However, ten days past and still no rain fell. People began to eat bark and grass roots, and when they ran out of those things they forced themselves to eat white clay. The dragons noticed this and decided to take things into their own hands. They knew the Jade Emperor would punish them for their actions, but they did not fear. They took water from the Eastern Sea numerous times and sprayed the water out over the earth.

The sea water became rain and the crops began to grow healthy again, and the people were happy. However, once the Jade Emperor found out about this, he had each dragon have a mountain laid on top of them so they wouldn't be able to move. The four dragons had no regrets and they were still determined to help the people, so they each turned themselves into a river. Each flows throughout the land before finally emptying into the sea. So China's four great rivers were born: the Heilongjian in the north, the Huanghe in the center, the Yangtze in the far south, and the Zhujiang in the very far south.