Chapter 648: Nezha and Li Jing

The scene shifts, and Taiyi Zhenren is "drunk driving" the whole way.

It's one thing that he's drinking while riding a flying pig, but he's actually pouring alcohol into the pig's mouth.

Good grief, with his character, if I were Shen Gongbao, I wouldn't respect him either.

Elsewhere, Li Jing supports the heavily pregnant Lady Yin as they come to the temple to pay their respects.

Lady Yin is seen holding a chicken leg in one hand and a pancake in the other; she doesn't even let Li Jing help her over the threshold, nimbly jumping over it instead.

——What a nimble lady!

While bowing, Li Jing says to her, "My lady, you should come and bow too."

Lady Yin produces an apple from who knows where, and while gnawing on it, says, "Bow, bow, bow, I've been bowing for three years already; if I can't give birth soon, I'm going to smash this lousy temple!"

Clearly, this is another subversion of the Myth figures in everyone's impression!

Just as Lady Yin throws the apple, the temple suddenly breaks, and Taiyi Zhenren and the flying pig descend from the sky.

——Ha, a funny man appears ahead!

I have to say, the funny man Taiyi Zhenren is very unreliable; due to Shen Gongbao's interference, he messes things up by drinking.

It's just a pity that the Heavenly Lord cast a spell, and only Taiyi can open the Spirit Bead and the Demon Pill.

Taiyi is seen unconscious and unable to cast spells, while Lady Yin is in a state of obstructed labor, unable to give birth no matter what.

An anxious Li Jing comes to find Taiyi, just in time to see a servant controlled by Shen Gongbao furiously punching Taiyi, trying to beat the alcohol he drank out of him.

"How can this be? So impolite! It lacks decorum! What kind of behavior is this!" Li Jing hurriedly stops them, blurting out three four-character idioms in one breath.

An old woman happens to come over: "My Lord, the Lady can't hold on much longer."

Li Jing: "Let me do it!"

——Hit, hit, hit, hit, hit, hit! I'll hit!

After the Spirit Bead and the Demon Pill are taken out, due to a series of maneuvers by Shen Gongbao, the Demon Pill is activated.

The Demon Child is thus born into the world!

Lady Yin was pregnant for three years, and gave birth to a... ball!

The meatball, looking like a tea egg, reveals a human form after a series of events.

Immediately after, it begins to instinctively wreak havoc on the world.

Taiyi originally wanted to restrain him to prevent the suffering of all living things.

Having just given birth, Lady Yin, whose body should clearly still be very weak, appears and protects him, saying, "Don't hurt my child, don't hurt my child."

Even though this woman appeared incredibly fierce earlier, her voice now carries a slight tremor and a sobbing tone.

Among the commoners, an old codger appears, begging Li Jing to consider the big picture.

The commoners had originally expected the Spirit Bead to descend and had come to curry favor and offer congratulations, but the moment they saw it was a Demon Child, they immediately changed their tune.

"This is bad!" Chen Luo thinks to himself.

What kind of father Li Jing is, the audience knows better than anyone.

He will likely want to kill the child!

Nezha struggles in Lady Yin's arms and opens his mouth to bite him.

"Look, look!" Taiyi Zhenren, knowing the demonic nature of the Demon Pill, says immediately.

"Don't be afraid, Mother is here." Lady Yin's voice is weak, and enduring the pain of her flesh being bitten, she holds her child tighter and tighter.

In his mother's embrace, the Demon Child gradually loosens his teeth.

Lady Yin looks up and exchanges a glance with her husband.

Li Jing rises, bows with cupped hands, and says to the crowd, "Immortal Master, everyone! My family has had the misfortune of having a child like this. But the child is innocent; he is also a victim. I truly cannot bring myself to kill him. I will strictly discipline Nezha from now on and not let him take a single step out of the house."

"If he causes any trouble, I will sacrifice my own life to bring justice to everyone."

Taiyi Zhenren sighs on the side and informs the couple that even if they spare his life, he won't live past three years, because Yuanshi Tianzun has placed a Heavenly Tribulation Curse on him, and will take his life in three years.

Upon hearing this, Lady Yin nearly faints.

The inherent impression of Li Jing in everyone's mind is that he is submissive to outsiders and aggressive toward his own family.

