My personal opinion on Gensokyo

Seeing that the middle-aged village chief looked a little worried, an elderly elder with rich experience in this village comforted him.

"Also, after settling down, the villagers can explore the outside world and find out more about the situation here. Although the mountains are deep, there is always a way out of the forest."

Suddenly, when the middle-aged village chief was talking with the elderly elders in the village, a mysterious and playful tone slowly echoed in the ears of the middle-aged village chief.

"...Humans who come here can't leave, and they can't get out."

"Who is it?!"

Suddenly hearing this strange tone of voice ringing in his ears, the middle-aged village chief instantly clenched the blade made of monster bones in his hand, and looked vigilantly at the area where the mist dissipated.

However, as the middle-aged village chief was vigilantly observing his surroundings, he discovered something even more surprising.

"What, what is this?!"

At some point, the people following the middle-aged village chief, including the elderly elder who had just been talking to him, seemed to have lost their lives and were frozen in place. The expressions on their faces remained unconscious, but their bodies and faces were as solid as sculptures...

Seeing this unbelievable scene, the middle-aged village chief looked worriedly at his young son who was following beside him with a frozen expression on his face, and tightly gripped the blade in his hand.

"Is it a youkai spell...?"

: "It is said that this only temporarily stops the flow of time for the people in your village. Please don't worry."

A serious tone different from before slowly sounded.

The dress is mainly blue and green, with nine fox tails spreading out like fans behind her.

A few strands of golden hair appeared under the big hat that covered the fox ears. The nine-tailed fox with fair skin and dignified beauty slightly closed its golden eyes, lowered its head slightly, raised its hand to signal, inviting the leader of the monster extermination village, the vigilant and nervous middle-aged village chief.

"Excuse me, sir, leader of the monster extermination clan. I am the shikigami of the monster sage Yakumo-sama—Yakumo Lan. Following the instructions of my masters, Yakumo-sama and Shang-sama, I invite you to meet them."

"The two lords have instructed us to discuss a matter of vital importance to your clan—the Lingqiba Temple. Please carefully select a few trusted subordinates and go with them to the main hall of your village's shrine to meet with the two lords of my monster clan."

"Nine, nine-tailed fox..."

"The great monster recorded in ancient books..."

Gazing at the great monster Nine-tailed Fox, which had appeared here at some point in time and had an expressionless face, and which he had only read about in ancient books, the middle-aged village chief forced himself to remain calm and pondered secretly.

The two masters of the monster clan, served by the great monster Nine-tailed Fox recorded in ancient books...they could only be the true masters of the monster clan...

The middle-aged village chief, who was unable to guess more, took a deep breath and realized that he and his people had no room for refusal.

"Thank you both for your invitation, and thank you very much for your guidance, Lord Yakumo. I have already selected several of my subordinates who will have the honor of meeting you, my Lords."

"Oh? Sir, the leader is quite decisive."

Hearing this, the expression of the nine-tailed fox who called herself Yakumo Aoi seemed to soften a little. She casually took out something from her sleeve and threw it to the solemn-looking middle-aged village chief.

It was an unknown object with a strange shape and an overall disc-like shape. There were three pointers of different lengths inside, and some strange unknown symbols were engraved on it.

"This is Lord Shangjun's treasure, the 'Time Stop Watch.' It is this treasure that stopped the flow of time for those around the leader. To restart the flow of time for someone whose time has been stopped, simply touch their body with this treasure."

"Also, Lord Shang has a clear instruction: Your youngest son, Amber, must accompany you to meet Lord Shang."

"Is my youngest son Amber here?"

Hearing the unexpected request from the great nine-tailed fox, Lord Yakumo, which seemed to leave no room for doubt, the middle-aged village chief felt somewhat worried, but he could not help but make a request.

"This... My youngest son, Amber, is young and ignorant, and doesn't understand the ways of the world. If I offend the two masters of demons and monsters when I pay my respects to them..."

"My apologies, Sir, this is the explicit instruction of Lord Shangjun."

Hearing this, the dignified and beautiful nine-tailed fox shook her head and interrupted the middle-aged village chief.

"Master Shangjun's orders must not be disobeyed in the slightest."

