After admiring the collection of valuable porcelain, everyone began the careful process of crating them up.

However, Wang Guan and his associates were only responsible for the packing and sealing of the crates.

As for the physical transportation, that was Mr. Anderson’s responsibility.

After all, the foundation of any transaction is fairness and equity; the gold standard is always delivery upon receipt of payment.

Or rather, in any exchange of goods, the transaction can only be considered complete once all items for the trade are accounted for.

In this case, Mr. Anderson was responsible for shipping the sealed items to China, retrieving the Tablet of the Ten Commandments of Moses, and only then would the exchange be finalized by leaving the porcelain behind.

Once all the seals were affixed, Elder Zhou and the others immediately returned to the capital.

Wang Guan, however, had other pressing matters; he headed straight for the United States for a few days, finally resolving the business satisfactorily.

It was only then that Wang Guan returned home laden with treasures. Even though he was somewhat exhausted, his expression was undeniably bright with joy.

“Heh, another huge haul.”

At the airport, Yu Feibai circled a shipping container, sighing involuntarily, “Luckily, the Xiyi Museum has a large enough warehouse; otherwise, we truly wouldn't have enough space to fit it all.”

“If it doesn’t fit, it doesn't matter.”

Wang Guan grinned, “If necessary, we could just donate it to the Palace Museum.”

“Oh? When did you become so generous?”

Yu Feibai blinked, “If you’re going to donate it, you might as well donate it to me.”

“I dare give it, but would you dare accept it?” Wang Guan motioned with his mouth, “Wei-Jin, Sui, and Tang dynasty stone Buddhist sculptures—those are Class-One National Treasures. If you can't clearly account for their provenance, you might very well spend your life behind bars.”

“True enough…” Yu Feibai conceded, feeling helpless, “These things are like chicken ribs—tasteless if you can't flaunt them openly, yet a shame to discard.”

“Even if I donated them to the Palace Museum, they might not keep them,”

Wang Guan shook his head, “These items are also difficult to preserve. Most likely, once they thoroughly research their origins, they’ll have to be returned, or handed over to a specialized museum for safekeeping.”

“Mmm…” Yu Feibai nodded lightly, dropping the subject, then curiously inquired, “By the way, among these items, are there any absolute masterpieces?”

“There are,”

Wang Guan chuckled, “If the haul from the trip to Australia leaned towards the Song Dynasty, then the harvest from the American journey is mostly comprised of Ming and Qing pieces. The porcelain is predominantly from the 'Three Emperors of the Qing' period. As for calligraphy and painting, we have works by the Four Masters of the Wu School and Dong Qichang, among others. You could say this collection specialized in those areas.”

“More than just that, right?”

Yu Feibai winked, “I heard there are also some exquisite gems and diamonds… We’re brothers in this endeavor; you can’t hoard everything. You have to spare me a stone or two.”

“What do you need them for?” Wang Guan looked puzzled, “I’m about to get married, so it’s normal for me to need diamonds to make a proper show. Why on earth would you want them?”

“Nonsense, this is your fault.”

Yu Feibai retorted irritably, “Get married if you must, but why make such a massive spectacle of it, letting the whole city know, and then drag me into it? Truly, when the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer.”

“Tsk, regardless of me. You were going to have that day sooner or later anyway.”

Wang Guan smiled, “Congratulations, congratulations.”

“Don't rush it, it won't be that soon,”

Yu Feibai rallied, “I still have to wait until next year.”

“A dying struggle…” Wang Guan teased, which naturally made Yu Feibai blush with anger.

Amidst their bickering, the containers were loaded onto trucks and headed straight for the Xiyi Museum.

The two naturally followed, arriving at the museum’s backyard shortly thereafter.

At the same time, many people were already waiting in the courtyard. Upon seeing the trucks arrive, they quickly and carefully began unloading the crates.

After more than half an hour of hard work, the spacious underground warehouse of the Xiyi Museum was piled high with boxes of all sizes.

“Let’s open a few.”

At Elder Qian’s signal, Wang Guan and Yu Feibai ripped the seals off several large crates and pried open the lids. Inside, they saw rows upon rows of stone Buddhist sculptures.

“Good stuff,”

For a moment, everyone couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

One had to admit that ancient Buddhist thought, when viewed through a modern lens, certainly appeared quite passive and harbored aspects of ignorance. Furthermore, monks neither engaged in productive labor nor paid taxes, despite owning vast tracts of land—from a modern perspective, this was nothing less than an obstruction to economic development, an exploitation of the common people, and indeed something worthy of critique.

However, one could not deny that the existence of religion had promoted traditional Chinese culture, especially in the arts of architecture, carving, and music.

Take these stone sculptures before them, for example. Although they all depicted religious figures like Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, their forms were fundamentally based on real human beings.

For some unknown reason, whether gods or Buddhas, they should logically be aloof and gaze down upon the masses with cold indifference. Yet, through generations of transmission in China, they gradually became secularized.

Buddhist sculptures originally introduced from India were mostly fierce and terrifying, but upon entering China, they subtly changed, becoming increasingly amiable, with gentle expressions that were warm and moving.

