Chen Jianqiu and his group got off the train from Juarez and went straight to the Juarez Valley.

Valle Juarez is located on the border between Mexico and Texas in the United States, parallel to the Rio Grande.

It is the waters of the Rio Grande that make this valley different from the barrenness of the surrounding land, and provide soil for cultivation.

Under Chen Jianqiu's arrangement, Geronimo and his Apache clansmen settled here.

It's not far from Ciudad Juarez, a dirt road connects the valley to Ciudad Juarez, and it's only half a day's drive for a horse-drawn carriage.

Everyday necessities can also be purchased in the city at any time, and Indians who go to work in Juarez can also travel between the two along this road.

It was not easy to get the Indians to abandon their old habits.

However, between the improvement of living standards and the clinging to old habits, they still chose the former.

After all, everything has to look forward.

As for security, due to the increasing stability of life, Geronimo no longer led his own people to constantly attack the territory of Texas.

Colonel Nelson Myers, the former commander-in-chief of the Federal Border Guards, could not ask for this.

He claimed that he had completely solved the problem of the Indians in the southern United States during his tenure, which he later wrote in his autobiography.

But Colonel Wiltord, who took over, was not impressed.

The latter is a staunch white racist.

Not only was he very unhappy with the Indians who lived close to the border, but he was also very unhappy that New Mexico had become a predominantly Chinese state.

The attitude of the Mexican side towards the Indians who live here is even less important.

Juarez is Chen Jianqiu's to put it bluntly.

Mr. Chen has brought prosperity to the area, and local Mexicans and Chinese have jobs and pay taxes.

He was also a guest of honour at the Prime Minister of Mexico and President Díaz.

According to Mexican tradition, as long as Chen Jianqiu does not declare independence, or leads the army to Mexico City, he can do whatever he likes.

Chen Jianqiu was a little emotional.

If nothing else, this Apache Indians should be able to thrive here.

It's just that Jerónimo died, and died in a strange way.

The news that came did not even state the cause of death.

Whether it was out of the friendship of old friends for many years, or the sympathy of comrades-in-arms, or for the stability of Juarez's surroundings, he had to come over.

The procession marched along the Rio Grande.

After walking for a while, the outline of the mountain gradually appeared on the horizon in the distance.

Val Juarez, it's almost there.

In a clearing at the mouth of the valley, Asuka and his men set up camp, waiting for Chen Jianqiu and their arrival.

Asuka led his beloved Mahuey and looked in the direction of Juarez from afar.

Time has passed, and this young chieftain who has been following Chen Jianqiu since Shiquan Town has grown into a sturdy man in his thirties in the blink of an eye.

His long hair was over the shoulders, and his eyes were less green and more resolute.

Over the years, Asuka has led Roswell's militia and maintained order and security in Juarez and New Mexico.

When Chen Jianqiu and Black Radish appeared in his field of vision, Asuka greeted him.

"What's going on?"

Chen Jianqiu dismounted, handed the reins of the black radish to an attendant who had come with him, and walked briskly towards the camp with the bird.

"I got the news that when the chief was collecting medicine on the cliff, he accidentally stepped on the air and fell down." Asuka replied, "But I think there's something wrong. ”

"What's wrong?" Chen Jianqiu stopped.

"The chief's body has never been found." Asuka said, "But according to your orders, I didn't intervene too deeply, but just stationed the militia at the mouth of the valley to deter. ”

Chen Jianqiu fell into thought.

He raised his head, shielded his hand from the sun, and looked at the grassy hills.

"The big army doesn't move first, you order twenty capable people and follow me into the Juarez Valley."

Chen Jianqiu and Asuka rode horses with about 20 people and carried guns into the valley.

Geography aside, this valley can be called a paradise.

Tributaries of the Rio Grande pass through the valley, making the valley lush on both sides, creating a striking shade of green in a glance of gray yellow.

Soon, an Indian town came into view.

On the outskirts of the town is a large field of corn and other crops.

Originally, the Apache Indians were accustomed to living in villages, even on reservations assigned to them.

However, in order to make these Indians live better, Chen Jianqiu specially supported a Chinese engineering team and built some houses for them.

Since there are not many trees that can be used as building materials, most of the houses are made of mud and stone, and some hay is used to make the roof.

There isn't much rain here, it's basically enough.

When the Indian residents of the town saw Chen Jianqiu and the birds, they made way for them.

