At his words, Hu Yan froze. His light blue eyes darkened as everything he couldn't figure out suddenly clicked into place.
'So that was her plan all along. That's why she pulled him back from the brink of going berserk and then released Sang Mo. It was all so she could sell us!'
'That's why she was in such a hurry to call Lang Qiu and the others back.' Thinking of the recent call, his hand, still holding the lock, tightened slightly.
CRACK—
'He had indirectly helped her call them back!'
'If he hadn't given them the confirmed message, they might still be in Zone C hunting Feathered Dragon Beasts. Getting injured would have been better than being sold to the Gladiatorial Arena!'
Sang Mo, no longer chained up, had been hanging for a long time. The moment the lock was released, his entire body pitched forward, and he nearly collapsed to the ground.
Hu Yan, with his quick reflexes, caught him and helped him up.
Bai Zhi looked at Sang Mo's weakened state and sighed inwardly. 'If only I had a Treatment Pod, these injuries would heal in no time.'
But Treatment Pods had to be special-ordered and wouldn't arrive anytime soon. Besides, they were expensive. According to the original owner's memories, even a basic one cost over a hundred million Star Coins.
Bai Zhi said, "Let's go. First, let's find a doctor to take a look at you."
Sang Mo's expression was grim and wary. "I don't need your hypocritical act. You'd better hope I don't get the chance!"
Watching her leave first, Hu Yan whispered something in Sang Mo's ear, and Sang Mo quieted down.
Near their home was a small clinic, but because it had a B-level Healer, its business was excellent.
After examining the wounds, the Healer frowned and said sternly, "Why did you wait so long to bring him in? A few more days, and he would have been a goner!"
Bai Zhi's face was stiff. "I'm sorry. We'll be more careful in the future."
The Healer glanced at Hu Yan, who was also injured, and said, "His injuries are too severe. It will require multiple treatments, and the cost will be quite high. You two should discuss whether you want to proceed. If you don't treat him, he'll just be waiting to die."
Bai Zhi immediately declared, "We'll treat him. No matter the cost, we'll do it. Money isn't an issue. Oh, and he's injured too. Please take a look at him as well. I'll go pay."
'I just asked the system,' she thought. 'Medical expenses count as spending money on my Beast Husbands.'
Both Hu Yan and Sang Mo heard her words. They exchanged glances, seeing surprise and confusion in each other's eyes.
But then they realized she probably just wanted to heal their injuries to fetch a better price when she sold them.
The total medical fee came to over two hundred thousand Star Coins.
The moment he saw the bill, Hu Yan hesitated.
'This bill must be wrong, right? It's so much. How could Bai Zhi possibly afford it?'
'Based on Bai Zhi's personality, she wouldn't even be willing to spend a few hundred Star Coins on them. How could someone who winces in pain at spending a few hundred Star Coins possibly be willing to spend over two hundred thousand on their treatment?'
But the bill in front of him told him that Bai Zhi had, in fact, just spent over two hundred thousand Star Coins on them.
Just as Hu Yan was feeling suspicious, Bai Zhi noticed that the screen in front of her showed less than half an hour remaining. She instantly grew anxious.
'I still need to spend over 700,000!'
Fortunately, in the next moment, she saw Sang Mo and Hu Yan walk out.
Without a word, she grabbed one with each hand and started pulling them toward the nearest mall.
Sang Mo, thinking she was up to some new trick, violently flung her hand away. A chilling glint appeared in his dark eyes as he lunged, his hand reaching for her neck. "I knew bringing us to a doctor wasn't that simple! You've already sold us, haven't you?! Bai Zhi, I really underestimated you!"
Hu Yan reacted instantly, blocking his hand and pulling Bai Zhi behind him. "Sang Mo! Remember your place."
Sang Mo sneered. "My place? Her father saved my life, and she tortured me half to death! That more than repays the debt! You can be the noble one and let her make a profit off you before you die, but I won't! If I'm going to die, I'm taking her with me!"
