Bai Niang, also known as Bai Suzhen, is a white snake spirit who honed Taoist magical arts over a millennium on Mount Emei. Her path crosses with Xu Xian when she consumes immortality pills he unknowingly drops into West Lake, awakening heightened spiritual powers and binding their fates. Driven to repay his accidental generosity, she seeks him years later, culminating in a fateful meeting at West Lake’s Broken Bridge. After rescuing the green snake Xiaoqing from a beggar, Bai Niang gains a devoted sworn sister. Assuming human form, she marries Xu Xian, embodying elegance and benevolence. Together, they operate a herbal medicine shop, channeling her healing knowledge to aid the sick. Tensions erupt when Fahai, a monk harboring past envy from his days as a terrapin, manipulates Xu Xian into administering realgar wine during the Dragon Boat Festival, forcing Bai Niang to reveal her serpent form. The shock kills Xu Xian, spurring her to brave Mount Emei’s dangers to steal a resurrection herb. Though she revives him, his lingering fear fractures their bond. Fahai escalates his vendetta by imprisoning Xu Xian at Jinshan Temple. Bai Niang retaliates by flooding the temple, an act that unintentionally harms bystanders and drains her strength amid pregnancy. Defeated, she is sealed beneath Leifeng Pagoda until her son, Xu Mengjiao—a Confucian scholar—secures her release through filial devotion, harmonizing Daoist, Buddhist, and Confucian ideals. Later tales expand her story, depicting her surrender of immortality to embrace humanity and reunite with Xu Xian. These adaptations reframe her journey from mystical strife to a testament of love’s resilience, weaving her serpentine legacy with profound human empathy and ethical nuance.