A white snake and her emerald green companion lived on a mountain and one day the companion suggested they visit the city of Hangchow as human maiden and servant. They became Pure Virtue and Little Green.

They went to the city and were amazed at all there was to see and do - shops, carts, people, and boats. While on a boat ride, Pure Virtue spoke with the man Syu Syan and they fell in love. They were married and soon opened an apothecary shop, although Pure Virtue never told him about her true form.

A local monk, Fa Hai, came to town and saw a black cloud over the shop and gave the husband a potion to expose his wife as an evil spirit. He gives it to her and discovers she is a white snake and falls into a deep coma, from which on the Fairy Queen-guarded ling-jir herb could rouse him. It worked, but only the birth of their son broke his resulted depression.

But the monk returned and Syu Syan went with him to the mountain to meditate. pure Virtue went after, but Fa Hai turned her back into a snake and put her into a small box which he then buried under the Leifang Pagoda in Hangchow.

Syu Syan and his son happily ever after.