Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

The brighter the smiles on the children's faces, the more bewildered and helpless this one-armed little beggar appeared.

This expression seemed familiar to Zhang Renfeng; he recalled the first time he met that Russian girl.

At that time, her ankles were shackled, and she was filthy all over, like a dog chained to the wall in a defensive posture, looking at him timidly. No matter what he said to her, her face was filled with fear and a little confusion.

This sense of confusion is quite similar to that of the little beggar in the story.

He immediately realized what was happening and switched to another language, "Verstehst du, was ich sage? (Can you understand me?)"

In that instant, the little beggar's eyes lit up, and he quickly nodded.

"A German?" Theon, who had been spotted by the other children, suddenly became interested and squatted down as well, asking softly, "Bist du Deutscher? (Are you German?)"

The beggar didn't speak, he just shook his head.

“He’s mute,” one of the beggars explained. “I don’t know when he snuck in, and he won’t answer any of the questions we ask him.”

Dumb?

Zhang Renfeng found it increasingly suspicious and was about to ask a question when he heard a rather fierce shout coming from not far away.

"Aliya, you've sneaked out again! Haven't I told you so many times not to get involved with these beggars? Why won't you listen? I..."

"..."

Once the owner of the voice turned the corner and saw the truth, the second half of the sentence immediately stopped.

She had followed the little beggars from town all the way here—those little beggars ran very fast, as if if she were late, she would miss something. She thought it would be the same as before, just a few dirty little beggars, but when she suddenly saw Zhang Renfeng and his two companions, the girl's stern expression froze, and she didn't know what to say.

She was observing those around her, and they were observing her too.

The girl looked quite young, with a high ponytail, which was rather rare in the area, and beautiful black hair. She had a slender figure and a graceful posture.

Unlike Evelyn's delicate, slender beauty, the girl before him had unusually upturned eyes, adorned with a beautiful beauty mark at the corner of her eye. Her figure was exquisitely curvaceous, like slender branches bearing abundant fruit, leaving a lingering impression. Especially her beautiful legs, long and firm, exuding a graceful strength.

Zhang Renfeng's gaze lingered on her legs for a moment, and he noticed something.

cripple?

Something seems... a little off again.

"What's wrong with your head, staring at a lady's legs like that?" The girl crossed her arms and glared at him, then waved to the one-armed beggar, "Aliya, come here, come home with me."

The one-armed beggar was somewhat bewildered. He looked at the girl who had suddenly appeared, then at Zhang Renfeng and the others, and finally, he obediently came out of the crowd and walked towards her.

"Snapped!"

Zhang Renfeng suddenly reached out and pressed down on his shoulder.

When these five fingers are clenched, even a four-meter-tall North American grizzly bear can be thrown over the shoulder; how could a small child possibly break free?

"What...what are you doing?" The girl was clearly flustered. "I'm calling for help!"

……

Zhang Renfeng gently pulled on the hair of the one-armed beggar, and using his internal force, plucked a strand of hair before the beggar could even feel the pain. He held the strand of hair in front of his eyes, rubbed it vigorously with two fingers, and finally saw the silver-yellow hidden beneath the black.

"I see." He tossed the strands of hair aside, looked again at her empty right sleeve, and said in a deep voice, "You're a girl."

Aliya didn't understand what he was talking about and looked at him suspiciously, but she still didn't say anything.

Are you her relative?

"...It's none of your business," the girl said coldly, and started to walk this way.

The moment he took a step, Zhang Renfeng saw through his deception.

Although she concealed it well, minimizing all her movements, she still couldn't fool Zhang Renfeng. Having practiced martial arts for twenty years, he knew the human body structure all too well, and he could tell at a glance that the girl's left leg was almost completely bent when she walked.

She was walking with a prosthetic leg, and almost tripped and fell because she exerted too much force.

Seeing this, Aliya stopped insisting and quickly ran over to help her.

Realizing her lapse in composure, the girl bit her lip hard, revealing an expression of extreme resentment, and then turned her anger on the other girl. She instinctively reached out to push her, but restrained herself and accepted the girl's help. The two strange girls, supporting each other, slowly left the area.

Things seem to be getting increasingly strange.

Chapter 291: Did you hear it with your own ears?

"You heard it with your own ears?"

"I heard it with my own ears!" This was the first time Orlock had ever seen Lord Caster like this—his eyes were piercing, and he was pressing forward step by step, a stark contrast to his usual refined and easygoing demeanor. He was like a ferocious cat hiding in the woods, ready to pounce at any moment.

