In the northwest of New Hanover, at the foot of the Griezri Mountains, on the right bank of the Dakota River, lies a small town called Valentine, whose main industry is animal husbandry.

If the name is considered, then this town can be said to be worthy of the name, if it is worthy of the name, then the pillar industry of this town should be the kind of fireworks willow lane [Valentine literally translates to lover], but this is not the case. This town is one of the hottest animal husbandry in the heart of the earth, an ordinary town with all the characteristics of a small town in the American Midwest, full of the smell of livestock and a lively atmosphere, orderly and peaceful people, which can be called a model of civilized society of this era.

Curtis Malloy has been the sheriff of Valentine for two years. For a country, it only takes four years at most for a dedicated leader to make a new look at a country, and for a town, two years is enough time for a conscientious magistrate to put the whole town in order. Sheriff Malloy was such a dedicated sheriff, and under his two years of careful governance, Valentine's daily order was greatly improved. While crime is still high in New Hanover as a whole, and the pressure on Sheriff Malloy is still high, at least in his precinct, few petty people dare to break ground on Tai Sui's head, which is enough for a town sheriff.

When he's not moving, Sheriff Malloy's favorite thing to do is stand in front of the sheriff's office, light a good cigar, and look at his town as he puffs through the clouds.

This can actually be counted in the daily patrol duties of the police station, because several of his subordinates are also doing similar things to him in various parts of the town, basically near the bank, but he does like it, because every time he stops at the door, the townspeople who pass by will greet and salute him with awe and gratitude, and this feeling of being respected, he believes, will be liked by anyone, and he especially likes it.

It's just that today, he seems to have received a lot less salute than before, at least now no one passing by him has greeted him, and he doesn't care about this kind of trivial thing that he usually cares about. Because both he and the people of the town focused their attention on the same man.

The man had a short, untrimmed pale blonde beard, which made it impossible to tell his exact age for a moment, but judging by his tired but still shining, green eyes, the man should not be very old.

He was tall, with a shabby cowboy hat on his head that had lost its original color, and an unfashionable cashmere shirt covered in dust, presumably after a long journey, and it was the carriage he was driving that supported him along the way.

The carriage itself was nothing special except that the dark horse driving was particularly tall and mighty, and it was worth noting what was placed in the carriage body, which was why this man attracted everyone's attention.

In the carriage body, there were several corpses piled up randomly, although the corpses had not yet begun to decompose, but they had already emitted an extremely unpleasant smell of corpses, mixed with the already pungent smell of livestock in the town, even if they were ruthless, they couldn't stand the smell, let alone the townspeople who had never seen a dead person in their lives.

It was not known why this strange outsider was carrying so many corpses, but Sheriff Malloy had already guessed. From the professional point of view of his profession, there is an eighty percent chance that a man who dares to swagger and transport a pile of corpses around town is another profession in the American justice system that is inextricably linked to sheriffs - bounty hunters.

Sergeant Malloy, despite his conclusion, looked the man who had arrived at the door of the sheriff's office in a horse-drawn carriage up and down. Messy shoulder-length hair, a short beard, muddy and blood-stained clothes, such a man, if you want to call him a beggar or a savage, Sheriff Malloy will probably believe it immediately, but a bounty hunter? Sheriff Malloy didn't think it was likely.

The carriage stopped at the door of the sheriff's office, and Sheriff Malloy straightened up. The scruffy strange man jumped out of the carriage, first made a hat salute to him, and then began to grope around his body.

After fumbling for a long time, he finally took out a crumpled pile of paper from his pocket and handed it to Sheriff Malloy, and did not speak, just gasping for breath, I don't know if it was because of exhaustion, or because he couldn't stand the terrible smell.

Sheriff Malloy opened the stack of papers, stretched it out as best he could, and looked at it closely, but the sight of it almost knocked his jaw down.

He looked at the pieces of paper in his hand several times from beginning to end, turning them over and over again, and then folded them, looked up at the strange man in front of him, and asked, "You mean, the corpse in this carriage belonged to Howling Wolf and Joy Dormog?" ”

"That's right." The strange man nodded.

"Including Joey Dormog, his sister Daisy Dormog, and gang members Marco 'The Mexican', Crouch Douglas, and 'British' Peter Hux?"

"Exactly."

"A total of $9,700 in bounty?"

"That's right."

"I've really seen a big ghost today." Curtis Malloy cried out, I have to say that what he saw and heard today really refreshed his three views, which can be called his career, no, it can even be said that he has only seen it in his life.

However, it should be said that he was the sheriff who ran a town, and he quickly pulled himself out of the shock, and he turned back to his office and shouted: "You guys, don't hide in there, come out quickly, and identify these stinky things one by one, and take inventory." ”

As soon as the words ended, two policemen came out of the office, and they took the bounty order from the sheriff's hand, and began to unload the bodies from the carriage one by one and move them to the backyard of the sheriff's office.

