The afterlife blew up Gensokyo

Wearing a mask of a ferocious demon with blue faces and fangs, the man stood before a group of refugees, pointing to a mountain of tools piled up beside him, his tone extremely indifferent.

"You will be rewarded with your labor: cutting down trees, moving stones, building canals... and so on. There are no free lunches in life. The only one who can save you is yourself, not me. The choice is in your own hands."

After saying this, Shi Bai didn't bother to observe the reactions and actions of the refugees and left directly.

He understood the saying "a small favor is appreciated, but a large one breeds resentment," and he didn't want to be some meaningless hero. He had already handed the choice over to them. After all, not everyone is lucky enough to have that opportunity.

The Qin family was the first noble family in the entire Nara Prefecture to be mobilized.

"Qin Hesheng, what you're doing is pointless; it will only make you the nemesis of those nobles!"

Upon hearing the news, Mononobe was the first to arrive. When the gray-haired girl rushed into his courtyard, someone was standing in the snow, gazing absently at the sky.

Snowflakes fell on his head and clothes, forming a crystalline white expanse.

"Ah, I really want to kill Futo..."

The usual opening remarks.

"...Qin Hesheng said that it is still possible to stop now, so he should quickly withdraw from that pointless behavior."

After a moment of silence, Mononobe began to speak to him very seriously.

"Your approach will not solve the problem at all; on the contrary, it will only attract the hostility and hatred of those nobles."

“A beam of light shines into a lighthouse, revealing the filth and corruption within, and that light becomes sinful… Is that what you mean?”

Turning his head, Shi Bai looked at the gray-haired girl in front of him.

The other person had clearly run all the way here and was still panting.

"...That's right. In fact, the best way to deal with this kind of thing is to stay out of it."

After a slight hesitation, Mononobe nodded.

"No noble or powerful family would be willing to spend so much money to help refugees. Your actions have violated an unspoken rule among nobles. If your Qin family helps refugees, where do you place the other nobles and powerful families?"

"Why should I, Qin Hesheng, need others' opinions when I do things?"

Shi Bai shook his head calmly.

"Let me tell you a story. Yesterday, when I went out, a ragged father clung to my leg and kept kowtowing, begging me for food so he could help his wife and children. But when I arrived at the father's home with the food, his wife and children had already frozen to death. They were huddled together for warmth, and when they died, their mouths were stuffed with a clump of unmelted snow..."

Shi Bai closed his eyes.

"The father, who was holding the life-saving food and warm clothes, remained silent for a long time. Then he bowed to me several times very seriously, and then chose to smash his head against the wall next to him and die. I didn't even have time to stop him."

"........."

"Those who have never been to the bottom of society and lived at the bottom can never understand the sorrow of those people. Nobles? Why can they be called nobles?"

Opening his eyes again, Shi Bai looked calmly at the gray-haired girl standing in the snow not far in front of him, just like himself.

"I ask you, what exactly made that father give up the things he had sacrificed his dignity to obtain, which would have allowed him to live a good life, and ultimately choose to resolutely face death?"

"...It's despair, isn't it?"

He lowered his head as if he had done something wrong, and spoke softly.

“That father had lost all hope of living; at that moment, death was the best relief for him… But this is different. There are too many refugees. Even if you emptied your entire Qin family coffers, you couldn't possibly treat them all. Nobody cares about these things…”

"But some people care."

Looking at the gray-haired girl in front of him, who was looking down as if she had done something wrong, Shi Bai reached out to brush the snowflakes that had accumulated on her hair and suddenly laughed.

“Those who have hope will care, those who have received treatment will care, those who have the courage to live will care… that’s enough.”

P.S.: I'm in a bad mood, so I'm adding an extra chapter. ヽ(ー_ー)ノ

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Reappearance of Huo Qing'e

This is actually a very easy question to figure out.

In every aspect, or in every industry, there are so-called unspoken rules, which everyone is tacitly aware of.

