Zhu Yuanzhang: My second son is invincible!

[New book launch, let's gather some ideas first...]

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The tenth year of the Hongwu reign.

Deep in the mountains outside Dangtu County, at the foot of Yezhu Ridge, lies a small village of about twenty households. All the villagers share the surname Zheng, hence the name Zhengjia Village (Zheng Family Village).

in the afternoon.

Twenty-two-year-old Zheng Datou was carrying two wild boars, each weighing about a hundred pounds, down the mountain. His coarse cloth shorts were stained with grass clippings and some bloodstains.

Zheng Datou was tall and his arms looked thicker than an average person's thighs. His face was quite handsome, but his eyes always had a sleepy, simple look about them.

"Big Head Bro..."

At the foot of the distant mountain, eight-year-old Zheng Daya saw him and ran towards him with a bamboo basket filled with freshly dug wild vegetables.

As he ran, he shouted at Zheng Datou:

"Mom said she's stewing cured pork tonight, so she wants you to go home early..."

Before he could finish speaking, a sharp shriek suddenly came from the depths of the forest.

Zheng Datou's expression immediately changed, and he abandoned the wild boar and rushed towards Zheng Daya's direction.

at the same time.

A dark shadow suddenly pounced out of the forest. It was a mandrill the size of a calf, with red eyes, fangs, and black fur as sharp as steel needles. Half of the intestines of some unknown wild animal was hanging from its claws.

"A...monster!" Zheng Daya was so frightened that she fell to the ground.

Fortunately, Zheng Datou had already stepped in front of her.

The mandrill stood upright, and a foul stench wafted towards them.

These days, the world is not peaceful. In the north, remnants of the Northern Yuan are plundering, in the south, local chieftains are causing trouble, and in the deep mountains and forests, there are some inexplicable monsters.

The village elders all say that Emperor Hongwu was a true dragon descended to earth, suppressing the dragon veins of the entire land. However, in these remote and obscure places, there are always some fish that slip through the net.

Zheng Datou was furious; how dare this thing hurt his sister!

He pressed his right hand onto his left arm, where he had a strange dark red tattoo since childhood, resembling a long-handled axe attached to a shield.

next moment.

A bronze axe appeared out of thin air in his hand, its surface engraved with ferocious beast-face patterns, and its blade gleaming with a cold, icy light.

Just then, the mandrill pounced on him.

Without a second thought, Zheng Datou gripped the axe with both hands and swung it upwards.

"Whoosh..."

Immediately afterwards...

"boom..."

In an instant, a fierce gust of wind suddenly exploded, and a wave of air surged forward in a fan shape.

The not-so-wide river surface was instantly cleaved into a ditch three zhang wide, with water splashing skyward.

More than a dozen old trees, each as thick as a person's embrace, broke off at waist height along the riverbank, sending wood chips flying like rain.

Further away, half of the cliff at Wild Boar Ridge groaned as boulders began to tumble down, kicking up clouds of dust.

The mandrill has disappeared.

Not to mention flesh and blood, not even a hair was left.

Zheng Datou held his axe, staring blankly at the scene before him.

The river changed course, a bunch of trees fell, and half of the mountain collapsed.

He blinked, then looked down at the axe in his hand.

"Did you... use too much force?"

"Brother, you...you chopped down the mountain!"

"..."

Zheng Datou then came to his senses and quickly turned around and squatted down, asking, "Ya Ya, are you alright? Are you hurt...?"

After checking her over from head to toe, the little girl was only pale with fright, but she wasn't injured.

He breathed a sigh of relief, scratched his head, and said, "I just wanted to get rid of it... Why is this axe so sharp today?"

Zheng Daya pointed at the axe, her eyes wide, and said, "Brother, where did you get this axe? It wasn't here just now..."

"It just...it just appeared out of nowhere." Zheng Datou himself couldn't explain it clearly.

This axe and the shield that matched the tattoo on his left arm could be summoned and retrieved at any time, ever since he could remember.

When his adoptive father, Zheng Dazhu, first saw him, he was so frightened that he almost fainted. Later, he repeatedly told him not to show it to outsiders.

"Our eldest son probably has some background, but in this world, having a background isn't necessarily a good thing. Living a peaceful life is the most important thing," Zheng Dazhu once told his wife.

So for the past eighteen years, Zheng Datou has only used this axe to chop firewood and cut down trees. The most dangerous thing he did was last year when he single-handedly took down a bear. When the bear pounced, he smashed it with his shield, and the bear flew three zhang away, crashed into a tree, and was knocked unconscious.

He muttered to himself at the time: This bear is really not tough.

"Brother, the monster is dead..." Zheng Daya whispered.

Zheng Datou stood up, stared at the empty space for a while, then suddenly slapped his thigh in frustration and said, "That's right! Uncle Chen said a few days ago that mandrill bones can be used in medicine and are valuable. Why didn't we save some of our strength!"