"Get out of my way, or I'll take you down too!"
Bai Zhi was engulfed by the chilling aura coming from Sang Mo. His murderous intent made her blood run cold, and she instinctively recoiled.
'She never imagined Sang Mo actually wanted her dead!'
Thankfully, Hu Yan stopped him in time. Otherwise, even severely injured, Sang Mo could have killed her as easily as flipping his hand.
'The original owner really screwed me over!!'
To clear up the misunderstanding, Bai Zhi quickly explained, "If I had really sold you, would I have needed to spend hundreds of thousands on your treatment? Wouldn't I have just taken you there directly? I just saw that you two don't have any clothes and planned to take you to the mall to buy some."
Hearing her explanation, the expression on Sang Mo's face didn't soften much. Hu Yan, however, considered it. Given how stingy Bai Zhi was, it was indeed unlikely she would pay for their treatment if she had already sold them; she would be more likely to squeeze every last drop of blood from them.
Hu Yan glanced at a Beastman in a uniform walking their way. "Someone has already noticed us. You don't want to be taken away, do you? What she said makes some sense. Let's see what she's planning first."
After hearing this, Bai Zhi nodded repeatedly.
Sang Mo snorted coldly and withdrew his hand.
Seeing this, Bai Zhi breathed a sigh of relief. She then hailed a Hovercar, shoved the two of them inside, and gave the address of the mall.
In the car, Hu Yan said, "There's no money left at home. We're used to not wearing clothes. You don't need to buy any for us."
Bai Zhi frowned. "You can't just go without clothes all the time. Don't worry, I won the lottery. I have money now."
By the time they reached the mall, there were only twenty minutes left.
Time was tight. Bai Zhi walked quickly toward a clothing store that looked very high-end.
After entering, she merely glanced around. As a Sub-female approached to greet her, she spoke quickly and precisely, "This row, this one, and these. Get one of each in their sizes, and these other sizes as well. Be quick, I'm in a hurry."
In this interstellar world, besides females and Beastmen, there were also Sub-females and sub-beastmen.
Because Sub-females and sub-beastmen had not fully differentiated, they retained some beast-like features, such as ears, tails, and so on.
The service industry was mostly staffed by Sub-females and sub-beastmen, as they were neither as revered as females nor as powerful as Beastmen.
The Sub-female before them was a sub-cat female.
Bai Zhi watched the cat ears on the Sub-female's head twitch from time to time and found them quite cute. 'They're so much better than those store-bought decorative cat ears.'
The sub-cat female was stunned by her words. While it wasn't unheard of for a female to buy clothes for her Beast Husband, this was the first time she had ever seen someone buy clothes like *this*.
Her gaze fell upon the two Beastmen who entered behind Bai Zhi, and she couldn't help but marvel. Both Beastmen were exceptionally handsome and well-built, but why weren't they wearing any clothes?
And they were somehow covered in injuries, especially the black-eyed Beastman lagging slightly behind, who seemed to be in very poor condition.
Just as Bai Zhi was about to speak again, the store manager hurried forward with a smile. "Please wait just a moment."
Then she pulled the Sub-female away to prepare the order.
The Sub-female told the manager what she'd noticed, muttering, "Manager, aren't you afraid she can't pay the Star Coins? They don't look like they can afford clothes from our store."
The manager said in a low voice, "Whether they can afford it or not, anyone who walks into the store is a customer, and we must treat our customers well."
Then the manager urged her to hurry up and get the items.
The Sub-female could only go and retrieve the stock reluctantly.
Just then, an exaggerated, mocking voice came from behind Bai Zhi. "Well, well, look who it is! I never thought I'd live to see the day I'd run into you here, Bai Zhi."
Hearing her name, Bai Zhi turned toward the source of the voice. Behind her stood a gaudily dressed female, her arms crossed and a look of contempt on her face as she stared at her.
Bai Zhi recognized the person in front of her as one of the lackeys who usually followed the female lead, Qin Yue: Yang Shanshan.