The seventh floor continues its night shift under moonlit talisman lamps. Lu Yan works at her counter with the Heaven-Balance Scale and sealed deposits while the pawnshop machinery moves around her.

A minor immortal customer joins Lu Yan’s counter with a small crystal vial of lifespan.

The deposit is registered as too minor to attract scrutiny, which makes Lu Yan expect a routine verification.

Lu Yan performs the required weighing and prepares to taste the seal wax.

The taste hits Lu Yan with impossible recognition.

Lu Yan’s talent identifies familiar details that prove the deposit carries her own future lifespan.

Lu Yan remembers the limit of her own gift: she cannot measure her own remaining life, making this deposit impossible unless someone else harvested it.

The minor customer notices Lu Yan’s silence and becomes nervous while the scale confirms the deposit.

After the audit, Lu Yan leaves the seventh floor work area and returns to the mortal dormitory below.

Lu Yan looks at the sleeping couriers and realizes anyone near her at night could have stolen from her future.