My personal opinion on Gensokyo

"No, no, it's okay..."

The girl with long black hair shook her head to deny it, and her silky hair swayed with the movement of her little head, as if dancing.

Then, the girl asked the young man in a soft voice, feeling a little awkward.

"Well, um, my legs are much better now..."

The girl felt extremely shy as her calf was held by the handsome young man in front of her for a long time.

"Next, I will do it myself..."

"Ah, sorry."

Before the girl could finish her shy words, the young man immediately stopped, realizing that he had been grabbing her calf, which was indeed a bit inappropriate.

Although the young man was a little reluctant, the touch of the girl's legs was really...

The young man calmed himself down, threw away the messy thoughts in his head, and looked at the black-haired girl who seemed to be a little shy and wrapped herself tightly in the quilt.

"But please, Miss Ai, please also remove the honorific for me. My name is 'Shang Yang (しょうよう)'. If we never meet in this life, I will be like the 'Shang (しょう)' of the Shang Dynasty and the 'Yang (よう)' of the Gongyang clan."

The young man thought that with the black-haired girl's knowledge of Chinese studies, she should be able to understand the corresponding Chinese characters corresponding to these two allusions. However, the young man suddenly noticed that after hearing his words, the black-haired girl's clear spring eyes lit up again surprisingly.

“If we don’t meet in this life, how can we be as active as the sun and the moon?”

The girl once again recited the poem word by word in ancient Chinese with not very accurate pronunciation, her voice a mixture of surprise and eagerness.

"Does 'Shang' refer to the Cang and Shang constellations in the Milky Way? Is it, is it a new Tang poem? Is it a poem written by Shang Jun (Shokun)?"

...Shang Jun is okay.

I complained in my heart about the black-haired girl's name, and the young man didn't object. However, the young man now remembered that Mr. Du Shaoling (Du Fu) was not born for another seventeen years... I actually became a poetry copyist.

"No, this is a poem by a great Tang poet."

The young man subconsciously felt that he couldn't deceive the black-haired girl, so he explained it this way.

"Miss Ai will be able to see more of this great poet's poems in the future."

"Well, that's how it is..."

The girl nodded vigorously, her tone filled with inexplicable longing.

"...Tang is a wonderful country, with so many great poets."

Then, after calming herself down, the black-haired girl finally came out of her trance. Perhaps she felt that the current state of their meeting was a little strange, so she wrapped herself in the quilt awkwardly, her cheeks slightly flushed, and asked with great curiosity.

"So, what is Shōkun doing here at the Fujiwara Palace on such a snowy night?"

"If you are here as an envoy of the Tang Dynasty, please understand that our small country does not have the tradition or custom of meeting envoys at night." "Your Majesty Liu should have been resting for a long time..."

Although from an objective point of view, the most likely possibility for the young man from the Tang Dynasty in front of her was to sneak into the palace to steal things or do something illegal, but the Book of Han has always given the impression that "Tang people are modest gentlemen", coupled with the young man's care and concern for her, the girl subconsciously ignored these two possibilities, and instead thought that the young man might be an envoy of the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, from a strange perspective, she apologized to the young man with some embarrassment.

"From the Tang people's perspective, not receiving foreign envoys at night would be a huge waste of time, right?"

...I didn't know that the Tang people had the habit of receiving envoys at night.

Shang Yang, who was misunderstood by the girl and taken to a strange place, now didn't know how to explain this problem.

"...I came to the Fujiwara Palace to look for someone and to do something."

Facing the girl's eyes as clear as a spring, Shang Yang sighed and decided to tell the truth.

For some reason, the young man was extremely reluctant to lie to the girl, even if it was just a temporary excuse.

"At the moment, it seems that the person I'm looking for is you, Miss Ai."

"私は（我）?" (Old Japanese)

In response to this unexpected answer, the girl subconsciously said the word "I" in Japanese, her clear black eyes filled with surprise, and her cherry lips slightly parted.

"Well, it seems like it should be you."

The young man nodded. Although he was still struggling with how to tell the girl before he said it, his words became fluent after he actually said it.

"But I can't tell you what I'm going to do. I can't tell you the reason right now. That's something Miss Ai can't hear for the time being."

The young man looked directly into the girl's surprised face, emphasizing each word.

"But please believe me, I will never do anything that is detrimental to you."

The young man was not surprised to see the girl's face dazed with surprise. This reaction was normal.

However, contrary to Shang Yang's expectations, the girl quickly shook off her surprise and her tone became awkward again.

