A Taoist entered the hall, and after a formal greeting, Li Jing invited him to sit. The Taoist asked if the General had just had a son, and inquired whether it would be possible to bring the child for him to see.
The maid brought the baby over, and the Taoist carefully examined the child. He then asked if the child had been named. Li Jing replied that he had not yet chosen a name, so the Taoist gave the child the name “Nezha” and asked to accept him as his disciple. Li Jing gladly agreed.
Li Jing, with great respect, asked someone to arrange for the Taoist to be taken care of. The Taoist left, and Li Jing saw him off with respect.
Time passed quickly, and Nezha grew up to be a handsome and lively boy of seven. On a hot summer day in May, he went out to play with his mother.
Nezha asked his mother to let him go out to play. Recalling that Li Jing had taken the day off and was not at home, his mother agreed and called two family guards to accompany him.
The two guards accompanied Nezha as he went out. After walking a mile, they felt the heat and searched for a cool place to rest. Nezha ran ahead and found a green willow tree providing shade, where he settled down to rest.
This place turned out to be the entrance to the Eastern Sea. Nezha, feeling hot, decided to undress and bathe in the river. The guards tried to stop him, but he was determined to swim.
Nezha’s red bellyband was the celestial “Huntian Ling,” and the gold bracelet on his wrist was the “Qian Kun Bang.” Both were powerful treasures, but Nezha was unaware of their true power. As he stirred the water, the entire river turned red.
The palace of the Dragon King, located at the mouth of the Nine Bends River, was shaken by Nezha’s actions, startling the Dragon King. The Dragon King was in the middle of drinking wine when he noticed the disturbance, which completely sobered him up.
The Dragon King was about to ask what had caused the disturbance when he saw a red light enter the palace. In a fit of anger, he commanded his general to investigate, only to discover that it was Nezha who had disrupted the water.
