My personal opinion on Gensokyo

Kikyo, who also has extensive experience in purifying monsters, knows very well that when facing ordinary people without magical powers, a dozen monsters are enough to destroy and burn a village.

There are hundreds of greedy monsters, and Kikyo needs to deal with this number carefully to prevent the monsters that escape from invading various parts of the village.

Seeing the greedy monsters gradually emerging from the forest near the thick fog and slowly approaching, the people in the Monster Retreat Village who were scattered in the thick white fog and were still gathering their fellow villagers were unaware of this. The witch exerted a little strength and her slender white hands tightly grasped the ancient zelkova bow in her hand.

The kind-hearted witch seemed ready to go into the thick fog below at any time to help the people of the village expel the monsters in the fog and drive away the invading monsters.

Seeing this scene, he beside her pulled the witch's arm inconspicuously and shook his head slightly.

The young man with gray and shaggy hair persuaded calmly.

"There's no need for that right now. The demon exorcists in this demon extermination village should be able to handle it."

"Furthermore, for the Youkai Sage and I, this is precisely the necessary test to determine whether this Youkai Extermination Village I brought them to is suitable for future settlement in the 'Human Village' we have reserved for them."

at the same time.

Below, in the mountain forest shrouded in thick white fog.

"amber!"

Leading some gathered villagers, they rushed to the foggy area where elderly women and children gathered. The middle-aged village chief was delighted to see that his youngest son was also staying with the elderly, women and children here, waiting for news of his father with some anxiety on his face.

Just as the middle-aged village chief rushed here with mixed feelings, he was thinking about how to get there and what topics to talk about to cheer up his young son...

"what!!!"

Suddenly, terrified screams were heard from the depths of the thick white fog nearby.

Volume 6: Thoughts Across Time and Space: Chapter 463: Repelling the Attack and Life in the Future

"What?! Is this a youkai attack?!"

Hearing the cries of pain coming from the depths of the thick white fog nearby, the middle-aged leader, who was about to comfort his young son, immediately led the other villagers holding blades around him to surround the nearby thick fog.

At the same time, for some unknown reason, the thick white fog around them gradually faded away, and the visible field of vision of the people in the Monster Extermination Village gradually expanded.

Not far away, three or four demon exterminators who were also from the demon extermination village were nervously and seriously covering the evacuation of a villager whose arm was injured and blood was constantly flowing on the grass. Behind them, a huge monster with eight legs, covered with earth-yellow bristles, and shaped like a spider was chasing them relentlessly. Its terrifying mouth with fangs was oozing a sticky liquid as it ferociously chased these villagers.

"Look out! It's a dirt spider!"

Seeing this huge monster with ferocious fangs, the middle-aged leader, who had also led the demon hunters in the village to accept commissions to exterminate demons for many years, recognized the monster and immediately turned sideways to tell the demon hunters beside him to get ready.

As its name suggests, the Tsuchigumo (earth spider) is a giant spider monster often found deep in the mountains. It's also known as the "mountain spider." It's ferocious, often tying up captured farmers and civilians with silk and taking them back to its caves for consumption. Its eight legs, fangs, and bristles are all deadly weapons, and evidence of its activity can be found deep in the mountains of both the East and West.

The demon hunters of the Yokai Extermination Village, long tasked with exterminating Yokai, occasionally encounter these Tsuchigumo monsters that plague the village. Among the various Yokai the demon hunters frequently confront, Tsuchigumo are particularly formidable. These spiders often grow enormous due to their diet of human remains, making them difficult to defeat. Furthermore, Tsuchigumo often subjugate other Yokai nearby, leading these subjugated monsters to attack remote villages simultaneously, making them a particularly dangerous type of Yokai.

Sure enough, just as the middle-aged leader was telling the villagers to be careful, more than twenty greedy and ferocious monsters appeared again behind the earth spider.

Upon hearing this, the villagers who had rich experience in exorcising monsters responded and immediately separated and made arrangements. Several villagers pulled up ropes that looked like thorns and hid on both sides nearby, while the rest of the villagers also dispersed.

Seeing that the arrangement was completed, the middle-aged leader holding the blade put one hand to his mouth and blew a sharp whistle.

Hearing this sharp whistle, the other demon hunters who were protecting the villagers injured by the earth spiders from fleeing nearby all showed joy when they saw the middle-aged leader standing there.

Soon, the demon hunters nearby, understanding the middle-aged leader's plan, shielded the injured villagers and fled to his side, heading deep into the forest where the women and children were being sheltered. Meanwhile, a massive earth spider with a ferocious mouth and fangs, dripping with thick mucus, followed closely behind.

