This story is from Chinese mythology, and I looked it up because of a recent animation. Let’s take a look at the original story together.
A long time ago, there was a great general named Li Jing. One day, his wife gave birth, but instead of a normal baby, she gave birth to a round ball of flesh. The ball rolled around on the ground, and Li Jing, thinking it must be a monster, drew his sword and struck it. To his surprise, the ball split open, and from within jumped out a chubby baby boy with a round face, looking very adorable.
Li Jing was stunned, unsure of what to do. Just then, an immortal appeared and said, “Congratulations! I know you’ve just had a son. This child is extraordinary. Let me take him as my disciple.” The immortal then handed Li Jing a bracelet and a scarf, saying, “This bracelet is called the Universe Ring (Qiankun Quan), and this scarf is the Hun Tian Ribbon (Hun Tian Ling). These are gifts for my new disciple.”
This child was Nezha.
When Nezha turned seven, one particularly hot day, he went to bathe in the sea. As he swayed the Hun Tian Ribbon in the water, massive waves surged, shaking the Dragon King’s Crystal Palace in the Eastern Sea. The Dragon King was startled and sent a Yaksha (a water demon) to investigate.
The Yaksha emerged from the water and saw a child playing. Without hesitation, he raised his axe to strike. But Nezha was quick—he dodged and threw the Universe Ring at the Yaksha. Though small, the ring was as heavy as a mountain. It struck the Yaksha on the head, killing him instantly.
Hearing that his Yaksha was dead, the Dragon King was furious. He sent his son, the Third Prince, with an army of sea creatures—shrimps, fish, clams, and crabs—to capture Nezha.
When the Third Prince surfaced, he demanded, “Did you kill my father’s Yaksha?”
Nezha replied, “Yes, I did. I was bathing, and your Yaksha attacked me without asking any questions. I hit him with my Universe Ring, and he died. How could such a big creature be so weak?”
The Third Prince, unwilling to listen, attacked with his spear. Nezha dodged several times, but the prince kept pursuing him. Frustrated, Nezha finally threw the Hun Tian Ribbon, which burst into flames and wrapped tightly around the prince. Unable to escape, the prince was then struck with the Universe Ring and killed. The terrified sea creatures fled back into the water.
As the Third Prince lay dead, he revealed his true form—a young dragon. Nezha dragged the dragon to shore, thinking, “My father needs a new belt. I’ll take this dragon’s tendons and make one for him.” So, Nezha pulled out the dragon’s tendons and brought them home.
When the Dragon King learned that his son had also been killed, he was both heartbroken and enraged. Disguising himself as a scholar, he left the Crystal Palace and went to confront Li Jing.
“Your son killed my Yaksha and my Third Prince!” the Dragon King shouted angrily.
Li Jing, in disbelief, replied, “You must be mistaken. My son is only seven years old. How could he kill anyone?”
“Then call him here, and ask him yourself,” the Dragon King demanded.
Li Jing searched everywhere—inside the house, outside in the garden—but Nezha was nowhere to be found. He was actually hiding in a small room, twisting the dragon’s tendons into a belt.
When Li Jing finally found him, he asked, “What are you doing here?”
Nezha cheerfully replied, “Father, today I killed a little dragon and took its tendons to make you a belt!”
Only then did Li Jing realize his son had caused a great disaster. He took Nezha to meet the Dragon King.
Seeing the Dragon King, Nezha said, “Uncle, please don’t be angry. I didn’t mean to kill your son. He attacked me first, and I tried to avoid him several times, but he kept chasing me. I had no choice but to fight back. Here are his dragon tendons—I can return them to you.”
Seeing his son’s tendons, the Dragon King became even more sorrowful. “Do you think you can just return his tendons and everything will be fine? I will go to the Jade Emperor in the Heavenly Palace and file a complaint against you!”
With that, he rode the clouds toward the Heavenly Palace.
Realizing the danger, Nezha quickly ran ahead and waited at the South Heaven Gate to stop the Dragon King. When the Dragon King arrived, Nezha blocked his way.
“Uncle, I admit I was wrong. Please don’t report me,” Nezha pleaded.
But the Dragon King refused to listen.
Now furious, Nezha knocked the Dragon King to the ground, grabbed his robe with one hand, and clenched his fist with the other. “Are you still going to report me?”
The Dragon King, enraged, replied, “You dare to attack me? I will definitely report you!”
Angered even more, Nezha reached into the Dragon King’s robe and began pulling off his scales. Dragons, like fish, have scales on their bodies, and when Nezha tore them off, the Dragon King screamed in pain.
“Mercy! Mercy! I won’t report you anymore!” the Dragon King cried out.
Only then did Nezha let go. “Fine. Then come back with me.”
To ensure the Dragon King wouldn’t escape, Nezha shrank him down to the size of an earthworm and hid him in his sleeve before heading home.
Li Jing, still worried, scolded Nezha for causing so much trouble.
Nezha reassured him, “Father, don’t worry. The Dragon King won’t complain anymore. I stopped him at the South Heaven Gate and made him promise not to.”
“You expect me to believe that?” Li Jing asked.
“If you don’t believe me, ask him yourself!” Nezha replied, shaking out his sleeve.
The tiny dragon fell to the ground and immediately transformed back into the Dragon King.
Furious, the Dragon King shouted, “You just wait! I will summon the Dragon Kings of the South, West, and North Seas and flood this entire land!”
Then, turning into a gust of wind, he disappeared.
Sure enough, the Dragon King soon returned with an army of sea creatures. Upon seeing Li Jing, he ordered, “Capture him!”
The shrimp soldiers and crab generals rushed forward and tied up Li Jing.
Nezha ran out and shouted, “It was I who killed the Yaksha and the Third Prince! It was I who fought you at the South Heaven Gate! This has nothing to do with my father. Release him! Whatever punishment you seek, let me bear it alone.”
The Dragon King, his eyes burning with hatred, declared, “I will take your life to avenge my son!”
Nezha, undeterred, drew his sword and took his own life.
Seeing this, the Dragon Kings had no choice but to release Li Jing and withdraw their troops.
Meanwhile, Nezha’s master heard of his death. Calmly, he gathered lotus flowers, leaves, and roots from a pond and arranged them in the shape of a human. Then, he called out, “Nezha, awaken!”
At once, the lotus transformed into Nezha. He felt as if he had simply taken a long nap.
His master then gifted him two treasures: the Fire-Tipped Spear and the Wind-Fire Wheels. Now, with these new abilities, Nezha could fly as fast as the wind, and his powers were even greater than before.
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