Just as he was feeling frustrated, he didn't notice at all that a group of people on the distant mountain road were attracted by the earth-shattering commotion and were galloping towards him.

……

A moment later, after feeling annoyed for a while, Zheng Datou first carried the two wild boars back.

Then they walked home together.

With the wild vegetables my sister dug up, we can have a good stew tonight.

He lifted three or four hundred pounds of goods with one hand as easily as carrying a vegetable basket.

With his other hand, he held Zheng Daya's hand, and the little girl was still chattering about the axe blow she had just received.

"Brother, can you teach me?"

"You're too small to carry it."

"What about when I grow up?"

"When you grow up...when you get married, your man will teach you."

"I'm not getting married! I want to learn skills from my brother and fight monsters!"

Zheng Datou grinned, revealing a set of white teeth.

The setting sun cast long shadows of the brother and sister.

The half-collapsed cliff in the distance stood out starkly in the twilight, with loose rocks still rolling down from time to time.

Zheng Datou glanced back. He would have to tell the villagers tomorrow not to go to the north slope of Wild Boar Ridge recently, as it might not be safe.

He looked at the axe in his hand again.

The axe-faced beast pattern gleamed with a dark golden light in the afterglow, as if it were alive.

This thing has been with him since he was a child. When it's light, it's like a straw. When it's heavy... well, he's never even tried to see how heavy it can be.

Anyway, when he chopped down the mountain demon earlier, he was afraid he hadn't used enough force, so he used some strength.

Thankfully, this is deep in the mountains; if it were in a village, the earthquake might have destroyed all the houses.

Zheng Daya suddenly tugged at his sleeve and said, "Brother, there are people over there."

Zheng Datou looked up.

At the bend in the mountain road, more than ten riders were heading towards the village.

The leader was a young man in his early twenties, wearing a royal blue brocade robe, light armor, and a long sword at his waist.

His face was as handsome as jade, and his eyebrows and eyes were gentle, but his posture on horseback was as upright as a pine tree, exuding an indescribable air of nobility.

The men following him were all skilled and sharp-eyed, and they carried weapons at their waists or on their backs.

This is not an ordinary passerby.

Zheng Datou subconsciously pulled his sister behind him, and pressed his right hand against his left arm, ready to summon a shield in a fraction of an instant if needed.

The group stopped at the village entrance.

The young man in the brocade robe glanced at the wild boar on Zheng Datou's shoulder, the mandrill bone in his hand, and finally landed on his face.

Eyes facing each other.

Zheng Datou felt that the way this person was looking at him was a bit strange. It didn't look like he was looking at a stranger, but rather like... like he was recognizing something.

The young man dismounted swiftly and decisively.

He took a few steps closer, stopping three feet from Zheng Datou, and cupped his hands in a slight smile, saying, "Brother, what trouble did you encounter with that loud noise in the mountains just now?"

His voice was gentle and his tone was exceptionally kind.

Zheng Datou unconsciously lowered his guard and grinned, "Nothing much trouble, just chopped down a mandrill. I used too much force and knocked off a few rocks."

He spoke of it so casually, as if cutting down half a mountain was no different from stepping on an ant.

The young man's entourage exchanged glances, and one of them secretly placed his finger on the hilt of his knife.

"Mandrills...that's incredibly dangerous. Brother, you're quite skilled." The young man's smile remained unchanged.

"It's alright, I've always been strong since I was a kid," Zheng Datou said.

The young man's gaze fell on Zheng Datou's neck. Under the rough cloth collar, a section of red rope was visible, with a jade pendant tied to the rope.

The jade pendant was mostly hidden inside the clothing, with only a small part of the carving visible at the edge.

Dragon pattern.

Although the lines are minimalist, the leaping posture and the scale-like details are definitely not styles that ordinary people would dare to use.

The young man's pupils suddenly contracted.

He also had a jade pendant hanging from his waist.

At this moment, the jade pendant was slightly warm even though no one was touching it.

"Brother, can I borrow your jade pendant to take a look?" the young man said, his voice trembling slightly.

Zheng Datou instinctively clutched his chest and said, "My father gave it to me; I can't give it away."

"I won't see you off, I just want to take a look." The young man stepped forward, almost pleading.

Zheng Datou hesitated for a moment, then took out the jade pendant from his collar.

The jade is bluish-white and carved with a five-clawed dragon. The dragon's body is coiled and its head is raised. The craftsmanship is so exquisite that it doesn't seem like something from the mountains.

The young man also took off his jade pendant from his waist.

The two jade pendants are placed together.

Perfectly fitted.

The dragon patterns are connected, the dragon heads face each other, and even the jade quality, color, and patina are exactly the same.

They are clearly a pair.

The young man's hand holding the jade pendant began to tremble.

He raised his head, staring intently at Zheng Datou, his eyes gradually reddening.

"You..." He opened his mouth, but his voice choked.

Zheng Datou asked, puzzled, "What's wrong... your jade pendant looks quite similar to mine."

It's more than just a resemblance.

The young man took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.