"Fine, I'll pay!"
"Now that's more like it."
Seeing that the other party had finally backed down, Xiruan nodded in satisfaction.
"First of all, you hurt this old lady, so you have to pay her medical bills, right?"
She pointed to Holy Mother Wudang beside her.
Holy Mother Wudang hurriedly waved her hands. "Senior, this disciple wouldn't dare..."
"Quiet!" Xiruan glared at her. "Did anyone ask you? This is about standing up for your rights. Do you understand?"
Holy Mother Wudang fell silent under her glare, thinking to herself, Senior really is domineering! She even knows such profound terms as standing up for your rights!
Xiruan turned back to Guanyin. "Secondly, you just polluted my ears with all that noise, and you tried to trick us into handing over our land deed. That's emotional distress, so you have to pay damages, right?"
The corner of Guanyin Bodhisattva's mouth twitched as she nodded with difficulty.
If you say so.
"Finally!" Xiruan's little face turned utterly serious. "The most important point!"
She cleared her throat and spoke in a tone befitting a judge. "Does your so-called Western Religious Sect owe our Interception Sect a whole lot of money?"
She directed the question at Holy Mother Wudang.
Holy Mother Wudang froze for a moment, then understood.
Senior is... giving me a hint!
She puffed out her chest and declared righteously to Guanyin, "That's right!"
"During the Investiture of the Gods, your Western Religious Sect took advantage of the chaos and converted several thousand of our Interception Sect disciples! You must give us an explanation!"
"Exactly!"
Xiruan's little face turned pale with anger.
She knew it!
How could Daddy possibly owe so much money? So that was it! Those bad guys hadn't just stolen money—they'd stolen people too!
This was no ordinary debt dispute. This was organized crime, kidnapping, and extortion!
"So your Western Religious Sect aren't just con artists—you're human traffickers too!"
Xiruan looked at Guanyin as if she were a complete scumbag.
"You... You've done every bad thing under the sun!"
Guanyin Bodhisattva had no words to defend herself.
Conversion was Buddhism's supreme merit. It meant guiding lost lambs toward the light. How had it become "human trafficking" in her mouth?
Was there no law in this world? No justice?
"Debts must be repaid. That's only right!"
"Human trafficking makes your crime even worse!"
Xiruan angrily planted her hands on her hips.
"Today, I'm confiscating your lotus platform and this lousy bottle!"
"...I'll seize the tools of your crimes and take them as interest!"
Before Guanyin could react, Xiruan scampered onto her lotus platform and ran her little hands over it, tapping here and there as she muttered:
"Hmm, this golden lotus chair looks pretty nice. It must be comfortable to sit on."
She nodded in satisfaction, then began to... pull.
That's right, you didn't read that wrong.
She wrapped both arms around the central stalk of the lotus platform, stuck her little bottom out, and tried to yank the Nine Grade Merit Golden Lotus Platform up by its roots.
Guanyin Bodhisattva's eyes nearly popped out of her head.
That was her companion treasure, the foundation of her Dao!
And this Little Devil King was trying to... pull it up like a potted plant?!
"St... Stop!"
Guanyin Bodhisattva let out a shrill scream.
"You can't touch my lotus platform!"
"Why can't I?"
Xiruan tugged at it for a while, then found the thing was surprisingly sturdy. Soon, she was panting with exhaustion.
She looked up and said, utterly unperturbed, "Debts must be repaid, and killers must pay with their lives! You captured so many of our people. What's wrong with me pulling up one lousy flower?"
"I..."
Guanyin Bodhisattva was left speechless by her twisted logic.
All she could do was watch as Xiruan kicked and stomped on the lotus platform, trying every method she could think of to dismantle it.
Holy Mother Wudang stood to one side, shocked—and absolutely thrilled.
How satisfying! It was just so satisfying!
Back then, those baldies from the Western Religious Sect had used similar lotus platforms to forcibly take countless Interception Sect disciples away.
Now the wheel of fortune had turned!
Senior was actually going to dismantle Guanyin's lotus platform right in front of her!
This was a thousand times more satisfying than killing Guanyin outright!
"Hmph! It's pretty sturdy!"
After struggling for a while, Xiruan realized brute force wasn't going to work.