He is a stern father toward Nezha, full of harsh criticism, which makes people dislike him, and he even stops Nezha from being resurrected with lotus roots. Yet, when facing the Dragon King, he appears incredibly cowardly.

However, the Li Jing in this Animation film shows the responsibility and commitment of a husband and a father.

When trouble arises, he solves it; even if the sky falls, he will hold it up for his wife and child!

"Then I will go and beg the Heavenly Lord to lift the curse. Don't worry, with me here, the child will be fine."

Chen Luo thinks: "This Li Jing is much more likable."

He even feels a bit moved.

Elsewhere, Shen Gongbao, who has snatched the Spirit Bead, begins to head toward the deep sea.

The Dragon Palace here is not as magnificent as everyone imagines; instead, it is like a prison, with every dragon chained and imprisoned here.

Shen Gongbao and the Dragon King reach a Promise to inject the Spirit Bead into Ao Bing, who is inside a dragon egg, and have him take Shen Gongbao as his master.

"But you must ensure he escapes this Haidi Lianyu and ascends to the Tianjie!" the Dragon King says.

Shen Gongbao says: "It won't..."

The Dragon King's eyes widen and he says: "It won't!?"

"It won't... will, will succeed, then... then become a martyr!" Shen Gongbao stammers.

He wants to prove that he is the best candidate among the Twelve Golden Immortals.

And just at this moment, Taiyi takes Li Jing to find his master.

But the 【Longevity Cloud】 outside the gate informs Li Jing that this curse is unsolvable.

One day in heaven, one year on earth.

Taiyi and Li Jing have delayed time in heaven, and Nezha in the mortal world is no longer an infant in swaddling clothes.

He's here, he's here, he's here with dark circles under his eyes!

With a blade of grass in his mouth, looking like a hoodlum, Nezha makes a flashy entrance just like a street punk!

He wears a dejected face, isn't allowed to go out, and says dejected things, yet deep down he is a tsundere.

As soon as he hears his mother is going to play shuttlecock with him, he immediately beams with joy.

The guards on the side hurriedly tell the Madam to put on her armor, but Lady Yin decisively refuses: "Are you kidding me? Do I need to wear armor to play with my son? Can playing shuttlecock kill someone?"

As fierce as ever.

Then, she was kicked away by a shuttlecock.

And just like that, Lady Yin was embedded into the wall.

Nezha looks worried and guilty, knowing he didn't control his strength well: "Shall I be gentler next time?"

Seeing that Lady Yin has already put on her armor properly, she says loudly and full of vigor: "No! Play as hard as you want!"

In the Cinema, many in the audience were amused.

They saw a familiar trope—a face-slap at the speed of light.

Chen Luo, who is already over forty, fell silent.

What he saw was a mother who only wanted to make her child happy.

—Pity the hearts of parents everywhere.

The heroic Lady Yin is off to slay demons and protect Chen Tang Guan again.

Lacking companionship, Nezha secretly teased two Jiejiershou and snuck out.

The common people fear him, hate him, and hold strong prejudices against him.

The furious Nezha nearly caused a disaster, but fortunately, Li Jing and Taiyi Zhenren returned at that moment.

Lady Yin thinks that since Nezha only has two years left, they might as well take him to travel and see the world.

However, Taiyi Zhenren expresses his willingness to take him as a disciple and guide him toward Kindness.

"Is that necessary?" Lady Yin asks.

Two years, only two years left.

But Li Jing also insists on this, his stated reason being that he doesn't want Nezha to leave this world bearing a bad reputation.

Seeing this, Chen Luo frowns slightly.

To him, this lacks a bit of persuasiveness.

It feels like being good for the sake of being good, and guiding for the sake of positive guidance.

He feels Lady Yin's words were not wrong; wouldn't it be better to take the child to a remote place to travel, spend the rest of his life there, and not let others suffer?

"Why bother?" Chen Luo thinks to himself.

The child can only live for three years, yet they still want to trap him and lock him up with a barrier.

He feels the handling and the turning point of this part are not particularly good.

But soon, Chen Luo's attention is captured by the excellent art style and special effects.

Taiyi brings Nezha into the 【Picture of Mountains and Rivers】, where he uses Immortal Technique to play and mess around with him, which is highly imaginative and full of that Huaxia-style romanticism.

