Chapter Two: Three Million for an Old Mirror

Older images glittered like stars under deep water, accessible but ruinously expensive. [DIRECTED READ: 2,306 WORDS. REMAINING: 997,049.] Chenzhou inserted a needle into a bird's eye. A thin panel opened. The ledger was gone, but a wax seal remained: the mark of the lost Clear Heart Studio, with fewer than ten authenticated works surviving. Han stopped breathing for a second. “The Bone-Reflecting Mirror?” “That name came later, but a Qing salt commissioner owned it. Run carbon and metallurgical tests. Quietly.” Han studied him. “Cloud Summit Auctions previews tomorrow. A Gu family agent is collecting Clear Heart pieces. Do you dare go?”