Ma Cheng and the rest were all experienced and sly foxes. When they saw Li Du's meaningful smile, they immediately became wary.
However, they were unable to find out the truth. The treasure hunters surrounded them passionately and dragged them away to eat and drink. At the same time, they started to appraise the items they had brought.
Most of the items they had brought were hunting knives. The treasure hunters stabbed the hunting knives into the ground. The shining blades reflected the scarlet light of the fire, and looked murderous.
Frank's gaze was immediately attracted. He asked, "These are the hunting knives you guys brought from the Hopi? My god, they are so beautiful. You guys have made a fortune this time! "
Hans said, "Yes, we made a fortune. It's a pity you guys didn't go to Page. Otherwise, we could have joined forces to go to the Hopi's reservation. Not only could we bring back the hunting knives, but we could also bring back the coffins."
"Coffins?" Ding Xiaofeng was shocked.
Li Du explained, "The Hopi's coffin making is considered one of the best. They use all handmade techniques. The process is complicated and scientific, and they like to make all kinds of styles. It's not wrong to say that they make art."
Ding Xiaofeng suddenly understood. "Oh, I see."
Li Du nodded. "Yes, that's it. You guys didn't know?"
Ma Cheng continued, "Haha, we are from California. We don't know much about the Hopi. Besides, we are mainly in charge of the art in East Asia. There are other colleagues in charge of the North American area."
At the start of the drinking competition, a group of treasure hunters took off their clothes and toasted each other. There were beer, wine, whiskey, and a cocktail. Anyway, they drank until the wine was gone. It was clean and crisp.
Ma Cheng avoided the treasure hunters who were trying to persuade them to drink. He walked to Li Du and asked, "Li, didn't you have something to show us? Why haven't I seen it? "
Li Du sighed and said, "Wait a minute, I'll take it out now."
He took out a metal hand covered with verdigris from the safe in the room. "Can you tell what this is?"
After getting the metal hand, Ma Cheng studied it under the light of the fire. He looked at it for a while and shouted to the other two treasure hunters. The other two also rushed over, and then they started discussing it.
After the discussion, Ma Cheng turned around and said, "Li, this thing of yours is a little strange. To confirm its identity, we might need to remove the verdigris. Is that possible?"
Li Du asked, "How do you remove the verdigris?"
Ma Cheng said, "The best way is to use abrasive blasting, which is to spray dry or suspended in a liquid onto the surface of the copper hand, then remove the rust, oxide, and dry dirt on the surface."
"You can also add fine wood chips, talcum powder, acetic acid, and glass powder to ammonia water. They will react with the basic copper carbonate in verdigris to form a soluble blue copper-ammonia complex."
Li Du smiled bitterly. "I don't have any of those things."
Du Dayuan said with a smile, "There should be white vinegar, right? You can also scrub it with white vinegar, but it won't be able to completely remove the impurities, but it can remove a part of it to reveal its true appearance. "
There was plenty of white vinegar here, so he went to get a bottle. The three of them carefully dipped their brushes in the white vinegar and began to scrub their copper hands.
As the turbid green liquid flowed down, the face of the bronze hand became clear.
After brushing, some letters appeared on the back of the copper hand, and the three of them gathered together to discuss it again.
Finally, Ma Cheng said, "I have a rough idea. Xiao Li, where did you get this thing? This should be a sacrificial hand from the Yemeni region. If this is the real deal, then it's valuable. "
Li Du said, "A friend of mine asked me to keep it safe. He said he got it from Arabia, but I'm not sure if it's real or not."
Ma Cheng's face revealed an excited expression. "Got it from Arabia? Then it's very likely to be a real sacrificial hand! "
"Is it very valuable?"
Ma Cheng nodded heavily. "Of course. The sacrificial hand is a token of a folk religion that flourished between 100 AD and 300 AD. As for which religion it belonged to, there's no way to find out. However, we can be sure that it's a local religion that has disappeared."
He showed the copper hand to Li Du and pointed to the letters carved on the back of the hand. "This is an ancient Yemeni script. I'm not sure what exactly is written, but it might be related to the religion and god of that time.
"This kind of Arabian copper hand is usually a model of a real human hand. Their owner hoped to place his hand in the hands of a god that he admired, so that he could gain the favor of the god. That's why these sculptures were created."
Li Du said in admiration, "Mr. Ma, you really know a lot."
Ma Cheng shook his head. "This is not my forte. After the three of us discussed it, we came to this conclusion. If we were to show it to an expert on Middle Eastern religions, he would be able to give us more information!"
At this moment, Ding Xiaofeng said, "Right, isn't Gigoulas an appraiser of Middle Eastern religious objects? Let's show it to him. He should know about this. "
Ma Cheng looked at Li Du with a troubled expression. "Gigoulas is in Los Angeles. Xiao Li, can you come with us to Los Angeles soon?"
"Soon?" Li Du shook his head and smiled bitterly. "I'm afraid not. I have to attend Flagstaff's Autumn Harvest Festival at the end of the month."
Du Dayuan said, "If you trust us, Xiao Li, we'll bring the sacrificial hand back to show our colleagues and then get back to you with the information."
"How can we do that?" Ma Cheng frowned. "That's too much. We've only known each other for a day."
Du Dayuan said, "Don't worry, we'll call Gigoulas first and get him to estimate the price. Then we can mortgage it to Xiao Li according to the estimate."
"Yes," Ding Xiaofeng agreed. "If we don't have enough money, don't we still have a batch of rubies and jewelry at the bank? It should be enough. Anyway, we're just mortgaging it to Xiao Li. "
Li Du laughed. The few of them had asked and answered their own questions. What a good plan.
Without batting an eyelid, he took the bronze hand back and said, "If we're going to Los Angeles, when will it be?"
"It'd be best if it's before the Autumn Harvest Festival," Ma Cheng said. "Otherwise, we won't have time. It should be within these few days, around the end of the month."
Li Du said, "Alright then, I won't attend the Autumn Harvest Festival. I'll go with you guys to Los Angeles."
Ma Cheng and the others were stunned for a moment, then nodded and smiled. "Alright, that's good."
Li Du packed up the bronze hand and returned to the cabin. He went up to the balcony on the second floor and leaned against the railing, looking at the excited crowd below.
After drinking a can of beer, he took out his phone and made a call. "Hello, Luo Qun, it's me."
Luo Qun said, "I know it's you. Who else would call me that? What's wrong, you're not coming back tonight? Fooling around outside again? "
Li Du said angrily, "What do you mean fooling around? I'm taking care of business. "
"Taking care of business, huh?" Luo Qun said disdainfully.
Listening to her tone, Li Du could imagine the look on her face when she pouted.
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