During the process of teaching Immortal Technique, the funny guy Taiyi Zhenren is always miserable, getting teased in all sorts of ways, keeping the entire Cinema filled with laughter.

Nezha is a natural-born genius; he learns everything the moment he tries.

Li Jing and Lady Yin appear, and Taiyi asks Nezha to take him as his master, to take him to slay demons and benefit the world.

Nezha, with dark circles under his eyes, has a ferocious and demonic expression: "What? Slay demons? And benefit the world?"

"Pah!"

"To hell with taking a master, I'm not learning anything!"

"I get it, you guys want to imprison me in this picture, right!"

He feels that everyone just wants to lock him inside the 【Picture of Mountains and Rivers】.

Lady Yin hurriedly says how can it be called imprisonment in a fairyland; this is called closed-door cultivation.

Tsk, "A Collection of Adult Rhetoric."

The Demon Pill Nezha is still unhappy: "Cultivate just to go out and kiss up to those idiots? Might as well sleep here!"

Lady Yin begins to persuade him: "Zha'er, you can't hide it from Mother; actually, in your heart, you want to be accepted by people, right?"

"It's just because other people's prejudices have wronged you that you hate them so much."

Nezha says "No" with his mouth, but in his heart, he begins to recall various things.

Every time he leaves the mansion, everyone runs away upon seeing him, treating him like a flood or a wild beast.

Everyone thinks he is a monster, a demon child, and wishes he were dead.

Lady Yin intends to continue persuading him to learn Immortal Technique, go out to slay demons, and change everyone's prejudices.

Nezha refuses to listen at all, his resentment running deep. He declares that if they treat him like a monster, he will act like a monster for them to see!

Li Jing stands up at this moment and says with a grave expression: "It seems I have to tell you now; do you know why people fear you?"

"Your true identity is actually..."

Lady Yin covers her mouth in terror, fearing her son will find out he is possessed by the Demon Pill.

To everyone's surprise, the next second.

"The reincarnation of the Spirit Bead!?" Nezha is shocked.

Lady Yin is even more bewildered than he is.

She didn't expect her husband to lie to a child like this, and upon realizing it, she also hurriedly says: "Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, the reincarnation of the Spirit Bead!"

"That's why you have innate divine strength, and why others treat you as an outcast."

Nezha still doesn't believe it and asks why they didn't tell everyone he was the Spirit Bead then?

Taiyi Zhenren was already being tossed about until his speech was slurred, and still speaking in a Sichuan accent, he tried to smooth things over on the side: "The Spirit Bead is a secret weapon deployed in the human world by Yuanshi Tianzun; from now on, it must shoulder the heavy responsibility of acting on behalf of Heaven. Heavenly secrets must not be leaked."

—"Large-scale Child-Deceiving Scene."

Inside the Cinema, young people were whispering to each other: "It looks exactly like when my parents teamed up to trick me out of my lucky money when I was little."

"Saying they'd help me save it, help me manage my finances, and there's even interest!"

Chen Luo still didn't understand, feeling there was no need to go through such trouble.

Isn't the point how to avoid or survive the Heavenly Tribulation?

"Could it be that he's supposed to cultivate on his own and then take the Heavenly Tribulation head-on?" Chen Luo was puzzled.

Two years passed in a flash; Nezha had already achieved success in his cultivation within the Picture of Mountains and Rivers, and his divine abilities had skyrocketed.

It's just that in one simulated training session after another, Li Jing and Taiyi felt his baleful aura was too heavy; every time he cast a spell, he didn't know his own strength, and killing a small demon could destroy half a city.

This made Chen Luo think of many blockbuster movies where the protagonist speeds through the streets chasing criminals, causing at least seven or eight car accidents along the way...

Li Jing felt that Nezha still needed to learn to sit in meditation and calm his heart, and could not go out.

Yet he snuck out himself.

This time he ran out, and in order to save a little girl, he had a chance encounter with—Ao Bing!

Unlike this street-urchin-like kid with dark circles under his eyes, Ao Bing was what you'd call ethereal and graceful, with an unparalleled temperament.

"So handsome!" A chorus of soft exclamations from female audience members rang out in the Cinema.

But in Nezha's eyes, Ao Bing was just a—monster-stealer.

