Bone Remains
A lot of people had come to see the sculpture exhibition. They said it was being held for the Chief Executive's birthday, a major occasion, and featured works by many of the Sub-district's master sculptors. The exhibition had been running for some time, but even now, near its end, plenty of people were still attending. Since so many tickets had been sold, each batch of visitors was given little time to view the exhibits. They had to hurry in and hurry back out.
The exhibition hall displayed works sculpted from all kinds of materials. The most eye-catching was a mutant Whale carved from a giant gemstone and suspended in the center of the hall. Under the lights, its flowing colors seemed to envelop the entire exhibition space.
It was dazzling enough to draw most people's attention as soon as they arrived. By contrast, fewer people lingered in front of the other exhibits, and the crowd there moved along more quickly.
Xu Huo made his way to the themed gallery dedicated to Gu Huifeng. The woman with sores on her face stood in the gallery, staring fixedly at a Photo among the exhibits. It was of Bone Remains, the sculpture that had already been sold.
Xu Huo got a good look at the work, which had sold for nearly a billion. It really did seem to be made from countless tiny bones, carved and then pieced together into the figure of a young girl. The sculpture was not particularly lifelike. Instead, perhaps because of its material, an uncanny chill seemed to emanate from the girl's entire body. Her eyes were especially striking: shadows formed the hollow shape of pupils. A closer look revealed that every bone around her eyes was riddled with tiny holes like needle pricks. The powdery