America 1881: They Call Me Legend

Chapter 154 The storm is coming

When Chen Jianqiu put on his clothes and calmly appeared at the door of the house, there was a mess outside.

The sky became gloomy.

Many white wooden fences were broken, and many holes were punched out by stray bullets in the wooden barrels piled beside the house. The liquid inside soaked the ground, and the flowerpots fell to the ground, and wood slag and fragments were scattered all over the floor.

The cowboys who had not had holes in their bodies were rescuing the wounded; several corpses lay beside the fence, ignored.

Uncle James snatched the gun from Emily's hand and looked at his daughter in front of him with a complicated expression. He didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Um, what happened?" As soon as Chen Jianqiu walked out of the door, he saw the father and daughter looking at each other silently.

He couldn't disturb other people's father and daughter affairs, so he had to go to the other side to see the injured cowboy.

He took out a chewing tobacco box from his bag and handed it to Howard, who was treating the wounds of the wounded.

This is a hemostatic ointment prepared by Teresa and Geronimo. They put some herbs that can stop bleeding into a paste in a grinding dish, and then put it in a clean chewing tobacco box.

Although this kind of medicine has only mediocre efficacy, can only be used on smaller wounds, and does not last long, it is better than nothing now, and it is better than watching these people bleed to death.

James was still looking at his daughter, but his daughter didn't want to spend any more time with him.

"The people who were Fred just now are the same people who robbed you yesterday."

She walked to Chen Jianqiu's side and pointed at a corpse on the ground with a blown head and an unrecognizable body.

The owner of this corpse was Fred's thug who was beaten to death by Chen Jianqiu. The scene at this time was horrific.

"Yue!" Chen Jianqiu ran to the side, holding on to the corner and retching.

Emily looked at him with sympathetic eyes.

This poor honest child must have seen such a tragic scene for the first time. How could he think of coming to such a dirty, disorderly, and barbaric place like the West?

"Dad!" Emily looked at Father James.

The goatee dad also lost some of his anger at this time. He walked up to Chen Jianqiu, patted his shoulder, and took out a clean square towel from his pocket and gave it to him.

"That's too cruel." Chen Jianqiu took the handkerchief and wiped the empty corners of his mouth.

"Kid, you will get used to it." Father James sighed, "That's how it is in the West. Maybe you are still alive and kicking today, but the next day your body will appear in the wilderness and be dragged away by wild wolves."

He glanced at Chen Jianqiu:

"Son, let's do this. I'll arrange two horses and a car for you today. You can leave as soon as possible."

Father James walked towards the injured cowboy: "Fred's people will come again tomorrow, and it won't be as simple as a dozen people then."

"They won't stop until they get this pasture."

"Then what should you do?" Chen Jianqiu frowned.

He originally just wanted to keep a low profile to match his status as a gold digger, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble.

He has seen too many of these grievances and hatreds in the West, and he doesn't want to care about them, and he can't.

But James' father just arranged a car for him to take him away, which he didn't expect.

"James, call the police, we have no way to fight Fred!"

Mrs. James held in her hand a shirt stained with blood, which had been taken off a wounded cowboy.

The injured cowboy was dying, and the lady's hands were covered with red blood. She was on the verge of collapse, and tears burst out of her eyes.

"No, Mom, have you forgotten how Billy died? Fred had the Lincolnshire people backing him up, and the Sheriffs were in cahoots with him. There's no use calling the police, Mom."

Emily is much stronger than her mother. She picked up the gun that fell on the ground.

The girl started checking her gun.

This gun was left to her by her brother.

She held the gun and looked into the distance, where the sky and the earth meet, where the pastures stretched and swayed in the wind.

A girl in a skirt was running wantonly, followed by two older boys.

"Emily, don't run away. If you drop and dirty your clothes again, your father will scold her." The boy in overalls shouted to the girl with a doting look on his face.

"You dare to teach her to shoot, and are you afraid of Uncle James's censure?" Another young man wearing a blue cowboy hat walked beside him and said to him.

The boy in overalls smiled and put his hands on his waist, just like his father.

The two of them watched quietly as the girl ran against the wind on the grass, like a nimble pronghorn.

"Billy, I heard that Crook's Cavalry Regiment is recruiting, and the Sheriff recommended you. When will you leave?" the young man wearing a blue cowboy hat suddenly asked.

Billy was stunned for a moment, then bent down to pick up a small clod of soil on the ground and threw it away into the distance.