They stood separately on both sides of the road, their faces sad.

The people who were busy with their hands also stopped what they were doing, put their hands in their hearts, and saluted the Indians to Chen Jianqiu and them.

The other part looks a little uneasy.

For this Mr. Chen.

Most of them were grateful and in awe.

He is the "Heavenly Brave" of Apache and has indeed saved the Apache tribe again and again.

The Apache Indians owed him so much that they could not pay it off, which more or less, became a psychologically invisible pressure.

Now, he has come in with soldiers, what is he going to do?

Chen Jianqiu's expression was very serious, and he bowed slightly to the Indians who saluted him, without a trace of a smile on his face.

Under the gaze of those Indians, Chen Jianqiu and his party came to a clearing at the other end of the town.

There are piles of stones here, arranged in a mysterious pattern, and on top of the stones, there are also some animal skulls and other things.

The open-air sacrificial site of the Apache tribe is now full of people.

These people were divided into three parts, and at first glance they belonged to three different tribes.

Chen Jianqiu saw several familiar faces from a group of people.

Lotzen, turtledove.

"I think the top priority now is to wait for Mr. Chen to come, and then nominate someone who can maintain the overall situation, otherwise everything will not go on." A middle-aged Indian with his hair tied up raised his hand and talked eloquently.

He was the leader of the Ikitay tribe, named Klitat, who was also of the Apache tribe.

"No, I don't think so." Another old man with a feather crown paused on the wooden cane in his hand and shook his head, "This is our own Apache business, there is no need to involve Mr. Chen. ”

He frowned and looked at Klitat: "Besides, the chief's body hasn't been found yet, I don't believe he's dead!" ”

"Old Marley, I don't approve of what you say, isn't all this we have now given to us by Mr. Chen? He gave us a place to live and sheltered us! Also gave us the opportunity to work! Without him, you'd have died in the Carlsbad Valley, right? ”

Klickitat looked at the old man mockingly.

He spoke in English, and the old man replied in English.

There is also a certain degree of linguistic difference between the Apache tribes, and there is a lack of vocabulary.

Sometimes, they are really used to communicating in English.

Klickitat pointed to the turtledove standing beside Roczen, and continued:

"What's more, he saw the chief fall from the cliff with his own eyes, and the cliff at that height would have been shattered long ago, even if it was Geronimo, there was no chance of survival."

The old man, known as "Old Marai", was the leader of another Apache tribe.

The previous leader, Koloradas, participated in the last rebellion against Geronimo, and was crushed by Chen Jianqiu, who arrived, and lost his head, so the old Marais became the new leader.

He ignored Klickitat's provocation and looked at the turtledove with a blank face:

"Is that so? Turtle dove? ”

Turtledove nodded:

"Yes, the chief fell down the cliff in front of us, and I went to look for it, but I saw only a trail of blood, but I didn't find a body. The Klickitat chief is right, you can't survive if you fall off such a high cliff! ”

Old Marley walked up to the turtledove on crutches.

His eyes were slightly cloudy, but it didn't prevent a pressing pressure from being released:

"Can you explain why there are no corpses?"

"Perhaps, it was dragged away by a hyena or a coyote or something." Klickitat interjected.

"Nonsense!" Old Marley couldn't hold back any longer, and struck the ground hard with his cane, "Anyway, I want to see the body of the chief, besides, I don't approve of Mr. Chen's involvement in this matter!" ”

"He's helped us a lot, and we're grateful to him, but it's our own business, and besides, he's said he won't take care of our business."

The old man said in an old voice.

"Then what if I come to mourn the good brother who was born and died with me?" A voice rang out.

Chen Jianqiu appeared at the entrance of the sacrificial place.

He had dismounted, followed by Asuka and twenty or so heavily armed soldiers.

The expressions of the Indians here are not much different from those in the town, full of awe.

Chen Jianqiu walked into the inner circle and walked to Luo Cen and Turtledove.

He found that Luo Cen had been coldly watching the discussion between the two tribal leaders the whole time, but he was not saying a word.

"Mr. Chen! You're finally here! Klickitat walked quickly to Chen Jianqiu's side, bent down and bowed to him.

Chen Jianqiu looked the Indian leader in front of him up and down.

I don't know if it's because of the relationship between him and modern society after settling down, the leader in front of him is very secular in terms of dress, words and deeds.

He was dressed in a gray suit with a white shirt underneath, his hair tied back at the back of his head, and he spoke fluent English.

