Claiming the Throne of Gods, Starting from the Rebirth of Nezha

The Great Witch watched Nezha, who cut through the crowd like a sharp sword, slowly approaching, and felt a terrifying murderous aura gradually converging into his small body.

He swallowed repeatedly and mustered the courage to say, "Yes, I am the Great Witch of Lizhu Village, registered at Chentang Pass. Who are you, with such audacity, daring to spout bold words about disrupting the Sea Dragon King's ritual!"

This so-called Great Witch started by blaming Nezha, but Nezha didn't care, because what the other said wasn't wrong; he was just puzzled by why there were so many idiots in the world who thought too highly of themselves.

He walked behind the Great Witch, lifted Mrs. Liu, and with eyes usually calm yet now unexpectedly sharper than usual, asked, "Where is her son?"

The Great Witch realized what this unusual child intended to do; although angry, he was intimidated by the child's mannerisms. To maintain his position as the village's Great Witch, he feigned strength and said, "If you want to release his son, it's not impossible. Li Cunxin, good timing, still daring to hide! Where is that little wretch of yours?"

Li Cunxin thought he had enough courage, or perhaps, he thought Nezha's presence had given him enough courage. But faced with the typically dominant Great Witch, he now realized everything was just his imagination.

He again became pessimistic.

Facing these centuries-old traditions, what could Nezha do?

As unusual as he was, ultimately, he was just a seven-year-old child. After all, someone's child was going to die today.

What the hell kind of world is this.

"I've already said, today I will make decisions for them."

"Who the f*ck are you!" the Great Witch shouted, his eyes wide. The human sacrifice for the Sea Dragon King was a tradition at Chentang Pass for hundreds of years, and he felt justified, convinced he could not lose to anyone.

He raised the ceremonial axe high and swung down fiercely. The gleaming blade of the axe stopped two fingers' width above Nezha's nose!

He could tell this child likely came from a noble family and wanted to intimidate him.

The Great Witch understood, even with immense bravado, when faced with real danger, be it rich or poor, official or civilian, everyone was merely human.

But the Great Witch didn't expect that when his axe stopped, this child, far from peeing his pants as he expected, had a look of eagerness and anticipation in his usually calm eyes.

Yes, anticipation.

Was he a madman?

The Great Witch was stunned for only a moment. Li Cunxin, realizing what was happening, rushed over in terror and grabbed the Great Witch's wrist, yelling, "Have you gone mad? This is Nezha, the son of the General from the General's Mansion!"

Hearing this, the Great Witch froze again. The son of the General's Mansion?

He turned his head and met those unnervingly dark eyes again, gritting his teeth, "So what if he's the son of the General's Mansion? The Sea Dragon King's ritual is a tradition of Chentang Pass since ancient times. Even if I argue with the General himself, I have reason! Moreover, it was precisely the Chentang Pass General, Lord Li Jing, who ordered to shift the ritual date forward!"

Seeing that the axe did not fall, Nezha appeared slightly disappointed. Had the axe not stopped, or had it moved a fraction closer, he would have seized the moment to discipline this so-called Great Witch.

But since it was about taking action, he wasn't worried about finding a reason.

He asked, "Did you capture Mrs. Liu's son?"

"I am the Great Witch of Lizhu Village. Seizing Widow Liu's son is for the sacrifice to the Sea Dragon King, for the villagers' sake. Otherwise, do you think I would go against my own people?"

"After the sacrifice to the Sea Dragon King, what will happen to Widow Liu's son?"

"..." The Great Witch remained silent, staring at Nezha, unsure of what the child intended to do, but a sudden bad premonition rose in his heart.

Nezha didn't wait for him to respond and said directly, "He will die! What nonsense, Great Witch, you are murdering! According to the great commercial laws, a murderer shall be executed!"

The Great Witch glared, not expecting that before he could accuse someone else of disrupting the ritual, an even bigger accusation was thrown back at him.

The Great Witch himself was conducting the lottery for the sacrifice; these matters could be manipulated. If he disliked someone, with a slight tampering, he could curse their family to have no offspring. Those who didn't want to be chosen inevitably had to pay a substantial sum to avoid disaster.

His own relatives, however, were 'lucky' enough never to be chosen.

These things were not isolated incidents; all Great Witches did the same.

He recalled meeting a Daoist on the seashore years ago when he first took over his father's mantle as the Great Witch, pridefully asking the Daoist to predict his future.

The Daoist had said that the Heavenly Dao cycles and there's always retribution; he would lose his life over this Sea Dragon King sacrifice. He didn't believe it at first, but now for some reason, the thought crossed his mind, and he couldn't help but shiver.

So when Nezha mentioned, 'According to the great commercial laws, a murderer shall be executed,' his confidence waned, and he argued, "It's the Sea Dragon King who demands the sacrifice of the boys and girls from the village, not me. The one who actually consumes them is the Sea Dragon King, not me, so how could you blame this on me?"

Before he could finish, the Great Witch suddenly saw a blur before his eyes and upon focusing, Nezha had already disappeared. In the next second, his eyes bulged, and he fell to the ground, curling up like a prawn, with beads of cold sweat rolling down from his forehead.

"Stop talking nonsense." Nezha withdrew his fist, having held back his strength, otherwise, the punch could have caused internal rupture and death. He coldly glanced at the Great Witch cowering on the ground. "I told you, I'd take their place today."

Nezha turned around and spoke to the panicked villagers, "The Sea Dragon King kills and harms people, a true Evil God. From now on, we, the people of Chentang Pass, will never worship or sacrifice to such an Evil God!"

After he finished speaking, there was no response; everyone looked at each other, at a loss.

At this moment, the Great Witch on the ground recovered a bit and struggled to say, "The sacrifice to the Sea Dragon King cannot be stopped."

Nezha ignored him, but an elderly man with a long robe and a crown on his head, leaning on a walking stick, squeezed through the crowd. He looked at Nezha and spoke earnestly, "Young government official, thank you for your kindness, but the Great Witch is not merely trying to scare us."

Nezha first greeted the old man with a hand gesture, then asked, "Are you afraid the Dragon King will rage if the sacrifices are discontinued?"

The old man nodded, his eyes somewhat cloudy, framed by thick wrinkles, clearly one who, as the saying goes, had eaten more salt in his lifetime than the meals consumed by the youths. He said, "When I was young, I too saw rituals being disrupted. Back then, I was fearless, and with several brothers, we took away the children before the sacrifice. As a result, the Sea Dragon King was furious, and days of stormy weather and assaults by Yaksha on fishermen followed, many died. You might handle today's matter, but can you manage the issues on the high seas?"

He was right, Nezha knew it, his current power was too weak, unable to change the cosmos with just a few words.

Nezha's eyes flickered then instantly had a new idea, turned around, grabbed the Great Witch by the neck and lifted him, asking, "When does the sacrifice begin?"

"It's about to start, what do you want to do?"

"I'll be the boy offered to the Sea Dragon King, what do you think about that?"

Seeing the smile in Nezha's eyes, the Great Witch, who usually bullied others in the village, suddenly felt terrified, thinking what kind of madman this was.

He was about to speak when a sharp pain shot through his leg. Looking down, he saw a black dog, seemingly appeared out of nowhere, had bitten his leg and was growling fiercely.