"Please, Mr. Leader, accompany Lord Amber to meet Lord Shangjun."

PS1: Resuming updates. Yes, I'll try to update twice tomorrow during the day, or three times if time allows. It depends on the situation.

PS2: Is Dongfang Guiyanlu fun?

Volume 6: Thoughts Across Time and Space: Chapter 466: The Decision of the Monster Sage

Outside the shrine in the center of the village.

Holding the hand of his youngest son Amber, the middle-aged village chief, who was a father, raised his other hand and patted his son's shoulders, which were slightly stiff due to anxiety, and took the lead to walk up the wooden steps of the shrine.

The five or six people of different ages who followed the village chief saw that the village chief had already walked up the stairs of the shrine. After looking at each other, they also followed the middle-aged village chief up the stairs.

After being revived by the chief with the strange treasure just now, the chief briefly explained the current situation and the order from the master of the two monsters for them to go and meet him.

So, despite all their doubts, these important figures in the village selected by the middle-aged village chief also listened to the middle-aged village chief's advice. In order to show their sincerity, they took off all kinds of swords, spears, halberds and armor made of monster bones, and followed the leader to the shrine without any defense to meet the two mysterious and unknown monster lords.

Although the exorcists of these monster extermination villages have been making a living by exterminating monsters for many years and have many old grudges and hatreds with the cruel and greedy monsters, it is precisely because of their long-term hostility with monsters that the exorcists of the monster extermination villages understand the horror of those powerful monsters better.

The villagers knew that even if the entire village gathered its strength, it would still be powerless against those truly powerful big monsters. Everyone in the village was cautious and alert, carefully following the village leader, and according to the request of the two monster generals, came to the shrine to pay homage to the masters of the monsters that had been enemies of the village for generations.

Standing outside the gate of the shrine that belongs to the village and is dedicated to Hakusan Myojin, looking at the closed wooden door of the shrine, the leader of the Monster Extermination Village took a deep breath, pulled his still very uneasy son Amber, slowly knelt on one knee, and lowered his head cautiously.

The middle-aged village chief did not know whether monsters had a set of etiquette that was different from that of human society. He had to follow the etiquette of the Warring States period, when these mountain people without surnames and knowledge had to pay homage to the local guardian daimyo and receive the commission to exterminate monsters. He bowed to the two monster lords who were temporarily staying in the shrine belonging to the village.

Seeing the chief and his son bowing and saluting, the villagers who followed the father and son looked at each other again, hesitated a little, and then followed the chief and his son in bowing and half-kneeling.

Although the demon hunters were somewhat reluctant to bow to the two mysterious masters of the demons who had been enemies for generations, they still chose to follow their leader's decision.

Click...

With a soft, not-too-heavy creak, the shrine's main door swung open from the inside. Nine fox tails spread out like fans, and the great nine-tailed fox shikigami slowly opened the shrine's main door.

Seeing the mysterious giant nine-tailed fox, the middle-aged village chief who was kneeling on one knee outside the wooden steps took out the treasure called "stop watch" by the shikigami from his arms and slowly presented it to him.

"Lord Yakumo, I have selected several important members of the village in accordance with the orders of the two masters. Please allow me to return this treasure."

Seeing that the middle-aged leader of the Monster Extermination Village tactfully returned the treasure to Lord Shangyang first, Yakumo Lan nodded slightly, took the precious treasure, and gave instructions.

"Master Chief, along with the tribesmen and our eldest son, Master Amber, may enter to meet our two lords. There is no need for us to be so cautious and polite. The two lords do not mind this."

After briefly explaining the matter to the father-son leader and the people behind them, the dignified and solemn nine-tailed fox turned back and walked into the shrine, and also returned the precious treasure in his hand to one of the two mysterious beings standing in front of the statue of the shrine with his back to the people outside the door.

"Master Shangyang, the leader of the Monster Extermination Village has returned this item."

"...They're here now. Thank you for your hard work, Lan."

Hearing the noise and the voice behind him, the young man with gray hair who was discussing some related topics with the Youkai Sage beside him also took the time-stop watch returned by Yakumo Ran and turned sideways to remind the Youkai Sage beside him.

"Zi, they've arrived."

"Are you ready? We're already here."

