The governor of Dengzhou (登州; in present-day eastern Shandong) orders Xie Zhen and Xie Bao, the best among local hunters, to hunt down a tiger in three days which has preyed on travelers on a ridge, failing which they would face severe punishment. On the second night, the brothers trap the tiger, corner it on a cliff, and fire poison arrows at it. The tiger falls off the cliff and lands in the backyard of the mansion of one Squire Mao. As they are clambering down the hill, Squire Mao orders his son Mao Zhongyi to take the tiger, now dead, to the governor to claim reward.