From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

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"Most people worry too much and won't embark on the journey to the west, will they?"

Pingping suspected that everything Jiang Liu had done was in vain.

"All things in the world are manifestations of the Great Dao. In essence, all living beings are within the Dao. Those who cultivate and seek the Dao, like us, have long understood this principle. Cultivation is nothing more than completing the Great Dao and teaching people in the world... not to all become immortals or Buddhas, but to understand why they live, so as not to have lived in vain."

Jiang Liu, however, was not worried and said, "So what if all we've done is in vain?"

If we are wrong—

"There will always be successors."

In an instant.

Pingping, free from worries, followed the river.

Lu Zhen wore a smile and carried the load with strength.

Hu Yuan and Hu Jue laughed heartily as they scouted ahead.

With a pure and tranquil mind, Bajie found peace and freedom in both body and mind.

That's how it is.

After a month-long journey, the group passed through the cold winter months and welcomed the arrival of spring with blooming flowers. They saw several gardens lush and green, and then came another day of wind and rain.

A village could be seen ahead, but the fields were overgrown with weeds.

Bajie laughed and said, "Ahead lies Tuoluo Village. Years ago, I followed my eldest brother to defeat a giant red-scaled python..."

At this point, Bajie put on a mournful face and looked at Jiang Liu with a somewhat resentful expression: "Speaking of which, that senior brother even made me turn into a big wild boar and gobble up the rotten persimmons in that persimmon ditch."

That taste—

Even a pig couldn't stand it!

"A persimmon-filled canal? A canal overflowing with persimmons?"

Hu Yuan chuckled and said, "I've heard that eating too many persimmons can cause diarrhea, and even dogs won't eat that kind of poop."

"Did the second senior brother even dig up the persimmon canal back then?"

Hu Jue chuckled and said, "Only today have my brother and I realized why the Buddha of Mount Ling appointed you as the 'Purifying Altar Messenger'!"

Upon hearing this, Pigsy was neither ashamed nor angry. He merely snorted and said, "Do you understand that the Way is in the excrement and urine? Back then, I dug out the Xishi Canal, which not only allowed Master to pass through, but also enabled the people of Tuoluo Village to have a passage. Wasn't that a great achievement?"

Ba Jing laughed and said, "Second Senior Brother has indeed made great progress in his cultivation."

"What are you saying? It's still a long way off!"

Pigsy laughed heartily.

As they walked and talked, they saw a village nestled in the mountains ahead. Pingping asked, "Is that Tuoluo Village?"

"Exactly."

Bajie looked closely, nodded in confirmation, but added, "However, Tuoluo Village was the name of a village five hundred years ago. My Gao Village was renamed Mao Er Village five hundred years later. I wonder if Tuoluo Village was renamed five hundred years later as well."

“A practitioner must be sincere. Don’t guess blindly; just ask around and you will know.”

After saying that, Jiang Liu glanced at the sky again and said with a smile, "I'll find a family to stay at for the night and give them some silver as a token of my gratitude before I leave."

"Since leaving Little Western Paradise, we've mostly been eating and sleeping in the open along the way. When we see someone, we naturally have to buy them some hot food." Pigsy patted his belly and laughed heartily.

He had just achieved the initial stage of his Golden Core cultivation; as long as he continued to cultivate, he could maintain his longevity, but his desire for food remained...

Chapter 1534 Another Demon Arrives at Tuoluo Village

Upon arriving at the village, they inquired along the way. The villagers, seeing that although they looked strange, did not harm anyone, so they were not afraid.

This is because there are many demons on the road to the West, but the locals are used to it.

Although demons eat people, as long as they are not as ferocious as the Golden-Winged Roc, which can devour an entire nation in one go, most of them are just like bandits who go down the mountain to plunder, but they also use the gold and silver they plunder to buy various daily necessities.

Firstly.

Most demons do not cultivate the Great Dao, and their hands and feet are not as dexterous as humans. They cannot make pottery or spices, but they crave man-made things.

Secondly.

The stolen gold and silver must be spent eventually, right?

Keeping them won't put them in your food.

Thirdly.

The demon cultivated a lowly human body, and was curious about humans, often wanting to imitate and learn from them.

Although the villagers of Tuoluo Village were not afraid of Jiang Liu and his group, none of them dared to approach them until they encountered a family surnamed Li, who were willing to let them stay for the night.

The old man surnamed Li was willing to receive them because he had a portrait in his home depicting the four pilgrims and their horse from their journey to the West. Jiang Liu and Pigsy's appearances were almost identical to those of Sun Wukong and Pigsy in the painting, which is why he was willing to host them.

Once inside, the old man made them tea and cooked them rice.

Jiang Liu expressed his gratitude and then asked, "How old are you, sir?"

"I am sixty-five this year."

The old man answered, but also asked Jiang Liu, "Where are you from, and what brings you to our Tuoluo Village?"

"I am from Huaguo Mountain, named Guyue Yuanjue. I wish to follow the example of my predecessor, Qitianzhi, and travel west to obtain the true scriptures from the sacred mountain. These are the fellow disciples I have gathered along the way." Jiang Liu knew that the old man had something to ask for, so he told him the truth.

"Could they be descendants of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King?"

The old man exclaimed in surprise.

"Exactly!"

Jiang Liu replied.

"Can you exorcise demons?"

The old man was a little apprehensive, but he still asked the question.

"Is there some kind of monster lurking around here, old man?"

Jiang Liu laughed out loud, "We've traveled from east to west, and countless monsters have seen us along the way. Our good days are over."

