Chapter Two: Selling Moonlight to Strangers

At first only a few saw her. Gu Ye described her again and again: white dress, bare feet, a mole beneath her right eye, a rabbit missing its left ear. His words sketched her back into human awareness. An old woman pushed a coin beneath the door. "One bottle." Then came another, and another. People scanned payment codes, passed bills inside, or raised phones against the glass. The last bottle sold four minutes before sunrise. [CHALLENGE COMPLETE.] [BORROW ONE SOUND awarded. Three daily uses. Duration: ten seconds.] [A-Li granted twelve-hour observation exemption.] [Civilization sample empathy: EXCEEDS EXPECTATION.] A-Li's hand returned. She hugged Gu Ye, light as a breeze that had nearly been forgotten.