Zhu Yuanzhang: My second son is invincible!

The courtyard of the Wa royal palace was much larger and much quieter than the Wu King's Palace in Yingtian.

After Yi Seong-gye and his family were sent to the Ming Dynasty by airship, the palace was 90% empty, with only the Imperial Guards on duty and a few cooks brought from Goryeo remaining.

Zhu Hui squatted under the eaves eating roasted taro, while Guanyin Nu sat beside him sewing a fur coat. Between the two of them was a small charcoal stove with a pot of tea simmering on it.

It's already the 29th of the twelfth lunar month.

"My lord, tomorrow is New Year's Eve," Guanyin Nu said, biting off the last thread as she finished sewing the last stitch.

"Yes, Uncle Xu said the army will have extra meals, with each person getting two extra ounces of meat." Zhu Li threw the taro peel into the charcoal stove, and the flames leaped up.

"I miss my mother," Guanyin Nu said softly.

Zhu Li turned to look at her; the charcoal fire made her cheeks slightly red, and her eyes were a little watery.

He scratched his head and said, "Then... how about we have the Golden-Winged Roc take you back? It'll only take two days to get to Yingtian."

"And what about you?"

"I'll stay here and wait until we finish mining before going back," Zhu Li said honestly.

Guanyin Nu shook her head: "I won't go back, I want to stay with you."

"But you miss your mother..."

"I may want to, but I can't leave you here alone to try it on. Winters in Japan are damp and cold, so wear an extra layer." Guanyin Nu unfolded the sewn fur coat, revealing a dark gray lining with fox fur trim at the collar.

Zhu Hui obediently stood up and let Guanyin help him put on the coat. The fur coat fit him perfectly, with fine stitches, and the fox fur felt warm against his neck.

"My wife is so skillful." He grinned.

"Every woman on the grassland knows how to do leatherwork, otherwise people would freeze to death in winter." Guanyin Nu straightened his clothes, took two steps back to look at him, and nodded in satisfaction.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the courtyard, and Li Wenzhong walked in, his armor still covered in unmelted snow, shivering in the cold.

"Your Highness, Your Highness." He clasped his hands in a gesture of respect.

"General Li, you've worked hard. Please sit down and have some hot tea." Guanyinnu poured a cup of tea and handed it to him.

Li Wenzhong took the drink, downed it in one gulp, and then said, "Your Highness, today we swept through Shejin and the two prefectures of Hanoi, beheading 5,700 people, capturing 4,300 women, and discovering eleven silver vaults, totaling 1.2 million taels of silver."

Zhu Hui sat on the veranda and said, "Oh, I see."

"Also... we discovered an ancient temple in Nara, which houses an eight-armed bronze statue. According to the prisoners, it is the Dharma body of Bishamonten, the 'God of War' of Japan."

"The monks guarding the temple put up a fierce resistance and killed more than seventy of our brothers," Li Wenzhong said after a pause.

Zhu Li stopped eating the taro in his hand: "More than seventy people died?"

"Yes, those monk soldiers know some evil magic. When they cut someone with a knife, it only leaves a white mark. They need to be cut in the throat or eyes to kill them. I have already sent artillery over and blasted the temple to the ground."

Li Wenzhong said with a gloomy expression.

"Where's the bronze statue?"

"Still at the temple..."

Zhu Hui stuffed the remaining taro into his mouth, clapped his hands, stood up, and said, "Take me to see."

"Now?" Li Wenzhong was taken aback.

"Well, we're just killing time anyway. Wife, are you going?" Zhu Hui said, looking at Guanyin Nu.

Guanyin Nu put down her sewing basket and said, "Go."

……

The airship takes only half an hour to travel from Kyoto to Nara.

The flying boat captured from Goryeo was modified by Taoist cultivators and inscribed with wind-controlling talismans, making it 30% faster than before.

Zhu Li stood at the bow of the boat, looking down at the mountains and rivers passing by. The winter in Japan was indeed warmer than in Korea. The snow only covered the mountaintops, while the valleys were still green.

The temple outside Nara Castle had been mostly destroyed by artillery fire, and smoke was still rising from the ruins.

Ming soldiers were clearing the battlefield, carrying the bodies of their fallen comrades to one side, while the corpses of Japanese monks were piled up on the other side like a small mountain.

