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“That wouldn’t happen Tang is just a thug—”
“A thug who tried to kill me and now you” David didn’t wait for Stuart to respond “Third, you know the ruyi belongs to China In addition, I’to become even richer than you already are”
“How’s that?”
“You give et here, then they don’t need to know that you’re in possession of a stolen artifact I take the ruyi back to China and tell the governht it at auction in order to return it to its horatitude Think of the contracts you’ll get—forever”
Stuart considered the logic As a lawyer, David knew that Stuart really had only one option Finally Stuart said, “A hero, huh?”
David nodded
“Not bad for three million dollars” Stuart sounded nonchalant, but it had to have been a huge concession
“Not bad at all,” David agreed, “and it sure beats being tied up in litigation, or worse, ending up in a Chinese jail”
Stuart sighed long and hard “All right” He stood shakily “Come with me”
Bill Tang was still out and not going anywhere, so David followed Stuart to the open doorway on the other side of the room It looked like a closet, but actually it was the antechaotten much closer to his prize than Stuart had wanted to admit He punched in an electronic code, and they stepped into a roo with drawers He opened one of the drawers Inside were four ruyis They were horribly ugly and horribly beautiful at the saus stems twisted, the way the heads unfurled They were natural yet somehow seemed beyond nature in their otherworldliness Stuart picked up the Site 518 ruyi, wrapped it in linen, and handed it to David
“I hope you knohat you’re doing” It was the first tiht know more about the ruyi than its collectibility
“What do youStuart could confirm what he suspected
“This is China’s Holy Grail Have you thought about the power it has to unite, control, and rule?” Stuart asked “I don’t mean to be melodramatic, but have you considered what could happen if it fell into the wrong hands? The ruyi could be used sythen the Chinese overnime that’s in power now, but at least we knoe’re dealing with So I hope you knohat you’re doing and who to trust, because this could change China’s future”
“Is it really Da Yu’s ruyi?” David asked point-blank “Did Brian actually find Da Yu’s scepter?”
“You never met him, but Brian was a brilliant kid,” Stuart answered “The fellowship proposal he sent this spring was a It not only confirmed for me that he’d found a tomb or some other treasure chamber but that he’d h artifacts and language Think about it, David Think about ho artifacts there are in the world that have had an impact on how people view culture The Rosetta stone provided the key to the decipherlyphics The discovery of oracle bones did the sae and history”