Crazy Nezha

The streets of the old town are bustling with traffic. A food delivery driver listens to an audiobook as his illegally modified electric scooter speeds past Li Tianbao, creating a gust of wind.

"Xiaotian, I believe I am Nezha, but my mind isn't responding."

The husky said, "Your subconscious still doesn't believe it!"

"Let's go to the supermarket and see if the king crabs are still there! Let's try eating the spirit beasts."

The husky was overjoyed, exclaiming, "Great!"

"Will eating this restore your magic power?"

"Maybe! Third Master, can I chew on the crab claws? I don't like chew toys." The husky looked expectant.

"We're old friends, what's a crab claw? I'll share half with you!"

"Holy crap! Awesome!" the husky howled.

A man and his dog walked towards the Baijiafu Supermarket, passing by the Shihe River. Weeping willows lined both banks of the river, where elderly people were exercising and fishermen were fishing.

Along the banks of the Shi River, along the riverbed.

Upon seeing rows of trees, the husky, driven by his biological instincts, felt he should do something. "Third Master, I need to pee first."

Li Tianbao stopped by the river, looking at the mother river of Xincheng, and sighed, "Nezha made trouble in the sea, but it's a pity that Xincheng has no sea."

The husky found a tree, crossed one leg over its shoulder...

After it finished urinating, it trotted over, gripped the railing with its two front paws, and gazed at the shimmering river, wondering, "I wonder if there's a Dragon King in this river!"

"Let's hurry up and leave after we're done peeing, Leopard Head is still waiting for us!"

The husky asked, "Leopard Head has been reincarnated as a fish. You'd better watch out, or humans will cook him!"

"No, he's perfectly safe at my second uncle's house."

"Then I'm relieved. I really miss the days when I drank with Leopard Head on Penglai East Road. Hey. Don't let Leopard Head's reputation as a demon fool you. In today's terms, he's a government employee in Heaven! He even works part-time as a waiter at the Peach Banquet, pouring drinks for people."

Li Tianbao asked, "How can he pour wine from a fish?"

"Back then, Leopard Head was half-human and half-fish, with a fish head and a human body, and he had hands."

"Then why is he called Leopard Head?"

"His facial markings are like a leopard's! The first time I saw him was in a reed bed west of the mouth of the Guanjiang River, where he was electrofishing." The husky said, a smile in his eyes, and you could tell he missed that time.

"I see." Li Tianbao asked, "You used to be very close to Leopard Head?"

The husky was deeply affectionate, saying, "Leopard Head and I are like brothers!"

Li Tianbao was quite surprised. "That's wonderful! I'm so happy that you brothers can be reunited! My second uncle is very easy to get along with. You can stay at his house for a while! The three of us can work together to restore our magical powers!"

"Alright! I'll guard your second uncle's house. How wonderful, Third Prince, how about we have a good drink today?"

Li Tianbao asked in surprise, "You can drink alcohol?"

The husky said, "I've always wanted to try some morsel from the mortal world."

Li Tianbao knew that Maotai sauce was very expensive. A bottle of ordinary Feisheng Maotai sauce cost more than 1000 yuan. A few years ago, when the economy was good, a bottle cost 3000 yuan at the peak of the speculation, but now the price has collapsed!

"My second uncle also likes to drink, and he also wants to drink Maotai liquor, but he can't bear to buy it."

Husky: "Mao sauce with king crab can cure impotence! I suggest you buy a bottle and give your second uncle a surprise."

Li Tianbao patted the dog's head, not minding at all, and smiled. "My second uncle has never eaten king crab. Once when we were shopping at the supermarket, I saw him standing in front of the fish tank, staring at a big king crab for a long time. He said those things have more shell than meat, are ridiculously expensive, and are only sold to idiots."

"I can tell that my second uncle also wants to try it, but he's reluctant to buy it."

Li Tianbao led the dog, his steps never faltering. He turned his head to look at the river, and for some reason, he thought of his second uncle and his childhood.

Back then, my parents were busy with work, so my second uncle attended several parent-teacher conferences. When I was six years old, I rode on my second uncle's shoulders while watching the lantern festival on the Lantern Festival. Afterwards, my second uncle took me to the ice rink.

Li Tianbao is very good at roller skating. His second uncle, seeing that he enjoys it, bought him several pairs of roller skates. He also encouraged him to participate in the roller skating competition at the Children's Palace. Li Tianbao won second prize, while the first prize went to the son of the sponsor.

In his second year of junior high, Li Tianbao got into a fight with a classmate. His second uncle went to confront the other boy's parents, and for some unknown reason, his second uncle beat up the boy's parents in front of the school teachers. In total, he had to pay 3 yuan in compensation!

From then on, no one at school dared to speak loudly to Li Tianbao.

During the summer vacation after my first year of high school, I went crayfish fishing at the old rubber dam with my second uncle. My uncle even saved a child who had fallen into the water. Li Tianbao remembers it vividly. We caught a lot of crayfish that day, but they were all small. We fried them in oil and ate them that night.

Second Uncle's kindness towards Li Tianbao was genuine! He had no children and had said several times when he was drunk that he would never get married in this life! He would find a temple to live out his days in his old age and leave everything he had to Li Tianbao.

The husky, tongue lolling out, asked, "Third Master, what are you thinking about?"