With one headbutt and a kick, he sent Ao Bing flying: "In front of me, no one can be handsome!"

Inside the Cinema, there was suddenly laughter and joy again.

The most interesting part was that Ao Bing kept calling Nezha "little brat" every other sentence.

The two of them, plus one demon, after a bit of a struggle, saved the girl.

It's just that in the process, because of Nezha's reckless tossing about, Ao Bing was even petrified once.

After driving away the small demon, Nezha originally wanted to settle the score with Ao Bing.

But our Ao Bing is no street urchin; he is a well-mannered noble young master.

He said to Nezha: "Many thanks for saving my life, and also many thanks for saving this little girl. I have always been clear about gratitude and grudges; the kindness of today, I will surely repay with all my might in the future."

—It's over, barbecue time!

My Demon Pill Nezha, how could he handle this?

He was instantly won over.

Nezha was beaming with joy, looking all cocky, so happy he was about to fly to the sky!

"Small matter, small matter, acting on behalf of Heaven is my mission, and I'm best at slaying demons and eliminating devils!" He was almost Dancing.

The little girl who was saved wasn't afraid of him either, and even smiled at him: "Big brother, hit the monsters!"

Chen Luo felt that this part of the Drama connected very well and was very reasonable.

Since the Spirit Bead and the Demon Pill met, it gave Nezha his first psychological shift and he received recognition.

The little girl took out a shuttlecock, and Nezha and Ao Bing kicked the shuttlecock by the seaside.

Both were born with divine abilities, so they wouldn't hurt each other.

The scene was harmonious and full of childlike innocence, a huge contrast to the Nezha Stirs Up the Sea in everyone's impression, with its tendon-pulling and skin-peeling.

However, after Ao Bing left, the villagers chased after them, all thinking that Nezha had kidnapped the little girl.

After Ao Bing returned to the Dragon Palace and learned that he had met Nezha, the Dragon King and Shen Gongbao told him that he was the hope of the entire Dragon Clan, and they were all counting on him to perform meritorious service in the Investiture of the Gods war and ascend to the Heavenly Court.

The Dragon Clan previously helped the Heavenly Court suppress all demon beasts in the sea; although they were titled Dragon Kings, in reality, they still had to remain trapped in purgatory, using their bodies to suppress the ten thousand beasts.

Dragons are also demon beasts and are not trusted by the Heavenly Court.

The heavy burden of the entire clan rested on Ao Bing alone.

On the other side, although Nezha was still misunderstood by the villagers, Li Jing and the others knew that he had truly gone to eliminate demons.

Lady Yin decided to hold a birthday banquet for Nezha so that he could be happy in his final moments and let him think he was truly accepted by everyone.

"But, the villagers all wish they could lock Nezha up; will they come to the birthday banquet?" Taiyi Zhenren said.

Li Jing said: "Leave this matter to me. I have checked; the slime remaining on his hands at that time was indeed from a Yaksha. I will clear Zha'er's name at the birthday banquet."

"But..." Lady Yin knew well the difficulty of inviting everyone.

Li Jing said: "Having been the Commander in Chen Tang Guan for these years, I still have some face. Even if I have to kowtow to every household, I will beg everyone to come, don't worry."

As Li Jing spoke, he walked outside alone.

Inside the Cinema, one could already faintly hear some sobbing; the audience with low tear thresholds were already moved by the fatherly love here.

—You are actually this kind of Li Jing!

In the end, Li Jing actually managed to invite all the villagers to the birthday banquet.

Although Chen Luo also felt a bit touched, he still couldn't get past the knot in his heart.

"A person about to die, why bother."

"Once a person is dead, what is the need for the recognition of ordinary people?"

"Isn't it enough to have a clear conscience?"

"Li Jing is living a bit in self-moved sentimentality."

"The key question is, how to resist the Heavenly Tribulation!"

He felt that this movie was indeed moving in its family aspects, funny where it was funny, and the theme was not bad, telling of worldly prejudices, the preconceptions in people's hearts... but the logic was all wrong, and many places didn't hold up, like duckweed without roots.

If you watch it without using your brain, watching it like this is both funny and satisfying, and the special effects are worthy of the title of the light of domestic animation.

However, he still felt uncomfortable in his heart.

