Valentine, Smithfield Tavern.

If there's any difference between the Smithfield Tavern at noon and the night, it's probably the lack of women who beg for a living at night and men who support those women. At this time of time, except for the drunkards who have abandoned themselves and the gamblers who do not hesitate day and night once they are served, everyone else just comes to the tavern for a hot meal.

Brandi and LaVine were normal homeless single men, both of whom were concentrating on the beef stew in their respective bowls, while Calloway was in the drunkard category, preoccupied with his own whiskey, and he didn't even bother to glance at the steaming chunks of beef in the bowl in front of him.

The door of the tavern creaked again, a sound that everyone was accustomed to, so no one paid attention to the guest who pushed the door open, except for the bartender, who had to receive the guests.

Walking into the tavern were two men, one white and one black.

The white man looked polite, with gray hair, a bright gray suit, and a well-dressed beard, although he was not tall or strong enough, but the temperament that he exuded from him and had been trained by civilized society over the years could steadily suppress all the sloppy and reckless men who did not know a single big character in the audience.

Compared to the white man, the black man, who was always half a position behind him, was like the other extreme. He wore a black shotgun suit, and the design that fit the figure highlighted the black man's tall and thin but strong figure just right, although there was no difference between him and the white man in terms of clothing, but the cold temperament that naturally exuded from the black man, the belt of the gun that was exposed in the open, and the two large-caliber lemat revolvers hanging on both sides of his waist, all explained a fact to those who noticed him in the most direct way - he was not easy to mess with.

The bartender naturally focused his main attention on the more affable-looking white man, who was honestly a little too intimidating. Seeing that the two of them had already walked to the bar, the bartender took out two glasses and put them in front of the two of them, and poured two glasses of whiskey full of them.

"Thank you for your hospitality, sir," said the white man, smiling very politely, then taking a sip from his glass, putting it down, "but we want to know some useful information more than wine." ”

The bartender looked at the black man who didn't move his glass, but stood in front of the bar like an iron tower and looked at him, and couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat behind his back.

"If you say, as long as I know, I will know everything." The bartender smiled and said.

Hearing this, the black man took out a very small folded piece of paper from his breast pocket, and after unfolding it layer by layer, one small piece of paper turned into three wanted notices.

The black man slapped the three wanted warrants on the bar, and the white man leaned closer, and said in a low voice: "We heard that these three people appeared in Valentine, and they came all the way from Anissberg, have you seen these three people?" ”

The bartender looked closely at the three faces on the wanted warrant and did not speak, but simply looked at the table in the tavern.

The blacks and whites understood, turned their heads, and it didn't take long to make sure that the five people at the table contained exactly the three targets they were looking for.

"How? Together? The white man asked.

The black man still kept a grim expression and replied, "No." ”

"Don't forget, even if I don't work, we will still be paid fifty-fifty cents." The white man reminded with a smile.

The black man smiled rarely, showed a mouthful of white shining teeth, and said, "Aren't you happy to take money for nothing?" ”

"I don't want to go with my conscience." White people joked.

The black man didn't answer, but just left the bar and walked towards the table. The white man didn't stop him, but turned to the bartender and said, "A bottle of whiskey, a bottle of beer, and I think you can be ready to run away, the bullet doesn't have eyes." ”

The bartender nodded tremblingly, put a bottle of whiskey and a bottle of beer on the bar as fast as he could, and then expertly threw a cat behind the bar, only his head out, paying attention to the situation on the other side of the table.

The tables are in full swing, and the most common type of Texas Hold'em is played. The black man locked on the short camel of the five, which was one of their targets, and walked up behind the camel and did nothing but look fixedly at the back of the camel's head.

The other four people at the table noticed the black man behind the camel, and their expressions all changed.

The camel also felt the strange gaze from behind him, he turned his head, looked the black man up and down, and asked, "Is there something wrong with you?" ”

"Take a look." The black man replied briefly.

The camel didn't pay much attention to it, and went back to play with the others.

The black man pulled a cigar out of his coat pocket and another box of matches. He took the cigar in his mouth, pulled a match from the matchbox, and looked at the bulging back of the camel in front of him, as if looking for a good angle. After a while, he chose his position, and with a "swish", struck a match on the back of the hunchback.

The game came to a standstill again.