He was so frightened that he took several steps back, almost pressed against the wall, and repeatedly assured them.

Castor's eyes flickered, and he asked again, "You heard it with your own ears, that guy said he was Red China?!"

“I heard it with my own ears, he admitted that he was Red Center!” Orlock nodded quickly.

"You heard it with your own ears: he was going to spar with Ramsay Bolton?"

“I heard it with my own ears… no… that’s not what he said.” Orlock racked his brains to recall, and finally managed to pull out the exact words he had heard that morning from the depths of his memory. “He meant that if Ramsay Bolton asked about it, we should pin the blame on him.”

"..." Caster fell silent, put his hands behind his back, and slowly walked to the window, staring at the distant mountains.

“Mr. Caster, the fugitive with a bounty of 7000 has arrived in our territory with only four men and even revealed his name. This is a golden opportunity!”

Orlock sounded excited, rubbing his hands together as if he had sensed a chance for his luck to turn around.

“I’ve found out. They live on the hillside near the mine. Mr. Caster, just give the order, and I’ll immediately lead a dozen or so men to surround them. Then…”

"Do you know how he got the bounty of $14,000 in two states?" Castor interrupted him rudely, not taking Orlock's opinion seriously at all. "In Windblown Sand, New Elizabeth, he killed more than thirty sheriffs, broke through their ranks, and then set fire to Lane Childer's mansion. Your dozen or so men are no match for him."

Orlock's expression changed, and his smile vanished as if by magic.

Ultimately, he was just a local thug. He might have the guts to bully others and dominate the village, and the potential for that was immense. But when it came to actually drawing a gun and killing someone, he would never dare. Not to mention the high probability of him being killed in self-defense.

"Then, should we get the Pinkerton detectives involved?" He came up with another idea. "They're definitely after Red China, right? Let's call them over and have them help investigate the missing Luxembourg princess. That way, we won't have to keep that Luxembourg ambassador running around here every few days..."

As he spoke, Orlock sensed that something was amiss.

When you're working under someone else, you have to be observant and always pay attention to the boss's facial expressions.

Castor's smile vanished, replaced by a cold, piercing gaze—his way of expressing displeasure. Startled, he quickly stopped, refusing to utter another word.

“Your job is to supervise the progress of the work on site. Just manage that.” Castor said unhurriedly, even spreading his arms as he spoke slowly and deliberately. “Since he has declared that he wants to fight Ramsay Bolton, let him go up the mountain and search at his own pace. We will just wait and see.”

"Are we really going to let him fight Rams?" Orlock couldn't help but ask. "But Rams isn't..."

“A cruel, ruthless, and bloodthirsty gang leader.” Caster picked up where he left off, pondered for a moment, and asked, “Is the telegraph machine still running?”

"It's on."

Caster stood up solemnly and walked toward the telegraph machine in the inner room, saying, "I believe you already know without me saying it. Do not reveal a single word of what happened today to the outside world."

"..."

Orlock felt a chill run down his spine.

He suddenly realized that he was just an "outsider," an insignificant figure to Castor. Of what Castor thought and did, only about a tenth would reach him; the rest melted into the gloomy darkness, weaving into an invisible web of sin.

He knew perfectly well that besides the overt mining and logging business, Castor was definitely brewing something in secret. The large ship that would dock every now and then, and the business and political bigwigs who frequently visited under the guise of "visiting," were not the kind of entourage that an ordinary agent could pull off.

But as an outsider, he couldn't explain the specifics clearly.

A dog is good enough if it barks at people and serves as a guard dog.

Are those huge wads of green US dollars just free?

"Understood." He bit his lip, quickly accepting his role. "I won't say a word!"

"Boom—!"

Outside the window, dark clouds loomed overhead, and thunder rumbled.

The dense raindrops of early spring, accompanied by thunder, poured down from the sky, as if to sweep away the filth of the city!

----

"It's raining!" Alana shrugged dejectedly. "Well, this day was a complete waste."

On the chief's side, Zhang Renfeng's task was to find traces of the Skinning Gang.

The chief immediately began his hunt, starting from the riverbank where Thomas had been executed. The bank was muddy, and because the execution site was so gruesome, no one dared to approach, which ironically served to protect the scene. From the fresh hoofprints, the chief deduced that the enemy had at least four horses.

After setting up the scene, they rode away on horseback, heading into the mountains along the narrow mountain path. Just as Zhang Renfeng had expected, this group of people were hiding in the mountains, acting like local warlords. For them, Fengxi Port below was simply a money bag they could use at will.

