Zhu Yuanzhang: My second son is invincible!

On the third day of the first month of the eleventh year of the Hongwu reign, the festive atmosphere of the Japanese New Year had not yet dissipated, but the smell of blood was getting stronger and stronger.

Li Wenzhong's order to massacre the city spread throughout the thirteen cities surrounding the capital on New Year's Eve.

All Japanese nobles, samurai, and monk soldiers who resisted the Ming army were exterminated along with their entire families.

In three days, the heads were piled up into seventeen mounds, the shortest of which was as tall as two people.

Xu Da did not stop him.

Standing atop the castle tower of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, watching the black smoke rising in the distance, he said to Zhang Yuchu beside him, "Master, wouldn't it be better if these Japanese just surrendered obediently? Why do they insist on resisting?"

Zhang Yuchu stroked his beard and shook his head, saying, "This is a barbarian land, where people are not taught and have many who break the law with force. Although Your Highness's killings this time were heavy, if you do not establish your authority, there will be endless troubles in the future."

"Your Highness, are you referring to His Highness the Prince of Wu?" Xu Da asked, taken aback.

"No, I was referring to General Li Wenzhong, and His Highness Prince Wu... He doesn't care about these things." Zhang Yuchu looked outside the palace, where a troop of cavalry was escorting hundreds of Japanese nobles, men, women, and children, their cries deafening.

indeed.

Zhu Li is currently soaking in the hot spring pool behind the palace.

The pool is natural, the water temperature is just right, and tea leaves brought from the Ming Dynasty float on the surface. Zhang Yuchu calls this a "tea bath," which can clear the mind and brighten the eyes.

Zhu Hui didn't know if it was useful, but it smelled quite nice.

Guanyin Nu sat on a rock by the pond, holding the small bronze statue in her hand, carefully wiping it with a soft cloth.

"Wife, come down and soak in the water too, it'll warm you up," Zhu Li said, squinting as she placed a wet towel on her forehead.

"Wait a moment, I'll clean this statue." Guanyin Nu didn't even look up.

She did not leave the palace for three days.

It's not that I'm afraid, it's that I don't want to see it.

She had heard about Li Wenzhong's massacre of the city; the cries of those Japanese nobles could be heard into the palace at night.

She asked Zhu Li, "Is it really necessary to kill so many people?"

Zhu Zhi was eating an apple at the time when he heard this and scratched his head: "Li Wenzhong said that if we don't kill them all, they will attack our miners. If a miner dies, we will lose a lot of silver."

The truth is straightforward, yet also cruel.

Guanyin Nu did not ask any further questions.

She grew up on the grasslands and knew the rules of war: the victor has the right to decide the life and death of the loser.

Before, she was the one being decided; now, she is the one making the decisions.

This feeling... is not pleasant.

"It's cleaned." She lifted the bronze statue and examined it against the sunlight.

The statue's eight arms are lifelike, and the patterns on the ritual implements are clearly visible, but its bronze eyes are always closed, as if it were asleep.

"Why isn't it moving?" Zhu Li sat up from the pool, splashing water everywhere.

"I don't know. It hasn't moved since it recognized its master that day, but I can feel that it's still there... like it's asleep," Guanyin Nu said, placing the statue in her palm.

"Then let it sleep. It still needs to eat when it wakes up." Zhu Li lay back down.

Just then, hurried footsteps came from afar.

Xu Da and Zhang Yuchu entered the hot spring courtyard one after the other, both of them looking rather unwell.

"Your Highness, something has happened," Xu Da said in a deep voice.

"What's wrong? Did you run out of silver?" Zhu Li asked lazily.

"It's not silver, it's... a god, a Japanese deity, that has been awakened," Zhang Yuchu said solemnly.

Zhu Hui opened her eyes: "God? What god?"

"Reports have come from various places that since yesterday, shrines and temples in Japan have been frequently disturbed. At Kasuga Taisha Shrine in Nara, a deer-shaped monster appeared and killed seventeen of our patrolmen."

A loud explosion came from the direction of Ise Grand Shrine. According to the soldiers who escaped, they saw a woman in a white robe rise from the sea, and with a wave of her hand, the waves surged and capsized three silver-carrying ships…

Zhang Yuchu paused for a moment, then continued, "The most serious one is Izumo Taisha, which is said to be the gathering place of eight million gods in Japan."

The three thousand soldiers stationed there... all died overnight.

"Dead?" Zhu Li sat up straight.

"The manner of death was extremely gruesome, as if all the flesh and blood had been drained, leaving only skin and bones. There were no signs of struggle at the scene, as if... there was no power to resist."