Hearing this, under the doubtful and surprised gazes of the father and son outside the door and the people behind him, the Monster Sage with long golden hair, solemn clothes, and elegant and mysterious temperament casually looked at the people in the Monster Extermination Village at the gate, nodded slightly, raised his hand, opened his folding fan with a snap, and spoke in an indifferent tone.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Leader of the Monster Extermination Village, and fellow monster extermination masters. I am Yakumo Yukari, the sage of the monster clan."

"Then let's be frank and clear. From now on, your clan cannot leave this place again."

"From now on, your village will be permanently settled in this 'human village'."

Amid the confused gazes of the people in the Monster Extermination Village, the elegant sage with long golden hair spoke indifferently.

"There's no need for you to examine the truth of this statement. Humans cannot leave my realm."

"No matter how hard you try to leave this place, you'll end up back where you started."

"No, no!"

Suddenly hearing the cold, unquestionable and strict demands of this terrifying, golden-haired mysterious woman, Amber, the young son of the leader of the monster-extermination clan, could no longer contain his inner emotions and argued excitedly.

"I, we are from the Monster Extermination Village, who have been exterminating monsters for years. We are the monster exorcists who protect people from monsters. Why, why should we obey the orders of the monster commander-in-chief..."

The boy was very scared, but he mustered up the courage to speak out and argue bravely.

"Besides, I, I still need to go out and look for my elder sister. I don't want to stay in this deep mountain all the time..."

"Amber! Stop making any noise!"

Without giving his son time to argue any further, the father, the village leader, raised his hand and pushed his son down, his tone calm but also containing a hint of worry.

"Sorry, my sage, Amber didn't mean to offend you, but it's his sister, my daughter..."

"That's alright, I know about this, too. The chief's daughter, Coral, is out on a mission to exterminate a monster, and she hasn't returned yet, right?"

The elegant youkai sage with long golden hair didn't seem to care about the offense of the leader's son Amber, and his tone was noncommittal.

"Well, Shang Yang-kun and I don't want to ignore your human decency. Your Monster Extermination Clan must live here from now on and not leave. This is a conclusion that cannot be changed. However, your daughter doesn't have to be stranded outside, and your family doesn't have to be separated from you."

Having said that, Yakumo Yukari glanced at the young boy who seemed a little scared and was hiding behind the leader's father, and spoke lightly with a playful tone.

"The boy who hid behind his father, since you had the courage to speak out just now, don't hide behind him anymore."

"I'll give you a choice. If you have the courage, leave this 'human world' and go find your sister out there."

PS1: I was supposed to update twice a day today, but something came up, so I'll update one chapter first. It would be better to update twice a day tomorrow.

PS2: I just found out this morning that the scheduled release settings were wrong. This chapter was published at midnight last night, and the two updates tomorrow mentioned above were today during the day.

Volume 6: Thoughts Across Time and Space: Chapter 467: Yu Yu's Tolerance

"Should I, leave my father and everyone else and go out to look for my sister?"

Hearing the words of the mysterious youkai sage, the young boy Amber subconsciously wanted to agree, but he was a little uneasy and spoke hesitantly.

"But even if I leave the village to look for my sister, father and the people in the village will still be trapped here, right?"

"That's right, there will be no room for compromise on this point."

At this point, the Yokai Sage corrected nonchalantly.

"Moreover, Lord Shang Yang and I don't think this means we're trapping your father and the people here. This area is very spacious and not limited to your village. Within the boundaries of my realm, your people can move freely."

"Yes, as she said, the 'Human Village' we established encompasses a very wide area. Moreover, your clan isn't the only one living permanently in the 'Human Village'. Besides your clan's village, there are dozens of other villages scattered throughout the 'Human Village'."

At this time, under the gaze of the demon exorcists outside the shrine gate, another demon's "chief general", a young man with gray hair and expensive clothes, also began to explain.

"From now on, this village, which has been engaged in farming for more than a dozen generations, will provide your clan with rice and grain for daily consumption every year. It will also produce the cloth, ropes, medicine, and other necessary supplies you need to fight monsters. Of course, this will take some time. So in the meantime, we will provide your clan with the corresponding supplies as scheduled until this 'human village' can achieve self-sufficiency."

