Chapter 1 The Month of Strange Visitors in the Small Town
In the northwest of New Hanover, at the foot of the Grizzly Mountains and on the right bank of the Dakota River, there is a small town called Valentine with livestock as its main industry.
If we care about the name, then this town can be said to be unworthy of its name. If it is worthy of its name, then the pillar industry of this town should be the type of fireworks in Liuxiang [Valentine (literally translated as lover)], but this is not the case.
This town is an ordinary town that relies on the most popular livestock industry in the heart of the earth. It has all the characteristics of a small town in the American Midwest. It is full of the stench of livestock and a lively atmosphere. It is well-ordered and the people live and work in peace and contentment.
It is called a model of civilized society in this era.
Curtis Malloy has been the Sheriff of Valentine for two years. It takes only four years at best for a dedicated leader to turn a country around, but for a town, it takes only four years at most.
Two years is enough time for a conscientious and conscientious constable to manage the entire town in an orderly manner. Sheriff Malloy is just such a conscientious constable. Under his two years of careful management, Valentine's daily life has changed.
Order has been greatly improved. Although overall, the crime rate in New Hanover is still very high, and the pressure on Chief Malloy's shoulders is still very high, at least within his jurisdiction, there are almost no criminal cases.
The disciples dared to disturb Tai Sui's head, which was enough for a town magistrate.
When not in action, Sheriff Malloy's favorite thing to do is to stand in front of the Sheriff's Office, light a good cigar, puff on the smoke, and survey his town.
This can actually be counted among the daily patrol tasks of the police station, because several of his subordinates are also doing similar things to him in various corners of the town - basically near the bank, but he really likes this, because every time
When he stood in front of the door, the townspeople passing by would greet him and pay tribute with awe and gratitude. He believed that everyone would like this feeling of being respected, and he especially liked it.
It's just that today, he seems to have received a lot less tributes than before. At least now, no one passing by him has said hello to him, and he doesn't care about such a small thing that he usually cares about. Because no matter it is
He and the people in the town all focused their attention on the same man.
This man has a short, untrimmed pale blond beard, which makes it difficult for people to tell his exact age for a while, but judging from his tired but still shining bright green eyes, this man’s
He shouldn't be very old.
He is tall, the old cowboy hat on his head has lost its original color, and the unseasonable cashmere shirt on his body is full of dust. It seems that he has gone through a long journey, and what supports him in this journey is the car he is driving.
A carriage.
The carriage itself was nothing special except for the tall and mighty black horse driving it. What was noteworthy was what was placed in the compartment of the carriage. This was exactly why this man attracted everyone's attention.
There were several corpses piled randomly in the compartment of the carriage. Although the corpses had not started to rot, they were already emitting an extremely unpleasant corpse odor. Mixed with the already pungent smell of livestock in the town, it was quite harsh.
Even Lao Ba couldn't stand the smell, let alone the townspeople who had almost never seen a dead person in their lives.
People don’t know why this strange out-of-towner is carrying so many corpses on his way, but Sheriff Malloy has already made a guess. From a professional perspective in his profession, a person who dares to transport a bunch of corpses in a town with such arrogance
, there is an 80% chance that it is another profession in the American judicial system that is inextricably linked to the Sheriff - bounty hunter.
Although Sheriff Malloy had already made such a conclusion, he still looked at the man who had driven a carriage to the door of the Sheriff's Office. His messy shoulder-length hair, unkempt short beard, covered with dirt and
With blood-stained clothes, if you say he is a beggar or a savage, Chief Malloy will immediately believe him, but a bounty hunter? Chief Malloy thinks it is really unlikely.
The carriage stopped at the door of the Sheriff's Office, and Sheriff Malloy stood up straight. The slovenly strange man jumped out of the carriage, first gave him a hat tip, and then started groping on his body.
After groping for a long time, he finally took out a bunch of crumpled papers from his pocket and handed it to Sheriff Malloy. He didn't say a word, but kept breathing heavily. He didn't know whether it was because of exhaustion or because he was too tired.
Can't stand the horrible smell.
Sheriff Malloy opened the stack of papers, stretched it out as much as he could, and looked at it carefully. Unexpectedly, his jaw almost dropped when he saw it.
From beginning to end, he looked over the pieces of paper in his hand several times before folding them, looking up at the strange man in front of him, and asked: "You mean, the corpse in this carriage,
Are they from the Howling Wolf Gang Joey Domog and his group?"
"That's right." The strange man nodded.
"Including Joey Domogue, his sister Daisy Domogue, and gang members "Mexican" Marco, Crouch Douglas, and "British" Peter Hex?"
"Exactly."
"A total reward of $9,700?"
"bingo."
"I really saw a big ghost today." Curtis Malloy cried out. It has to be said that what he saw today really refreshed his three views. It can be said that it is the best in his career, no, it can even be said that
It was the only one he saw in his life.
However, it should be said that he was worthy of being a police officer in charge of a town. He quickly shook himself out of the shock. He turned back and shouted towards the office: "You guys, stop hiding in here. Come out quickly and put these things away."
