Chapter 50: As the true female protagonist of a revenge story...

Yu Xunge had no idea that Su Yitong was already entertaining the thought of having her marry into the Su family to work for them. Even if she had known, it wouldn't have mattered; she had already wasted enough anger on that in her past life.

The Su family was sometimes quite laughable. If you worked for them as an employee, the closer you got to the core, the better you were treated, incentivizing everyone to climb upward.

However, if you married into the Su family—whether as a daughter-in-law or a matrilocal husband—then you were entirely out of luck. You became free labor. After all, since you were already part of the Su family and working for your own household, why would you dare ask for this or that? Surely, you couldn't possibly have married into the Su family just for their gold coins, right?

Back in her past life, after she gained a modest reputation relying on her divine-gifted talent, Su Yitong tried everything she could to push her into marrying those morally bankrupt Su family members. Yet, simply by observing the kind of life Yu Xunhuan was forced to endure, Yu Xunge never held a high opinion of the Su family. Had Liang Yuuchuan and Han Qianshan not entered the scene later—with the Liang and Han families wielding influence comparable to the Su family—Yu Xunhuan's status and treatment would have been precarious indeed.

Besides, what kind of trash was Su Yitong even introducing? There was no way Yu Xunge would ever agree.

Consequently, in Su Yitong's eyes, her repeated rejections meant only one thing: she harbored lingering feelings for Yu Xunhuan.

What a thoroughly filthy imagination!

...

At 8:00 PM, the portal lit up right on schedule. Everyone lined up to pass through one by one, with a two-minute interval enforced before the next person was allowed through.

After stepping across the blue light gate, Yu Xunge found herself in a dim, small room illuminated by only a single candle.

Two people were standing inside: a short-haired woman and the military-uniformed man who had been shouting orders earlier. The man had now changed into a gray robe, while the short-haired woman beckoned to Yu Xunge, saying, "Come over here. Let's turn you into a small animal."

Yu Xunge looked at her with guarded suspicion: "What about the people who went before?" Even if they were transformed into small animals to be smuggled out of the city, it shouldn't have taken effect this quickly.

The short-haired woman smiled and stepped aside, revealing a small glass box behind her. It was crammed to the brim with countless cockroaches, crawling over one another in dense layers, all desperately trying to step on top of the others, with none willing to be crushed at the bottom.

Are these what you call small animals?!

Wait, what were Zhao Shuying's exact words again? "We can transform everyone into cute little animals."

Yu Xunge was utterly numb.

Here I am, the formidable protagonist of a rebirth revenge novel...

The short-haired woman said gently, "Come on."

Yu Xunge took a large step back: "Wait! I can... No, what I mean is, I have my own items that can transform me into a small animal—a genuinely cute small animal."

It didn't matter; she had plenty of hidden trump cards, and nobody knew how many different animals she could turn into!

Trump cards existed precisely to make one's life easier!

Yu Xunge raised a hand to halt the short-haired woman's advance: "Can I just transform myself?"

The short-haired woman stood her ground with a look of regret: "Of course."

Just as Yu Xunge was about to transform, she suddenly asked, "Does the 5 crystal coins I paid for this transformation service in my loan contract still need to be repaid?"

The short-haired woman pressed her lips into a smile, recognizing her as a player who had likely traded a skill to secure her entry pass: "The 5 crystal coins are mainly the fee for escorting you out of the city; the animal transformation is just a complimentary bonus."

Yu Xunge gritted her teeth. *Fine, fine, fine! You guys sure have plenty of schemes! Just you wait!*

She transformed into a plump cow cat she had recently petted and waddled over to a corner, only to find a black dog already squatting there. The dog looked at her with a gaze brimming with pity and understanding.

Yu Xunge: "..."

Over the next while, Yu Xunge finally understood why the queue to enter had been so slow. Almost everyone, upon learning they would be turned into cockroaches, had to go through a full cycle of shock, disbelief, questioning, struggle, resistance, and eventual compromise. Only a tiny minority—presumably those who had been here before—appeared completely calm and composed.

However, upon noticing the black dog and the cow cat in the corner, they all invariably cast envious, complicated glances at them again and again.

Yu Xunge waited patiently, continuously sensing the otherworldly aura throughout this period. The air here seemed infused with magic.

Ever since becoming a player, she had been able to perceive the energy within her body, and even felt the magic flowing through her veins whenever she used a skill. Yet none of those previous sensations had ever been as crystal clear as this.

It felt as though a camera lens, long shrouded in fog, had suddenly been wiped clean, bringing the entire world into sharp focus.

She even harbored the illusion that she could instantly cast [Frostbloom Seal] without chanting any incantations.

Players filed past Yu Xunge one by one, but she refrained from using the God of Thieves' skills. When she had first been reborn, the sight of even a stray dog made her want to steal something. But ever since she successfully stole Yu Xunhuan's [God of Cooking] talent, her inner hostility had drastically subsided. With so many powerhouses from other worlds out there, she didn't need to prey upon her fellow compatriots. Besides, there were still the Su, Liang, and Han families; she had plenty of enemies without needing to target people who had never wronged her.

After waiting patiently for some time, everyone finally arrived. An orange cat materialized to Yu Xunge's right—it was the short-haired woman.

The military-uniformed man had already packed away the cockroach box. Using an item to transform himself into an undead creature, he led the two cats and one dog outward.

The Underdark City was filled with all sorts of bizarre figures—trolls, blood elves, dwarves, and goblins alike—so nobody paid any attention to a few ordinary pets.

The group quickly made it out of the city. Yu Xunge closely followed right behind the team leader, who skillfully navigated around the territories of low-level creatures like wild wolves and goblins. After walking for an unknown duration, they arrived at a large tree a fair distance away from the Underdark City. Looking back now, only the spire of the Undead Palace could be faintly discerned.

The detection function of Soros's pocket watch was truly powerful. In Yu Xunge's field of vision, a line of text floated above the large tree: [A modified magical residence]

The team leader knocked on the tree trunk and whispered a passphrase. A flash of light swept across the feet of Yu Xunge and her companions, and a few seconds later, a doorway materialized on the massive tree trunk—one so thick it took several people to hug it. A bespectacled man opened the door and ushered them inside.

It was impossible to tell what kind of skill had been applied to the interior; it felt roughly the size of a soccer field, featuring two neat rows of tents that numbered around a hundred at a rough glance.

The orange cat reverted to the short-haired woman's form. She said to the cat and dog on the ground, "This is our stronghold. You can come here to repay your loans."

Such a chillingly cold remark.

Yu Xunge nodded her cat head, then realized how foolish she looked. She restored her human form, adjusted her mask and cap, and asked, "Are there any other services available here?"

The short-haired woman took out the box of cockroaches and began restoring them one by one into their human forms while speaking to the crowd: "If you find yourselves unable to survive out here, you are welcome to return and cooperate with us further. Of course, in that case, you will have to follow orders. As for everything else, the price list is right here; you can take a look."

Yu Xunge took the piece of paper handed over by the bespectacled man. It was crammed with various service fees, ranging from healing to lodging, from potions to disguise assistance. There was even a service where, if one got lost and couldn't find the camp, they could contact them and pay a fee to have a rescue team sent out...

Most terrifying of all, at least half of the listed items had prices marked as "To be discussed in person."