Journey to the West: Man in heaven, working nine to five

#2296 - The true face of Mr. Kou

Tang Sanzang and his disciples were naturally very angry at Kou Shanren's forceful and tyrannical behavior, but Kou Shanren wasn't stupid either.

He claimed to be doing everything for the sake of the people and the well-being of Diling County, and he held immense authority and influence in this area.

This forced Tang Sanzang and his disciples, who initially intended to directly confront him, to think twice, because taking action against Kou Shanren could potentially incur the wrath of the populace.

"Kou Shanren is right. You should kneel and worship the Buddha, and chant sutras."

"Since you're here to pray for blessings for our Diling County, shouldn't you be more devout?"

"Could it be that in the eyes of you eminent monks from the Tang Dynasty, the people of Diling County don't matter? Are you perhaps fake monks?"

The people echoed Kou Shanren's sentiments, denouncing Tang Sanzang and his disciples, trying to force them into submission.

"What do you say, Tang Sanzang? Have you heard the people's voices? This is Diling County. How can you disregard the people of Diling County?

For the sake of the people of Diling County, please have yourselves kneel before the golden statue of the Buddha and chant sutras to complete the Dharma assembly."

With the support of the people, Kou Shanren became even more fearless in the face of Tang Sanzang and his disciples.

"You ignorant people, you've all been fooled by Kou Shanren! He's a hypocritical villain!"

"This Kou Hong is a lackey and pawn of the Western Paradise! He's deceiving you!"

"You must not be fooled by this Kou Hong! He's no good!"

Kou Shanren's true colors were now completely exposed, and with that face, he was definitely not a benevolent person.

Sun Wukong and the others spoke to the people, hoping to awaken those who had been deceived by Kou Shanren.

However, their words had no effect. Instead, they were met with rebuttals from the crowd.

"Isn't it true that Kou Shanren usually gives alms and does good deeds?"

"Isn't it true that Kou Shanren has provided food for ten thousand monks, and even you have benefited from his kindness?"

"Isn't it an undeniable fact that Kou Shanren is holding a Dharma assembly to pray for blessings for Diling County?"

Faced with the people's rebuttals, Sun Wukong and the others found themselves unable to answer. Although Kou Shanren was a lackey of the Western Paradise, his acts of charity seemed genuine.

Tang Sanzang and his disciples hadn't found any evidence of Kou Shanren cheating or cutting corners in his charitable acts, which puzzled them.

At that moment, Guanyin, who was Kou Shanren's daughter, was watching the scene at the Dharma assembly from a distance.

Seeing the people's outrage and their coercion of Tang Sanzang and his disciples, and how Tang Sanzang and his disciples, despite their abilities, were helpless against Kou Shanren and these ordinary people, Guanyin couldn't help but laugh.

"Tang Sanzang, I'd like to see how you deal with this! Haven't you been saving people all along the way? Now the people are forcing you.

If you dare to attack the people, your reputation will be ruined, and how will you face the Three Realms?

If you don't attack the people, then in this situation, I'd like to see how you resist. In the end, you can only compromise, can't you?"

Guanyin said triumphantly, believing that Tang Sanzang and his disciples wouldn't dare to attack the people and would be forced to submit.

As long as Tang Sanzang and his disciples knelt before the golden statue of the Buddha and chanted the sutras, the Western Paradise would immediately spread the news throughout the Three Realms.

Even if Tang Sanzang and his disciples wanted to explain later, it would be useless. From then on, they would have no choice but to rely on the Western Paradise and act according to their orders.

Of course, Guanyin didn't want to push Tang Sanzang and his disciples too far, as it was most important to smoothly complete this trial and ensure the success of the Journey to the West.

Therefore, Guanyin began secretly sending messages to Kou Shanren, instructing him to act according to her plan.

Having received Guanyin's message, Kou Shanren's expression immediately changed. He raised his hand to signal the outraged people to calm down.

The people truly regarded Kou Shanren as an emperor. At his signal, they immediately stopped making noise.

Only then did Kou Shanren speak, first addressing the people.

"My fellow villagers, in my opinion, Tang Sanzang and his disciples are somewhat out of sorts today. Perhaps they weren't prepared. This is their first time in Diling County, so it's understandable.

Let's give Tang Sanzang and his disciples some more time. The merit Dharma assembly will be suspended and continue tomorrow. I will persuade Tang Sanzang and his disciples and guarantee you a satisfactory merit Dharma assembly."

At Guanyin's suggestion, Kou Shanren began to act like a good person, not wanting to push Tang Sanzang and his disciples too hard.

With Kou Shanren saying this, the people finally calmed down completely. Kou Shanren turned around and spoke to Tang Sanzang and his disciples again.

"Tang Sanzang, although you are not kind to me, I will repay evil with kindness and temporarily relieve you of your predicament.

However, I will give you only one more day. Go back and think about it carefully. If you still have this attitude tomorrow, I won't be able to stop the people.

At that time, how will you face the accusations of these hundreds of thousands of people? Do you really want to lose all your reputation?"

Kou Shanren was smug, and his words to Tang Sanzang and the others were full of threats.

In fact, Tang Sanzang and the others were already burning with anger. They wished they could tear Kou Shanren into pieces.

However, Kou Shanren incited the people, using hundreds of thousands of them as his weapon. Faced with these ignorant ordinary people, Tang Sanzang and his disciples really had no good solution.

"Tang Sanzang, follow me back. But I warn you, don't try to escape, because you won't be able to."

Throughout their journey to the west, they had experienced countless tribulations, but this was undoubtedly the most helpless one.

"Disciples, we masters and disciples are truly aggrieved this time. What do you think we should do?"

Tang Sanzang slammed his fist on the table in anger, shattering it.

"Master, this time we're not facing demons and monsters, but ordinary people. Although we have strength, we have nowhere to use it."

"We can't really attack these ordinary people, can we? That would really ruin our reputation."

"This trick of the Western Paradise is truly vicious, making us suffer so much humiliation."

Sun Wukong and the others also looked helpless, unsure of what to do about the current situation.

"It seems we still need to ask Immortal Chu Hao. He will surely have a way to relieve us of our predicament."

Tang Sanzang and the others were helpless, and naturally thought of Chu Hao at this time.

"Is the Boss still in seclusion?"

"I'll go find my brother and have him think of a solution for us."

"Immortal Chu Hao will surely have a countermeasure."

Sun Wukong and the others were about to get up and find Chu Hao when a voice came.

"I know everything about what happened to you today."

The voice was Chu Hao's. Immediately afterward, Chu Hao pushed open the door and walked in.