On the vast grassland in the heart of the earth, two inferior horses carried two slender figures slowly on the main road, and after a while, smoke and dust rose behind them, and a huge black horse galloped towards them, parallel to them.

Miss Lily, who had stripped off her precious jewelry and carried her Mauser rifle on her back, looked at the man on the great black horse, bowed politely, and said, "Are you done with your business?" ”

"Well," the man nodded, controlling the huge black horse with his right hand, keeping it as parallel as the two ladies' horses as possible, "now wait for the bailiff or the nearby mounted police to clean up the mess." ”

"Excuse me, sir," asked Amandina, who was dressed in the same hunting costume as Lily, "what were you doing?" ”

"To put it more professionally, it's called cleaning the battlefield," the man said, patting the packed package on his horse's back, "To put it in layman's terms, it's touching the corpse." ”

"This ......," Amandina's tone could not hide her disgust, and her right hand made a cross on her chest, "such a blasphemy against the dead, and the Lord will not let you ascend to heaven." ”

"Oh, my dear young lady," said the smile on the man's lips, which became playful, "though I have no intention of blaspheming your faith, the fact of this land is that even Catholics should have gone to hell long ago. ”

"How can you say that?" Amandina was a little annoyed, as a French Catholic with strong roots, she attached great importance to her faith, "The Catholics who came to this land are all to spread the faith and doctrine of the Lord, and to let the glory of the Lord shine on the world, and what they do must be in line with the teachings of the Lord." ”

"Believe what you want, dear miss," the man's body swayed leisurely on his horse, "but I prefer to believe what I see than what I hear." ”

"Alright, Amandina, let this be the end of the topic of religion," Lily promptly shifted to a topic that would inevitably explode no matter how much we talked, "sir, you saved us, but we don't know your name yet." ”

"Billy." The man replied briefly.

"Lily Cornwall," Lily's brief introduction said, "this is my maid, Arandina Moran. ”

"It's an honor to know both," said Billy, holding the brim of his hat, "I wonder what the two ladies were, oh, excuse me, for what purpose Miss Lily had come to this wild and vast prairie?" ”

"If my personal purpose is to get a taste of the local customs," said Lily, "and for the rest of the purpose, it is my family affair, and I will not be able to tell you." ”

Billy nodded: "Totally understood, you don't have to apologize." But I think you've already fully appreciated the so-called customs of this place today, right? ”

"You're right, sir, you really feel it," Lily smiled, her eyes full of excitement, "it's really a very charming land. ”

"Well, I don't deny that," said Billy, "but may I give you a suggestion?" ”

"Of course, sir, I will listen to your suggestion." Lily straightened up and looked at Billy.

"If you can, get out of here as soon as possible, at least for ten years, and don't set foot in the five states," Billy said, "with all due respect, this is not a place for decent ladies like you to stay long." ”

"What a thoughtful suggestion, thank you, sir," Lily smiled, "but I think I might be surprised to be a good fit for this place." ”

Billy didn't speak, and there was something undeniable in his silence.

"By the way, Mr. Billy, you're a gunslinger, aren't you?" Lily asked suddenly.

"Obviously, ma'am." Billy replied.

"What got you on this path?" Lily asked with interest.

"So, now it's an interview, isn't it?" Billy laughed and joked.

Lily smiled too, the kind of smile that only appeared when she was really amused: "You can understand that, sir, but unfortunately your statement will not be reported in the newspaper." ”

"Haha, it's better not to, because my answer will make all the gangs and police in this land chase me to the ends of the earth." Billy laughed loudly, but there wasn't much in the laughter.

"You've piqued my interest, Mr. Billy," Lily felt that the answer was worth taking seriously, "So, what is your answer to that question?" ”

"In a nutshell," Billy said, adjusting the position of his ass, "I'm a sharpshooter with interest. ”

"Is it because of interest?" Lily was a little confused, "It's not going to be hunted down everywhere, is it?" ”

"To put it another way, I did this murderous job out of interest, do you understand now?"

Lily was silent. Although she has a longing for the West that is difficult for normal people to understand, she still knows the concept of death and killing.

