The afterlife blew up Gensokyo

"A highway robber? You're an expert!!"

Shi Bai gave the silent white-haired, beast-eared girl a thumbs-up, showering her with praise, and then spoke earnestly.

"But you're no threat at all like this, I'm telling you. You should cover your face, switch your longsword for two large axes, hide in the bushes, and when someone passes by, jump out of the bushes with a 'Heave-ho' and shout 'Demacia—!!!'"

—His response was a white-haired, animal-eared girl slashing straight at him with her long sword.

"Tch, are all the White Wolf Tengu so sensitive to jokes these days?"

Shi Bai dodged the blade that was slashing towards him and curled his lip.

"I am an honored guest among your ghost clan, a... Holy crap, you still come?"

With a hint of wanting to teach the other party a lesson, a cold glint flashed in the white-haired, beast-eared girl's eyes as she swiftly swung the back of her longsword at the man's waist.

However, just as her long sword was about to touch the other person's body, the white-haired, beast-eared girl was somewhat surprised to find a finger in her field of vision, lightly pressing on the blade of her long sword.

When that finger touched the blade, it felt as if a mountain was pressing down on it... incredibly heavy!

The white-haired, beast-eared girl froze, staring at her long sword that had slipped from her grasp and fallen to the ground.

"Ahem... I was invited by the Ghost King, the god among the Ghost Clan, to participate in this grand event. Please inform him of my presence."

I coughed a few times, making a fist and putting it to my mouth, while pretending to look at the scenery.

"Just kidding earlier... By the way, I don't need to pay for this knife, right?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the snow-white longsword that had fallen to the ground shattered into pieces, and the area he had touched was completely reduced to scattered fragments.

"........."

After staring silently at the long sword on the ground for a while, the white-haired, beast-eared girl looked up at the man in front of her, turned around, and spoke calmly.

"……Come with me."

Like the Oni clan, which dominates the Youkai Mountain, the Tengu clan is also an important part of the Youkai Mountain.

However, even within the Tengu clan, there are several subgroups, such as the Crow Tengu, the Nose-High Tengu, the White Wolf Tengu, the Mountain-Bearing Tengu, and so on.

However, although there are so many groups of tengu, the ones that Shibai is most familiar with are the incorruptible and upright news reporter Karasu Tengu Shameimaru Aya from Gensokyo, and a certain... White Wolf Tengu Inubashiri Momiji?

Looking at the white-haired, beast-eared girl walking silently in front of him, Shi Bai pondered for a moment before asking her a question.

"By the way, besides the Oni clan's festival, has anything else major happened at Monster Mountain recently?"

"What do you mean?"

"Keep moving forward at a steady pace," the white-haired, beast-eared girl said coldly.

"Although peace has arrived, the pain caused by the previous war cannot be easily erased. Hatred can make us lose our minds, so most demons choose to enter hell. The power of the demon race is no longer what it used to be, and various demon races are restless, including some extremely powerful demons. The demon race wants to use this celebration to rebuild its former prestige... Outsider, you have chosen the worst possible time to come here."

A refreshing mist hits you, bringing a slight coolness to this scorching summer. But once you cross a certain dividing line, the roar of water becomes incessant.

"The worst time ever..."

Looking up at the waterfall in front of him, feeling the powerful aura emanating from behind the waterfall and from all directions, Shi Bai couldn't help but look thoughtful.

"So, the Tengu clan, who were once subordinate to the Oni clan, have now chosen to betray the Oni clan? To be honest, I'm a little confused."

"There's no need to understand this kind of thing, is there? We Tengu clan just want to have an environment that belongs to us."

Turning around, the white-haired, animal-eared girl's tone suddenly turned cold.

"Among the demons, the King of Gods willingly entered Hell and did not come out; the King of Power was already seriously injured in the previous war; the King of Strangeness is still vacant; and the King of Chaos has mental problems... Now, taking advantage of this demon king selection festival, it is the best opportunity for our Tengu clan and other demons."

"Hmm... So what do you want with me here?"

Shi Bai glanced at the huge waterfall in the distance and shrugged indifferently.

"You want to kill me?"

"...Actually, you should have left obediently. If you hadn't been an outsider invited by the King of Gods and Demons, I wouldn't have brought you here."

After a moment of silence, the white-haired girl with animal ears spoke coldly.

"No matter how powerful you are, there are at least twenty great demons here, and you absolutely cannot defeat them... Surrender! Obediently stay here and wait for the festival to end; this is your only way out!!"

P.S.: There will be another update later.

Chapter 84 The Actual Leader of the Tengu Clan

Conflict has always been a constant theme.

In the realm of monsters, the law of the jungle is inherent to their nature. The powerful gain respect and everything they desire, while the weak are not even worthy of having a name.

