Shen Qingyao, the last orthodox artisan in the porcelain town, has spent ten years guarding a ruined kiln and fighting the soul-corroding miasma. While searching for ore deep in the mountains, she awakens a piece of broken jade: Hengyu, an ancient guardian spirit of the mountains and seas. Betrayed by a master artisan a thousand years ago and left with his heart carved out, he has been trapped in the jade, swallowing miasma ever since. He tends her kiln and protects its fire; she uses the kiln fire to mend his thousand-year-old wounds. He tends her kiln, and she heals his wounds. What people call immortal bones have always been forged through the devotion of a craftsperson.