For a concrete example, in a large company, there is a need to mobilize employees to donate to charity. Then, before anyone else has donated, a young, impulsive person runs out and donates all of their assets and salary... What about the others?

Should the others donate or not? And how much should they donate? If they donate too much, they'll feel bad; if they donate too little, they'll lose face in front of their superiors. So, naturally, they'll take their anger out on this hothead.

This kind of thing may sound ridiculous, but it actually exists and can be considered a collection of the most baffling human behaviors.

Shi Bai was naturally aware of this, but did he need to care? Absolutely not.

In fact, Mononobe no Futo was not the only one who rushed over after receiving the news. Soga no Tokiko and Toyosato no Miko also came, but Mononobe no Futo was the first one to arrive.

While he was talking to Mononobe no Futsu, Toyosato Mimiko and Soga no Tojiko happened to be outside the courtyard and listened to the whole conversation.

Toyosatomiko originally wanted to go in, but Soga no Toshiko stopped her, pointing to the scene in the courtyard. Soga no Toshiko secretly made a gesture to Toyosatomiko.

When Toyotomi looked up with a hint of confusion, she saw Qin Hesheng affectionately brushing snowflakes from Motobu Futo's head, and she immediately understood.

After giving Soga nods to Soga no Tojiko as if they understood each other, the two of them quietly left.

So what exactly are they up to?

Somewhat bewildered, Shi Bai glanced towards the courtyard entrance, then turned and walked towards the long corridor under the eaves.

"Come inside. Aren't you afraid of catching a cold or fever if you keep standing in the snow? Look how frozen your face is... You're lucky today. I'll reluctantly treat you to a cup of hot tea."

"........."

Glancing at the figure in front of him out of the corner of his eye, Mononobe Futo quietly covered his cheek with his hand, only then realizing that his face had become burning hot without him noticing.

A moment later, under the eaves of the walkway amidst the swirling snow, a brazier was lit.

"Alright, after you've finished your tea and the hospitality, you can go back."

He handed the other person a cup of lukewarm tea, waved his hand casually, and then reached for a bottle of cheap liquor that was warming by the brazier and started drinking.

"I want to drink too."

Looking at the cup of tea in his hand and smelling the aroma of sake wafting from the side, Mononobe couldn't help but purse his lips.

"Come on, minors can't drink alcohol. You're only twelve years old, aren't you?"

Rolling his eyes, Shi Bai tilted his head back and took a sip of wine.

“It’s not a good habit for a young child to drink alcohol; it’s harmful to their health.”

"I'm already thirteen years old, I'm an adult, and you're not much older than me, are you?!"

Mononobe no Utsugi retorted with great dissatisfaction.

"Heh, little brat."

He glanced sideways at the gray-haired girl beside him, who was holding a cup of tea and pouting in dissatisfaction, and sneered.

“Only someone like Tu Zigu can be considered an adult. You? You're just a child.”

"Tu Zigu? She's clearly the same age as me..."

Before she could finish her sentence, as if she had suddenly realized something, she quickly crossed her arms over her chest, her face instantly turning bright red.

"You, you rude scoundrel!! I, I, I..."

"What do you mean, 'you'? What do you mean, 'I'? You can't even speak properly, what else could you be but a child?"

While drinking and watching the snowflakes falling outside, someone looked utterly bored.

"Ah...I really want to kill Futo..."

"........."

Mononobe felt that the guy in front of him was exceptionally wicked in every way.

It is unknown how Toyosato Miko persuaded her father, but the next day, following the Qin family, the Uemiya family also opened their granaries to distribute food to relieve the refugees, and the Soga clan followed suit.

Half a day after the Soga clan announced the news, the Mononobe clan followed suit with the same statement. With the two powerful clans, who were the leaders of the two major factions, taking action, the nobles who had originally intended to turn a blind eye finally began their rescue efforts, albeit reluctantly.

Nobles comprised 1% of the total population, yet they possessed over 80% of the total wealth. With all the nobles taking collective action, the increasingly dire situation was finally alleviated and even completely resolved.