The earth spider, which also noticed the middle-aged leader, opened its ferocious mouth and was about to swallow the middle-aged leader who was blocking the way. At this time, the villagers hiding nearby instantly pulled up the thick rope hidden in the grass and tightly wrapped it around the two legs of the huge earth spider.

The earth spider was caught off guard by the thick rope and had no time to stop its forward momentum. Its huge body continued to rush forward, causing the rest of its legs to be caught in the trip ropes. The huge spider immediately lost its balance and its front body fell heavily to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

Seeing that the earth spider had fallen into the trap, a dozen villagers hiding nearby shouted and tried their best to pull the rope that was wrapped around the earth spider's eight legs, making it difficult for the giant spider monster to get up again for a while.

Seeing the opportunity had arrived, the middle-aged leader swung the chained blade he was holding tightly in his hand, driving it into the spider's back. He then grabbed the chain and nimbly climbed onto the spider's massive, dust-filled carapace. Simultaneously, countless chained blades flew out from the surrounding dense treetops, piercing deeply into the spider's back. Strong and sturdy villagers, who had been hiding in the treetops, leaped out, grabbed the chains, and leaped onto the spider's massive back.

"Hand on! Another one, let's go!"

As the demon hunters shouted together again, dozens of spear blades pierced through the hard shell of the earth spider's back, and several spears pierced through the earth spider's huge head.

"Roar!!!"

Along with the shrill roar of the huge spider monster, the earth spider whose vital parts were pierced by the blade spear tilted its head and fell into the rising dust. Its pair of eyes, filled with greed and ferocity, and its widened pupils gradually dissipated.

Following the shrill cries of the monsters following the Tsuchigumo, several monsters fell down due to arrows shot by the remaining archers hiding in the nearby village.

The arrows used in the Monster Extermination Village are all coated with deadly poison, which has a strong effect on these monsters.

Seeing countless casualties in an instant, dozens of monsters who had little wisdom and were intimidated by the earth spider and were far less ferocious than the earth spider immediately retreated in fear and retreated into the depths of the mountains and forests again, waiting for the opportunity to attack again.

At the same time, above the thick white fog that covered the mountains and forests and gradually dissipated, a void crack opened like an eye.

"Hmm... For a human, it's indeed very rare."

The Youkai Sage, who had witnessed the entire process of the Youkai Extermination Village's demon exterminators dealing with the monsters led by the Tsuchigumo, rarely praised these mortals who were extremely weak to her.

"Although they are just small monsters led by a soil spider, this is already a disaster for the average human village."

The Monster Sage had not paid attention to the Tsuchigumo clan, which had never produced any ancient great monsters, even though they were numerous in this land. However, Yakumo Yukari understood that for the many humans living in this land, the numerous Tsuchigumo clan was one of the most threatening monster clans.

The Monster Extermination Village, which can exterminate the Tsuchigumo spiders without relying on the magic power of shrine maidens, monks or onmyojis, is considered by Yakumo Yukari to be able to take on the task of protecting other human villages that have been hidden away in the nearby area by the monster sage.

However, the Monster Sage still planned to observe for a while. In addition to the earth spiders that first attacked these human monster hunters, there were also some monsters approaching nearby.

The area chosen by Yakumo Yukari has been a remote mountain area where monsters roam since ancient times. Only the exorcists of the Monster Extermination Village can cope with the continuous attacks of monsters in the nearby area and settle down in the mountains.

As Yakumo Yukari pondered this for a moment, Kikyo, who had also seen the villagers of the Monster Extermination Village repel the attack of the Earth Spider monster, seemed relieved and slowly lowered the Azusa bow she was holding tightly. Meanwhile, Shang Yang, who was standing beside her, said casually.

"Yorihime previously told me that during the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons of the Feathered Fox in Kyoto, there was a highly skilled member of the Tsuchigumo clan that transformed into a human form. He was Feathered Fox's right-hand man. If it attacked the people of this village, they would certainly be unable to resist. However, the Tsuchigumo clan is numerous, distributed across both the East and West Kingdoms, but relatively powerful Tsuchigumo are extremely rare. In my opinion, as long as they don't encounter a youkai of this level who has cultivated into a human form and is familiar with talents and demonic powers, the people of the village can still handle this youkai."

Having said that, Shang Yang changed the subject and asked casually.

"However, there is one thing we must be aware of. The way the people of this monster extermination village survive, it is difficult for them to survive long-term in the isolated mountains."

"This village has lived by exorcising monsters for generations, earning bounties from local samurai and wealthy merchants. They don't value the harvest from farming. Some of the fur and bones of the monsters they kill need to be sold to wealthy merchants in the castle town. Many of the medicines and tools used to exorcise monsters also need to be purchased from merchants."

