The afterlife blew up Gensokyo

"Uh... that's all, this is the best way."

He spread his hands, looking completely innocent.

"I think my price is already very reasonable; it's only 100 yuan per person..."

"No, you definitely have it."

After glancing at the man in front of her with a hint of suspicion, Ibuki Suika nodded firmly.

"You paused for 0.5 seconds while speaking, your pupils deviated 15 degrees to the upper left, and your right little finger trembled slightly outward by 5 arcs... These all indicate that you definitely lied!!"

Shi Bai: "???"

...So, where did you come from, you origami master?!

"Komeiji Satori and Komeiji Ren also live in Hell. If strange deaths occurred in Hell, it would definitely cause panic, right?"

After thinking for a moment, as if he had thought of something, Hoshiguma Yuugi began to speak, a strange smile appearing on his lips.

"And if war breaks out at the same time, they will definitely be injured; the demon race can't protect them much..."

"Anyone who dares to harm a little girl should step over my dead body first!!"

Before Hoshiguma Yuugi could finish speaking, someone suddenly stood up and interrupted her, looking indignant.

"...That's right, so you must have a better way, right?"

Seeing Hoshiguma Yuugi's desperate expression as he attacked him, a strange look involuntarily crossed Jinkara's face, and he nodded.

"If monsters die one after another in hell, it will definitely affect those two...lolis. You don't want them to get hurt, do you?"

"Tsk... Yes, there is indeed a better way, but it's too troublesome."

Shi Bai reached up and pressed his forehead, rolling his eyes inwardly, before sitting down in the chair.

"Since the conflict arises from the inability of the two to coexist, then we should simply separate them."

"Separate them? Drive them out of hell?"

After thinking for a moment, Jin Jieluo shook his head.

"It's impossible. Those opposition members can't leave hell. Hell is the most suitable living environment for them."

"Then let's carve out a part of Hell!!"

Shi Bai picked up his wine glass and rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, now that the existing reasons have already emerged, let's just use financial difficulties and the need for Hell to streamline its operations by cutting costs as reasons to cut off a part of the original Hell. Monsters who want to follow the laws and rules can stay in the new Hell, and those who want to live freely can go to the old Hell. It's a win-win situation."

"This method..."

Listening to someone's calm narration, even Suika Ibuki and the others unconsciously widened their eyes.

"Don't worry, this method will definitely work. After all, even the dream world can be integrated into the underworld, so what's wrong with separating a part from hell?"

Shi Bai glanced at the other person, his expression noncommittal.

"As for a suitable environment for Hell? It's simple. Just place the part of Hell that was cut off underground. The environment underground and Hell aren't that different, are they? Just call that part of Hell the Old Hell. But the Old Hell naturally needs to take on some responsibilities... Let the people of the Old Hell be responsible for suppressing the most brutal and ferocious vengeful spirits and preventing them from going to the surface."

"It's still a win-win situation."

P.S.: The reason for the appearance of the old hell in Gensokyo has been completed and is absolutely reasonable.

Ah...it feels like there's still so much of Gensokyo's history that needs to be filled in...

Chapter Twelve: Pandora's Box Opened

As a Touhou fan, Shi Bai is very familiar with the characters in Gensokyo.

Although every year people say that Touhou Project is outdated, there are still some people who have no idea about the Touhou Project setting and spout nonsense.

For example, saying things like Gensokyo is hell for humans, or that anyone who wants to go to Gensokyo is a fool, is pure dark fantasy.

Some people say that good-looking characters and chuunibyou (delusional) settings can become the faith of you Touhou fans, and that you like Touhou just because pretty girls like it... These people are utterly stupid.

For such a good-looking image, could you please learn about ZUN's art style first? If you're only interested in girls, could you please learn about Touhou's music style first?

Shi Bai has always despised this kind of guy.

What would a Touhou fan do if he came to the world of Gensokyo?

