After thinking it over, Gu Tong didn’t go straight to the hospital.
She went home first.
She changed into something more presentable.
That way, she wouldn’t start off at a disadvantage against the other family.
She rummaged through her closet and quickly found the long dress wrapped in a dust cover.
Then she put it on—though it took a great deal of effort.
The ornate dress was even more complicated than she’d expected.
It looked more like something from a historical movie than modern clothing, and just figuring out how to put it on took ages.
As for the money, she could always find a way to kill them afterward and cover it up.
As long as she cleaned up properly, no one would suspect her.
‘You can do this, Ba Hui. It’s just money. As the strongest Monster, are you really afraid of a money problem?’
Just thinking about money made her grind her teeth.
She wanted to devour the humans who’d invented it, then give Chen Qinyao, that idiot, a good beating.
‘Weren’t you Mad Dog? Why didn’t you just beat them to death and bury them somewhere? You didn’t mention paying compensation when you hit me.’
Damn human society.
By the time she reached the hospital, it was already dark, and heavy rain was falling outside.
In the hospital lobby, Chen Qinyao had been sitting in a corner, waiting for “Sister.”
When the teacher called and told her to bring a parent, Chen Qinyao felt her breath catch.
Before, Sister would’ve grabbed Chen Qinyao by the head and made her apologize, even when it wasn’t her fault.
But now, Sister seemed to have changed recently.
Still, she knew this time would involve paying compensation.
Would Sister really judge the situation fairly?
Chen Qinyao didn’t know.
She didn’t even know if there’d be anywhere for her to go after what she’d done.
But she had no choice but to call.
After hesitating for a moment, Chen Qinyao decided she might as well give it a shot and dialed Sister’s number.
She hadn’t even asked Gu Tong if she was coming. All she could do was wait in the lobby.
She didn’t know how long it had been.
Just as Chen Qinyao was about to fall asleep in her chair in the corner, a familiar figure appeared in front of her.
“I heard you beat someone up?”
At the sound of her voice, the girl looked up at her.
Sister had stood in front of her just like this before, but the first thing out of her mouth had been an accusation.
-Why are you such a handful?
Why do you have to cause trouble for me out there?!
Chen Qinyao had tried to explain, but Sister had said, “Then why didn’t she hit someone else?”
The girl had been at a loss for words.
Suddenly, the touch on her head pulled Chen Qinyao back to reality.
“Who hit you? Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine.”
Sister held her head and looked her over from side to side.
She still had that poker face, but what she said next left the girl stunned.
“Did you win?”
“I… I guess you could say I did.”
The girl scratched her cheek. She hadn’t expected Sister to ask that, and her answer came out uncertain.
“That’s all that matters.”
Sister patted the girl’s forehead, then fixed her hair, which had been pulled into a mess during the fight.
The girl had only a few scrapes.
If she’d arrived any later, they might’ve healed on their own.
As an investment in her future, this girl couldn’t afford to have anything happen to her.
Since she was fine and had won, the rest would be easy to handle.
In a Monster’s logic, the strong survived and the weak perished.
The victor wasn’t to blame.
Chen Qinyao didn’t know what Gu Tong was thinking, but she noticed the clothes Sister was wearing.
They looked like the ones Sister had bought a long time ago and had always been too reluctant to wear.
Yet she’d worn them here today.
Was it because she was here to stand up for her?
Those awful memories crumbled away with a sharp crack.
Chen Qinyao jumped down from the chair.
Afraid to look at Gu Tong, she started walking farther inside and asked in a small voice, “Um… did you bring money?”
Even Ba Hui instinctively coughed a couple of times at the mention of money, then changed the subject and put the matter off.
“Is the other person badly hurt?”
“Not really. At most, her nose is broken. But someone in her family is a high-ranking official, so… it might be hard to handle.”
Chen Qinyao’s voice grew quieter and quieter, buzzing like a mosquito.
She didn’t dare meet Gu Tong’s eyes.
In the end, she was the one in the wrong.
She’d caused so much trouble for someone else.
That kind of thing would’ve passed if she’d just put up with it.
Why had she gotten into a fight when it wouldn’t do her or Sister any good?
But she didn’t know why.
Usually, she could endure things, but this time, the other girl had only mentioned Sister, and Chen Qinyao had hit her without thinking.
They made their way to the emergency room.
Gu Tong wondered if the other girl had really only broken her nose.
Gu Tong looked at Chen Qinyao with a questioning gaze.
Chen Qinyao lowered her head and stared at the floor, as if searching for a spot where she could count ants.
Chen Qinyao said the girl was inside.
The other girl’s parents had probably arrived by now.
Gu Tong had a rough idea of what might happen inside.
Maybe there’d be a fierce argument. Maybe they’d hurl nasty insults at her.
Or maybe they’d simply demand compensation.
Whenever money was involved, Ba Hui was like a soldier facing the enemy.
Even fighting the strongest monsters had never put this much pressure on her.
Gu Tong let out a breath and straightened her collar one last time.
This was an assessment—an assessment of whether the other family would live or die.
Gu Tong pushed open the door and entered the emergency room.
Chen Qinyao followed behind her with her head lowered, like a child who’d done something wrong.
The emergency room hallway reeked of disinfectant, mixed with groans from farther away.
Gu Tong actually liked places like this.
The scent of anxiety and fear in the air delighted a Monster.
Chen Qinyao led her around a corner and stopped in front of an examination room.
“This is it.”
Following the girl’s gesture, Gu Tong pushed open the door.
Inside was a well-dressed woman sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, scrolling through her phone with her legs crossed.
She didn’t look at all like a worried mother whose daughter had been hurt.
A middle-aged man in a suit stood beside her, looking down at his phone as if taking care of some work.
A young nurse was also in the room, treating Yu Wanting’s facial injury.
Gauze covered Yu Wanting’s nose, and one eye was bruised.
She was grimacing in pain.
At the sound of the door opening, she looked over, saw Chen Qinyao standing outside, and instinctively widened her eyes.
Then she hit her injury and grimaced in pain.
“She’s the one who hit you?”
The woman came rushing over first, walking toward Gu Tong angrily and sizing her up.
When she saw Gu Tong’s cheap clothes, the woman gave a cold snort.
“Are you Chen Qinyao’s parent?”