"This village is highly dependent on external support. Currently, the rice produced by the dozen or so villages within the barrier is insufficient to supply these nearly unemployed demon hunters, let alone cloth, equipment, horses, and medicine to this demon-extermination village."

"And if this village is forced to rely on farming for a living, their ability to deal with attacks from nearby monsters will be greatly reduced."

Volume 6: Yearning Across Time and Space: Chapter 464: The Village's Disappearance?

"If we want to maintain our ability to fight monsters for a long time, we need the 'tributes' of others..."

After hearing Shang Yang's explanation, Yakumo Yukari looked at the demon exterminators from the demon extermination village who were carefully dealing with the remains of the Tsuchigumo spider in the gradually dissipating white mist, and thought slowly.

"There are already over a dozen villages scattered around this area, so providing food for this demon-extermination village shouldn't be a problem. As for the fabrics, tools, horses, medicines, and other supplies these demon exorcists need, I'll also bring in artisans, doctors, and other professionals from various trades who struggle to make a living outside. This will ensure that this future 'Human Village' can sustain itself, and we can also provide the necessary supplies for these demon exorcists. However, this will take some time, perhaps one to two years. Shang Yang, I'll have to trouble your Princess Yue to find some relevant craftsmen in Kyoto."

"Okay, I'll tell Yiji about this."

After hearing what Yakumo Yukari mentioned, Shang Yang agreed.

"Then before that, we'll probably just have to secretly provide some supplies to this monster extermination village."

"Well, at this stage, we can only provide it to them secretly by you and me."

The Yokai Sage nodded slightly.

"However, from what you've said, these demon hunters have made their livings from bounties on demon extermination for generations, and they frequently travel in and out of bustling towns and cities. Their horizons and experiences are broader than those of farmers in remote mountain villages. They're likely suspicious of the origins of these supplies and feel deeply uneasy."

"Well, it's not a bad thing."

Looking at the people of the Monster Extermination Village who were cooperating in perfect harmony and continuously exterminating and killing the lurking greedy little monsters in the thin white mist in the distance, Yakumo Yukari opened her folding fan again and said lightly.

"That's perfect, Shang Yang-kun, why don't you come with us to meet the leader of these monster exterminators? If nothing else changes, their clan will have to live in Gensokyo's human village for generations to come, so explaining things to them would be good for them."

A few hours later, the white fog dissipated in the deep mountains and forests.

After the fog cleared and vision gradually returned, the middle-aged village chief, accompanied by his group of strong demon hunters, gathered the villagers and arranged for them to cut wood and build fences nearby, constructing simple fortifications to prevent demon attacks. Although many unexpected events had occurred that left the residents of the demon-repelling village unpredictable, the middle-aged village chief, as their leader, remained calm and led the demon hunters to settle down in the deep mountains for the time being, while considering future plans.

Seeing that the villagers who were previously scattered in the thick white fog had all gathered together, the villagers also repelled dozens of monsters that attempted to attack, and built relatively simple but very practical fortifications. The middle-aged village chief finally felt relieved.

Although there seemed to be quite a lot of monsters in the nearby area, fortunately, none of them seemed too dangerous. During the monsters' attack just now, only some of the villagers who fought hard to repel the monsters were injured, and no villagers died in the monsters' attack.

Seeing that the villagers gradually calmed down, the middle-aged village chief felt relieved and reached out to stroke the head of his youngest son Amber beside him.

When monsters continued to attack, his youngest son Amber, who was fighting monsters with the middle-aged villagers for the first time, performed very well. Although he was obviously a little scared when facing the terrifying monsters, he bravely cooperated with the experienced middle-aged villagers to deal with the monsters' attacks.

After stroking his son's little head to show encouragement, the middle-aged village chief looked up at the villagers not far away who were still reinforcing the protective fence, and some worries arose in his heart again.

There was something fishy about the "couple" of Onmyoji and Miko who had visited the village earlier.

That seemingly powerful Onmyoji was undoubtedly a human in disguise. He was a terrifying great monster that his clan had only seen in ancient texts for centuries. He was even the master of the monsters mentioned in the ancient texts, one of the great generals of the monsters. However, the strange thing was that if that miko was also a monster in disguise, she had come into contact with the Four Souls Jade and even used her pure purifying spiritual power to purify the Four Souls Jade for our village.

Being able to use such spiritual power, she is undoubtedly a noble and kind-hearted witch, but why would she hang out with a general of all monsters?

Moreover, this strange big monster and the witch helped our clan when the monsters attacked the village. They did not manipulate the monsters to kill us. Instead, they brought our clan here for some reason.

As he pondered these puzzling questions and found them difficult to analyze, the middle-aged village chief sighed.

"Father, Father..."

