This chapter opens with a description of the situation in the northern kingdom, which has been ravaged by earthquakes, famines, and other natural disasters. The northern emperor has promised to reward anyone who kills a tiger in exchange for the snow leopard. When the prince was fifteen years old, the emperor made him promise that if he killed a tiger, he would reward the person who killed the tiger. The prince did not do so, however, because he was equipped with all the knowledge he could get from the books he had read. The king of the southern kingdom, who has been watching the scene, has heard the prince's words and is angry. He tells the prince that the northern emperor destroyed his country with his own hands. He asks the prince to spare everyone else in order to take revenge on him.