The Green and White Snakes: I Am the Golden-Winged Great Peng

In that distant mythic age, I was the awe-inspiring Golden-Winged Great Roc, with a pair of enormous wings that blotted out the sky. I was regarded as the king of demons. Whenever I spread my wings, my shadow seemed to blanket heaven and earth, striking such fear into the gods of the celestial realm that none dared challenge my authority. After the battle at Lion-Camel Ridge, the Buddha Tathagata took me on as a guardian, but the position was little more than a sinecure. Tathagata's own power was boundless, and he already had many gods and Buddhas protecting him. In truth, he had no need of my protection.

So for hundreds of years, I could only roam the mountains and rivers, seek out the world's wonders, and sample its delicacies. While eating seafood in Mingzhou, I met two snakes...