In the past, when the Oni race was powerful and the gods were by their side, this situation could still maintain a balance. However, now that the war has ended, the Oni race has disintegrated, and the gods are seeking new paths, chaos has ensued due to a confluence of factors.

...Moreover, the power of the Oni race on the Monster Mountain has been weakened to almost the extreme.

The Demon King of Power, Hoshiguma Yuugi, was seriously injured in the previous war; the Demon King of God, Kinkara, led most of the demons to leave Hell; the Demon King of Chaos, Ibaraki Kasen, suffered from mental problems and was always appearing and disappearing mysteriously; and the Demon King of Strangeness has been vacant for hundreds of years, with no new Demon King being selected to date...

The Oni race considers dying on the battlefield an honor and respects powerful opponents. Therefore, most of them have a pure personality and do not harbor hatred even if they are killed. They simply believe that they are not as skilled as the enemy and there is nothing to say about it.

However, other monsters do not hold the same naive ideas as the demons. After the long war finally ended and the demons signed a peace treaty with the gods on behalf of the monsters, they no longer needed the demons as their leaders, regardless of good or evil.

—It's very real, but also very realistic.

In terms of strength alone, there isn't a general division of power among gods or demons, since each demon possesses and masters different talents and abilities, and it's not uncommon for the weak to defeat the strong.

However, although there is no specific division of strength, there is a recognized power level among the monsters: the Great Monster level.

Any yokai that can be called a great yokai can be considered a top-tier yokai, and they will spontaneously receive respect and admiration from other yokai wherever they are.

To prevent the news from leaking out in advance and to achieve the necessary goal of limiting the powerful demons who came to the Demon Mountain to participate in this demon feast, more than twenty demons of this level of strength were stationed at the waterfall alone.

—This is a rebellion against the Oni clan, meticulously planned by Tenma, the supreme leader of the Tengu clan.

In the eyes of the white-haired, beast-eared girl, although the outsider invited by the Demon King was indeed very powerful, his rashly stepping into this trap and failing to escape immediately after realizing it meant that he had missed the best time to escape.

The powerful demons guarding the waterfall have now realized what's happening and, to prevent anyone from escaping or the news from leaking out, have taken action to firmly seal off the area.

Although he had lost to his opponent before, he was merely a lowly white wolf tengu in the tengu clan. Even if the opponent's strength was unexpectedly powerful, how could he possibly lose in a situation surrounded by so many powerful demons?!

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

"A little bit of activity feels pretty good. I've been having a bit of insomnia lately, and my status is completely maxed out after refreshing..."

Shi Bai rubbed his neck, then walked to a large rock under the waterfall and sat down. He then turned his gaze to a white wolf tengu that was completely stunned there.

"Alright, now you can tell me in detail about the situation on Monster Mountain, right?"

"...You, didn't you just die several times already?"

Turning her head mechanically, the white-haired, animal-eared girl spoke haltingly.

After witnessing a being who has been killed repeatedly shout "I will definitely come back" and then casually step into the area and laugh, "I, Old Sun, am back again," you would probably feel the same way as those somewhat devastated monsters, questioning the meaning of life.

"To put it this way, the first one you killed was called Sun Xingzhe, the second one you killed was Sun Xingzhe's younger brother Zhe Xingsun, the third one you killed was Zhe Xingsun's younger brother Xingzhe Sun, and I am Xingzhe Sun's older brother Sun Zhe Xing."

Holding up a finger, Shi Bai explained to the other person with a serious expression.

"If I explain it this way, you should be able to understand it, right? If you understand, shake your head; if you don't understand, nod your head."

"........."

The white wolf tengu nodded, looking rather bewildered.

"Alright, the winner takes all, the loser is condemned. Confess and you'll be treated leniently, resist and you'll be punished severely. You'd better answer my questions honestly."

After scanning the white-haired, beast-eared girl in front of him from head to toe, Shi Bai pointed to a large tree to the side, his expression noncommittal.

"If you don't answer, I'll strip you naked, tie you to that tree, and hang you upside down. Anyway, I'm into white hair and red eyes..."

"........."

At this moment, Shibai would never have imagined that his joking remark would be remembered by a certain resentful white wolf tengu for thousands of years, and would later be used as major news by a certain unscrupulous reporter and spread throughout the entire Gensokyo...

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

"...The Heavenly Demon? By the way, who is the Heavenly Demon?"

Listening to the white-haired, beast-eared girl in front of him honestly recount what she knew, Shi Bai couldn't help but raise an eyebrow with a hint of curiosity.

"Shouldn't it be the Great Tengu?"