Tell us what kind of monster it is, and what has happened to your village, so we can help you solve your problems.

"Really?"

The old man, however, was not quite convinced. He looked Jiang Liu up and down, then glanced at the portrait of the four pilgrims and a horse hanging in the hall before speaking about the monster: "Our Tuoluo Village is located in the Seven Absolutes Mountain, which is eight hundred li long. There is a rare persimmon canal in the mountain."

I heard that five hundred years ago, the Elder Pig turned into a giant pig, dug out the Xishi Canal, connecting the east and west, which made it convenient for us to go to Zhu Zi Kingdom to do business.

Therefore, we also changed the name of Xishi Canal to Tongtian Road.

Five hundred years later, persimmons piled up again, blocking the road and making it impossible to pass.

The journey to the Kingdom of Zhu Zi was arduous, traversing mountains and valleys, and business gradually declined, turning this once arduous road into a stagnant ditch, filled with a foul stench every summer and autumn, causing unbearable suffering!

"Ha ha!"

Pingping suddenly laughed and said to Bajie, "It seems there are no monsters, but it means that Brother Bajie will have to turn into a pig again to dig up that persimmon ditch."

Upon hearing this, Pigsy panicked. Although he had previously said that the road was in the excrement, he still kept his distance from the mushy, runny persimmon ditch. So he said to the old man, "You people in this village are lazy. All you know is how to do business. You don't even know how to clean the road regularly?"

The old man complained, “Why isn’t it being cleaned up? The villagers of Tuoluo Village are the most diligent. Otherwise, how could we have a bumper harvest of grains and a variety of fruits and vegetables every year?”

That's not entirely untrue.

After all, the food that Jiang Liu and the others had eaten before, although it could not compare to the delicacies of Jisa Kingdom, was half meat and half vegetables. The meat consisted of chicken, duck, fish and meat, while the vegetables were green vegetables and radishes.

If this were a small village in Jambudvipa, where could it provide such a sumptuous meal for its lodging guests?

Moreover, when Pigsy transformed into his original form as a giant pig five hundred years ago and dug up the persimmon ditch, every household in Tuoluo Village brought him rice, flour, and steamed buns, which shows that every household had surplus grain and was extremely simple and honest.

"How did the Heavenly Path become a sparse persimmon canal?" Pigsy wondered.

"It's just that a monster has come!"

The old man frowned and sighed, “That monster loves to eat persimmon cakes and robs people on the Tongtian Road. We are so scared that we dare not do business in Zhu Zi Kingdom anymore. How can anyone be willing to clean the road?”

As time went on, the monster, no longer seeing us, began to plunder our village, coming every three to five days. It was a diligent thief, so frightening that we dared not work in the fields, and the farmland fell into disrepair.

"Since that monster arrived so early, why didn't you invite a sorcerer?"

Pingping asked curiously, "Could it be that although every family in your village has surplus grain, growing their own food, they are just short of money?"

“Although we villagers are not as wealthy as those in the city, we have saved up money in every household when we went to the Kingdom of Zhu Zi to do business in previous years. How come we don’t have money to hire a monk?”

The old man sighed, "But none of the sorcerers we've invited are of any use."

Three years ago, each family contributed one tael of silver, totaling eight hundred taels.

They traveled a thousand miles east to invite a high-ranking monk to perform a ritual. The monk arrived and began his magic, holding a begging bowl and chanting the Lotus Sutra. He recited incantations and used his supernatural powers, speaking incoherently with the demon. When dawn broke and they went to investigate, they found the monk with a bloodied head, looking like a rotten watermelon!

Two years ago, each of our households contributed a total of one thousand taels of silver.

We traveled eight hundred li west and summoned a Taoist priest to subdue the demon. The priest wore a golden crown, had a handsome face, and was dressed in ritual robes, burning talismans. He fought the demon for three rounds, but was no match for him and quickly turned back. Just as the demon returned, we went to check, only to find that he had no head!

Listening to the old man reciting a rhyme, Pingping said with a smile, "This family in your village probably hasn't suffered too much; they can still find joy even in hardship."

Hearing this, the old man was speechless, but still said, "How can we not suffer losses? That monk came from Xiaoleiyin Temple. It's fine that he died, but the monks in the temple come every month to ask for offerings and take away countless amounts of gold and silver. That Taoist priest came from Huanghua Temple in the Zhu Zi Kingdom. It's fine that he died, but his fellow Taoists come every day to take rice, flour, fruits and vegetables to appease their stomachs!"

But life goes on, and the people of the village can't stay at home forever.

We can only encourage each other and find joy even in hardship!

Xiaoleiyin Temple and Huanghua Temple are not proper temples or Taoist temples. Even though they are full of monsters and demons, they still need food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. Since none of them eat wind and drink dew, they naturally need money to spend and grains to offer.

But those monks and Taoists don't engage in production, so where do they get their gold, silver, and grain?

Tuoluo Village is one of the villages of "honest people" that Huanghua Temple and Xiaoleiyin Temple were looking for!

Why don't the monks at Xiaoleiyin Temple seek help from the villagers around them?

Rabbits don't eat the grass near their burrows.

Besides, those villagers used to trick passing merchants and knights into going to the temple to feed the Boundless Bats in exchange for gold and silver, so why would they bother with farming?

The situation at Huanghua Temple is much the same. Moreover, as it is a clandestine property of the Queen Mother, if it were to be openly promoted, it would likely invite public condemnation and damage the dignity of the Heavenly Court.

"So it seems you people from the village have really suffered a loss!"