Li Tianbao snapped out of his daze, but didn't answer; he just smiled faintly.

"Fish! There's a fish!" the husky suddenly barked wildly.

"What's so special about fish..." Li Tianbao fell silent, a look of shock appearing in his eyes.

In the middle of the river, a carp leaped out of the water, its body emitting a white light.

His eyes narrowed suddenly. The white light in the water swam around and then sank to the bottom.

The fishermen nearby had obviously also seen the carp jump out of the water, but they did not show any surprise.

The husky said, "See that? That fish that's glowing white—that's a spirit beast! If we eat it, we might be able to steal its magic power!"

"Ordinary people with mortal eyes cannot see light."

The husky said, "It's not just fish, but also immature animals, and even people! Anything that glows is a great tonic for us!"

Li Tianbao pondered for a moment. According to the logic of Xiaotianquan, eating an animal that emits white light can restore one's magical power!

That carp really did glow just now, now there's no doubt about it!

Thinking of this, Li Tianbao's heart raced. Seeing is believing! That white-glowing fish was so real! If it had fully recovered Nezha's magic power, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was invincible in the mortal world, would it?

About twenty minutes later, the man and the dog arrived at the entrance of Baijiafu Supermarket.

Around 10 a.m., and it was the weekend, the supermarket was quite crowded, and there was a pet storage area at the entrance.

"The supermarket doesn't allow dogs in, so you wait for me in the cage."

"Okay!" Li Tianbao asked the front desk for the dog tag, and the supermarket staff opened the cage. The husky cleverly went in by itself.

Li Tianbao squatted down, and the man and the dog stared at each other for about three seconds. "I'll go check if the spirit beast is there. I'll be right back."

"Triumphant! Woof!"

"Don't shout, I'll come pick you up later."

Li Tianbao entered the supermarket, but instead of pushing a shopping cart, he walked silently toward the seafood section at the very back.

Heading straight to the seafood section, you see sea bass and mandarin fish swimming in glass tanks, two crabs mating with their claws outstretched, and lobsters waving their large pincers. All kinds of seafood are on display.

There were no glowing king crabs, and the other seafood was all normal; none of them emitted a white light. It seems they've already been bought, what a pity.

"Sir, the prawns are on special today," a supermarket seafood section staff member said.

Li Tianbao politely asked, "What kind of food do you usually feed your sea bass?"

"Huh?" the staff member said, "No need to feed them, the bass just needs to drink water."

Once fish enter supermarkets, they are generally kept from eating and rely on their own consumption to sustain life. They can survive for ten days, half a month, or even longer. This is also known as the "hanging water fish" process.

Li Tianbao planned to buy some fish food for his ornamental fish. He had promised Leopard Head that he would keep his word; he was a man of his word!

If Leopard Head doesn't eat soon, he'll probably starve to death.

When I passed by the supermarket counter, I saw a section for famous cigarettes and liquors.

Li Tianbao himself rarely drinks baijiu (Chinese liquor), sometimes he drinks with his second uncle. He drinks beer, and his uncle drinks baijiu. Now that they both have the opportunity to cultivate, they must celebrate with a bottle of Maotai!

"Give me a bottle of Maotai sauce."

The receptionist introduced several options, the cheapest being over 1000 yuan and the most expensive over 10,000 yuan.

Li Tianbao chose the most ordinary bottle of Feisheng Maotai sauce, scanned the code to pay, and didn't even blink!

At the pet boarding area by the entrance, Xiaotian was unlocked!

The husky came out of its cage, stood upright, pressed down on Li Tianbao's lower abdomen, and wagged its tail wildly.

"Woof woof woof! Have you found the spirit beast yet? Where's the king crab?"

"Don't get excited!" Li Tianbao explained, "There are no glowing king crabs, nor any other glowing seafood."

Seeing Li Tianbao's disappointed look, the husky comforted him, "It's okay, maybe you'll run into one next time. Spirit beasts are rare anyway."

"Do you think that glowing carp in the river will reappear?"

"It's something you can only encounter by chance."

Li Tianbao nodded, shaking the Maotai sauce in his hand. "Xiaotian, want to have some baijiu with my second uncle at noon?"

"Mao sauce?!" The husky's eyes widened, and it howled, "Awesome!"

"I also bought fish food for Leopard Head," Li Tianbao added.

"Leopard Head likes to eat earthworms." The husky nudged Li Tianbao's crotch with its nose.

"Sir, do you need help?" The receptionist was dumbfounded; this handsome young man seemed to be talking to a dog...

Li Tianbao gave an awkward smile, shook his head, and quickly left with his dog. It seemed he still couldn't speak to Xiaotian so freely in crowded places; it was easy for these ordinary people to misunderstand him as mentally unstable.

The man and his dog returned to Xiaonanmen, and it was almost noon.

Before Li Tianbao even entered the courtyard, he could smell the aroma of food.

"Dogs have a keen sense of smell," the husky said. "I smell oyster sauce."

"My second uncle made braised chicken with potatoes for lunch, which shouldn't have had oyster sauce in it."

The husky asked, "Where's Leopard Head?"

"They're kept in the water tank in the courtyard, and they're very happy."

The husky sniffed hard. Something was wrong! It didn't taste like braised chicken! It tasted like steamed fish, with garlic sprouts added.

"You mentioned 'Leopard Head' before, what kind of fish is that?"

"Bass."