"Private...ah, um, I, privy (I don't know)...no, no, I don't know..."

The girl was so nervous that she couldn't speak clearly. Chinese and Japanese words suddenly tumbled out from her lips. Finally, realizing she couldn't speak clearly under the pressure, she simply closed her mouth and took a deep breath.

The girl temporarily suppressed all her anxiety and tension, and calmed down again. Her eyes as clear as a spring quietly stared at the young man with messy black hair in front of her.

The light in his eyes flows like a spring.

"I, I don't know why Shang-kun (しょうくん) wants to find me. I can't figure it out at all. So, I don't know what to do. When I listened to you, I also kept thinking about it, but I still can't figure it out."

"I, we just met for the first time, and then Shang Jun (しょうくん) told me that the person Shang Jun (しょうくん) was looking for was me, and then there was something else he wanted to do, which was, in other words, this matter was related to me, or even something he wanted me to help him complete."

The girl stumbled and repeated the same words because of nervousness, which surprised the young man again.

"I, I think Shang-kun (しょうくん) is not a bad person, but I have no idea what Shang-kun (しょうくん) is planning to do. Personally, I feel very uneasy. When I think about this and it's related to me, I feel even more uneasy... Because I don't know how these things will affect me, and what will happen to me..."

After finally getting her words out in a disjointed manner, the girl stared nervously at the young man's face. However, she noticed that the young man's expression, which had initially been surprised, had gradually turned into understanding, and his gaze towards her seemed to have become one of encouragement...

Shang Jun understood.

Although she was not happy, the girl felt a real sense of security, so she continued.

"But, but, Shang-kun (しょうくん) told me all this frankly, and, and told me that he couldn't tell me, the reason he couldn't tell me was, because, because that was something I couldn't hear for the time being."

"So, that's what I'll be able to hear at some point in the future, right? So, that's what Shioukun wants to tell me."

"So, it's not something I can't accept. Probably, it's not a bad thing either."

"I hope to hear from Shang-kun (しょうくん) in the future what he cannot tell me today, at this time."

"I want to hear it."

Since they met tonight, the warmth and consideration that the young man had inadvertently revealed had tilted the balance in the girl's heart in a direction that was by no means rational.

"For example, if you tell me that what you will tell me in the future is a good thing,"

"Well, then, I'm willing to wait until the time you can tell me arrives..."

"I'm willing to help you, too."

"Anyway, my life, as long as I can remember, has been filled with bad things."

The girl's eyes were like a spring, emitting the radiance of the summer sun.

"If there is a good thing waiting for me, then, that would be the best thing for me."

PS1: This chapter was extremely difficult to write. I revised it once in the middle and I don’t know if it has expressed the effect I wanted to express.

PS2: It was already very late when I finished coding this chapter. I didn’t want to disturb everyone’s rest, so I set it to be published in the early morning. There is still one chapter today, and the next chapter should be uploaded in the afternoon.

PS3: If you ask me what Yanma Ai is like in my mind, I can only say that to me, love is definitely not the three-no heroine who only recites fixed lines in every episode and only answers occasional questions with a simple "um, ah" or silence.

PS4: Throughout the entire Jigoku Shoujo series, the tenderness, bravery, and kindness hidden deep within love truly touched me, a 16-year-old me all those years ago. It was a true treasure. This is why, many years later, after writing about Little Love once, I decided to write another Little Love volume.

PS5: I don't know if this is a comfort to her, given her tragic fate, nor do I know if the character I've created is still the same as she originally was. But I'm still determined to follow my own ideas and give her a completely different choice, or a completely different life in a parallel world. If this character can bring some unique comfort to readers, it would be my greatest honor.

PS6: I said some useless things, which should have been saved for the end of this volume. Please forgive me.

Volume 1 Heian Tales of the Past and Present: Chapter 8 Dream Lantern

Gazing into the girl's clear, shining eyes, the young man unexpectedly felt pity for her.

The girl's intelligence was certainly the main reason for her trust in a stranger she met for the first time, but a considerable part of the reason was definitely due to her life experience, as she herself said: as far as she could remember, it was full of bad things.

So for the girl, as long as the young man has the possibility of bringing her something good, the girl will be extremely eager to wait for this good thing to happen.

On the contrary, even if it is a bad thing, it’s nothing.

The girl has become accustomed to encountering bad things in her life.

After understanding this, Shang Yang naturally felt sympathy for the girl.