If you don't look at the color of his skin, he looks like a living American or Mexican gentleman.

"You are?"

Chen Jianqiu was not impressed by the person in front of him.

In fact, he was not very impressed with the Apache Indians other than the Jeronimo tribe.

"Oh, Mr. Chen, have you forgotten? We've met in Albuquerque, and I've worked for your railroad. Klickitat said with special respect.

Chen Jianqiu looked at him carefully a few more times, and finally remembered.

The person in front of him did work in his railway company, but he was fired from the company because he liked to gamble and often made mistakes; Now I don't know how to get here, and I've become the leader of a tribe.

"I returned to my tribe after I left the company, and I regarded you as an idol, and guided my people to join the ranks of the American army with your teachings." Klickitat "licked".

Chen Jianqiu felt a double discomfort, both physical and psychological.

"Don't you hate me?"

He raised an eyebrow and asked Klickitat.

"No, no, no, it is precisely because of your strict requirements for me that I realized my shortcomings and changed my past mistakes from then on." "I'm now leading my people to work in the cotton mill in Juarez. ”

Chen Jianqiu suddenly fell silent.

"Shameless." The old man on the side snorted and said angrily.

"Jeronimo is a great chieftain, and whether he dies or not, he is the eternal leader of the Apaches."

Chen Jianqiu said aloud to everyone present.

"As a good friend of his, I was very sad to receive the news of his death, and I couldn't accept this for a while, so I came overnight to see if I could see him for the last time."

"But now, his body has not been found, which is a very sad thing, so I will take someone to find it and try to bring his body back."

After he finished speaking, there was silence among the Indians.

They didn't know what to say for a while.

Klickitat's "dog-licking behavior" was interrupted and did not receive positive feedback, so he was also speechless for a while.

He had expected Chen Jianqiu to pat him on the shoulder and say something encouraging.

But no, Chen Jianqiu's attention was not on him.

Therefore, he had to leave with his own people first.

And the old man's face softened a little:

"Okay, I hope our men will search with you and bring back the body of the chief."

Chen Jianqiu's temples moved again:

"Oh, okay, I'll let you know, but we might have to rest today."

Seeing this, the old man also had to leave with his own people.

Soon a group of Loczen and Turtledoves were left in the open-air sacrifice ground.

Luo Cen remained silent, which made Chen Jianqiu very strange.

This Indian woman had fought alongside Jerónimo from an early age, and was valiant enough to be one of his most effective men.

No one has a deeper affection for the chief than she has, and the two are not brother and sister, but brother and sister.

At the same time, she is also a straightforward person.

It is impossible for her to be without an opinion about Geronimo's death.

So silent, not quite right.

"Can you tell me what's going on?" He walked over to Locsen and asked in a low voice.

Roczen waved at the men behind him, motioning for them to leave first.

Wait until the crowd disperses.

Luo Cen and Chen Jianqiu walked to the side, behind an arched stone pile, before they spoke, their faces full of sadness:

"Mr. Chen, do you believe that the chief will fall to his death?"

"I don't believe it, but the world is unpredictable." Chen Jianqiu gave an ambiguous answer.

"If he really died, he must have been killed." Loczen sighed, "I really don't believe that with his skills, he can easily fall off a cliff. ”

"Are you suspicious of turtledoves?"

Chen Jianqiu took out a cigar from his clothes, put it on his mouth after processing it, and asked while lowering his head and lighting a cigarette.

"I really don't want to doubt him, Icargoves have always been loyal." Luo Czen was very entangled, "But when the chief fell off the cliff, he and the armadillo were the only ones at the scene, and the armadillo came to report the news, and only the turtledove was the only one who went to find the body." ”

"It's okay, I'll take care of this." Chen Jianqiu said.

He turned and beckoned to Asuka who was chatting with the turtledove:

"Let's go and see where the chief has fallen off the cliff."

Asuka nodded.

"Are you going to call people from other tribes?" He asked.

"No, let's take a look for ourselves." Chen Jianqiu took a cigar in his mouth, lifted his belt, and walked towards his horse.

But when he had just taken a few steps, he turned abruptly, stared at the turtledove that was watching them, and suddenly asked:

"Is the chief really dead?"

Ikaruga was stunned for a moment, but then replied very calmly:

"I watched him fall with my own eyes, you will know where you go, that height, you can't live."

(End of chapter)