"Don't go out of the house, I don't want the stench of corpses there," Sheriff Malloy turned to face the strange man as he gave the instructions, the disgust in his eyes disappeared, replaced by a slightly sincere kindness, "Sir, it will take some time for them to verify the identity of the deceased, why don't we go to the house for a drink and pass the time?" ”

In the sheriff's office, the scruffy man sat in a chair with a glass of Kentucky bourbon in his hand, and Sheriff Malloy sat behind his desk with a glass full of brandy. The two toasted each other, Sheriff Malloy just took a sip, and the strange man drank it all.

Sheriff Malloy put down his cup and said, "What was your name?" ”

"Manny, Brandi Manny."

"Oh yes, yes," Sergeant Malloy laughed, "Mr. Munny, you say you're a student of legendary bounty hunter Marquise Warren?" ”

"That's right." Brandi nodded.

"Where is Major Warren now?"

"Unfortunately, the teacher was hit in the lower part by Jody Domog, and we were trapped in a snowstorm and couldn't be treated in time, so he ......" Brandi tried to act as painful as he could.

"I'm sorry for that," Sergeant Malloy duly expressed his condolences, but soon raised his own question, "but one thing is strange to me, Major Warren is a frequent visitor to town for work, and I have met him many times, and I have never heard of him taking in apprentices?" ”

"You mean, I'm impostoring?" Brandi's gaze sharpened.

"Oh no, no, no, I didn't mean that," Malloy immediately rounded, "I just didn't know, and I was a little curious." ”

Brandi nodded as if understanding, and while pouring himself another glass of wine, he said, "I can understand your doubts, Sergeant Malloy, after all, there are indeed too many impostors in this year. ”

Brandi took a sip of her wine and told the story she had already made up as if she were stuck in a memory. The story is actually the product of Brandy's patchwork of piecing together some of his experiences in the snowy mountains, only with the addition of Marquis Warren's cheap master in key parts. There is such a thing as a lie, and it is easier for people to believe it if there are nine truths and one falsehood.

Sure enough, this story, based on Brandy's true experience, deeply moved Sheriff Malloy, who listened very attentively, and even took a handkerchief from his suit pocket to wipe the corners of his eyes when he heard the emotion. By the end of such a story, Brandy could see that the sheriff's suspicions of him had long since disappeared, and he even very warmly invited him to the town tavern for a good meal, and he should be his pick-up.

"Thank you for your kindness, Sergeant Malloy, but you see me like this," Brandi said politely, standing up to show his scruffy image, looking embarrassed, "You'll have to wait for me to freshen up before catching my breath." ”

"Oh, of course, of course, I was negligent," said Malloy, who also stood up, stretched out his right hand, "and what do you think of it at noon to-morrow?" ”

"My pleasure, Sheriff Malloy."

The two men laughed, their hands clasped together.

"Oh, by the way, I think it's time to get into your bounty hunter's favorite part," Sergeant Malloy said, shoving the neatly stacked stacks of bills that his men had piled up on his desk to Brandy, "$9,700, a penny a lot, you can count it." ”

Brandi didn't look closely, but picked up a wad of banknotes, flicked them with his thumb at random, made them rattle, and then put all the money in his satchel and said, "You are a respectable sheriff, and I believe in your character." ”

Sheriff Malloy was a little moved, this kind of trust in a large transaction is so rare. As if he suddenly remembered something, he stopped Brandy, who had already stepped out of the office threshold with one foot, took out a silver police badge from the desk drawer and handed it to Brandy, saying: "We very much welcome young talents like Mr. Manny, please keep this badge, with it, as long as you are in New Hanover, you have absolutely legal law enforcement powers, even in other states, with it, you can speak in the judicial organs." ”

Brandi looked at the police badge, thought for a moment, waved his hand and said: "Sheriff, although I do have the ambition to fight evil and crime, I don't want to enter the judicial department, I appreciate your kindness, but this, please take it back." ”

Sergeant Malloy smiled: "It's okay, this badge is just the symbol of the outer detective, it won't have any impact on your personal freedom, you just have to carry it, I believe you will definitely use this thing in the future." ”

When Brandi heard this, he was not pretentious, put the badge in his pocket, and said, "Then thank you, sheriff, and see you tomorrow at noon." ”

"See you or leave, Mr. Manny."

Sheriff Malloy stepped out of the office and stood under the eaves as the scruffy young man named Brandi Mooney parked the carriage in front of the town's only hotel. He had a hunch that Valentine might have a lot of interesting things happen because of the arrival of this young man.