He didn't know what the others would do, but what Shi Bai wanted to do now was to explore the lost history of Gensokyo.

He has a great interest in the backgrounds and pasts of those characters, and exploring these lost secrets of history can be considered one of his driving forces.

...For example, there is the old capital in the old hell.

There is only a very simple introduction to these.

The old hell was larger than it is now. Due to financial difficulties, hell was streamlined to cut costs, and some areas were cut off, becoming the current underground area, which is called the old hell.

The old capital, an underground city, was once part of Hell, abandoned due to Hell's miniaturization project. It can be reached from the surface through deep tunnels of Hell.

—That's all.

But if there are financial difficulties, is it really necessary to cut off the original hell to reduce its area?

To be honest, at first, Shi Bai didn't understand this amazing operation, but now he understands it a little.

Since order and chaos cannot coexist in the same place, perhaps it is a good idea to cut off a part of what was originally hell and make it belong to pure chaos.

Chaos is chaos, and order is order.

In later generations, the old capital city within the old hell was itself the largest gathering place of chaos.

"...But is it really permissible to divide up hell like this?"

After pondering for a moment, Jin Jieluo seemed quite worried.

"After all, hell is still hell..."

"What can't be allowed? Heka still owes me several favors, okay? It's just that doing this kind of thing is too troublesome. Given her aversion to trouble, she probably won't want to do it herself. In the end, I'll probably still have to do it myself. It's super, super, super troublesome, you know? If it weren't for the loli, who would care about you guys..."

Shi Bai pursed his lips.

"The old hell that was separated is also a part of hell, just like the relationship between the underworld and hell. The relationship between the new hell and the old hell is the same, except that the most vicious vengeful spirits or evil spirits will be imprisoned in the old hell."

At this point, Shi Bai squinted and turned to look at Hoshiguma Yuugi beside him.

"But don't forget, what you give and what you receive are equal. I can help you with this, but I'll be upfront about the consequences. If you want the greeting card to agree to this condition, the Old Hell will have an even heavier responsibility than before, because it's responsible for imprisoning and guarding those extremely evil vengeful spirits. If any of the vengeful spirits imprisoned in the Old Hell escape to the surface, then the Old Hell will have no reason to exist... At that time, I will personally destroy the Old Hell. I'm capable of doing such a thing."

"Don't worry, I will be stationed in the Old Hell. I can assure you that with me there, absolutely no vengeful spirit can escape from the Old Hell."

Taking a deep breath, Hoshiguma Yuugi nodded solemnly.

"...unless I die."

"Alright, that's settled then."

Yawning, Shi Bai resumed his previous lazy posture, leaning back lazily against the back of the chair.

“I will talk to Heca about this matter; you don’t need to worry about it. However, before that, you need to make the necessary preparations. Although the underground is vast, at least one city from the old hell that has been separated will be cut off.”

"But the problem remains unresolved."

With a slight shift in her gaze, Jin Jieluo looked at the man beside her.

"The conflict in Hell is about to erupt. Since you proposed that method, there must also be a way to temporarily alleviate the conflict, right?"

"Ah... there are indeed many methods, but to be honest, I really don't want to share them..."

Shi Bai tapped his head and sighed.

"Because it's Pandora's box, once it's opened, it will cause widespread destruction... but we have no choice but to open it..."

"Pandora's Box?"

Blinking, Ibuki Suika was somewhat confused about the meaning behind someone's words.

"The cause of the conflict is that you monsters from hell don't have any jobs, so you're bored and don't know what to do. To ease the conflict, just give them something to do in their free time."

He forced himself to sit up straight, his face full of compassion.

"The monsters in hell spend their days drinking, having fun, and enjoying life, or vying to punish the most wicked and vengeful spirits..."

"Ah, that's right, that's really fun."

Her eyes lit up, and Suika Ibuki quickly raised her hand.