The camel was stunned at first, and then the corners of his mouth began to twitch unconsciously.

He turned his head and stood up, his eyes fixed on the black man who had just been lighting his cigar all the time, and squeezed the words out between his teeth: ", you TM are deliberately finding fault, aren't you?" ”

The cigar in the black man's mouth kept changing positions, and he said, "I'm really looking for something." ”

The camel didn't speak, just stared at the black man's face. The camel's two companions did not speak, but slowly stood up, and slowly touched the revolver at his waist.

"Tell me,." The camel said very politely.

"A hundred dollars on you," said the black man, looking at the other two who were standing, "and you, the three of you, each of whom owes me a hundred dollars." ”

The trio raised their eyebrows, and they were sensitive to the "$100" statement, because their bounty was "$100, dead or alive."

Speaking of this, it is already very clear that as a person concerned, if you don't understand it anymore, it is a bit of a serious brain disease.

The camel kicked aside the chair he was sitting on, his eyes fixed on the black man who was half a body taller than him, his hands began to grope around his waist, and his two companions were ready to attack, their eyes locked on the bounty hunter, who was sure that they would be able to beat the fellow into a sieve at once if the other made a move.

"Friend, do you know what happened to the last person who provoked me like this?" The camel asked.

"Tell me about it." The black man smiled and said.

The camel squeezed out a vicious word from between his teeth: "He is now estimated to be rotting under the Anissberg mines." ”

"That's really creepy." The black man's smile was even more sarcastic.

The people in the tavern had realized that something was wrong, and all those who could run were hula and ran clean, and in the huge tavern, except for the four people who were confronting each other and the white man who was pouring himself drinks at the bar, there was only one table of people sitting at their table eating and drinking as if nothing had happened.

"I ...... Aren't we leaving? Lavin asked tremblingly.

"Go, it's not your concern," said Brandy, picking up a piece of beef with a fork and stuffing it into his mouth, "and the thing you should care about is not to pee into your pants after a while, which will affect our appetites." ”

"Friend," the white man's voice sounded behind Brandy, "may you let me sit at this table?" ”

"Absolutely." Brandi said, pulling out the chair beside him.

"Thanks," asked the white man, smiling politely, sitting down, filling himself with a glass of whiskey, "aren't you going to get out of here?" ”

"Bullets can't hit us, so why should we go?" Brandi said as he pointed to Calloway, who was already drunk and unconscious, and said, "Besides, this old man is already drunk like this bird, and we can't just leave him here, can we?" ”

"That makes sense," said the white man, nodding his head, "that the old man should not be left alone in a dangerous place." ”

Brandi looked at the four people facing each other at the table, and said, "Your friend is much more dangerous than the old man on my side, what?" Aren't you going to help? ”

"I'm in danger if I go to help, that will blow my head off before I can finish those guys," the white man smiled and held out his hand to Brandy, "Kim Schultz, I'm a dentist." ”

Brandi also stretched out his hand to shake Kim Schultz and said, "Brandi Munny, his main business now is probably a bounty hunter. ”

As the two were introducing themselves, there was a new movement at the table.

In the duel between gunmen, the confrontation process is often very painful, in this process, there are many people who can't bear to shout and pull out their guns, but nine out of ten of these people die unexpectedly, and those exceptions are just picking up a life.

Calmness is an essential quality for a gunman. For a gunman, a loss of cool is the equivalent of a loss of life.

One of the three confronted by the black man could not bear the loneliness and pulled his rifle out of his holster.

In the next moment, three deafening gunshots almost toppled the roof of the tavern.

The black man was still standing still, blowing out the smoke from the muzzle of the gun and retracting the holster from his waist.

And the three people who confronted him all fell to the ground in all directions, silent.

"All right, come here," beckoned Schultz, "and you'll have time to enjoy the beer for a while before the sheriff arrives, and to be honest, the beer here is pretty good, and the malt is very fragrant." ”

The black man walked slowly, pulled over a chair and sat down, and began to drink beer to himself.

At this time, Sheriff Malloy broke into the door with a few policemen, and he first noticed the tall black man who was not easy to get along with at first glance, and then saw Brandi and greeted, "Brother Brandi, what's going on here?" ”

"Just ask this gentleman for details." Brandi gestured to Schultz, who was sitting next to him.