At this moment, Amber, the son of the middle-aged village chief, whose forehead was touched by his father, saw his father's worried expression, raised his little head worriedly, and spoke in a low voice with concern.

"Sister, for some unknown reason, my elder sister has not returned for several days beyond her expected date. Although we were all brought here today for no apparent reason, the village should be full of terrifying monsters..."

Amber clearly remembered that before she, her father, and the villagers fell unconscious, terrifying monsters that had gathered nearby for unknown reasons had already breached the village's protective wall. Even if she, her father, and the villagers were "rescued" here, the village would probably have become a lair for numerous monsters. If her sister had returned to the village alone after this...

"Don't worry, Shanhu has been involved in the village's monster extermination for many years. She is thoughtful and sensitive. The evil aura emitted by the gathering of monsters will allow her to sense danger in time, and she will not rashly enter a village that has been occupied by monsters."

Hearing the worries of his youngest son Amber, even though the middle-aged village chief was also worried about the same problem, he still spoke to comfort his son.

However, the situation in the surrounding area is unclear. Perhaps the big monster came here to rob their clan and has other sinister plans. He and his son may never see their daughter who is alone in the world again in this life.

I just hope that Coral can avoid the disaster and be safe...

Shaking his head, the middle-aged village chief put aside these disturbing speculations, and at this moment, a villager carrying a short bow came panting and reported to their leader.

"Village leader, a team exploring the area has reported that the village's original residences, along with the Hakusan Myojin shrine, appear to have been relocated here. None of the residences are damaged."

"It's in the open area not far ahead!"

"What?! They even moved our entire village deep into the mountains..."

The middle-aged village chief was also shocked when he heard the report from the breathless villagers.

Even the village where our clan lives has been moved here. Could it be that a mysterious entity behind the scenes is deliberately trying to keep our clan here forever?

Perhaps, this is the legendary "disappearance of the gods"?

Without time to think about it, the middle-aged village chief immediately called together some middle-aged villagers who also gathered around and were deeply surprised.

"Let's go and take a look together!

PS1: So I was busy from summer to the end of summer, for two or three months, and finally finished a lot of things. From today on, I will try to resume daily updates.

PS2: Although I have been updating weekly, or even biweekly, for a month or two, it is indeed wrong of me to disappear for so long. Please wait and see what I will do next. I will try my best to make up for it, and even normalize updating twice a day to finish this book.

PS3: Happy National Day~

Volume 6: Longing Across Time and Space: Chapter 465: The Master of the Monsters

Not far away, there is a flat area where the white fog has dissipated.

After the middle-aged village chief led the villagers who were fully armed with knives and guns to rush here, they saw that in the nearby area, the houses where the villagers originally lived were really distributed here, just as the original layout.

Seeing the middle-aged village chief leading his companions, the first few young demon hunters who were also holding bamboo spears and wearing armor who explored the place came forward, and the leader of this team reported to the middle-aged village chief.

"Chief, my companions and I have conducted a preliminary search of these houses and have confirmed that they are indeed the former residences of our villagers. There is indeed some unknown entity that has relocated our village here."

Hearing this, the middle-aged village chief nodded slightly, indicating that he understood, and spoke slowly.

"Is that so... Thank you for your hard work."

After hearing the report from this small team, the people who came here with the middle-aged village chief couldn't help but whisper to each other, obviously they were very surprised by this situation.

Among them, there was an elderly man who was experienced and followed the middle-aged village chief. He had served as a consultant many times in the past and had also gone out with the villagers to accept commissions to exterminate monsters. He was considered the "elder" of the village. He frowned slightly and asked the middle-aged village chief sideways.

"Chief, could it be that our village has been vanished by a 'god'?"

"Hmm... I have the same guess."

Upon hearing the speculation of this highly respected old man who had also served as the leader of the monster extermination village in the past, the middle-aged village chief also expressed his agreement.

"Our clan's ancient books on monster extermination record that long ago, during the reign of Lord Muromachi, our ancestors witnessed the 'Kami-kakushi' incident, where several villages disappeared simultaneously."

"Back then, the world was peaceful, and our ancestors even accepted the request of the Eastern Daimyo to investigate cases of hidden villages in the region. However, they ultimately found nothing, and no trace of the hidden villages was found. Later, as the world declined and wars became frequent, our clan ceased its investigations into the hidden villages."

"Unexpectedly, over a hundred years later, during the Warring States Period, our Youkai Extermination Village also inexplicably encountered a mysterious incident."

The middle-aged village chief said so with emotion.

"Chief, you don't have to worry too much. Although our village has recently encountered a mysterious incident, fortunately, the villagers in our Monster Extermination Village have been exterminating monsters for many years. Although there are many monsters here, there are no monsters that are too dangerous. Our people are more than enough to deal with them."