"The Plants vs. Zombies game you created is really fun. I've already reached level 7-2. When will the next levels be released?"

"Ahem... It's being done, it's being done, don't rush me..."

Noticing the two strange gazes directed at him from the side, Shi Bai unconsciously coughed a few times.

Plants vs. Zombies is a punishment game he released in Hell, where punished vengeful spirits play various kinds of zombies.

Because a certain watermelon complained about how difficult it was to punish evil spirits, he had a brilliant idea and launched this brand new game.

Punishing those heinous and wicked vengeful spirits is a physically demanding task. The ghost clan, led by the Ghost Chief, has to work hard every day to make all sorts of torture instruments, so they are always short of funds.

Almost every day, there are torture instruments that have been broken.

In light of this situation, someone had a sudden inspiration and spent several months creating all the first major levels of Plants vs. Zombies. Since he had all the seeds of the plants in Plants vs. Zombies, and he had experience with this before, he was quite adept at doing this.

At most, it just took a little more time to create all sorts of zombies and put those vengeful spirits inside them.

All kinds of scenes are completely restored, including grass, pools, night, fog, and rooftops.

According to incomplete statistics, countless zombies are killed every day by potato mines, pea shooters, chopped vines, or crushed by squash. Even if they are in excruciating pain, they still have to obediently follow the rules and step onto the lawn.

Of course, there is also a set of upgrade rules in the zombies. For example, if a vengeful spirit successfully eats a limited number of plants, it can be upgraded to a higher-level zombie.

And if those zombies can successfully complete the level, they will be given the right to rest for half a day instead of endlessly pretending to be zombies and dying...

The new punishment completely replaced the old one.

As for the psychological burden... let's not even talk about the fact that these vengeful spirits were already dead, and besides, those who are judged and sent to hell to receive punishment are already those who have committed heinous crimes.

This game was an instant hit upon its release, and what was once a thankless task suddenly became a hot commodity.

If it weren't for his reluctance to part with his dozen or so beloved racing cars, he would have liked to hold regular racing competitions in the underworld and hell... He had already built the tracks...

Because of the series of cruel tortures he introduced one after another, the vengeful spirits in hell hated him to the bone. But just as a lion wouldn't care about the thoughts of a tiny ant, who cares?

"...This is the Pandora's Box I was talking about."

As if he had made a great decision, Shi Bai took out a square plastic box and placed it on the table after letting out a long breath.

"If this game is promoted in Hell, the originally intensified conflicts will be temporarily quelled in the shortest possible time."

"what is this?"

Looking at the box on the table with some curiosity, Ibuki Suika asked him a question.

"Mahjong."

Someone had a compassionate look on their face.

........................................................................

A few days later, a mysterious little shop opened in a certain part of the city.

The word "mahjong" has also begun to officially enter the eyes of the beings in the underworld and hell.

The great monsters who used to roam the streets idly, drinking and provoking others have all disappeared, and one mahjong table after another has been set up... and the conflict that had been escalated to the extreme has eased under this strange atmosphere.

This trend gradually influenced the underworld as well.

After get off work, the Grim Reapers usually invite their friends to go out for drinks, meals, and chats. However, after the rules of mahjong spread to the underworld, the Grim Reapers quickly became fond of this card game.

After all, playing mahjong while chatting and drinking is much more interesting than just sitting at the table and having a dry conversation...

"That's why it's called Pandora's Box, because none of you want to play with me."

Sitting listlessly by the window, gazing at the scenery outside, someone wore a melancholy expression.

While skill plays a significant role in mahjong, luck also plays a crucial part.

Shi Bai wanted to find a few people to play mahjong with, but the problem was that all the Grim Reapers or other ghosts who wanted to play mahjong with him would die and never come back after a few rounds.

After all, when facing someone who wins almost every hand, playing mahjong, a game that is supposed to be very interesting, becomes completely meaningless.

"Sigh, why am I always so lucky?"