The widow A Xiu saves a heavily injured golden dragon at the river beach and hides it in an old well. The golden dragon bestows a jade pendant to protect her son Shi Sheng through three life-and-death calamities. Twenty years later, Shi Sheng is bullied by the village bully Zhao Dahu and his son: driving cattle to trample seedlings, pushing him into a deep pool, being robbed on the way to the imperial examinations, and a night raid by bandits. The jade pendant manifests three times: a golden snake heals wounds and gives silver, a golden python repels enemies, and a golden dragon phantom carries him to safety. Zhao Dahu sets fire to burn down the house, and the golden dragon manifests to extinguish the fire, leaving a dragon scale to repay the kindness. Shi Sheng uses the gold to build a house, run a school, and marry Xiu Lan. During a severe drought, he holds the dragon scale to pray for rain, and the golden dragon descends with sweet rain. Zhao Dahu gathers ruffians to besiege them, and the golden dragon's true form descends, projecting twenty years of evil deeds with divine light, punishing evil and promoting goodness, exiling the wicked, and leading the whole village toward kindness.