Chapters 1-12 Summary

Chapter 1: Our story opens on the Jade River near the Fruitless Mountain in a small village which contains an even smaller home. A young girl named Minli lives there with her parents, Ba and Ma. Minli asks Ba why nothing grows on Fruitless Mountain and Ba tells her a story. In the story, Jade Dragon made the rain across the land until she heard the people complain about the rain. Angry, she refused to give any rain to the people and they began to die. Jade Dragon's children, Pearl, Yellow, Long and Black, decided to help the people and turned themselves into four rivers. Jade Dragon was heart-broken and turned herself into the Jade River. Fruitless Mountain, says Ba, is fruitless because it is the place where Jade Dragon's soul is trapped. The Mountain will only grow green when her spirit...