Of course, it was also because the girl was so beautiful. It was also common sense to feel sympathy and pity for a beautiful and fragile girl with a difficult life.

Based on the girl's name, appearance, and the gentleness, bravery and kindness she showed, the girl in front of Shang Yang at this moment has slowly overlapped with the shadow of another black-haired girl in Shang Yang's memory who had a rough fate but was equally gentle, brave and kind.

Now we just have to wait for the conclusion of the Causal Mystery and the Lady Lord God.

[Are you waiting for me, Master?]

"Yes, Miss Lord God," the young man confirmed calmly to Miss Kugimiya Mashu in his heart, "Please tell me the results."

[We were right, Captain.]

Miss Lord God spoke in a serious voice.

[Her historical circumstances are very troublesome and directly related to her.]

[She is the previous three incarnations of Enma Ai, the Hell Girl, who died a violent death during the Warring States Period seven hundred years later and became the agent of Hell.]

"Three previous lives?"

The young man frowned.

"Seven hundred years ago now, was it already destined that she, three lives ago, would become Hell Girl seven hundred years later?"

[It’s not seven hundred years, it’s one thousand four hundred years. It’s not three generations, it’s seven generations.]

The Lady Lord spoke calmly, which made the young man look even uglier.

Reincarnated every two hundred years, each time with the same appearance, she was destined to suffer a tragic fate, premature death, and violent death. The resentment accumulated in each life would follow her through reincarnation. Finally, in her seventh life, when she was tragically killed again, her soul would fall into Hell, becoming Hell's most perfect agent - Hell Girl.

“…Isn’t that it.”

Another variation of the Chinese folklore about the Seven-Life Enmity Couple could be called the Seven-Life Enmity Woman. Her seven lives are destined to produce the most suitable Hell agent in the future. Doctor, perhaps I shouldn't say this, but with our current capabilities, it's hard to say whether we can resolve this historical causality.

This process of linking her fate to thousands of years of historical causality, based on the effects of the results, seems to have only determined her brief life in each period of history, which is very easy to change. However, we do not know the extent to which a change in her life will affect the historical causal structure that stretches back thousands of years, and what will happen is impossible to predict.

[I was careless in my search for historical cause and effect this time, so... So, we should leave for now and wait until the doctor has enough power...]

The voice of Miss Lord God gradually became weaker and weaker, and it was a great torture for her to say these words.

The words of the Lady Lord God also brought the young man's consciousness into an emotional vortex, causing him to fall into an inextricable struggle and silence.

"...Thank you, Miss Lord God. I really appreciate your thoughtful consideration."

After a period of silence, the young man took a deep breath and seemed to have made a decision. He comforted the main goddess who felt very guilty, and then changed the subject.

"But... it's too late."

Upon hearing this, Miss Lord God immediately lost her composure.

[It’s too late? What do you mean by too late?! Admiral, you…]

"I promised Ai that good things would happen to her."

[Good things? Her life is completely anchored, how can she expect good things to happen? Captain, you...]

"Miss Lord God, I am Chinese. China is not just a country, but a civilization, Chinese civilization. Every Chinese is also a Tang citizen."

As he slowly exhaled the breath he had taken deeply before, the young man seemed to have exhaled all the retreat and weakness in his heart. His expression showed the courage that had been nurtured and cultivated by the thousands of years of cultural context of his motherland.

The young man calmly explained this to the Lady Lord.

"She thinks I'm a Tang Chinese. She loves Chinese studies and believes every Tang Chinese is a modest gentleman."

"What is a gentleman?"

"A gentleman does not deal with worldly affairs based on closeness or distance, but rather does it in the right way."

“If you have a guilty conscience, you will be afraid even when facing ordinary people in coarse cloth; if you have a clear conscience, you will move forward courageously even if faced with the obstruction of tens of thousands of people.”

At this moment, the young man's entire attention was occupied by a girl who was also staring at him, her eyes as clear as a spring sparkling with brilliance.

At this moment, in the young man's eyes, the shadows of the black-haired girl in front of him, who had a tragic life, was smart and kind, and seven hundred years later, another black-haired girl, who had a tragic life, suffered an extremely sad fate, but was gentle and kind in her heart, really overlapped.

That was the girl that the young man had always wanted to do something for in the distant future of another world, to help her and prevent her from suffering so much.

Now, the young man finally got this opportunity.

"Now, this is what I can do with a clear conscience. This is what I think is the right thing to do."