Serenity!

"Tina, you used to be a member of the Annihilation Cult, didn't you?" Xia Lun asked grimly.

Amid the clicks of clockwork and heavy footsteps, the tension mounted. Xia Lun could clearly feel Tina's heartbeat racing.

After a long pause, Tina took a couple of sips from her bottle and replied weakly, "Look at it another way. In times like these, only a woman like me—one who can lie and read the situation—can survive."

She fell silent again, then sighed and admitted, "I was a member of the Annihilation Cult. I was a cultist." Click. Click.

The clockwork behind them grew louder. Xia Lun tightened his grip on Tina's right arm and quickened his pace.

Tina hissed in pain. "Slow... slow down."

"Can't. If the Clockwork Court Guards catch up, I'll have to leave you here." Xia Lun sounded as calm as if he were discussing dinner.

"Interested in my past?" Perhaps confessing her secret had loosened her tongue, because Tina brought it up herself. "You can tell me."

"I was abandoned as a baby. Someone left me in an alley behind a tavern. A child like me should've starved, but luckily, an elderly nun who served the Three Saints took me in. I became a nun too. Unfortunately, she had a sideline."

Tina's voice was soft, as though she had sunk into a memory.

"When I was fourteen, she forced me to entertain her wealthy patrons. They were all powerful people. Their lives were as beautiful as soap bubbles shimmering with color. I envied them so much."

"Some were gentle and generous. More were rough and cold. But none of them truly liked me. To them, I was probably just another fleeting soap bubble. Anyone could replace me."

"I'm ashamed to say I liked that life at first. But