t find him," he added,
"you may take my life."

Once again No-cha frankly admitted his deed to his father, and followed
him to the cave of Shih-chi Niang-niang. When he reached the entrance
the second servant reproached him with the crime, whereupon No-cha
struck him a heavy blow. Shih-chi Niang-niang, infuriated, threw
herself at No-cha, sword in hand; one after the other she wrenched
from him his bracelet and magic trousers.

Deprived of his magic weapons, No-cha fled to his master, T'ai-i
Chen-jen. The goddess followed and demanded that he be put to
death. A terrible conflict ensued between the two champions, until
T'ai-i Chen-jen hurled into the air his globe of nine fire-dragons,
which, falling on Shih-chi Niang-niang, enveloped her in a whirlwind
of flame. When this had passed it was seen that she was changed
into stone.

"Now you are safe," said T'ai-i Chen-jen to No-cha, "but return
quickly, for the Four Dragon-kings have laid their accusation before
Yue Huang, and they are going to carry off your parents. Follow my
advice, and you will rescue your parents from their misfortune."

No-cha commits Hara-Kiri

On his return No-cha found the Four Dragon-kings on the point of
carrying off his parents. "It is I," he said, "who killed Ao Ping, and
I who should pay the penalty. Why are you molesting my parents? I am
about to return to them what I received from them. Will it satisfy
you?"

Lung Wang agreed, whereupon No-cha took a sword, and before their eyes
cut off an arm, sliced open his stomach, and fell unconscious. His
soul, borne on the wind, went straight to the cave of T'ai-i Chen-jen,
while his mother busied herself with burying his body.

"Your home is not here," said his master to him; "return to Ch'en-t'ang
Kuan, and beg your mother to build a temple on Ts'ui-p'ing Shan,
forty _li_ farther on. Incense will be burned to you for three years,
at the end of which time you will be reincarnated."

A Habitation for the Soul

During the night, toward the third watch, while his mother was in a
deep sleep, No-cha appeared to her in a dream and said: "My mother,
pity me; since my death, my soul, separated from my body, wanders about
without a home. Build me, I pray you, a temple on Ts'ui-p'ing Shan,
that I may be reincarnated." His mother awoke in tears, and related
her vision to Li Ching, who reproached her for her blind attachment
to her unnatural son, the cause of so much disaster.

For five or six