< Youkai Mountain | Back to Title of Contents | Sanzu River > Road of Liminality Threat level: Low Encounterable youkai: Ghosts, Spirits, etc. The Sanzu River flows on the other side of the mountains, but you must travel down a certain road before you get there. That is the Road of Liminality. If you don't go down this road, you can't reach the Sanzu River. You can walk this road while still alive, but mainly it is the dead who travel it on their way to the river. One might think that surely a road travelled by the dead is a lonely place, but this is not true at all. A number of stands (*1) catering to the dead are lined up along it, and it's just as busy as if it were at a shrine festival (*2). Living people who like festivals often come here as well. As to the question of how a road the dead travel can have merchant stands along it, the finances of Hell had reached the point where it could no longer sustain itself merely from the ferrying fees levied on the departed, so it opened stands along the Road of Liminality in an attempt to earn some more money. As a result, Hell can receive some money even from the dead who aren't going there, and from the living. However, those who run the stands are all criminals who were sentenced to Hell, so it's said many fall victim to their tricks (*3). 1: Such as dead goldfish catching, or soul candy stores. 2: Sometimes the dead will remember the good times they had while living and retrace their steps to return to life. 3: As soon as they're discovered they're sent back to Hell. It seems to be something like a graduation test from Hell. < Youkai Mountain | Back to Title of Contents | Sanzu River >