“Arhat! I've already been punished for the crimes I committed back then!”

Once it got a clear look at the Arhat's golden body, the lion-tiger beast, its head pinned down, didn't dare struggle anymore. All it could do was howl and wail pitifully.

“This little demon has worked hard to atone in the Immortal Court and never dared disobey in the slightest. I beg the Arhat to see the truth!”

When an Arhat of the Bodhi Teaching struck, he had to be acting on the decree of some Bodhisattva.

So he couldn't have come for Purple-Caltrop.

That she-dragon wasn't worth a Bodhisattva's attention.

The lion-tiger beast couldn't understand it. It had been driven out of the Teaching and sent to the Immortal Court to serve as someone's mount. Why wouldn't the Teaching leave it alone even now?

Even stripped of its fruit position, a demon body that had once plucked one and been washed clean by it was far beyond any ordinary Golden Lotus Pilgrim.

Yet under that golden palm, the lion-tiger beast's skull slowly lost its shape. Its eyes were nearly forced out of their sockets by the sheer pressure, and thick blood welled from the broken bone and soon covered its whole face.

“This little demon knows it was wrong!”

As the lion-tiger beast begged, terrified out of its wits, Purple-Caltrop gave up her own useless struggling. She forced down her terror and made herself calm.

Her whole rise in life had never depended on strength.

It had depended on keeping a clear head.

“I know why you hate me, but… listen to me… calm down first!”

“He and I are the mounts of two immortal generals, the Rainbow-Thorn and the Azure Luan. We didn't come down without leave. We came on business, under an immortal order. After the Bodhisattva's lecture, we're supposed to go on to Hongze. I'm not the one stirring things up—General Rainbow-Thorn already wanted to know how Shi Ren was doing!”

Her life hung by a thread, yet Purple-Caltrop's words came more and more smoothly.

Even Ye Lan raised an eyebrow.

No wonder she'd…