Morning at Five Crane Exchange Tower in Bone-Bell City, jade and ivory floors stacked under crane talismans as workers and debtors enter for another business day.

Second-floor work counter where minor assignments are pulled from ledger shelves before collectors spread through the tower.

Jiaolin reaches the third floor, the warm wood tea-ledger hall with bronze account bells and painted crane screens.

Jiaolin begins the routine tea-money collections in public, using the issued witness coin to make the work look normal.

Between routine collections, Jiaolin compares the old cold-case names against the third-floor tea ledger.

The inherited witness coin begins to respond again while Jiaolin moves deeper into the tea-ledger hall.

Gu Shi enters the third-floor tea hall and is identified by the clerks before Jiaolin approaches her.

Jiaolin keeps his cover by questioning nearby tea-money debtors while watching Gu Shi's distance from the hidden coin.

The inherited coin grows painfully warm when Jiaolin passes directly behind Gu Shi.

Jiaolin approaches Gu Shi under the routine pretext of verifying her tea account.

Jiaolin deliberately exposes the inherited witness coin to test Gu Shi's reaction.

Gu Shi denies knowing the inherited coin, and the coin marks the denial as false.

Gu Shi offers an enormous private payment for the inherited coin.

Jiaolin feels the force of the offer and refuses with professional language rather than admitting his curiosity.

Gu Shi pushes harder, but Jiaolin makes clear he wants the reason more than the payment.

A clerk approaches, forcing both Jiaolin and Gu Shi to resume their public roles.

Gu Shi leaves Jiaolin with a warning that proves her fear is not only about money.

Jiaolin leaves the tea hall with routine payments collected and a far more dangerous question hidden in his robe.

The workday closes, and Jiaolin submits only the routine tea-money results.

Jiaolin walks home through Bone-Bell City's evening streets after removing the most official parts of his work appearance.

Jiaolin reaches the siblings' apartment and notices signs of a careful search before entering fully.

Meilin is inside the searched apartment, frightened but unharmed, having waited for Jiaolin to return before touching anything.

Jiaolin and Meilin check what was disturbed and realize the searcher was not looking for ordinary valuables.

Meilin asks whether they are in trouble, and Jiaolin answers with careful truth because the inherited witness coin is in his pocket.