I didn't expect the fact that I've been secretly consuming honey to be discovered by the priestess.

She gathered all the oil girls and punished me severely, whipping my back.

"Tell me! Where do you get the food you eat every day?"

It felt as if something that belonged to me had been defiled, and the priestess was so furious that she wanted to grind her teeth to pieces.

"When did you start this? Who gave you the food?"

After raising the oil girls for so many years, I was the first one to defy her.

In her eyes, I didn't just betray her, but also betrayed the oil girls and everyone's faith.

"Are you planning to betray me? Are you planning to betray all of us?"

"Do you realize that your actions have rendered our years of effort useless?"

"Chen Lin, you used to be such a good child. How could you become like this?"

My skin wasn't as delicate as the other oil girls', so it took several lashes before faint traces of blood appeared on my back.

This only made the priestess angrier.

If I had been obediently consuming honey every day, my skin would have bled at the slightest touch.

The other oil girls gathered around, pointing and whispering among themselves.

Compared to the priestess's anger, they seemed more pleased with my misfortune.

Because I was the most outstanding among this group of oil girls.

If I stopped being an oil girl, they would eagerly vie for this position.

They longed for my downfall, hoping I would no longer be an oil girl.

I knelt on the ground, feeling the burning pain on my back.

Countless scrutinizing gazes fell upon me, filled with mockery and ridicule.

My head hung low, concealing my expression from everyone.

They thought I was angry and remorseful.

In truth, I found them laughable.

Go ahead, laugh.

A group of fools who were about to die, without even a trace left behind.

The priestess still couldn't extract any useful information from me.

I only told her that someone had thrown food from outside the iron railing, and I couldn't resist the temptation, so I ate it.

The priestess's gaze shifted from trust to disappointment, and she sealed the iron railing in the secret chamber tightly.

I lost all contact with the outside world.

Zhou Xiao said he could take me away as long as I was willing.

When I saw him for the last time, I said to him,

"I want to leave this place. Take me with you."