Looking at the thug who'd nearly had all his hair pulled out, the four guys shuddered in unison. They never would have imagined that these girls, who looked so gentle and quiet, could be so terrifying when enraged. Kicking groins, pulling hair... they used every vicious move in the book.
After exchanging a look, the four guys made a silent pact: they had to be careful in the future and never, ever provoke these girls. Otherwise, their fate would likely be even worse than that of the thugs who had fallen at their hands...
Shock aside, the four guys were still quite touched that the girls had stayed to fight side-by-side with them.
"Why didn't you guys run?" Zhao Yuan asked, his voice laced with lingering fear. "If we had lost the fight, it would've been really dangerous for you to fall into those thugs' hands."
Yang Zi shot Zhao Yuan a glare and retorted, "And leave you guys here to bleed for us while we run for our lives? Come on, do we look like the kind of people who'd do that?!"
Zhao Yuan was taken aback for a moment, then he chuckled. "You're right. My mistake."
"Admitting your mistakes is the first step to correcting them. You're still a good comrade." Yang Zi struck the pose of a veteran official, drawing a wave of laughter from the others.
Once the laughter subsided, Yang Zi remarked, "But seriously, I never thought the eight of us could actually take down a dozen or so thugs armed with clubs."
"That's all thanks to Zhao Yuan," Liu Zhu said. "If he hadn't taken out their leader right at the start, we most likely would have lost this fight."
The mention of Zhao Yuan's name reminded everyone of the scene from moments ago: a dozen thugs surrounding him, wildly beating him with their clubs. With that thought, the joy of their victory faded, replaced by worry for his condition.
Liu Zhu and the other two guys immediately crowded around Zhao Yuan and, without a word, lifted his shirt. The sight of his back made everyone gasp. Lin Xue couldn't stop a small "Ah!" from escaping as she covered her mouth, her pretty eyes welling up with tears.
Zhao Yuan's back was a mess of black and blue welts from the club strikes. They were densely packed and crisscrossed in a network so thick you couldn't count them all. Just looking at the bruises was enough to imagine how ferocious the assault had been. Anyone else would have collapsed unconscious long ago, but Zhao Yuan had not only endured it, he'd even taken down Brother Cheng and several of his men.
"What are you all standing there for? Get Zhao to a hospital, quick!" Yang Zi was the first to snap out of her shock, yelling at the top of her lungs.
"Right, right, we have to get Zhao Yuan to the hospital!"
"He's hurt too badly to wait. What if it leads to permanent damage?"
The others snapped back to reality as well. Chattering anxiously, they prepared to take Zhao Yuan to a nearby hospital.
"There's no need to go to the hospital." Zhao Yuan shook his head, declining their kind offer. "My injuries look a lot scarier than they are. They're just skin-deep, no broken bones or anything. I'll just ice it when I get back and put on some Safflower Oil tomorrow. It'll be fine in a few days."
Aside from his injuries not being too severe, Zhao Yuan didn't want to go to the hospital because he was afraid they would notify the school. After all, one look at his wounds made it obvious he'd been in a fight. If the hospital informed the police or the school, all of them would likely be punished.
Seeing how adamant Zhao Yuan was about not going, and that his injuries truly didn't seem life-threatening, the group reluctantly gave up trying to convince him.
"We should get out of here," Zhao Yuan said. "If those punks who ran off come back with reinforcements, we won't be able to win a second time."
Everyone immediately agreed with Zhao Yuan's sentiment.
"Zhao's right, let's get out of here!"
"Yeah, let's get away from here, fast!"
Though they had won the fight, it had come at a price. Never mind Zhao Yuan's horrifying bruises, Liu Zhu, Wang Rongfeng, and Wu Yan were all sporting injuries to some degree. As for the four girls, while they were unhurt thanks to the guys' protection, they were all completely exhausted. In their current state, if another gang of thugs were to show up, they would almost certainly be in deep trouble.
But after taking only a few steps, Zhao Yuan stopped. He scanned the unconscious thugs scattered across the ground, frowned, and said, "Are we really just going to walk away? Aren't we letting them off a little too easy?"
"How about this?" Yang Zi's eyes suddenly lit up as she offered a suggestion with a wicked grin. "Let's strip off their shirts and pants. When they wake up, they'll have to streak all the way home!"
"Holy shit!"
Her suggestion stunned everyone into silence.
"Her Majesty the Queen, you are vicious! Truly, truly vicious!" Wu Yan gave Yang Zi a thumbs-up, his voice filled with genuine awe.
Stripping a man naked? That was just... brutally humiliating. It was even more ruthless than just killing them! If nobody saw thugs like Brother Cheng and Da Huan, maybe they could recover. But if they were seen, they'd be utterly disgraced. They could forget about ever making a name for themselves on the streets again. After all, in that world, reputation was everything. Without your reputation, what the hell did you have left?
"I'll take that as a compliment. Just make sure you never get on my bad side!" Yang Zi said with a triumphant smile. But to Wu Yan, that smile looked downright sinister, and he couldn't help but shudder.
Zhao Yuan, Liu Zhu, and Wang Rongfeng put their heads together and agreed that Yang Zi's suggestion was as vicious as it was brilliant. They decided to do exactly as she said.
"I'll take this one." Yang Zi rolled up her sleeves and marched toward Da Huan, the one who had started it all.
Lin Xue quickly grabbed her arm. "What do you think you're doing?"
"What does it look like? I'm stripping him, of course," Yang Zi replied matter-of-factly.
"You're a girl! What business do you have stripping a man?" Lin Xue said, completely exasperated. "This is a job for Zhao Yuan and the other guys. We should go to a nearby pharmacy and get them some medicine for their injuries."
"Lin Xue's right. This isn't something we should be doing,"
"We know you're tough, but you don't have to be *this* tough. Come on, let's go get the medicine."
Qi Xia and Luo Dan hurried over and, together with Lin Xue, dragged Yang Zi away.
As they left, Lin Xue didn't forget to call back a reminder. "Zhao Yuan, you guys be quick about it! We'll wait for you at the school gate."
"Okay," Zhao Yuan nodded.
Even as she was being hauled away, Yang Zi's mouth didn't stop moving. "Hey! After you strip them naked, remember to take a picture as a souvenir! And don't forget to send me a copy!"
Lin Xue stopped, dumbfounded. "Why on earth would you want naked pictures of them?" she asked, bewildered.
"For my studies," Yang Zi said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "The illustrations of genitalia in our physiology textbook are just drawings. We need to see the real thing to properly master the material!"
Lin Xue felt her face flush with exasperation. "Okay, that's it. You win. I completely and utterly give up on you."