Chapter 79: Do You Want Revenge?

"Cut the nonsense."

Dou Bin glared fiercely at Hei Zi.

Could he not be a little sharper? Did he think Dou Bin wanted to give her away? Did he understand that the situation was simply stronger than the people involved?

Dou Bin, a first-class ability-enhanced individual, had managed to keep his aura in check as long as Yu Yan stayed still, but as soon as she moved, a portion of her presence leaked out. How could he describe it? In any case, Dou Bin felt that even the deadly aura from the Golden Fang Beast they had schemed endlessly to finally wear down paled in comparison to Yu Yan’s.

To put it bluntly, Yu Yan had knocked Huang Mao out with a single kick, her face unflushed and breathing steady, without even shifting her other foot. If it were him, he could never do that. Kicking Huang Mao away was possible, but knocking him unconscious with one kick... What a joke. Huang Mao’s body, tempered by spirit beast meat, might look scrawny but was actually quite sturdy. Otherwise, Dou Bin would never have allowed him to stay so close, nor would their relationship appear so intimate.

Grudgingly, Hei Zi lifted the woman curled up on the ground and delivered her to Yu Yan’s side.

As he let go, he pinched her soft waist hard.

The woman let out a muffled groan of pain and showed no reaction to being handed over to Yu Yan. Not until Yu Yan carried her back to the fire, poured out the remaining stemfruit soup from the clay pot, cooled it, and fed it to her mouth spoonful by spoonful.

Several minutes passed. After absorbing the spiritual energy from the soup, the woman slowly regained her senses.

"Why did you bother to save me?"

The first words she spoke upon realizing her rescue made Yu Yan frown.

Her face was bleak and hopeless. "They’re nothing but beasts. These days, I haven’t been human or ghost, living or dead—there’s no difference. They ruined..." The woman glanced at Yun Duo’er and swallowed the words that had nearly escaped her lips.

She calmed herself a little, then said, "Anyway, I don’t want to live anymore. Saving me was pointless."

If not for her awareness of Yun Duo’er’s presence, she might have spoken those forbidden words.

Hearing this, Yu Yan actually felt inclined to toss her right back into the crowd of men.

A person must cherish themselves first, before others can cherish them.

When someone loses all will to live, no one else can save them. Yu Yan could not bring this woman in and out of the dungeon forever; they would soon part ways. And then, in her current state, her fate would hardly differ from before.

"Do you want revenge?"

"They bullied you so badly. If I could give you a powerful chance, would you still want to die?"

For the sake of her sister, Jiang Shasha!

Yu Yan thought to herself.

---

She had heard Jiang Shasha was a person who distinguished between gratitude and resentment. Yu Yan didn’t mind helping this woman out, if only to plant a seed of goodwill.

Why do you want to save me, and help me like this?

The woman looked up, her numb gaze flickering with confusion. She could clearly sense that Yu Yan hadn’t intended to intervene at first; something had changed when she started to cry. Then Yu Yan had asked: Did she know Jiang Shasha?

So it was for her sister?

This person knew her sister—perhaps they were close.

No matter the reason, Yu Yan’s words had indeed sparked a fighting spirit within her. Yes, why should she die? What had she done wrong? It was those men who were worse than beasts; the instant the dungeon world appeared, they lost even the most basic bottom line of humanity.

Such people did not deserve to live.

The woman nodded heavily, enunciating each word, "I don’t want to die anymore."

"If you really give me a chance to be strong, I’ll make those who bullied me pay."

"You’re already becoming stronger, aren’t you?"

Yu Yan smiled, signaling her to feel her own body.

The woman had never eaten anything imbued with spiritual energy. Although the leftover stemfruit soup was only a few spoonfuls, Yu Yan never used low-grade ingredients for her and her daughter’s soup. Among a dozen or so stemfruits, seven or eight were third-grade, and even two fourth-grade fruits were added.

After a few sips, the woman’s body underwent a complete transformation.

The most obvious change was how much lighter she felt.

Excited, the woman stood up and tried walking a few steps. Warm spiritual energy flowed through her, soothing and comforting; she couldn’t help but sigh. Her joints crackled, and at last she couldn’t resist breaking into a run.

That run—astonishing.

If her speed had been one before, now it was at least three! If only she’d had this speed when she encountered those men... A shadow passed through her eyes. Even so, she still couldn’t defeat them. Forget revenge; if she was unlucky enough to get cornered, she would repeat her old life.

No, it would only get worse.

There was another woman in the group suffering the same fate. Having practiced dance since childhood, her body was supple and alluring. The men, wanting to torment her longer, fed her spirit beast meat to strengthen her body. Then, fearing she would escape, they kept her like livestock.

Ropes bound her slender neck and limbs tightly, and every day they forced food and drink down her throat.

Why forced? Because that woman had long lost the will to live.

---

Thinking of this, Jiang Yue’er’s eyes, now somewhat revived, turned to Yu Yan.

She didn’t ask for much—if Yu Yan could make that soup again, and let her have another few spoonfuls of leftovers...

Yu Yan touched her own face. "Why are you looking at me like that? Let me tell you, I have a boyfriend!"

"Even if you washed your face and looked prettier, I wouldn’t be tempted."

Jiang Yue’er: "..."

Her bloodshot eyes brimmed with a smile.

Warmth spread within her. Since being separated from her sister, it was the first time the world didn’t seem as bleak as she’d imagined.

"Here."

Yu Yan, unconcerned, tossed her a piece of roasted bamboo rat meat cooked by Tang Yan, as if her earlier teasing hadn’t come from her mouth at all.

A few spoonfuls of soup could never fill the stomach. Jiang Yue’er didn’t stand on ceremony, thinking it was just ordinary roast meat, until she took a bite and the earthy energy exploded inside her. She looked at Yu Yan in amazement. "This is spirit beast meat!"

Yu Yan nodded. The bamboo rat was the lowest-grade spirit beast meat in her Lotus Mirage space.

As for the ordinary pork she’d kept at home before the dungeon world descended, Yu Yan had already cleared her space of it; now, it was impossible for her to take out a piece. After a pause, Yu Yan asked, "Can you cook?"

Cooking was too troublesome, too time-consuming.

Tang Yan’s food was nearly finished. If this woman could cook, Yu Yan wouldn’t mind bringing her along.

At least until they encountered the next S-grade dungeon; she couldn’t guarantee she could get her out safely before parting ways.

But Jiang Yue’er shook her head awkwardly. "I... I can’t."

Then, like a child who’d done wrong, she lowered her lashes. "But if you need me to, I can learn. Really!"

Learn?

Cooking well required not only talent but time.

Yu Yan didn’t have time to wait for her to slowly learn; chances were, before she mastered it, they’d run into the next S-grade dungeon. Besides, on the road to learning, there were always some guinea pigs whose fate wasn’t pretty.

She and Yun Duo’er certainly didn’t want to be those guinea pigs.

Yu Yan patted Jiang Yue’er’s thin shoulder. "Don’t worry, it doesn’t matter if you can’t cook."

"I didn’t save you because you could cook. If you’re truly grateful, then when you see your sister, just say a few good words about me."

In truth, these words were mostly meant to comfort Jiang Yue’er...