Once upon a time, there lived a county magistrate who had only three daughters. At long last, the magistrate’s wife gave birth to a baby boy, and he became the apple of their eye. When the child was seven years old, a Buddhist monk visited the house to ask for charity. Looking at the boy, the monk told the magistrate that the child was destined to die when he was twelve. The parents were shocked and heartbroken. After a lot of thinking, they decided to entrust their son to the Buddhist priest, believing it would be the best way to prevent him from dying an early death. As the monk left the house, the parents, shedding tears, sent their precious child with him. They gave their son silk clothes and told him to remember his parents.

So, the child lived with the Buddhist priest at a temple deep in the mountains. He grew up well, and reached the age of 13. Fortunately, he was able to pass the critical age of 12, and the monk was ready to return the boy to his home. “It’s time for you to return home. But you shouldn’t go right now. You must survive a life-or-death crisis three times before you get home. Don’t forget it!” With these words, the monk gave the boy scorched rice.

The child set out on a journey back home, taking the scorched rice and the silk clothes his parents had given him a long time ago. On his way, he encountered a tiger, which was surely about to devour the human boy. He quickly threw the scorched rice given by the monk to the tiger and ran away. Struggling for breath, he thought this must be the first crisis he should overcome. After a while, he happened to enter a thatched-roof house and found a flute made of jade there. As soon as he got out of the house with the jade flute, the house suddenly collapsed. He realized that he had just escaped the second crisis. He was curious about the flute and played it. Miraculously, his body floated in the air. When he stopped playing, he slowly descended. It was a magic flute!

Still, he couldn’t go home yet as he had to get over one more crisis. Until then, he needed to support himself anyway, so he worked as a servant at a rich man’s house, taking care of the master’s horses. One day, the whole family went to a party in the next village. The boy also wanted to attend the party. He took out his silk clothes and put them on. He rode on a horse and played his jade flute. As expected, the horse, with the boy on its back, began to fly in the air. People in the party were all astonished to see a boy dressed in beautiful clothes, playing the jade flute on a horse high up in the sky. They thought a Taoist hermit was descending from heaven.

The boy returned to the rich man’s house and wore his shabby old clothes again. No one in house paid attention to him, but the youngest daughter in the family recognized him as a mysterious boy at the party. The boy and the girl came to love each other. When the master found out about the secret love between his beloved daughter and the poor servant, he was so furious that he decided to kill the boy. On the verge of death, the boy asked the master to ride on the horse for one last time. Upon sitting astride the horse, he quickly grabbed the girl’s hand to set her on the horse and played his jade flute. The horse and the two lovers began to fly up into the sky. And that was the last crisis the boy survived.

When he arrived at the house where he was born, his parents instantly figured out who the boy dressed in the silk clothes was. They were overjoyed to be reunited with their long-lost son, who was eventually able to overcome his ill fate. The son married the girl he loved, and they lived happily ever after.