Suzhen happened to be passing by and fell in love with Xu Xian at first sight.

‘Excuse me, could I get on the boat too?’

When Xu Xian was approached, he was captivated by Bai Suzhen’s beauty.

Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen took a boat together to Chung Jin Men.

The heavy rain showed no signs of stopping, so Xu Xian decided to lend Bai Suzhen his umbrella.

‘I'll return the umbrella tomorrow, so can you come to the shores of West Lake?’

And so the two parted ways, promising to meet again.

Act 2

The next day, Xu Xian came to West Lake as promised.

Bai Suzhen was happy to see Xu Xian again, and did her best to provide him with hospitality as a thank you for lending her the umbrella.
The two were attracted to each other and held their wedding ceremony that night.

Thus, Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen became husband and wife, and started a small pharmacy near West Lake.

Although their life was not easy, they shared medicines with the poor and sick, and the two apothecarys were well-received by the townspeople. Bai Suzhen was able to live a happy life as a human, and was filled with gratitude towards Xu Xian.

However, their happiness did not last long.

Someone heard about the reputation of the West Lake apothecary shop, and eventually rumours about the apothecaries' beautiful wife, Bai Suzhen, and realized that she was not human.

It was Fahai, the head priest of Jinshan Temple, who possessed powerful supernatural powers.

He came to the West Lake, thinking that a demon living as a human being was absurd and that he could not leave her alive.

He told Xu Xian that Bai Musuko's true form was that of a snake and tried to tear them apart, but Xu Xian didn’t believe him.

Wanting to defeat the demon at any cost, Fahai tricked Bai Suzhen into drinking alcohol at the Dragon Boat Festival.

When she became drunk, Bai Suzhen suddenly reverted to her form as a white snake and fell asleep.

Xu Xian was so shocked by what he saw that he collapsed and became comatose.

Act 3

Bai Suzhen woke up from her drunken slumber and was told everything by Fahai, who then tried to kill her.

Bai Suzhen managed to escape. She would have been safe if she had just gone into hiding, but instead, she went to a sacred island called Penglai Island to gather herbs for Xu Xian, without regard for her own safety.

After returning with the herbs, Bai Suzhen was able to save Xu Xian's life, which was growing weaker by the day.

However, she has no choice but to leave Xu Xian to escape Fahai's attack.

When Xu Xian woke up, he was shocked to find that Bai Suzhen is not a human but a white snake, but he is touched by the true love of Bai Suzhen, who saved his life, and realised that he also loved Bai Suzhen from the bottom of his heart.

Xu Xian could no longer stay still.

He followed Bai Suzhen and found her at the Broken Bridge where they first met, and they confirmed their unwavering love for each other.

By chance, it was raining heavily again.

But then Fahai appeared. Fahai had not given up on defeating Bai Suzhen.

Act 4

To protect herself and her love, Bai Suzhen turned into a white snake and confronted Fahai.

Bai Suzhen, who had found true love, was strong, and even Fahai, who had great supernatural powers, had a hard time fighting her.

After a fierce battle, Bai Suzhen defeated Fahai.

Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen embraced each other and rejoiced that she was safe.

However, their joy was short lived, as the bridge, damaged in the fierce battle, collapsed.

Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen, who were on the bridge, fell into the river, which had flooded due to heavy rain.

Unable to swim, they were swept away by the muddy current.

Knowing that Xu Xian would die if they continued like this, Bai Suzhen mustered her last strength, pushed Xu Xian's body up the riverbank, and disappeared into the violent whirlpool of the water.

‘Bai Suzhen! Bai Suzhen!’

Xu Xian's painful scream echoed forever and ever.

Aftertalk

Wang Xue: Is the story based on a Chinese species intermarriage story? You hear similar legends in other countries.

Yonaguni Hikari: Inter......? I don't know, but it's sad when people who love each other part ways.

Wang Xue: It's the same with 'The Grateful Crane' and stuff like that. I think it's a common development......

Wang Xue: Well, in this story, Bai Suzhen got her true love, but in the end they had to part ways. I guess you could say it's a sad end.

Yonaguni Hikari: Nooo~...... I don't want to say goodbye to Xue.

Wang Xue: You're being silly again....… Usually we're in the troupe, dormitory and school together, and I’m so fed up with it.

Yonaguni Hikari: Ehehe....... I just got a bit sad when I imagined it. That's right! I want to be with you forever from now on!