Three Heads and Six Arms

Star Dou Forest, outskirts of the Lake of Life.

A youth with three heads and six arms sat on a bluestone by the lake. All six eyes stared blankly at the rippling water, while his three heads spaced out in unison.

If outsiders saw this scene, they would probably be scared to death on the spot.

But the youth had long grown accustomed to his appearance. His name was Nezha, identical to that of the Great God of the Three Altar Sea Assembly from mythology. Now, even his appearance was exactly the same. No one would believe such a coincidence if he told them.

Tomorrow, Aunt Rou would awaken his martial soul.

"I wonder what kind of martial soul I'll awaken..."

Nezha's three heads sighed at the same time, their voices overlapping like a trio.

Six years ago, he had still been an utterly ordinary college student. The only unusual thing about him was his name: Nezha. His roommates had always joked about it, saying he was the reincarnation of the Third Prince.

Who knew their words would come true.

On one pitch-black night, he had stumbled into a stroke of absurd luck and inexplicably transmigrated into this world.

More precisely, he had transmigrated into a woman's womb.

He had thought it would be an ordinary transmigration. He would stay in that warm "little house" for ten months, then be born crying like any normal baby.

But who could have imagined...

He stayed there for a full three years.

Three years!

That alone would have been bad enough.

On the day he was born, before he even felt himself leave the birth canal, he heard chaos erupt outside.

The midwife screamed herself hoarse about a "monster" and a "flesh ball," then he felt himself being violently thrown onto the ground.

Then, his consciousness fully awakened.

The flesh ball split open, and he saw daylight again.

Nezha's first reaction was: Huh? Why is my field of vision so wide?

Then he looked down.

One, two, three, four, five, six... six hands?

Then he turned his head.

One head on the left, one on the right, three in total.

Nezha fell silent for a moment, thinking: No wonder I can see so clearly. Three heads looking at once really do give me a wide view.

Then it hit him—

This was Douluo Continent.

Douluo Continent was under a feudal imperial system. Although supernatural powers like martial souls existed here, ordinary people were still ignorant and superstitious. They didn't believe in science!

OMG, heaven wants me dead!

"Monster!"

"Demon spawn!"

"This is an evil ghost reborn!"

Amid the terrified screams, Nezha saw his father in this life.

He would never forget that man's gaze for the rest of his life.

There was no joy at becoming a father for the first time—only deep fear and disgust.

"Demon spawn..." The man trembled as he took a step back. "This isn't my child. This is a demon spawn!"

Nezha opened his mouth. All three mouths tried to say something at once, but nothing came out.

He wanted to say: I'm not a monster. I just transmigrated in the wrong posture.

He wanted to say: Give me a chance. I may look a little strange, but I'm really a good person.

But the sounds from his three mouths merged into nothing but confused whimpers.

Perhaps heaven could not bear to make Nezha reincarnate again right after being born.

He was not drowned.

But he was thrown into Star Dou Forest.

That—

Somehow... wasn't much better!

Star Dou Forest was one of Douluo Continent's three great soul beast gathering grounds, a deadly forbidden land where hundred-thousand-year soul beasts roamed.

Throwing a newborn baby into a place like this was no different from killing him outright.

"Heaven really wants me dead..."

Nezha lay in a pile of fallen leaves, his three heads staring up at the sky together. His six hands sprawled weakly open, like a six-legged turtle that could not turn itself over.

Perhaps his prayer truly worked.

A gentle woman appeared.

She did not despise Nezha's bizarre three-headed, six-armed appearance, nor was she afraid of the baby who looked like a monster.

She bent down and gently gathered Nezha into her arms, her warm palm brushing over his face.

"Poor child..."

Her voice was as gentle as a spring breeze.

Nezha's three heads fell silent at once, and his six eyes stared blankly at the woman before him.

At that moment, he made two decisions in his heart.

First, from now on, this woman would be his mother.

Second—

Whoever dared touch her, he would kill.

Later, Nezha learned that the woman who saved him was named A Rou.

He also learned that a huge pink rabbit that could speak lived here, along with a giant serpent called the Azure Bull Python and a gorilla called the Titan Giant Ape.

The Soft-Boned Enchanting Rabbit, the Azure Bull Python, and the Titan Giant Ape.

Three great hundred-thousand-year soul beasts.

And the woman named A Rou was the transformed form of the Soft-Boned Enchanting Rabbit.

The mother of Xiao Wu, the female lead of Douluo Continent.

The day Nezha learned this, he was silent for a long time.

He recalled A Rou's fate in the original novel. She was hunted down by Bibi Dong, the Pope of Spirit Hall, and turned into Bibi Dong's soul ring and soul bone.

And Xiao Wu, that pink giant rabbit, had taken human form and gone to human society to avenge her mother.

This was the beginning of the entire story of Douluo Continent.

"Since you saved me..."

Nezha clenched his fists, all six fists tightening at once.

"Then I will never let you die."

He would definitely change A Rou's fate.

Definitely.

But...

Nezha sighed again. His three heads drooped at the same time.

He had no idea when Bibi Dong killed A Rou.

The original novel's description of this part had been extremely vague. It only said that Xiao Wu took human form because her mother had been harmed, while the exact time and place were glossed over entirely.

He only knew that A Rou would die, but not when.

Knowing the ending while knowing nothing about the process was even more tormenting than knowing nothing at all.

"Nezha!"

A crisp voice suddenly came from behind him.

Before Nezha could turn around, a huge pink figure charged out of the forest, carrying a gust of wind as it pounced straight at him.

A gigantic pink rabbit.

It was none other than the Soft-Boned Enchanting Rabbit—Xiao Wu.

Nezha hurriedly stood up and opened all six arms at once, catching Xiao Wu.

"What is it, Xiao Wu?"

"And you're asking me?"

Xiao Wu rubbed her huge head against his chest, her voice full of displeasure. "Why are you sighing here alone again?"

Nezha was somewhat helpless.

Xiao Wu had been completely spoiled by A Rou, Da Ming, and Er Ming. Her mind was as pure as a blank sheet of paper.

She did not understand what worry or trouble was at all.

"It's nothing." Nezha stroked Xiao Wu's soft fur. "I was thinking about awakening my martial soul tomorrow, so I'm a little worried."

"What's there to worry about when awakening a martial soul?" Xiao Wu tilted her huge head, her eyes full of confusion.

"Besides, Nezha, why do you always think you're human? What human looks like you? Three heads and six arms—if you ask me, you're obviously a soul beast!"

Nezha: "..."

He had no answer.

He did not know why he had grown into this form either.

Could it really be because his name was Nezha?

If that were true, then why hadn't the Qiankun Ring, Red Armillary Sash, Wind Fire Wheels, Fire-Tipped Spear... and all those divine treasures transmigrated with him?