As the Tiger Temple Village Chief, the tiger demon's residence was quite large.
While the tiger bone soup was simmering in the large pot, Tang Sen took a tour of his house and surprisingly discovered several large granaries full of grain, one of which had grain that was almost moldy.
He couldn't help but think of the emaciated villagers he had seen in the village before, some of whom he had even seen eating grass roots and tree bark.
"Truly black-hearted!"
Tang Sen directly opened the granary and began to gather the villagers.
"Everyone, don't be shy, take as much as you can."
Tang Sen waved his hand with a righteous expression, signaling the villagers to help themselves.
Upon hearing this, the villagers looked at each other, and although their eyes gleamed green at the sight of the grains, not a single person dared to step forward.
Just as Tang Sen was full of doubt and confusion, a middle-aged man stepped forward and respectfully asked, "May I ask, Immortal Master, what happened to that tiger demon?"
"Naturally, I killed him with one punch!"
"See, he's stewing in the pot over there."
Tang Sen pointed to the large pot steaming nearby.
Upon hearing this, the villagers' faces immediately showed relief, and they were all full of gratitude towards Tang Sen.
Almost simultaneously, everyone knelt down before Tang Sen.
"Thank you, Immortal Master, for eliminating the demon for us. We have no way to repay you, but we wish to sculpt a golden statue for you, to worship it day and night, and offer incense."
"Ah...?"
Tang Sen was startled and quickly waved his hand, saying, "No, no, it was just a small matter."
"Hurry and get the grain!"
Tang Sen said with a smile.
But to his surprise, upon hearing that Tang Sen was unwilling to leave behind a golden statue, the common folk below immediately became panicked and uneasy.
"What's wrong with them?"
Tang Sen couldn't help but ask Sun Wukong, who was beside him.
"Hehe!"
"This place is close to the mountains, and there are endless demons and monsters in the mountains. The village also has no protection from Earth Gods or City Gods. If you eliminate the tiger demon but don't leave behind a golden statue to protect the villagers, any slightly more powerful demon coming down from the mountain could slaughter the entire village."
"After you leave, these villagers will either continue to live in fear, waiting for the day a mountain demon decides to come down to forage and be eaten by him, or they will still have to go to Huasheng Temple to ask for Buddha's protection, and their lives will return to how they were before. Do you think they wouldn't panic?"
Tang Sen fell silent upon hearing this.
From Sun Wukong's words, he realized for the first time how difficult the lives of ordinary people must be in this world of immortals and demons.
Looking at the common folk before him, their eyes filled with a glimmer of hope, staring at him expectantly, Tang Sen couldn't help but purse his lips.
"I understand!"
"Take this grain and this fat pig first, divide them up and eat them!"
"As for your village's affairs, I will come up with a proper solution, don't worry!"
Tang Sen solemnly made a promise.
"Thank you, Immortal Master!"
"Immortal Master's great kindness, we have no way to repay, we can only pray for Immortal Master every day."
In an instant, all the common folk present immediately knelt down before Tang Sen, kowtowing incessantly.
This time, Tang Sen did not stop them, but just watched quietly.
"Eh!"
Soon, Tang Sen discovered something strange.
He saw wisps of faint white light rising from the tops of these people's heads, slowly converging towards him.
"What is this?"
Tang Sen, somewhat bewildered, pinched a wisp of white light and examined it carefully.
"It's Incense Power!"
"It's the reward these common folk are giving you for providing them with food!"
Sun Wukong's voice resonated beside him, causing Tang Sen to be startled.
"Incense Power?"
He pulled the wisp of white light he was holding closer and sensed it carefully.
Indeed, he sensed within it the gratitude of an old woman.
"May the Immortal Master's Buddhist teachings advance, and his blessings and longevity extend."
"May the Immortal Master ascend step by step and attain Hunyuan."
"Attain Hunyuan?"
"Do these common folk know what Hunyuan is?"
Tang Sen showed a trace of doubt on his face, released this wisp of Incense Power, and then grabbed another to examine it, unexpectedly finding the same two sentences within it.
"What's going on?"
"Could it be that someone taught them beforehand?"
Tang Sen was full of disbelief.
"Hehe!"
"I told you these people, like that tiger demon, are all raised in captivity. Their main purpose is to cultivate grain during busy times and generate Incense Power during leisure times."
"As for the prayers they utter when they kneel, they were naturally taught specifically, because only by letting them know how to pray will the Incense Power generated become pure."
"Today it was you who came, but in fact, if people from Huasheng Temple had come, they would have done the exact same things you did today. At that time, they would not only gain the Heavenly Dao Merit generated by that tiger demon, but also these pure Human Dao Incense Power."
"It can be said to be killing two birds with one stone, utilizing resources to the extreme."
"Resources?"
When Tang Sen heard Sun Wukong say these two words with a sneer, he inexplicably felt a bit disgusted.
The immortals and Buddhas in this world are simply more black-hearted than capitalists in his previous life!
In his original imagination, the Journey to the West World was an orderly world of immortals and Buddhas, with Earth Gods, Mountain Gods, and City Gods. With so many immortals and Buddhas protecting them, the lives of the common folk here should have been quite good.
Furthermore, if there were those with great opportunities, they might even cultivate to become immortals and live forever.
But today, as he suddenly came into contact with the ordinary common folk of this world, he suddenly realized that what he had thought before might have been overly optimistic.
Perhaps precisely because this is a world of immortals and Buddhas, ordinary common folk have even less chance of turning their lives around, and cannot even achieve the rage of a common man.
The so-called 'my fate is mine, not heaven's; whether I am a demon or an immortal, I decide' is probably just a cry that only a very few people, who were already destined, could utter.
Most people here probably still live like the villagers in Tiger Temple Village, as humble as ants, living like pigs and dogs, treated as resources, and kept in captivity here.
"Monkey, I don't think humans should live like this!"
After the common folk finished kowtowing to Tang Sen, divided the fat pig, and returned home full of gratitude, Tang Sen squatted in front of the large pot, gnawing on the tiger demon meat, and said with a serious expression.
"Heh!"
"What do you intend to do? Do you actually want to change the world?" Sun Wukong asked with a grin.
"Why not? I am the future successor of Buddhism, and I am very strong!"
Tang Sen waved his arm and took another fierce bite of the tiger demon meat in his hand.
"You should first think about how to change the Tiger Temple Village in front of you!"
"If you can't even change the village right in front of you, how can you talk about changing the world!"
Hearing Sun Wukong's words, Tang Sen fell into thought. Suddenly, he grinned at Sun Wukong, pulled his hand, and said, "Monkey, you seem to know a lot. How about you give me an idea?"