"Don't you ever feel guilty?" Amandina, who was on the side, said with some disgust.

"At least until now, I've either killed people to save people, or I've killed people who are full of evil," Billy said, "and I'm not going to claim to be a good person, but I'm definitely not guilty of killing some of society's dregs." ”

"It seems that sir, you are the legendary hero of the West?" Lily quipped.

"Thank you for the compliment, but unfortunately, I'm not qualified enough, and even if I do, I don't want to be like that." Billy said politely.

Lily immediately took advantage of the situation and asked, "Then what kind of person do you dream of becoming?" ”

"Does it matter?" Billy's rhetorical question caught Lily off guard.

"When, of course," Lily said, organizing the language, "this ...... That's at least ......"

"I don't think it matters," Billy interrupted Lily very unceremoniously, "well, ma'am, I don't think I need to play this kind of house-like press game anymore, and the rest of the way, if I can, I hope we can be quieter." ”

Amandina looked at Lily, she had no good impression of this handsome man who had no gentlemanly manners at all, and she only hoped that Lily would have some young temper, and that it would be better not to deal with this man anymore - I have to say, the suggestion just now seemed to her to be the only thing the man had said all this noon and afternoon.

"May I ask one last question?" Lily didn't have the slightest sense that she should shut up, and then asked.

Billy sighed and said, "Of course, Miss Lily, one of my tutors is that women must be given more than one chance, please tell me." ”

"What a gentleman's tutor," Lily said with a slight smile, "Since you are a gunman, you must know a lot about guns?" ”

"I don't know much, I haven't been a gunslinger for long," Billy said, glancing at Lily, "but, well, you can assume that I understand." ”

"Then come and see, how about this gun?" Lily said, pulling her revolver from her waist and tossing it to Billy.

Billy took the gun, and the moment he got his hands on it, his eyebrows raised. As he examined the gun closely, he muttered, "The gun looks like a Colt M1892 double-action revolver, but what about the cartridge capacity and shotgun barrel design of the Lemat revolver?" And the bullet is not .38 but .44? ”

He looked up at Lily and asked, "Who designed this?" ”

Lily didn't speak, but straightened up smugly and asked, "What do you say?" ”

Billy immediately saw the hidden answer in Lily's actions, and seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, saying, "Well, if this gun was designed by the gunsmith of the Colt Company, then I will never use the Colt Company gun again in my life." ”

Lily's face darkened instantly, but her tone was nothing unusual: "What do you mean by that?" ”

"From the point of view of the gun itself, this gun has expanded the ammunition capacity, and the same Lemat revolver is equipped with a shotgun barrel, which is okay here, but this gun has also changed the caliber, and retains the double-action firing mode, which not only increases the mass of this gun a lot, but also increases the recoil of this gun, even a normal man, can not use the double-action shooting function of this gun under this recoil, in other words, this design makes the double-action mode of this gun a chicken rib, It's useless to eat, and it's a pity to throw it away; Moreover, such a modification actually violates the structure of the M1892 itself, making the structure loose and cumbersome, not to mention, and easy to fall apart directly in high-intensity combat. To sum up, such a gun, except for being good-looking, is of little use. ”

After Billy said this, he handed the gun back to Lily and said, "From the practical point of view, this kind of modified gun, which is basically a special modification, if it is damaged, it must be repaired with special matching parts, and this condition does not exist under normal circumstances." Of course, it's not that this gun can't be used, it's just that it's not practical enough. ”

Lily took the gun, looked down at the elaborate revolver, and was silent.

Amandina leaned over a little and comforted in a low voice: "Miss, don't take this person's words to heart, such a person doesn't know what respect is." ”

Lily still didn't speak, just opened the gun's wheel again and again, and reloaded it again and again.

"All right, ladies, do you smell the pungent smell of tar and smoke? Hear the train whistle? Billy raised his hand and pointed forward, saying, "We're not far from our destination." ”

The coal tar factory in Cornwall is like a piece of bright green silk stained with a piece of filth that cannot be washed off in the grasslands of the heart of the earth, and the filth and noise of modern industry make this place no longer a peaceful corner of nature, and nature can only do to accept such behavior of human beings, just like all the land on this planet that is being unreasonably exploited.

