She forced herself to work for ten more minutes, her movements completely robotic as she shaped the loaves of bread and placed them on the wooden trays.
Every single second felt like an eternity. Her skin was crawling, and the black mark below her collarbone was starting to throb with a dull, steady heat.
The moment the old goat-female turned her back to tend to the back back-ovens, Lin Wan dropped her flour scraper. She didn't say a word. She slipped silently through the back door, stepping out into the narrow, dark alleyway behind the tavern.
The cold, greasy rain hit her face instantly. It was a miserable, dirty rain that smelled like smoke and wet iron, but it felt freezing against her burning skin.
The water ran down her cheeks, washing away a small line of the black soot she had smeared on her skin, revealing a glimpse of her pale, smooth female flesh underneath.
