There was a treasure mountain on the sea, where there were many, many rare treasures shining with brilliant light and dazzling the eyes.

But before the ship had sailed for 100 li, all of a sudden black clouds rolled all over the sky, and a strong wind blew to unleash huge waves. The ship was tossed about violently. A flood dragon was seen emerging from the stormy sea and looking very terrifying.

A seaman got a pearl of 1 can (1/30 metre) in diameter, which glistened brightly. He took a ship to take it home.

The crew advised the seaman:

"It seems that the flood dragon wants to have your pearl. Please throw it into the sea at once; otherwise you will get us into trouble."

At the moment, the seaman was in a dilemma. He couldn't bear to part with the pearl; on the other hand, he was afraid of the imminent disaster. His head was covered with perspiration from anxiety. After a while, with his teeth clenched to endure the pain, he gouged out a piece of flesh from his thigh to conceal the pearl there. The storm on the sea subsided at once.

As soon as the seaman got home, he took out the dazzling pearl immediately. But not long afterwards he died of the festering wound in his thigh.