Li Wenzhong pointed to the main hall of the temple and said, "Your Highness, the bronze statue is inside."

A large hole was blown open in the roof of the main hall, and sunlight shone through, revealing a bronze statue three zhang tall standing in the center.

The bronze statue has eight arms, each holding a ritual implement, and its face is ferocious. Although it is covered in dust, the exquisite casting craftsmanship can still be seen.

Zhu Hui walked into the main hall and looked up at the bronze statue.

Guanyin Nu followed behind and whispered, "This statue... has a spirit."

"Yes, I felt it too." Zhu Li nodded.

The axe and shield tattoo on his left arm was slightly warm, a reaction to encountering "something interesting".

Li Wenzhong said, "Your Highness, this bronze statue is strange. We tried dragging it with iron chains, but as soon as we got close to it, we felt dizzy and several brothers even vomited blood."

"You all leave," Zhu Hui waved his hand.

The soldiers left the main hall, leaving only Zhu Hui and Guanyin Nu.

Guanyin Nu gripped the short knife in her sleeve tightly. It was given to her by Zhu Li and reforged from the broken staff of the Goryeo National Preceptor, with talismans for warding off evil engraved on it.

The bronze statue suddenly moved.

It didn't move as a whole, but rather its eight arms slowly rose, its bronze eyes opened, and two beams of golden light shot out.

A grand voice echoed in the hall, not in Chinese or Japanese, but in an ancient and obscure language.

Zhu Hui didn't understand, but the tattoo on his left arm felt even hotter.

He simply ripped off his shirt, revealing his left arm.

The axe and shield tattoo gleamed faintly beneath the skin, emitting a pale red glow.

The sound from the bronze statue abruptly stopped.

Eight arms froze in mid-air, the golden light in their bronze eyes flickering uncertainly, as if...confused.

"You recognize this?" Zhu Hui patted his tattoo and said to the bronze statue.

The tattoo can't speak, but the red glow made it even brighter.

The bronze statue suddenly spoke, this time in Chinese, though its tone was as stiff as the scraping of metal: "Xing...Tian...why...are...here..."

"You know me?" Zhu Li scratched his head.

"War...God...Aura...But...Too weak...You...Are not...Xingtian...You are...His...Successor..." The bronze statue's voice was broken and intermittent.

"Pretty much. If you don't want this bronze statue, you can... I'll chop it up." Zhu Li said, pressing her right hand against the tattoo.

The Xingtian Axe instantly appeared in his hand.

The bronze statue's eight arms trembled simultaneously, its ritual implements clanging erratically. It cried out urgently, "Wait! I...I wish...to submit!"

"To submit..."

"I am...Vishvamon...a wisp of the Dharma body...here...I am worshipped...for eight hundred years...I wish to follow the God of War...the successor..." The bronze statue's voice was filled with fear.

Zhu Hui thought for a moment, then turned to Guanyin Nu and asked, "Wife, is this thing useful?"

Guanyin Nu carefully examined the bronze statue and slowly said, "Husband, the grassland shaman said that if the divine body can be subdued, it can guard a region and protect the people."

This bronze statue is a Japanese war god; perhaps… it can be used to intimidate the Japanese?

"That makes sense. Okay, shrink down a bit, and I'll take you with me." Zhu Hui nodded and said to the bronze statue.

The bronze statue remained silent for a moment, then its three-zhang-tall body began to shrink, the bronze color faded, and finally it became a palm-sized bronze statue, which landed in Zhu Hui's palm.

It had all eight arms and its magical implements were clearly visible, but it lacked that eerie aura.

"Is that all?" Zhu Hui weighed the statue in her hand; it was quite heavy.

Guanyin Nu leaned closer to take a look and said, "It... has recognized you as its master?"

"It seems so. I'll show it to my older brother later; he knows about these things." Zhu Li tucked the statue into his pocket.

The two walked out of the main hall, and Li Wenzhong stepped forward to greet them, saying, "Your Highness, that bronze statue..."

"Take it, it's ours now." Zhu Li patted his chest.

Li Wenzhong opened his mouth, but in the end, he said nothing. This prince can split mountains in two; what's a bronze statue to him?

……