The warrior had been warned by the kind old woman who had taken him in the previous night of the witch that lived at the mount’s summit. But he disregarded the warning and continued to cross the mountain in the morning. The beautiful woman he encountered at the summit did turn out to be the evil witch, and when he rejected her proposal to stay and live with her, he was quickly surrounded by swords of flame. He turned to the witch and begged her to give him a week to consider. She granted his request.

The warrior hastened forthwith to the seashore, where he had saved the Dragon-King who had transformed himself into a turtle to observe the world of men, but then was caught by some boys ready to kill the turtle. In appreciation for saving his life, the Dragon-King told the warrior to come to him if ever he was in danger.

So the warrior stood at the water’s edge and called on the Dragon-King in a loud voice. Immediately, a mysterious boy came up out of the sea and welcomed him. He recited a magic formula and the waters parted and a road appeared between them. The boy led the warrior to the Dragon Kingdom and into the presence of the Dragon-King. The warrior told the king of the peril that beset him, and the king agreed to help him. He immediately dispatched his three brothers to kill the mountain witch. The warrior took hold of the tails of the three dragon brothers and was whisked back to the mountain in an instant. They seemed to glide over the ground without touching it with their feet.

The three dragon brothers raised a terrible black storm to destroy the witch’s house. But the witch came out and laughed aloud. ‘You went to the Dragon-King for help,’ she chortled. ‘His magic is nothing to me. Just you watch.’ She threw a piece of paper inscribed with magic signs into the air, and immediate three pillars of flame flashed through the air and felled the three dragon brothers to the ground, each severed into two parts. Then the sky lightened and the wind dropped.

The witch took the warrior by the hand and said, ‘Now you must do as I wish. Come and stay with me and keep me company.’ But the warrior wrenched his hand away and asked her to allow him a month to make up his mind. She agreed, reluctantly, and said, ‘If you try to overcome me again and are defeated, I will not give you a third chance. Do you understand?’

So the warrior returned once more to the palace of the Dragon-King and told him what had happened. The king sighed sadly and replied, ‘The witch is too strong for me to overcome. The only thing we can do is to go and ask the Heavenly King to punish her.’ So the Dragon-King went to the Heavenly Kingdom and humbly begged the Heavenly King to punish the witch. The Heavenly King granted the wish and immediately dispatched three warriors from heaven.