Xu Da said in a cold voice.

The hot spring pool was steaming, but the atmosphere suddenly turned cold.

Guanyin Nu gripped the bronze statue tightly; she could feel the statue in her palm tremble slightly.

"Those gods...are they very strong?" Zhu Hui asked.

"If we weren't strong, we wouldn't have killed three thousand people in one night, Your Highness. This is no small matter. If Japan truly has eight million gods, even if only one percent are awakened, we will still..."

Xu Da took a deep breath and said.

"What?! I can't beat him either. Uncle Xu, you forgot? I can split a mountain in two with one axe." Zhu Li stood up from the pool, water dripping down his strong muscles.

"But that's God..."

"What about gods... That Korean national advisor also claimed to be a god, but I cleaved him in two. Honey, get me my clothes." Zhu Li picked up a towel from the poolside to wipe herself.

Guanyin's servant put down the statue and got up to fetch the folded robe.

Zhang Yuchu and Xu Da exchanged a glance, both seeing the helplessness in each other's eyes. Talking about "divine power" with this prince seemed like casting pearls before swine.

Zhu Hui dressed, walked to the stone table, poured himself a cup of tea, gulped it down, and then said, "I'll go take a look at which part is the most serious."

"Izumo Taisha, where three thousand brothers died, and according to the confessions of Japanese prisoners, Izumo Taisha enshrines 'Ōkuninushi-shin,' one of the highest-ranking deities in Japan."

Xu Da immediately replied.

"Alright, let's go to Izumo first. Wife, are you coming?" Zhu Li turned to Guanyin Nu and asked.

Before Guanyin Nu could speak, Zhang Yuchu interjected, "It would be best for the Princess to remain in the capital; this journey is fraught with danger..."

"Oh my god... There's a saying on the grasslands: the wolf king's wife can't stay in her tent forever," Guanyinnu interrupted him, speaking calmly.

Zhu Hui grinned and said, "Well said! Let's go together then!"

Xu Da wanted to persuade him further, but seeing Zhu Di's expression, he knew he couldn't change his mind, so he could only say, "Then I will send ten thousand elite troops to accompany him..."

"No need, too many people will be troublesome. My wife and I, plus a few flying Taoist priests will suffice. Hurry up," Zhu Li waved his hand.

……

Half an hour later, a small airship took off from Kyoto.

Besides Zhu Hui and Guanyin Nu, there were also Zhang Yuchu and four disciples from Longhu Mountain on the flying boat.

Zhang Yuchu insisted on coming along, saying, "Your Highness, the Daoist sect does have some methods for dealing with deities."

The airship was small, only able to seat ten people, but it was extremely fast.

Zhang Yuchu personally took control, and the flying boat transformed into a streak of blue light, speeding towards the northwest.

The mountains and rivers of Japan swept past below; it was January, and many of the mountaintops were still covered in snow.

But something was clearly wrong in some places; some valleys were shrouded in black mist, and some rivers glowed with an eerie red light.

"A demonic aura is rising to the sky," a young Taoist priest said in a low voice.

"It's not demonic energy, it's divine power. The gods of Japan are essentially mountain spirits and wild monsters that have achieved cultivation and are worshipped, thus gaining influence."

Zhang Yuchu corrected.

Zhu Li leaned over the gunwale and looked down, then suddenly pointed to a river: "Why is that river red?"

The crowd looked in the direction he pointed and saw that a river that should have been clear was now shimmering with a dark red blood-red light, and many fish carcasses were floating on the surface.

"It's a blood sacrifice. The Japanese are using the blood of living beings to awaken their gods... What a sin!" Zhang Yuchu said with a grim expression.

Guanyin Nu gripped the railing tightly, her knuckles turning white.

The flying boat flew for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before a continuous mountain range appeared ahead.

In the center of the mountain range stands a massive shrine complex, with black tiles and white walls, covering an extremely large area.

But at this moment, a layer of gray-black mist shrouded the shrine, and countless shadows could be vaguely seen wriggling within the mist.

"That's Izumo Taisha Shrine, Your Highness. Be careful, this place... is very eerie," Zhang Yuchu said, controlling the flying boat to descend slowly.

The airship landed three miles outside the shrine.

The group jumped off the flying boat, their feet crunching on the snow.

The air was cold, but it wasn't just the cold of winter; there was a chilling cold that penetrated to the bone.

The surroundings were eerily quiet; there wasn't even a bird chirping or an insect buzzing.