The elderly man was Professor Zhou, a retired historian and former head of the Institute of Antiquities, now living in discreet exile. He was the reason the microchip—a highly sensitive archive of stolen historical data—had been set in motion. He was, effectively, the most critical piece of the puzzle.
Mei immediately drew the fishing knife, holding it defensively. "Professor Zhou. We've been followed. They're tracking the path. We need to move you now."
Professor Zhou smiled, a gentle, knowing curve of his lips. "Of course you are followed. My dear. A priceless asset like this chip generates its own turbulence. And they have been following me for months. Come. Sit. Share my orange."
James, ever the counter-intuitive thinker, took the professor's advice. He lowered the tattered silk blanket and sat heavily on the steps, his exhaustion finally overwhelming him. He pulled the caddy out, placing it carefully between himself and Zhou.
"Professor," James said, trying to organize his thoughts, "I must warn you. The pursuit is organized, well-funded, and led by a woman with an unnerving predilection for crimson silk. They will be here within the hour."
Professor Zhou nodded. "Agent Xi. A former student of mine. Very bright, but her loyalties are... compromised. She wants the archive back because it contains evidence that refutes the official historical timeline of the current regime. It proves their foundations are built on falsehoods."
The microchip, James realized, wasn't about state secrets or military technology. It was about history. It was about a truth powerful enough to destabilize a government.
"The chip," James asked, "what exactly is on it?"
"The Qianlong Scroll Archive," Zhou replied, peeling a final segment of orange. "A complete, digitized record of the Emperor Qianlong's secret court logs. It proves certain land claims and technological innovations credited to the last century were, in fact, appropriated from a rival, older dynasty. The implications are, shall we say, geophysically awkward."
The geopolitics of history. It was a thriller plot only James could stumble into.