The two armed guards guarding the entrance to the coal tar factory had seen the three-man team of two women and one man at the end of the road very early, and there was no way, the black horse under the man's crotch was so big that it was hard not to notice.

Because the Cornish coal tar factory is close to the main road, in addition to the horse-drawn carriages carrying chemical reagents and petroleum products in the factory, there will be many other horse-drawn carriages and pedestrians passing here every day, and they will not pay too much attention to this kind of people, and if they get too close and shout that this is a private enterprise idler is exempt and so on, they will also consciously leave.

It's just that this time, the three of them are obviously coming towards the factory, so before the three of them arrived, the two of them kept the repeating rifles in their hands on standby at any time. After all, Mr. Cornwall's personal train was robbed not long ago, and the vicious robbers killed almost all the people on the train and all the police officers who came to help, and now they are the most nervous about strangers.

"This is the property of the Cornish Company, idlers are not allowed to enter, if you have nothing else to do, leave immediately, or we will shoot you on the grounds of legitimate self-defense." The horses of the three men came to the factory gate, and the guards immediately stopped them and said.

"Blind your dogs," scolded the woman with brown hair and blue eyes, "look closely, who is this lady?" ”

"Alright, Arandina, it's normal that they don't know me," the woman with dark brown hair, purple eyes, and a delicate pink face pulled something out of her breast pocket and showed it to the guards, as she stopped the woman who had just spoken out.

The guard only glanced at it, and his face immediately turned pale. They immediately put away their guns and said, "I'm really sorry, Miss, there have been so many things that have happened recently, we have to be cautious." ”

"This is your duty, and I forgive you for your rudeness." Lily waved her hand to signal that they didn't care.

The two ladies jumped off their horses, and immediately someone led them away. The guard on the side looked at the unsmiling man on the huge black horse and asked, "Miss, I remember that you should have come with the convoy in a specially prepared carriage, what happened?" Who is this gentleman? ”

"Our convoy was intercepted by the Odrisco gang on the way, and everyone but me and Amandina died," Lily said indifferently, as if it had nothing to do with her, "it was this Mr. Billy who took the risk to save us and escorted us all the way here. ”

"I see," said the guard, who immediately turned and bowed to Billy on his black horse, "thank you, sir, for escorting the eldest lady here." ”

"Less boring politeness," said Billy coldly, "I want to get paid for it now." ”

"No problem, Mr. Billy," Lily smiled, motioning for Amandina to fetch her jewelry box, and pulling out three cheques for a thousand dollars, "these cheques may be exchanged for paper money at any bank, and as for these jewels, I only hope that you will find a good appraiser, so that they will not be discredited." ”

"Thank you for your generosity, Miss Cornwall, though I would not advise you to carry such a large check with you in our realm," said Billy, holding the brim of his hat, "and I will not be left for long, and to be honest, I am not used to the smell here. ”

Lily smiled and nodded, "Thank you again for escorting you all the way." ”

"Oh, by the way," Billy said suddenly, as if thinking of something, "if you really want to make your marksmanship work, I'd suggest you switch to a more normal gun, too strange modifications are often more restrictive than helpful for a gunman." ”

Lily looked at the beautifully decorated revolver hanging from the holster around her waist, and the key was the revolver she had poured her heart and soul into, and finally she was speechless, so she could only wave goodbye to the gunman who had met in Pingshui.

The gunman did not look back, but took off his hat and waved it twice in return, maneuvered the giant horse under his crotch twice, and galloped away in the direction of the glorious sunset.

The figure of the gunman had disappeared from the horizon, but Lily was still standing there, without the slightest intention of leaving.

"Miss? Miss? Amandina called softly.

Lily ignored the call of the valet and said to the guards on the side, "You guys, send a few people to follow him from a distance, see where he finally settles, and then report to me in time." ”

"Yes."

As soon as the guards received the order, they left to prepare. A short time later, three fast horses with three loaded men left the Cornish coal tar factory and followed in the footsteps of the gunman.