"...Tenma is a specific individual within our Tengu clan, a natural leader, equivalent to the head of the clan. Below him is the Great Tengu who holds a management position, followed by the Nose-High Tengu, Crow Tengu, Mountain-Bearing Tengu, and... the lowest-ranking White Wolf Tengu."

For reasons unknown, after a brief hesitation, the girl revealed all the secrets of her Tengu clan in front of this powerful being, whose strength far exceeded her expectations.

The Tengu clan already had a strict hierarchy, especially after the appearance of that Heavenly Demon. This strict hierarchy became almost harsh. When facing Tengu of higher status, the lowest-ranking White Wolf Tengu could not even have the slightest thought of resistance, otherwise they would be considered traitors.

Rather than rebelling against the rule of the Oni clan and plunging their White Wolf Tengu clan into an even more miserable state, perhaps there are other ways...

If someone with such power were willing to get involved, perhaps they could really change things... and maybe then his sister could...

"...So it's because an ambitious person has appeared within your Tengu clan? Heavenly Demon..."

Nodding thoughtfully, Shi Bai looked at the girl in front of him.

"One last question, what is your name?"

"My name..."

After a slight hesitation, the white-haired girl with animal ears spoke softly.

"Inuzokubi".

P.S.: Yes, what that reader in the book review section said makes a lot of sense. Thank you for your feedback.

So, the reason the plot doesn't flow smoothly might be because each chapter is too short. If each chapter had 4000 words, that problem wouldn't occur.

Let's set a fixed update schedule from now on: one update between noon and 6 PM, and another between midnight and 2 AM, averaging 8000 words per day. That way, there won't be any over-updated content, right? If we really let it get too long, it might just die...

Deduct 1 if you agree, deduct 2 if you disagree.

Chapter 85 Lolis are the Best!!

Overall, the current situation on Monster Mountain is both complex and simple.

The Oni clan itself suffered heavy losses in that war, and when Kinkara went to Hell, he took a considerable number of Oni clan members with him. In addition, Hoshiguma Yuugi was seriously injured. Therefore, the strength of the Oni clan on the Youkai Mountain can be said to be at an unprecedented low.

Faced with such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, some ambitious individuals who wanted to gain the new status previously held by the demon race naturally emerged.

Previously, as subordinates of the Oni clan, the Tengu clan was responsible for all matters related to vigilance and intelligence gathering in the Demon Mountain, with the Great Tengu compiling and reporting the information.

However, after the appearance of the supreme being Tenma in the Tengu clan, the situation immediately underwent an extremely subtle change.

No race would willingly remain subordinate to another. The survival of the fittest is the nature of monsters. The Tengu clan, led by that Heavenly Demon, wanted to replace the Oni clan, which Shi Bai considered quite normal.

"No, this is absolutely not normal!!"

Regarding Shi Bai's viewpoint, Inuzoki Kaba, a white wolf tengu from the tengu clan, displayed rather intense emotions.

"Even the Demon King among the demons can drink and chat with the lowest-ranking monsters. The demons don't care about status at all! But under the rule of the Heavenly Demon, status is completely divided into different ranks. The White Wolf Tengu is inherently a rank lower than other Tengu. This is simply unfair!!!"

"Fairness? Where is fairness in this world? Although all roads lead to Rome, some people are born in Rome."

He slowly clenched his fist, a slightly wicked smile appearing on his face.

"The weak submit to fate, the strong control fate; the law of this world is that simple."

"...Do you also agree with the view that the weak are born to be ruled by the strong?"

The white-haired girl with animal ears lowered her head, her fists clenched tightly in her palms.

"So, they're all the same..."

"Freedom, equality, dignity... To be honest, your thinking is thousands of years ahead of this era. But unfortunately, if you want to see these things appear, you'll have to wait a very long time. After all, it took nearly thousands of years to go from feudal times to modern society... But no matter what, the so-called class system will always exist, so you'd better stop thinking about those ethereal things now."

With a pursed lip, Shi Bai stood up from the rock.

"You really want to change this situation, right? But you don't have the power to change it, or even the courage to do so. Instead of asking me for help, why don't you just tell Hoshiguma Yuugi about this conspiracy? Anyone can say nice things, but how many people actually take the initiative to do them?"

"...I am ultimately a member of the Tengu clan, and under the current circumstances, the Oni clan is destined to lose."

After a moment of silence, Inuzoki Kaba spoke with a somber tone.

"If things are revealed later, it doesn't matter if I die, but it could very well implicate the other White Wolf Tengu and my sister. I can't take that risk... But what can I do!?"

Suddenly clenching her fists tightly, the white-haired girl abruptly raised her head, tears streaming down her face before quickly disappearing into the mist rising from the waterfall.