"Hello, sir, you must be the sheriff of this town," Schultz said, standing up, shaking hands with Sheriff Malloy, "My name is Kim Schultz, a dentist and bounty hunter. ”

"Curtis Malloy," Sheriff Malloy said, shaking Schultz's hand, "although you are also law enforcers, you can't shoot and kill people indiscriminately on my territory, it's the law." ”

"Of course we are not killing indiscriminately, dear Sheriff Malloy," Schultz said, pulling three wanted warrants out of his pocket, "and the three lying over there are the notorious Russo brothers, who were arrested for murder in Anissberg, only to escape the day before the execution, and to kill two policemen together, and now all three are wanted, and a reward of three hundred dollars has been offered." ”

Sergeant Malloy took the wanted warrant and looked at it, then handed it to his men for them to identify themselves.

"That is, you owe us three hundred dollars now, Sheriff Malloy." Schultz said, smiling mischievously for his age.

Sheriff Malloy looked at him and said, "I will naturally take care of business, but you, and this black-faced friend of yours, must remember to me not to spread wild on my territory, otherwise, even if you have the reputation of a bounty hunter, I have the right to correct you on the spot." ”

"That's nature, Sergeant." Schultz bowed slightly as a sign of respect for the local law.

After the officers left, Brandi asked, "So, that's how you usually work?" ”

"Not normally, strictly speaking, because most of the time we are on the road, running from here to place," Schultz said, shaking the liquor from his glass, "but generally speaking, whenever the wanted warrant says dead or alive, we usually use bullets instead of nooses." ”

Brandi took a sip of wine and said, "It stands to reason that we should only have the power to arrest and transport prisoners, and as for trials and executions, I don't think we should do it." ”

"You have some truth in that," Schultz nodded, "but generally speaking, as long as the wanted warrant does not require us to arrest us alive, in a legal sense, we also have the power to enforce the law." ”

"But there's no requirement on the wanted warrant to kill him, does it?" Brandi was a little deliberately provocative, "I always felt that our work should be to serve the people. ”

Schultz smiled, spread his hands, and said: "You are right, arresting and trying those scum is our job and our way of serving the people." ”

"But, look at the current situation, Mr. Schultz," said Brandy, gesturing to the empty tavern, "and if the common people had been taken into account, this would not be the way it is now. ”

Schultz, still smiling politely, turned back to the black man and said, "This gentleman seems to have some objections to our style." ”

The black man seemed to notice Brandi's young face on the side, and sneered with some disdain, saying, "It's often easier to talk more than to grow up." ”

Brandy glanced at the black man and said with a little disdain: "Although I have not been in this business for long, at least I have always followed the legal procedures of this country, and I have never killed a person in the name of trial." ”

"Listen to me, little friend," said the black man, with a look that was not a smile, "this business is not as righteous as you think, and if you want to be a hero, you might as well find a bed and a girl, and of course you must have the ability to be a hero in this regard." ”

"Hmph, if you say such a thing, I'm afraid you don't have the ability to act on this prestige." Brandi stood up, looked at the black man, and sneered at him without hesitation.

"Alright, gentlemen," Schultz also stood up, playing the role of peacemaker, "since you don't like each other, and we are both bounty hunters, why don't we settle disputes in the way of bounty hunters, what do you think?" ”

Brandi glared at the black man viciously and looked at Schultz with some confusion: "The way of the bounty hunter?" ”

"You may not have heard of bounty showdowns," Schultz said, "It's a kind of competition between bounty hunters, and the exact content of the competition can be determined by yourself, and it is essentially the same as the various competitive activities that are common in the West, except that the form is more formal, and a middleman is needed as a referee to increase the fairness of the competition, how about it?" Do you want a round? ”

Brandi looked back at the black man defiantly and said, "Do you dare?" ”

"Always with you, rookie." Blacks are-for-tat.

"Okay, well, in this way, there will be a way to solve the problem," Schultz's tone became relaxed when he saw that his proposal was accepted by the two, "Speaking of which, you haven't introduced each other yet, have you?" ”

Brandi and the black man reached out at the same time to shake their hands.

"Brandi Munny." Brandi said.

"Django." Blacks said.

"Can you spell him out?"

"D-J-A-N-G-O," Django said expressionlessly, "D doesn't pronounce." ”