This winter, which was particularly difficult for those living at the very bottom of society, has finally passed.

However, it is clear that because of the exemplary role played by the Qin family in this matter, while they received a commendation from the Emperor, they also incurred the collective dissatisfaction of the nobles.

Qin Hesheng, who gained the greatest fame as the next head of the Qin family, was the first to be affected... but he didn't care at all.

Winter has passed and spring has arrived. Withered leaves have sprouted new buds, and everything seems to have just woken up, quietly opening its eyes.

It is unknown when it began, but various legends about him began to circulate among the people. With the help of some people with ulterior motives, even before Shi Bai himself knew it, he had already become the number one representative of the local gods.

"This is a good thing, why are you all so nervous?"

The person wearing a mask yawned, looking completely uninterested.

"Do you think I, Qin Hesheng, am unworthy to be the number one person in the Divine Path?"

"No, this is clearly a case of flattery to kill."

Toyosatoshi Miko had a solemn expression on his face.

"The higher you stand, the harder you'll fall. It's obvious someone is trying to harm you. You've offended too many people because of the disaster relief incident in winter."

"A person who isn't envied is mediocre; doesn't this just prove I'm a genius?"

Leaning lazily against a tree trunk about two meters off the ground, the masked person reached out and habitually pulled the mask down on their face.

"Don't worry, it's just a small matter. If anyone wants to challenge my position as the number one in the Shinto path, then please feel free to come at me."

"You don't understand how serious the problem is."

Seeing Qin Hesheng, who was pretending to sleep with his head resting on his hand in the tree, sit down on the stone chair under the tree, Toyotomi no Miko shook her head with a slight sense of helplessness.

"The religious struggles within the current imperial court are becoming increasingly severe, and the conflict between the Soga clan and the Mononobe clan is becoming more and more apparent. Under these circumstances, you, who have been elected as the foremost Shinto figure and have gained a great deal of popular support, are very likely to become a thorn in the side of the pro-Buddhist faction."

"Um...may I ask you something, Divine Child?"

"what's up?"

Between Buddhism and Shintoism, which religion do you prefer?

"...It might be Buddhism."

After a moment of silence, Toyosato Mimiko replied.

"The decline of Shintoism is a fact, because there have been no divine miracles for a long time."

"That's because Amaterasu from Takamagahara ran away from home, and all the gods were busy searching the world for their Amaterasu-sama. How could they have the time to care about mortals' affairs? Otherwise, how could Buddhism have developed in this country under the siege of the gods of Takamagahara..."

He muttered a curse to himself, and after thinking for a moment, Shi Bai answered decisively.

"Since the Divine Child has already made his choice, why should he feel confused about it? You summoned me here today not just to say these things, right?"

"...Because I feel that among the three of you, perhaps only you can truly understand what I am saying."

Looking up at the sky, after a moment of silence, Toyosatomimi no Miko sighed.

"Qin Hesheng, I ask you. Since the beginning of chaos, the sea has never dried up and the rocks have never crumbled, so why must humankind eventually die?"

"Was it because you saw so many corpses that froze and starved to death that you were moved to write this?"

Shi Bai sat up straight in the tree and laughed.

"The sea may dry up, the rocks may crumble, the sky may collapse, the earth may crack, and we... even gods will one day perish. So who can escape death?"

...He almost started singing.

Do gods also perish?

Toyosatoshi Miko raised her head with a slight surprise.

"I don't know, I'm just guessing, because I'm not a god, I'm just an ordinary person."

Shi Bai pulled the mask off half of his face and smiled at the other person.

"Does the Divine Child desire an immortal life?"

"No one would not want it, right? After all, humans are really too fragile, so fragile that a heavy snowfall can take away countless lives."

Toyosatoshi Miko's expression was slightly bitter.

"Death is such a terrifying word... I'm so ashamed, aren't I?"

"No one is unafraid of death; it's just human nature, and there's nothing shameful about it."