The ultimate reason was the common people’s reverence for truth, goodness, and beauty. People sculpted what they deemed beautiful, naturally carving their own aspirations into the stone.

Buddhist iconography displayed a state of serenity, detachment, ethereal grace, and profound wisdom—it was, in essence, the concentrated repository of the highest aesthetic standards and beautiful hopes the people of that time pursued and longed for.

In the view of Wang Guan and the others, even though eras and aesthetics might change, this pursuit and yearning remained constant.

“Huh, what’s this giant turtle?”

At that moment, Yu Feibai, looking rather surprised, spotted the presence of a Bixi (a dragon son) in one of the large boxes.

“What giant turtle?” Instantly, everyone’s attention shifted. Following Yu Feibai’s gesture, they saw the tortoise with its head and limbs retracted, sparking increased curiosity.

“This is… Baxia!” Elder Zhou and the other Palace Museum experts, who had been staying at the Xiyi Museum to organize items, were present. Upon seeing the Bixi, Elder Zhou stepped closer to examine it, casually touching the stele as he studied it.

“Baxia?” Yu Feibai exclaimed at the name, “The one from the Nine Sons of the Dragon?”

“Correct, also called Bixi,”

Elder Zhou nodded, explaining, “It resembles a turtle and loves to bear weight; a turtle under a stele must be it. As for this tablet, it is a Tablet of Meritorious Deeds, typically recording the achievements of emperors and generals…”

“A shame,”

After examining it for a moment, Elder Zhou shook his head, “Due to poor preservation, the stone has suffered greatly from wind and rain. The inscriptions on the tablet are severely blurred, and some sections have even flaked off, so we don't know what was carved here.”

“Whatever was inscribed, its value isn't that high anyway,”

Yu Feibai remarked casually, “These things are common everywhere. I really don't understand why you brought it back, taking up a slot for the exchange.”

“I definitely have my reasons,”

As he spoke, Wang Guan smiled mysteriously, “Elder Zhou, do you still remember that piece of tortoise shell fragment?”

“Hmm?” Elder Zhou startled, looking somewhat perplexed, “That piece of shell with lines and small dots on its back? Now that you mention it, I recall—didn't you bring that back with you?”

“That’s right,”

Wang Guan admitted. Small trinkets like that were essentially 'sweeteners' for the deal; even if he took it, Mr. Anderson wouldn't have minded or even asked about it.

“What tortoise shell fragment?”

At this point, Yu Feibai was completely baffled, “It sounds like there’s something going on that we don’t know about.”

“It’s nothing much, really,”

Elder Zhou began to explain, letting everyone understand the background of the shell fragment.

Meanwhile, Wang Guan retrieved the item from the warehouse and presented it, inviting everyone to observe and appreciate it closely.

“Even if the lines and dots on the shell might be an astronomical chart, that’s not that rare, is it?” Yu Feibai remained puzzled after viewing it. “Besides, there’s no way to connect an object like that to the Baxia.”

“It has no connection now, but it will in a moment,”

Wang Guan chuckled, and suddenly, without anyone seeing where he got it, he pulled out a large iron hammer. His posture suggested he was about to smash the Bixi stele to pieces.

“No way,”

Just as everyone watched in stunned silence, Wang Guan actually swung the heavy hammer, bringing it down upon the top of the stone tablet with the force of splitting Mount Hua, or perhaps like a hammer blow from above.

Clang.

A dull, somewhat grating thud made everyone instinctively step back a couple of paces. They looked back at the stele and saw that under Wang Guan’s violent assault, large cracks were already spider-webbing across the stone surface.

However, no one made a move to stop him; after all, they understood Wang Guan’s temperament and knew he wouldn't engage in such crude behavior without absolute certainty.

Facts proved their speculation correct. Discovering the cracks, Wang Guan did not stop but intensified his efforts, swinging the sledgehammer again.

A strike here, a strike there; finding that too restrained, he began attacking from the front and back simultaneously.

He struck the front, back, left, and right sides. Wang Guan didn't feel tired; in fact, the results were quite significant. Under the brutal pounding, the cracks on the stele grew wider, spreading like a cobweb across the stone, and large fragments began to fall away.

It was under these circumstances that the onlookers noticed something unusual. As the stone flakes peeled off, they could vaguely discern wisps of deep, dark luster flashing out from beneath. It seemed as if something was inside the tablet, or perhaps the surface stone flakes were merely a protective layer, concealing another object within.

Moments later, everyone was completely convinced of this. As the surface stone was mostly gone, Wang Guan immediately set down the hammer and picked up a cloth to wipe the exposed area.

Simultaneously, everyone watched clearly as the dark luster brightened under Wang Guan’s cloth. Illuminated by the lights, a bright, brilliant, golden gleam materialized right before their eyes.

“Gold!” Yu Feibai exclaimed involuntarily upon seeing the familiar luminescence, unable to contain his astonishment.

At that moment, even seasoned experts like Elder Qian and Elder Zhou couldn't hide a measure of shock. This was not merely simple gold; it was a gold stele, a monument cast entirely in gold…