Chapter 466 465. The Hand of Sacrifice (4)

Ma Cheng and the others were all veterans and old foxes. When they saw Li Du's meaningful smile, they immediately became wary.

But they couldn't find out the truth, because the treasure hunters surrounded them enthusiastically, dragged them to drink and eat meat, and at the same time began to identify the things they brought.

The most brought were hunting knives. The treasure hunters stuck the hunting knives in the ground, and the shining blades reflected the scarlet flames, making them look murderous.

Pole's gaze was immediately attracted, and he asked, "Is this the hunting knife you brought from the Hopi tribe? Oh my god, they are so beautiful, and you made money this time!"

Hans said: "Yes, we made a fortune, but it's a pity that you didn't go to Page, otherwise we will join hands to go to the Hopi reservation. Not only can we bring back hunting knives, but we can also bring back coffins."

"Coffin?" Ding Xiaofeng was startled.

Li Du explained: "The coffin making of the Hopi people is a masterpiece. They use all handmade craftsmanship, the process is complicated and scientific, and they like to make various styles. It is no problem to say that what they make is a work of art."

Ding Xiaofeng suddenly said: "Oh, so that's the case?"

Li Du nodded and said, "Yes, that's it, you don't know?"

Ma Cheng continued: "Haha, we are in California, and we don't know much about the Hopi people. Besides, we are mainly responsible for the artworks in East Asia, and other colleagues in North America are in charge."

The wine fight session started. A group of treasure hunters took off their clothes and shirtless and started toasting beer, wine, whiskey, and mixed cocktails. Anyway, the wine was dry and crisp.

Ma Cheng avoided the treasure pickers who persuaded him to drink. He walked up to Li Du and asked, "Xiao Li, don't you have something to show us? Why haven't you seen it?"

Li Du sighed and said, "Wait a minute, I'll take it out right away."

He took out his verdigris metal hand from the safe in the house and asked, "Can you see what this is?"

After getting the metal hand, Ma Cheng pondered by the light of the fire. He looked at it for a while and shouted to the other two, and the other two rushed over, and then they discussed together.

After the discussion, Ma Cheng turned around and said, "Xiao Li, this thing of yours is a bit weird. To determine its identity, you may need to remove the patina, is that okay?"

Li Du asked: "How to remove the patina?"

Ma Chengdao: "The best method is to use abrasive blasting, which is to spray dry or suspended abrasives on the surface of the copper hand in a targeted manner, and then remove the rust, scale and dry dirt on the surface."

"Ammonia can also be added using fine wood chips, talc, acetic acid and glass powder, which will react with the basic copper carbonate in the patina to form a soluble blue cuproammonia complex."

Li Du smiled wryly, "There are none of these things."

Du Dayuan smiled and said: "Then there is always white vinegar, right? You can also use white vinegar to scrub, but you can't completely remove these sundries, but you can remove some of them and reveal your true colors."

There is plenty of white vinegar here, he went to get a bottle, and the three of them carefully scrubbed the copper hands with a brush dipped in white vinegar.

As the turbid green liquid flowed down, the face of the copper hand became clear.

Some letters appeared on the back of the copper hand after scrubbing, and the three of them got together to discuss again.

In the end, Ma Cheng said: "There is probably information, Xiao Li, where did you get this thing? It should be a sacrificial hand from Yemen. If it is genuine, it will be valuable."

Li Du said: "A friend of mine entrusted me to keep it. He said he got it from Arabia. I don't know if it's true or not."

With an excited expression on Ma Cheng's face, he said, "I got it from Arabia? Then it is very likely that it is the real sacrificial hand!"

"Is it precious?"

Ma Cheng nodded heavily: "Of course, the sacrificial hand is a folk religious token that emerged from 100 AD to 300 AD. As for which religion it belongs to, it is impossible to test, but it is definitely a local religion that has disappeared. "

He showed the bronze hand to Li Du, pointed to the engraved letters on the back of the hand and said, "This is an ancient Yemeni script. I don't know what it is written in, but it may be related to the religion and gods at that time."

"These Arabic bronze hands are often models of real hands, and their owners wished to place their hands in the hands of the gods they admired for deep favor, hence these works."

Li Du said in admiration: "Mr. Ma, you really know a lot."

Ma Cheng shook his head and said: "This aspect is not my strong point. The three of us came to this conclusion after discussing it. If we show it to experts who study local religions in the Middle East, he can give more information!"

At this time, Ding Xiaofeng said: "By the way, isn't Jiguras the appraiser of religious items in the Middle East? Let's show him, he should know about this."

Ma Cheng looked at Li Du in embarrassment, and said, "Jigulas is in Los Angeles, Xiao Li, can you come to Los Angeles with us recently?"

"Recently?" Li Du shook his head and smiled wryly, "I'm afraid not. I'm going to participate in the autumn harvest festival in Qigan City at the end of the month."

Du Dayuan said: "If you can trust us, Xiao Li, then we will take the sacrificial hand back and show it to our colleagues, and then return the information to you."

"How can this be done?" Ma Cheng frowned, "This request is too much, we only knew each other for the first day."

Du Dayuan said: "It doesn't matter, let's call Jiguras first, ask him to estimate the price, and then mortgage Xiao Li according to the estimated value..."

"Yes," Ding Xiaofeng said in agreement, "If we don't bring enough money, don't we still have a batch of rubies and jewelry in the bank? The sum must be enough, anyway, it's just mortgaged to Xiao Li."

Li Du laughed, and they asked and answered themselves, it was really easy to calculate.

He took back the copper hand calmly and said, "If you go to Los Angeles, when will it be?"

"It's best before the autumn auction, otherwise we will run out of time, that is, these few days, around the end of the month." Ma Cheng pondered.

Li Du said: "Alright then, I won't participate in the Autumn Harvest Festival, I will go to Los Angeles with you."

Ma Cheng and the others were taken aback for a moment, then nodded and smiled and said, "Okay, that's good."

Li Du packed his copper hands and went back to the hut. He went to the balcony on the second floor, leaned on the railing and looked at the emotional crowd below.

After drinking a can of beer, he took out his cell phone and called: "Hello, Luo Qun, it's me."

Luo Qun said: "I know it's you, who else calls me that? What's the matter, you're not coming back tonight? Are you fooling around outside again?"

Li Du said angrily: "What is fooling around? I'm doing business."

"Hug left and right to do business?" Luo Qun said disdainfully.

Listening to her tone, Li Du could imagine the girl pouted.