"The Sage and I have hidden your Yokai Extermination Village here, naturally with a mission to entrust you with. From now on, your clan will reside here for generations, shouldering the responsibility of protecting the people of this 'human village' and repelling any Yokai attacks."

"As a reward, your family who settles in the 'Human Village' will enjoy abundance for generations, free from the ravages of natural disasters and war, and free from the harassment of bandits, bandits, and samurai rebels. You will enjoy a peaceful life forever."

"This is also the eternal contract we made with your clan."

After hearing the conditions put forward by these two mysterious monster lords, the monster extermination villagers following the leader and his son looked at each other in disbelief.

The moment they heard the conditions of the great monsters, including the middle-aged village chief, the young Amber, and almost all the villagers subconsciously felt in their hearts that if this was really possible, the monster lords' request that the villagers not leave the vicinity of this area was not too harsh.

In the chaotic times of the Warring States Period, if one could take refuge in a secluded place that was hard to find and enjoy a prosperous and peaceful life for generations, it was truly the wish of everyone in this chaotic world.

Those who were not born during these turbulent times will never understand the terrible harm that repeated wars inflicted on the people. In such troubled times, the harm caused to villages by bandits, wars between daimyo and samurai, and other human misfortunes was even greater than the harm inflicted by greedy monsters.

The demon exorcists of the Demon Extermination Village have lived in seclusion in the mountains for nearly a hundred years since the Onin War, and only go out in groups when they need to accept commissions to exorcise demons and earn rewards from daimyo and samurai. This is also for the reason of avoiding the chaos of war in the world. Many Warring States daimyo and local samurai in the East have planned to forcibly recruit powerful demon exorcists as soldiers and drive them to conquer the enemy for them.

In order to avoid the constant spying of the daimyo and local samurai, the Yokai Tuiji Village took refuge in the mountains and concealed the location of the village, so that they were able to maintain a way of life like their ancestors. Even if they had to face the threat of monsters in the mountains, they were unwilling to return to the territory of the daimyo and samurai.

If the Monster Lord's promise can be fulfilled, it will be an unimaginably generous reward for their clan. Even the middle-aged village chief, who has led villagers to fight monsters in various parts of the East Country for many years and is the leader of the clan, thinks this is a good thing. In his heart, he wants to agree to the conditions of the Monster Lords in an instant.

However, it is difficult for the people of the Monster Extermination Village, who have been exterminating monsters for generations and have deep hatred and grudges with monsters, to believe these two masters of the monster clan.

God knows whether this is another terrible conspiracy of the monster lords.

Turning sideways, the middle-aged village chief glanced at the tribesmen who were following behind him and whispering to each other, and sighed helplessly in a calm tone.

"... Lord Yakumo, Lord Shangjun, as the leader of your clan, I understand the wishes of the villagers. The generous rewards you two have bestowed upon me and the villagers are truly moved. We would like to boldly accept this precious gift bestowed upon our clan."

"But our clan has made its living by repelling the two masters' tribes for generations. Over the past hundred years, countless members have perished at the hands of their tribes, devoured completely, and we have forged countless deep hatreds and grudges with them. We are truly uneasy about the precious rewards bestowed upon us by the two masters..."

"Well, it's normal for you to feel uneasy."

Yakumo Yukari was not surprised to hear the middle-aged village chief's answer, and her tone remained nonchalant.

"Earlier, I was planning to just tell you about this."

"As for whether you believe it or not, or whether you're uneasy or not, I don't intend to care. As time passes, you'll naturally no longer have any doubts."

Hearing the careless words of the monster sage, the middle-aged village chief, who is the leader of the village, had a bitter expression on his face, feeling helpless.

Indeed, just as this sage monster said, the monster lord has no need to worry about human anxiety. He just needs to trap the people in the village here for a long time and ignore them.

"However, Lord Shang Yang said that we will eventually have to maintain some necessary contact with you in the future, and you will also need to follow some self-evident rules as required by us."

The Yokai Sage's tone remained nonchalant.

"Your village will be considered part of Gensokyo in the future. Therefore, as the administrators of Gensokyo, we, as the management of Gensokyo, will maintain Gensokyo and take human psychology into consideration."