The moon sets and the stars disappear, and the sky gradually becomes brighter.
Brandi suddenly woke up, sat up suddenly, and the "pillow" on the back of her head disintegrated with a "crash".
He frowned and rubbed the back of his head, which was so painful, and looked around subconsciously.
The old man still maintained the same posture as when he fell asleep last night. He seemed to be sleeping soundly, but there was no sound of snoring. His sand-colored Morgan horse still stayed in the same place, but for some reason, it was slightly restless.
With a "crash", Brandy threw the old man's repeating rifle and revolver to the old man's side.
"The story last night was very good. See you again in the future."
After leaving these words, Brandy immediately turned around, followed the guidance of the sun, and headed north along the road.
After taking only a few steps, he suddenly realized something was wrong.
He immediately turned around, ran to the old man's side, turned the old man's body to a lying position, then stretched out his right hand and reached towards the old man's nose.
When you start, there is no feeling of breathing.
"Already dead..." Brandy withdrew his hand and squeezed the stiff and cold body again, judging in his mind, "He should have died in the middle of the night. As for the reason..."
It may be acute myocardial infarction or cerebral infarction, or it may be other reasons, but this is no longer important.
Brandy was silent for a long time, and in the end, she could only sigh.
Such an executioner who spent almost half of his life persecuting others finally passed away in his sleep. In a sense, it can be regarded as the kindness of fate.
After a little effort, Brandi placed the old man's body under a nearby tree. The old man had his back against the big tree, and his remains were very peaceful.
"Although it's a bit presumptuous, I can't help it. I'm almost broke now, so not only can't I bury you properly, I also have to search for your belongings," Brandy looked at the old man's body and said, "It has nothing to do with morals and etiquette.
It's only about my life and purpose. Maybe you don't believe it, but I have seen ghosts - at least in a sense. So, although I don't know if you can hear it, but even if it's just to make me feel better,
, I also have to say these words."
After saying the "disclaimer", Brandi said nothing more and began to skillfully fumble in the old man's pockets.
The harvest was unexpectedly unsatisfactory. The old man's embarrassment was not an act. He only had a dozen cents in change and could not even make up fifty cents. His clothes were in shabby condition and even the patches were missing.
Meaning, it is worth mentioning that his left leather boot actually had a big tear, so big that all five toes were exposed. It was really difficult for him to run around in the wilderness for so long.
The only thing of some value is a thick ring that is very different from ordinary rings worn by the old man on the middle finger of his left hand.
It should be silver originally, but the whole thing looks gray. Even if you wipe it carefully, you can't see the original color. It seems to be covered with a layer of dust that can't be wiped off. But if you look closely, you can see the hidden layer.
The lower part of the engraving has a simple style and a unique exotic style.
"This thing... always feels familiar..."
Brandi looked at the ring over and over again, and finally remembered the source of this familiar feeling.
"The carving patterns on some of Charles's accessories seem to be similar to this ring..." Brandi played with the ring twice, then made a decision and put the ring into the inner pocket of her jacket.
"I guess he would be very interested." Brandy thought.
After searching the body, Brandy helped the old man to the foot of a nearby tree, leaned against him, straightened him up, thought for a while, tore off a piece of dirty cloth from the old man's trousers, and covered the old man's face.
"That's it," Brandi stood up, looked at the rag covering the old man's face, and said, "I'll borrow your horse for a while. When I find my own horse, I will sell it for a good price."
For the price.”
After hastily placing the old man's body, Brandi skillfully calmed the horse, raised his foot to try the stirrup, and then jumped up.
The old man's horse is as old as the old man. It can no longer gallop as much as it did when it was young. It can only canter at best, and it will slow down after it can't run very far, and it can't run fast no matter how hard it is driven.
It wasn't until she had close contact with the horse that Brandy realized that it was originally supposed to be a fair-colored horse. However, due to old age and possibly disease, its fur had fallen off severely and its color was dull.
It looks like a sandy color.
However, old horses also have their advantages. Compared with those young and strong horses, they are often more docile, more humane, and know the road better. Brandy just put a handful of tender grass into the old horse's mouth, and then
Telling it the destination, the old horse chewed the bright green grass blades while carrying Brandi slowly along the road.
Walking along the road is certainly a lot more winding than going straight in the general direction, but compared to stepping into an area with complex terrain and many hidden dangers, walking this way is not only safer, but also generally more efficient, but if you don't
If you are familiar with the path, there is no doubt that you will get lost in the wild where you may not meet a living person for a day.
If he were not in a hurry and had no map to guide him, Brandi would not be willing to take the risk of traveling through the woods and cross-country.
Although the speed is not fast, the old horse who knows the way can always find a suitable path. When the sunset in the west is about to completely fall into the horizon, the land under the old horse's hooves is no longer muddy, and Brandy can see lines.
The soothing rolling hills and the vast green grassland represent that Brandi has left the humid and hot Lemoyne state and returned to the relatively dry and refreshing New Hanover state.
"It seems that based on the distance of a horse, the place where we camped last night should not be far from the state border. If we still walk, it may take two to three times longer to get here."
With this thought in mind, Brandi gently pressed the horse's belly with her feet and drove the old horse forward. She decided to drive all night today and reach her destination as soon as possible.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Every time you walk, the sky becomes darker, the scenery in front of you becomes more open, and the dense forests and swamps behind you are also thrown away little by little.
When one person and one horse were completely shrouded in the moonlight, Brandi suddenly discerned vague human voices and the clear blast of firearms from the soothing evening breeze.
"Assault? Robbery? Or shootout?"
The voice was a little fuzzy, and Brandy couldn't make out what it was.
"But it seems like it's not far from me..." After a brief hesitation, Brandy made a decision, "Forget it, it won't take long to go and have a look."
