No. 17 Gray Lane

Tiezha Town. The river valley caught all the smoke—ling coal steam drifted down from the mining area, circled around the center of the town, and sank into the downwind area. There is a gray lane in the downwind area, where female textile factory workers, boiler workers, and retired miners live. The gray-green lines in their bodies are getting deeper every day - on their fingertips, lung lobes, and blood vessel walls. Word around town is: corrosion is part of Irongate. You work, you are corrupted, you die. Nothing to be surprised about. But three people have died recently in Ash Lane. When he died, all the lines on his body had disappeared - he was as clean as if he had never been to a factory. The body looks better than when it was alive. His face was twisted in pain. Not purification. Purification doesn't kill people.