Her eyes darted about, and she pulled something out of her red bellyband.
The Treasure-filled Jade Ruyi.
She raised it and started whacking the base of the lotus platform with all her might.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The crisp blows echoed through the chaos.
Crack—
Under the relentless barrage, the supposedly indestructible Nine Grade Merit Golden Lotus Platform let out a pained groan.
A tiny crack appeared in its base.
"Pfft—"
With her Natal Treasure damaged, Guanyin Bodhisattva was struck by a powerful shock. She could no longer suppress her injuries, and blood flowed from the corner of her mouth. Her face turned as pale as paper.
"It worked!"
Xiruan's eyes lit up. She tossed aside the back scratcher, wrapped both arms around the lotus platform, and pulled with all her might.
At last, the glittering golden lotus budged.
"Stop! Stop right now!"
Guanyin Bodhisattva's Dao Heart was on the verge of shattering.
The Nine Grade Merit Golden Lotus was the treasure with which she had attained the Dao. It was the foundation of her status as a Great Being of the quasi-sage realm!
And now Xiruan was about to pry it away with another Innate Supreme Treasure?
"Nope!"
Xiruan stuck out her tongue at her.
This was a bad bald guy's tool of crime! Since it was a tool of crime, it had to be confiscated!
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The Treasure-filled Jade Ruyi kept striking, and Guanyin Bodhisattva's face grew paler with every blow.
She wanted to rush over and stop her, but the blood and qi churning inside her and the stabbing pain deep in her primordial spirit made it hard even to stand steadily.
Besides, Holy Mother Wudang was right there, watching her like a tiger and ready to fight her to the death at any moment.
Most despairing of all, after every strike, the Little Devil King looked back at her.
The message was clear: Go ahead, scream again. See what happens.
Guanyin Bodhisattva didn't dare scream again.
She feared that if she said another word, the lotus platform wouldn't be the only thing to break.
"Senior, mighty!"
Standing to one side, Holy Mother Wudang watched Guanyin Bodhisattva's furious yet helpless expression and felt wonderful from head to toe.
How satisfying! It was just so satisfying!
When had the Interception Sect's disciples ever been able to hold their heads this high?
Who could have imagined that one day they'd turn the tables and corner a quasi-sage Great Being from the Western Religious Sect like this?
"Crack—"
Just then, a crisp sound of breaking rang out.
Under the Treasure-filled Jade Ruyi's continued assault, the cracks in the base of the Nine-Petaled Merit Golden Lotus widened. A golden lotus leaf about the size of a palm snapped off and fell from the platform.
"Pfft—"
Her Natal Treasure had been damaged again. Guanyin Bodhisattva could no longer hold on. She spewed blood and slumped to the ground, utterly debilitated.
"Oh? A piece fell off!"
Xiruan's eyes lit up as she picked up the lotus leaf, which shimmered with a faint golden light.
"Hmm, this leaf is all sparkly too. So pretty." As she spoke, she casually tucked it into her red bellyband.
After that, she ran back to the lotus platform and scratched her head in frustration.
"This golden chair is so sturdy. It's hard to carry."
She figured that dismantling the whole thing and taking it away by herself would be rather difficult.
She'd have to think of another way.
"F-Female Bodhisattva... Little Ancestor..."
Guanyin Bodhisattva was truly frightened. If the Little Ancestor kept striking it, her Nine-Petaled Golden Lotus wouldn't just lose one leaf.
It might be downgraded on the spot, becoming an eight-petaled lotus—or even seven.
"Please, show mercy and spare me..." Guanyin Bodhisattva's voice was choked with sobs. "Y-What will it take for you to let this go?"
"Hmm?"
Seeing that the bad bald guy had finally caught on, Xiruan cleared her throat with a mysterious air.
"I already told you: medical bills, emotional distress damages, and compensation for abducting our employees!"
"But!"
She changed tack.
"I can see you're broke, and this golden chair is hard to carry. I'll be kind and think of another way for you."
Guanyin Bodhisattva's eyes immediately lit with a glimmer of hope.
Could it be... she's going to let me go?
"You," Xiruan crooked a finger at Guanyin. "Take us to your place!"
Before you continue