At this moment, because Ao Bing was Nezha's only friend, he came to invite him to the birthday banquet.

Ao Bing had to hide the fact that he was a member of the dragon race who had obtained the Spirit Bead; how could he have ever had friends?

Whenever he went out, he had to be fully armed and cover his dragon horns.

Only Nezha did not mind that he was a dragon.

But... but...

He had promised to attend the birthday banquet, but before he could head there, his father had actually endured excruciating pain to tear off his own hardest dragon scales!

After the Dragon King did this, all the surrounding dragon kin followed suit, enduring the intense pain to gather their scales into a Ten Thousand Dragon Armor for Ao Bing!

The entire process of the Ten Thousand Dragon Armor coming together was magnificent, and the special effects were dazzling.

However, it was too heavy.

To Ao Bing, this Ten Thousand Dragon Armor was far, far too heavy.

A kind child, forced by so-called love to step by step do things he did not want to do.

—Some people perhaps do not lack love, yet they are still people ruined by love.

At Nezha's birthday banquet, Shen Gongbao appeared again to stir up trouble, letting him know that he was the Demon Pill, not the Spirit Bead.

Throughout the entire banquet, Nezha's face was as dark as water.

Lady Yin looked at him, unable to hold back her emotions, and said, "You brat, three years have passed in the blink of an eye. To think that back then you were just a braised lion's head in your mother's belly, and now you've grown into a handsome young man with a nose and eyes. Mother... Mother really wants to watch you grow up."

Li Jing hurriedly said from the side, "Sigh, it's a joyous day, why are you saying these things?"

"Dad is giving you a Peace Talisman to bless you with safety and peace." Li Jing gently tied a pouch onto his son, which contained the Peace Talisman.

"Dad has always been strict with you, knowing you have anger in your heart, but Dad had no other choice."

"My son, your road ahead is still very long. Don't care about the opinions of others; who you are is only for you to decide. Never give up."

Many people in the Cinema began to cry again.

Chen Luo also felt this part was very moving, but he keenly captured one point: "Li Jing said his road ahead is still very long?"

How could he have known that Nezha already knew he was the Demon Pill, knew about the Heavenly Tribulation, and knew how could he possibly have a future?

Seeing that everyone would not admit it and kept trying to trick him into believing he was the Spirit Bead, he directly removed the Universe Ring that suppressed the demonic nature within him.

In an instant, he was no longer in the form of a child, but had transformed into a youth stepping on Wind Fire Wheels and draped in the Red Armillary Sash.

"So cool it explodes!" A large number of the audience could not help but exclaim.

At the same time, many people could not help but recall the transformation in *Monkey King: Hero is Back*.

Without the suppression of the Universe Ring, Nezha's demonic nature erupted completely, and he lost consciousness.

Shen Gongbao told Ao Bing from the side that once Nezha killed his parents and Taiyi, the Heavenly Tribulation would arrive, and then you can go down and reveal yourself; by then, the Heavenly Tribulation will destroy the Demon Pill, the common people will naturally worship you as a savior, and you can openly achieve great things.

But Ao Bing did not want to do this; he felt that Li Jing and his wife and Taiyi were innocent, and if Nezha did not remove the Universe Ring, he was not unforgivably evil.

Shen Gongbao, however, said that when the Heavenly Tribulation comes, he is bound to die.

"If Taiyi and Li Jing and his wife don't die, how can I lie to the Heavenly Venerable?"

If the matter were exposed, not only would he be in trouble, but the dragon race would also lose all hope.

Seeing that he was still hesitating, Shen Gongbao began to stutter as he spoke of his own affairs.

Among the disciples of Yuanshi Tianzun, he was the most diligent; he had practiced hard for so many years without a hint of slack, yet he had never been valued by his master.

Simply because he was a leopard who had cultivated into human form, the only anomaly in the sect.

"Prejudice in people's hearts is a great mountain." Shen Gongbao spoke the classic line from the movie.

"No matter how hard you try, you will never be able to move it."

Yet Ao Bing still wanted to repay Nezha for saving his life.

Shen Gongbao was so angry he turned around, threw the Universe Ring on the ground, and said, "Fine, then you go... go..."

Ao Bing's face lit up with joy, and he flew down carrying the Universe Ring.