Alana witnessed firsthand the chief's prowess: hunting was only part of it; his true skill lay in tracking clues in the wild. Like when they were tracking the grizzly bear, he managed to keep his group on the right path for a whole day and night, getting closer and closer to their target—a truly remarkable talent.

Crushed leaves, scraped bark, and fresh dung... the tracks of four horses were impossible to hide. To an Indian warrior who had spent the first half of his life making a living in the wilderness, it was as if he had an automatic pathfinding system, heading straight for the Ramsay gang's camp.

However, a sudden downpour extinguished all the clues.

"There's nothing we can do. It's early spring, and the moisture condenses, so there are often thunderstorms like this. If we run into one, we're just unlucky."

Because it was a thunderstorm, the two couldn't take shelter under the trees. They hadn't brought umbrellas since they were out running errands, so they had no choice but to wade through the heavy rain, their feet sinking deep into the water.

"Let's find somewhere to shelter from the rain, we're all soaked."

"There's a cave ahead." The chief squinted and observed for a moment. "Let's go there."

……

Her clothes and pants were soaked and stuck to her body. Her body temperature was dropping rapidly, and Alana was shivering from the cold.

"Tap, tap, tap!"

The chief took out a bundle of straw from deep inside his satchel, spread it flat on the ground, struck a flint and steel, and skillfully started a fire.

In the firelight, several fleeting figures appeared deep within the dark cave.

Chapter 292: Flower in the Mud (Third update today)

"Boom—!!"

Thunderstorms are unpredictable; they can start anytime.

Just a few minutes ago, Zhang Renfeng was only watching the thick clouds gather, but then a clap of thunder sounded and a torrential downpour began.

"Put the gun away and put it in your satchel." Theon was an experienced man and immediately made a judgment based on the situation. "It will be difficult to deal with if it gets wet, especially the Volcano pistol, which has a lever structure and is not very airtight."

Zhang Renfeng had just put away his gun when he frowned and saw that the girl who had been pulling Aliya away had somehow fallen and landed in a puddle of mud.

Aliya looked around in a panic, trying to help her up, but she only had one arm and was so young; it would be a miracle if she could even lift her. After several attempts, she herself fell into the mud with a thud. Then, as if seeking help, she looked at Zhang Renfeng and the others who were taking shelter from the rain under the eaves.

"Are you alright?" Zhang Renfeng quickly walked to her side. "Can you stand up?"

……

"Snapped!"

Her outstretched hand was gently pushed away.

The girl glared at Zhang Renfeng with eyes filled with extreme resentment and pain. Then, she bit her lip, bracing herself with her hands, completely ignoring the raindrops pattering down on her shoulders, neck, and hair.

She pressed her hands deeply into the mud, her ten fingers clenched tightly and covered in mud. Zhang Renfeng noticed that she first supported her body with her arms, then gradually bent her left leg, using her knee as a third point of support, until finally she used her right leg to brace herself against the mud. But mainly, she began to stand up slowly, relying on the strength of her waist and abdomen.

Rain is falling.

Mud covered her hands and face, and her hair was soaked by the rain and stuck to her forehead. But the expression on her face was one of relief, as if she had won something.

"Come on, Aliya!" The girl waved and wiped the rain off her face with her elbow. "Come home with me."

but……

Amidst the sound of raindrops hitting the ground, Zhang Renfeng heard a discordant note.

That was the sound of metal being torn apart.

"BOOM—!!"

This time, the girl was completely unprepared; her right leg was severed. Losing her balance, she crashed face-first to the ground with a thud, splashing mud everywhere. The sound of her fall was drowned out by the thunder, but this time, unlike before, the girl didn't stubbornly try to get up. Instead, she lay prone on the ground for a long time, only her shoulders twitching slightly.

The hands that were gripping the ground tightly also loosened.

But a moment later, he clenched his fist and slammed it hard onto the ground.

"Why...why? Why? Why! Why did you do this to me? Why!"

As she spoke, she tapped her broken right leg, making a dull thud.

She jerked her neck back sharply, at such an angle that she seemed completely unconcerned about breaking it. Her face was contorted and contorted with a mixture of negative emotions. Aliya, standing nearby, was startled by her outburst and hesitated to offer her any further support.

Zhang Renfeng waved his hand slightly, signaling to Xi En and Xiao Mei, who wanted to help, to hold off for now. Even though the girl hadn't said a word yet, he could still sense an unusually strong sense of pride surging beneath her body.