On the vast Gobi, a group of people are riding on horseback. They have been wandering in the wild for a week. Everyone looks dusty, but they are getting closer and closer to the final destination, Yining.
However, when they arrived at the destination, they found that it had already been engulfed by the fire, leaving only a charred black wreckage.
Matthew got off his horse and stood in the center of the town. Looking up, there were ruins everywhere, and he couldn't find any living things.
"As I told you, they all died in the fire."
If Zhang Heng was here, he would definitely recognize the speaker. It was the bailiff named Morton whom he met by chance on the first night in this dungeon, but the latter's current condition didn't look very good. His eyes were bruised, the bridge of his nose was broken, and four or five teeth were missing. He was tied to a horse, and his speech was a bit leaky.
"I don't believe your story about the mysterious oriental shooter... I've lived in Lincoln County for so long, and I've never seen such a person." Matthew frowned.
"As I said, if I hadn't met him that night, I wouldn't have believed there would be such a strange person in this world. He was like a mysterious ghost. No one knew where he came from. Afterwards I I asked the nearby towns along the direction he came from, and no one had seen such a person. It seemed that he suddenly appeared on this Gobi, killed seven good players in the bar, and carried 40 kilograms The gold and what you are looking for, I did hear him talk about going to Lincoln County when I met him."
"Then let's go to Lincoln County too." The hunchbacked old man said.
"No, I won't go to Lincoln County with you." Matthew shook his head. "Don't think I don't know what you're calling, Cook. In Bliss, you deliberately revealed my name to the people in the town. People, when you go to rob this guy," Matthew pointed to Morton on horseback, "you must also take me with you, do you want to use this method to connect me with the Cook Gang?"
"You were originally a member of the Cook gang, and one of the founders." The hunchbacked old man said leisurely.
"No, I have nothing to do with your gang, and Lucky Horseshoe has nothing to do with the Cook Gang." Matthew said, "Are you acting for me, Cook? You and this guy named Morton , You actually made an appointment, right? You made such a big circle just to trick me into going to Lincoln County with you."
"You think too highly of me, kid." The hunchbacked old man said, and he took out a box of chewing tobacco, "I'm not those people from the Union Pacific Railroad Company, and I can have the bailiffs serve me. I have indeed been thinking about how to let you and me go to Lincoln County, but it seems that this problem has been resolved by itself now, and this is probably the choice of fate."
"I don't believe in shitty fate," Matthew said.
"I didn't believe it either, but if it weren't for fate, we should be sitting in your house now, you holding your son and I holding my granddaughter, and we are drinking beer and talking about things that are not worth it. Little things about life, while Mary... Mary is in the kitchen preparing dinner."
Cook paused, "But you're right, there is no destiny in this world at all, and some are just the weak and the strong. I don't regret setting up the Cook Gang, but I regret realizing it too late. I let myself have The happy life blinded our eyes, just like you now, but the cruel life will make us wake up one day, I heard that you married another woman in Lincoln County and gave birth to a daughter."
"Don't involve them in the matter between us." Matthew warned.
The hunchbacked old man smiled, "What you should worry about is not me, but the fate you said. Don't you worry that what happened to Mary will happen to them again?"
Matthew fell into silence upon hearing this.
"Look, how fragile your so-called happiness is. There are too many big men like the director of the Union Pacific Railroad in this world. Matthew, you are just an ant under their feet. You don't know when that boot will fall. On my own head, do you know where I went after the three of us separated?"
"where?"
"I took the train to the East Coast."
"Then why did you come back?"
"What, do you think I'm planning to go to New York to retire?" The hunchbacked old man laughed, "No, I'm going to carry out my revenge to the end. I'm going to kill the director of the Union Pacific Railway Company. Getting caught, losing Marie, I don't want to live anymore anyway... Things went better than I expected, I sneaked into my target's house without much trouble, east coast guys are not like us, they almost There was no alertness, I even had a chance to enjoy his wife in front of him before I did it, and then I noticed the way he looked at me, so frightened and helpless, like a puppy in the rain, It was at that moment that I suddenly realized that I had become his destiny."
"What are you trying to say?" Matthew frowned.
"My point is, if you want to get rid of this endless cycle of tragic fate, you have to become fate itself." Cook said, "Join us, Matthew, stop being a pawn at the mercy of fate, we have four A dozen brave and fearless men, who come and go like the wind, with excellent marksmanship, and the whole West is our hunting ground."
"Since you already have more than forty subordinates, why do you insist on me joining?"
"Because you are my kin, Matthew, and I have always treated you like a son, because your blood was not welcome in the town, and I took you in, taught you how to use a gun, how to ride a horse, and gave my daughter After marrying you, you are like me when I was young, join us, and I will continue to guide you."
"Guide me where to go, go to hell with you?"
"This ending isn't too bad. Together, we can kill Satan even if we fall into hell." The hunchbacked old man looked expectantly at Matthew.
Then the latter shook his head, "No, Cook, I still have a wife and daughter, I can't be a robber with you, revenge is over, we killed a whole town, it's over, I love Mary, no less than you, because of this I can be sure that she will not want to see you become like this, you just put the pain you have suffered on others, then you and Ruben back then What's the difference?"
"I'm stronger than him, that's why I survived." The hunchbacked old man said, "In this land, only strong people can win the right to live for themselves. It's a pity that you are not strong enough, Matthew. But it doesn't matter, soon you will be strong, come on, boy, let's face the new future together."