Identify the smelly things one by one and take inventory."
As soon as he finished speaking, two policemen walked out of the office. They took the reward order from the Sheriff, began to unload the corpses from the carriage one by one, and moved them to the backyard of the Sheriff's Office.
"Don't leave the house, I don't want it to be contaminated with the stench of corpses," Sheriff Malloy gave the instruction. When he turned to face the strange man, the disgust in his eyes disappeared and was replaced by a slightly disgusted look.
With sincere kindness, he said, "Sir, it will take some time for them to verify the identity of the deceased. How about we go inside and have a drink to kill the time?"
In the Sheriff's Office, the slovenly man sat on a chair with a glass of Kentucky bourbon in his hand. Sheriff Malloy sat behind the desk with a glass filled with brandy. The two raised their hands to each other.
Sheriff Malloy just took a sip of the cup, while the strange man drank it all in one gulp.
Sheriff Malloy put down his cup and said, "You just said, what is your name?"
"Munny, Brandy Munny."
"Oh, yes, yes," Sheriff Malloy smiled, "Mr. Munny, you said you are a student of the legendary bounty hunter Marquis Warren?"
"That's right." Brandy nodded.
"Then where is Major Warren now?"
"Unfortunately, the teacher was hit in the lower body by Jody Domoge. We were trapped in a snowstorm and couldn't treat him in time, so he..." Brandi tried his best to act as sad as possible.
"I'm sorry about this," Sheriff Malloy also expressed his condolences at the right time, but soon he raised his own question, "But one thing I'm a little strange about is that Major Warren often visits this place due to work reasons.
Zhen, I have met him many times, but I have never heard that he has taken on a disciple?"
"You mean, I'm an imposter?" Brandi's eyes became sharp.
"Ah, no, no, that's not what I meant," Malloy immediately smoothed things over, "I just really didn't know and I was just a little curious."
Brandy also nodded as if understanding, while pouring herself another glass of wine, she said: "I can understand your concerns, Chief Malloy, after all, there are too many imposters these days.
"
Brandy took a sip of wine and told the story she had already made up as if she was lost in memories. This story is actually the product of Brandy putting together and polishing some of his experiences in the snowy mountains. It’s just that
Marquis Warren, a cheap master, was added to the key parts. Lies are easier to believe if they are nine truths and one falsehood.
Sure enough, this story adapted from Brandi's real experience deeply moved Sheriff Malloy. He listened very attentively and even took out a handkerchief from his suit pocket to wipe the corners of his eyes when he heard the emotional part. The story ended like this,
Brandi could see that the police chief's suspicion of him had long since disappeared. He even very enthusiastically invited him to have a good meal at the town's tavern, treating him as his welcome.
"Thank you for your kindness, Chief Malloy, but look at me like this," Brandy stood up to show off her sloppy image and declined with an embarrassed look, "You have to wait for me to freshen up before breathing again."
Keep your tone."
"Oh, of course, of course, I was negligent," Malloy also stood up, stretched out his right hand, and said, "What do you think at noon tomorrow?"
"My pleasure, Chief Malloy."
The two men laughed and held their hands together.
"Oh, by the way, I think now we can enter your favorite part of the bounty hunter," Chief Malloy said, pushing a pile of neatly arranged banknotes that his subordinates had piled on his desk.
In front of Brandy, "9,700 US dollars, every penny is a lot, you can count it."
Brandi didn't look at it carefully, but just picked up a stack of banknotes and flipped them casually with his thumbs, making the banknotes make a sweet clattering sound. Then he put all the money into his satchel and said: "
You are a respectable peace officer and I trust your character."
Sheriff Malloy was slightly moved. This kind of trust reflected in large-scale transactions was really rare. He seemed to suddenly remember something and stopped Brandi, who had already stepped out of the office threshold.
He took out a shiny silver police badge from the desk drawer and handed it to Brandy, saying: "We very much welcome young talents like Mr. Munny. Please keep this badge. With it, as long as you are in
Within the state of New Hanover, you have absolutely legal law enforcement power, and even in other states, you can have a say in the judicial authorities."
Brandi looked at the police badge, thought for a moment, waved his hand and said: "Chief, although I am indeed determined to fight evil and crime, I don't want to enter the judicial system. I understand your kindness, but
Please take this back."
Chief Malloy smiled and said: "It doesn't matter. This police badge is just a symbol of the peripheral police detectives. It will not have any impact on your personal freedom. Just carry it with you. I believe you will definitely use this thing in the future."
.”
When Brandy heard this, she didn't show any pretense. She put her police badge in her pocket and said, "Thank you then, Chief. I'll see you at noon tomorrow."
"See you there, Mr. Munny."
Sheriff Malloy walked out of the office and stood under the eaves, watching the sloppy young man named Brandi Munny park his carriage at the door of the only hotel in the town. He had a premonition that Valentine,
A lot of interesting things may happen because of the arrival of this young man. This chapter has been completed!