At the same time, about half a mile from Brandy, on a thick, dry tree next to a dry river.
Under the cold moonlight, three pairs of green eyes flashed with hunger, staring intently at a cowering figure on a dead branch.
In Albert Mason's career, this was not the most dangerous situation. After all, as a wildlife photographer, he was already prepared to surrender to animals at any time. If he did not even have this awareness, then
He didn't even have the courage to set foot on the border between civilization and barbarism.
But judging from his nature, he is not a truly brave person, because when he is really in danger, he never fails to feel fear and wants to retreat.
"boom!"
The gunshots burst out, and the flames and sound forced the predators under the tree to take two steps back, but it did not really scare them, but made them press closer.
"damn it!"
Albert Mason cursed tremblingly, almost losing his grip on the revolver because of the recoil of the shot just now. Trembling slightly, he pressed his last two bullets into the cylinder.
"Damn beast, stay away from me! Get out! Get out of here!"
He shouted loudly, hoping that his shout would make the three hungry wolves under the tree stare at his butt to retreat, but unfortunately, his trembling voice and almost broken tone deceived even himself.
No.
Carnivores can smell fear in their prey.
"boom!"
Gunshots rang out again, but this time the bullets were flying into the sky.
The revolver slipped from Albert's hand with the sound of the gunshot, and hit the head of the wolf closest to the dead tree with a "snap".
The wolf was hit and took half a step back. It shook its head and seemed a little dazed, but it quickly came back to its senses and bared its fangs at the man above its head.
Having lost his only source of courage, all that was left in Albert's heart was panic and fear of death. While he was saying words like begging for mercy and blessing in vain, he kept shivering to higher places, but he didn't know it was an illusion.
It was still real, he always felt that those three pairs of green eyes were getting closer and closer to him.
And this was indeed the case. Under Albert's struggle, the long-dead tree began to moan in overwhelming pain, and the feeling of weightlessness gradually enveloped his whole body along with the growing sense of fear.
Just when he was about to completely succumb to fear and impending death, the sound of a gunshot that was very different from a revolver shocked his eardrums, but at the same time it drove away his last bit of courage.
The arms tightly hugging the branches loosened, and what greeted Albert's heavy body was the stench mixed with the smell of blood.
After an unknown amount of time, Albert, who subconsciously closed his eyes and was breathing heavily, heard a voice.
"Are you still alive?"
In a daze, he opened his eyes, and a blood-stained wolf head filled his field of vision. The pair of empty green eyes still retained desire and ferocity, and the blood-stained corners of the mouth captured the ferocity of its life.
This almost zero-distance contact frightened Albert to death. He screamed and stood up straight as if he was electrocuted. He jumped to the side and found the three-headed wolf that was grinning at him and salivating.
There were already three corpses, and their heads were all penetrated by bullets. There is no doubt that the instigator's marksmanship was frighteningly accurate.
"You can still jump so high. It seems you weren't hurt at all."
The unfamiliar young voice sounded again. Albert looked around and saw a figure riding an old horse and carrying a spear standing on the hillside of a small hill not far away.
Albert watched his savior slowly approach. The cold moonlight illuminated the visitor's bright green eyes and pale blond hair under a cowboy hat.
Half an hour later, the campfire in a simple camp about 200 meters north of the dry river started burning again.
"So, those wolves were attracted by the raw meat in your bag?" Brandy sat cross-legged by the fire, holding Albert's bag in his hand. He smelled the bag that had been torn to pieces by the wolves.
, said, "In addition to the smell of blood, there is also the smell of fish and berries? What on earth do you want to do?"
"This..." Albert Mason hesitated and said a little embarrassedly, "You know, I am committed to photographing dangerous wild animals, so... I always have to prepare some bait, those animals will not take the initiative
They posed in front of me and let me take pictures.”
"If you want to lure wolves, blood is a more suitable combination than fish and berries," Brandi said, throwing the bag back to Albert, "So what just happened was just an accident, right?"
"Yes, that one was originally used by me to lure bears..."
"Damn, you are really crazy." Brandi sighed helplessly.
"You're not the first person to say that." Albert smiled and didn't take it seriously.
"That's because you're really fucking crazy," Brandi said as he habitually took out the matches and then started to touch his pocket. When he realized that his pocket was cleaner than his face
, then reluctantly put down his hand, and continued, "No one except a madman would take the initiative to provoke a predator, just like in the city, no one would take the initiative to slap the ears of the police patrolling the streets, except a madman."
"Anyway, thank you for your help, young and brave gentleman." Albert laughed, took out his cigarette and handed it over.
Brandi glanced at the cigarette, then looked up at Albert, sighed, took out one, and said, "I have a hunch that I will definitely meet you in a more fucked up situation in the future."
"I think I will feel honored at that time."
"...Tsk, what kind of thing are you smoking? Is there anything else?"
"That's it. This is the most popular brand nowadays. All the gentlemen in the city smoke this."
"Hell, I don't know how you so-called gentlemen have such long tongues... Do you have any wine?"
"I don't like drinking very much, so..."
"What the hell...forget it, let's do it..."
…
On a midsummer night in New Hanover, if you stop casually on a gentle hillside, and look around, you will see that the endless grassland like the night sky will be coated with shining silver by the cold moonlight, along with the numerous species that inhabit this vast land.
The creatures also seemed to be shining with an increasingly agile light, shining like stars.
On moonlit nights, the stars are always dim, perhaps because they lend their light to the moon, and the moon gives the extra light to the earth. Since then, stars have walked on the earth.
The only regret is that this light cannot bring warmth to the traveling people.
In the camp with a blazing campfire, two slender wisps of green smoke floated up and dispersed in the gentle evening breeze.