"Go... once you go, don't come back!" Shen Gongbao only finished stuttering at this moment, but Ao Bing's figure was long gone.

Ao Bing stepped in to help and placed the Universe Ring back on Nezha.

But as he prepared to leave, his identity was exposed, letting people know he was of the dragon race, and they sensed the aura of the Spirit Bead on him.

In an instant, the crowd was incensed.

Taiyi also realized at this moment that it was the dragon race that had found a way to steal the Spirit Bead.

"The monk may run, but the temple cannot; I must report this to the Heavenly Venerable and expose the crimes of the dragon race!"

Ao Bing stopped flying away in an instant, his expression shaken.

The common people below were discussing loudly.

"A demon is a demon; a dog can never change its habit of eating dung."

"So it was the dragon race doing evil; the Heavenly Court shouldn't have left them a way to survive in the first place."

"..."

Shen Gongbao appeared and said, "Tsk tsk tsk, you... look at the mess this has caused."

"Originally, killing four people would have sol... solved the problem. Now it's great, everyone knows."

"Not a single person present will be able to li... live."

"The survival of the dragon race rests on your single thought."

The plot of flooding Chen Tang Guan had actually appeared.

Only this time, the one who summoned the great flood was Ao Bing, possessed by the Spirit Bead!

On the other side, Nezha, who had fallen into the mountain forest, was in extreme pain, his heart filled with grief and indignation, feeling that the whole world was deceiving him.

The Wind Fire Wheels transformed once again into the flying pig that Taiyi Zhenren usually rode.

This pig had the supernatural ability to record images; it showed Nezha the scene of Taiyi taking Li Jing to the heavens to find Yuanshi Tianzun.

They saw that after Li Jing and Taiyi learned that the Heavenly Tribulation could not be resolved, they prepared to return.

Seeing they were about to leave, the Longevity Cloud suddenly felt it would be bored again and wanted to pull them back to continue chatting.

"The Heavenly Tribulation Curse cannot be undone, but there are other methods," the Longevity Cloud spoke up.

"One can use the method of grafting flowers onto a different tree."

Li Jing stopped in his tracks instantly.

Taiyi, however, immediately shooed him away: "What does a cloud like him know? He only knows how to brag."

The Longevity Cloud was instead provoked into Anger and insisted on showing him its capabilities.

"These two are called Life-Changing Talismans. Find a blood relative willing to sacrifice themselves for the person cursed. During the Heavenly Tribulation, place one on the cursed person and one on the blood relative, and the heavenly lightning will shift to the blood relative."

Li Jing took the Life-Changing Talismans, looked at them deeply, and then bowed and knelt before Taiyi.

"Lord Li, what are you doing!" Taiyi hurriedly helped him up.

"I have decided to use my life to trade for Nezha's life. I ask that the Immortal Master keep this secret for me and not let my wife know about this matter."

Seeing this, Chen Luo could not help but widen his eyes!

The parts earlier that felt grating to him, the parts where the logic didn't hold up, suddenly all became smooth!

Everything was no longer a forced attempt to elevate the theme.

What he gave Nezha was not a Peace Talisman, but a Life-Changing Talisman.

—Using my life to trade for my son's peace.

"Sigh, Lord, you can save Nezha for a moment, but you cannot save him for a lifetime. When the Demon Pill brings disaster to the human world in the future and the Heavenly Venerable comes out of seclusion, he will not let him go either."

Li Jing continued to kneel and bow, saying: "I will use the remaining two years to guide Nezha onto the righteous path and let him be accepted by the world."

"This won't do! This won't do!" Taiyi still did not support the Life-Changing Talisman.

"If you do not agree now, then when the Heavenly Tribulation comes, I will live and die with Nezha, advancing and retreating together!" Li Jing was incomparably insistent.

"This, how can this be!" Taiyi said.

The Longevity Cloud couldn't help but interject from the side: "What is Nezha to you?"

Li Jing raised his head and said only a simple sentence.

Just this short sentence made Chen Luo, sitting in the Cinema, feel his throat tighten instantly, feeling particularly uncomfortable.

—"He is my son."

(PS: Over 9000 words in two updates, asking for monthly votes.

I have to go to the hospital tomorrow, so the update will likely be a bit less.)

(End of this chapter)