At this time there appeared in the south a strange man named Tso Ch’ih, ‘Chisel-tooth.’  He had round eyes and a long projecting tooth.  He was a well-known criminal.  Yao ordered Shen I and his small band of brave followers to deal with this new enemy.  This extraordinary man lived in a cave, and when Shen I and his men arrived he emerged brandishing a padlock.  Shen I broke his long tooth by shooting an arrow at it, and Tso Ch’ih fled, but was struck in the back and laid low by another arrow from Shen I. The victor took the broken tooth with him as a trophy.

Heng O flies to the Moon

Heng O, during her husband’s absence, saw a white light which seemed to issue from a beam in the roof, while a most delicious odour filled every room.  By the aid of a ladder she reached up to the spot whence the light came, found the pill of immortality, and ate it.  She suddenly felt that she was freed from the operation of the laws of gravity and as if she had wings, and was just essaying her first flight when Shen I returned.  He went to look for his pill, and, not finding it, asked Heng O what had happened.

The young wife, seized with fear, opened the window and flew out.  Shen I took his bow and pursued her.  The moon was full, the night clear, and he saw his wife flying rapidly in front of him, only about the size of a toad.  Just when he was redoubling his pace to catch her up a blast of wind struck him to the ground like a dead leaf.

Heng O continued her flight until she reached a luminous sphere, shining like glass, of enormous size, and very cold.  The only vegetation consisted of cinnamon-trees.  No living being was to be seen.  All of a sudden she began to cough, and vomited the covering of the pill of immortality, which was changed into a rabbit as white as the purest jade.  This was the ancestor of the spirituality of the yin, or female, principle.  Heng O noticed a bitter taste in her mouth, drank some dew, and, feeling hungry, ate some cinnamon.  She took up her abode in this sphere.

As to Shen I, he was carried by the hurricane up into a high mountain.  Finding himself before the door of a palace, he was invited to enter, and found that it was the palace of Tung-hua Ti-chuen, otherwise Tung Wang Kung, the husband of Hsi Wang Mu.

The Sun-palace and the Bird of Dawn

The God of the Immortals said to Shen I:  “You must not be annoyed with Heng O. Everybody’s fate is settled beforehand.  Your labours are nearing an end, and you will become an Immortal.  It was I who let loose the whirlwind that brought you here.  Heng O, through having borrowed the forces which by right belong to you, is now an Immortal in the Palace of the Moon.  As for you, you deserve much for having so bravely fought the nine false suns.  As a reward you shall have the Palace of the Sun.  Thus the yin and the yang will be united in marriage.”  This said, Tung-hua Ti-chuen ordered his servants to bring a red Chinese sarsaparilla cake, with a lunar talisman.