Gu’s reply arrived through the paired mirror in the message room. The first burst carried a copied page from Ashfall’s old medicine disposal log. The second carried a page from Zhao Heng’s experimental ledger.
The disposal number resembled the island transfer code. Its notation described the contents as “presumed inert contaminants.” On Zhao’s page, the same batch number appeared among ordinary ingredients for his first experimental draught.
Yan stood close to the mirror table. “Read the dates.”
Qinghe followed the columns. The central bureau transfer preceded Zhao’s trial by several years. The disposal log placed the material in Ashfall’s stores; the experimental ledger listed the batch as one of the ingredients. The figures aligned closely enough to make a strong reconstruction, though the original container and remaining material were gone.
“Could the number be reused?” Bai asked.
“It could,” Qinghe said. “But the matching date range and batch mark make that less likely. We still do not have a receipt showing the exact shard went into the mixture.”
She laid the pages in date order: transfer from the central bureau, entry into the Ashfall disposal stock, then Zhao’s experimental ledger. The handwriting changed from one record to the next. The first described a sealed fragment; the second described a batch of presumed inert material; the third listed that batch among several ingredients.