"I'm not going." He said with a smile, "I have to help my father. The ranch is too busy and I can't get away."

"That's a shame. Your marksmanship is the best among the young people in the county." The boy sighed.

"What about you? Pilot?" Billy suddenly asked, "When are you leaving?"

"How did you know that I was going too?" The boy named Pile looked stunned. He couldn't remember when he told his best friend the news.

He originally planned to give Billy a surprise on the day of departure, carry his bags together, and ride horses in the army together in the west.

"Emily told me." Billy smiled mysteriously at Pilot, as if he had revealed some of his secrets.

Pile wanted to argue something, but was interrupted by Emily's voice in front of him.

The girl turned her head, gently brushed away the hair that was blown by the wind on her face, and shouted at them: "Brother! Pailer! What are you doing? Come here quickly, there is a hill ahead, we are right there

Wouldn’t it be nice to practice shooting there?”

After that, she picked up her skirt again and ran forward quickly.

The two boys stopped communicating with each other and quickly followed her, fearing that the girl would fall and get hurt.

…

The sky became darker, and dark clouds that were not common in New Mexico began to appear in the sky.

Emily recovered from the memories, bit her lip, and tightened her grip on the gun in her hand.

"I'm not afraid of them. When my brother was here, they didn't dare to set foot on this ranch. Now that he's dead, I'm still here!"

Goatee James got to know his daughter again for the first time. He suddenly realized that his daughter had grown up and was no longer the little girl who followed her brother every day.

But he still shook his head:

"Emily, you and your mother go back to the house to pack your things. I will ask Uncle Howard to send you away later. You go to grandpa's place to hide for a while."

Father James waved to Howard, motioning for him to come to him and explain something to him.

The two of them had their backs facing the direction of the crowd, and Chen Jianqiu knew that they were most likely explaining their funeral arrangements.

But the loyal cowboy seemed to have differences of opinion with his employer, and the two started to argue.

"I should stay with you."

"No, you are my old buddy and the person I trust most. I need you to protect my wife and children. It is more important to me." Father James insisted.

He pointed to the injured cowboys: "You take them with you."

Then, he said to the other cowboys: "If you want to leave, you can put it forward now. I won't force you."

The cowboys looked at each other, knowing that this might be a losing battle and they might end up losing their lives here.

Several people showed their hands to James and walked to their horses. They got on the horses and prepared to leave:

"Sorry, James, there are too many people at Fred's. We still have to support our families. We don't want to die because of this. I can only wish you good luck."

James did not stop them, but waved goodbye to them.

Soon, there were only five or six cowboys left around him, all of whom were about the same age as James. They were all old bachelors. They had followed James a long time ago, and now they planned to die with him.

Chen Jianqiu stayed where he was and didn't move.

James turned around, saw the Chinese man, and remembered his promise.

He said to a cowboy beside him: "Find two pack horses and hitch a flatbed cart to this gentleman."

The cowboy nodded and left, but Chen Jianqiu did not leave.

"Is there anything else, sir?" James asked strangely.

"Why don't you evacuate with us?"

The middle-aged man is as stubborn as his goatee: "This is the place where I grew up. It's everything to me. I will protect this place with all my strength."

"Okay, I understand." Chen Jianqiu turned and walked towards the warehouse.

After a while, Chen Jianqiu's carriage was loaded, and the old cowboy carefully covered the back of the carriage with a layer of canvas to protect it from rain.

Chen Jianqiu was sitting on the driver's seat of the carriage, holding the reins. He raised his head and saw Father James at the door. He was about to say something.

But Father James waved to him: "Sir, I wish you a safe journey."

Suddenly, Emily appeared at the door of the warehouse, followed by Howard.

"James, Emily doesn't want to leave." Howard said helplessly.

"Listen to daddy and leave with Uncle Howard quickly. You are my only child!" James said as he went to pull his daughter.

Emily ducked away.

"Let Uncle Howard protect mom and leave. I said, I want to stay and fight side by side with you, dad." Emily said firmly.

It seems that both father and daughter have bad tempers. They are not a family and do not belong to the same family.

James wanted to say something else, but was interrupted by Chen Jianqiu.

"It seems that none of us can leave for the time being. You should look outside."

At this time, the sky was completely dark outside, and the wind was picking up, causing the flags on the pasture to whistle.

The dark clouds in the sky are layered one on top of another, rolling continuously.

Under the dark clouds, dozens of horses appeared, as well as heavily armed cowboys.

A storm is coming.

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One update.

(End of chapter)