Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

"It's alright, I'm here." Zhang Renfeng offered a reassuring remark. "We can't just go back without even seeing a single bison, can we? I refuse to believe it. Those big guys running around everywhere, and they're herd animals, they should be quite conspicuous. The footprints are fresh too, where could they have gone?"

……

After walking a while longer, the bright red blood left on the grass stung their eyes.

The chief was taken aback, and his hasty dismount nearly tripped him in the stirrups.

But he still squatted in front of the bloodstain, carefully examining its position relative to the footprints, muttering to himself, "This shouldn't be. If we're talking about natural predators, it's nothing more than gray wolves, cougars, and bears. This is grassland, so bears can be ruled out. But even the first two mainly prey on cubs and weak individuals, so these footprints..."

The footprints left next to the blood were quite large, suggesting that the person was not weak.

Because of their enormous size and social nature, North American bison possess a strong sense of collectivism. They act collectively to defend against predators. Even their natural predators, in a real fight, are ultimately no match for them.

Moreover, there don't seem to be any paw prints of carnivores around here.

“Chief!” Zhang Renfeng called out to him, his tone complex.

With his sharp eyesight, and being on horseback, he naturally spotted it early on. Following the direction he pointed, they saw a gray and black creature lying on the grass, surrounded by several vultures pecking at its meal.

"boom!"

Zhang Renfeng fired a shot into the air, driving away the birds. The scene before him made him frown.

The ominous premonition came true; it was the carcass of a bison—lying among the grass and trees, missing one ear.

Half of its body had been pecked away, and although it had been dead for some time, it had not decomposed. The wound that pierced its abdomen, a bullet wound, was still visible through the skin and flesh.

"No... how could this happen...?!" The chief's voice was trembling with emotion. "Who did this?!"

"Perhaps other hunters?" Zhang Renfeng guessed. "I mean, besides you, there must be others who know that there are bison herds on the grassland, right?"

"No, this couldn't have been done by a hunter, look!" The chief grabbed Zhang Renfeng's wrist and pulled him over. "The fur, the horns, the beef, nothing was taken. Only one ear was cut off, and the rest was eaten by other animals. Besides, if it were a hunter, they would usually aim for the buffalo's head to avoid damaging the fur. That's common sense."

"This guy just shot the bison once and left without doing anything else, leaving it to rot here."

"Don't worry, Chief," Zhang Renfeng comforted him. "Let's look around some more; maybe we'll find other clues."

Normally, Zhang Renfeng would be the most reckless one, because everyone in the team is relatively calm. Apart from Calaway, there's basically no one else as eager to "fight" as him, someone who can provide support. But now, he senses that the chief's emotions are clearly off, so he naturally slows down and acts as a brake.

A balance of tension and relaxation is essential to revealing the true nature of martial arts.

The chief pondered for a moment, then nodded silently without saying anything more.

Following the trail, they walked further up the hill and, sure enough, found another bison carcass lying there. This carcass was even fresher; no other animals had visited it yet. It had been brutally shot in the neck, and next to it was an empty can and an abandoned campfire.

Zhang Renfeng squatted down and carefully sniffed the ground next to the campfire. There seemed to be a bitter smell about it.

coffee.

After hunting it down, someone ate a can of pineapple and brewed a pot of coffee nearby, taking a short rest there.

“I see. No wonder we found nothing. The tracks you followed must be correct, but the bison herd must have scattered after being hunted like that.”

“No, Zhang, you’ve got it wrong. This isn’t ‘hunting.’” The chief crouched down, carefully examining the bison’s wounds, his voice gradually lowering. “We need its parts, its hide, bones, horns, and meat, that’s why we hunt it. That’s what hunting is.”

"And they did it just for fun, damn it... a bunch of bastards!"

“The campfire went cold half a day ago.” Zhang Renfeng estimated the time and location. “It must be close. We can go up the mountain to take a look. The view is better from there.”

----

"One, two, three... five, five in total. According to their price, $25 each, haha, we've made a killing!"

"I've never seen a bison worth so much money; it's way above the market price!"

"Only the Chedell family can afford this price. If we don't seize this opportunity to make a fortune, who knows when the next round will come..."

……

At the makeshift camp on the mountain, a wisp of smoke rose as several hunters gathered to share their day's catch.

In their hands, the ears of bison have been transformed into stacks of US dollars.

Where there are those who boast, there are bound to be those who complain.

One hunter said angrily, "You guys are making a fortune, while I've been busy all day and haven't seen a single one."

“These beasts have learned their lesson now. They run away at the sight of people. It’ll take some effort to deal with them.” A hunter wearing a wolfskin hat took out a pipe from his pocket, lit it, and began to puff out smoke. “You have to… you have to learn how to use bait, understand? The kind of bait that attracts herbivores.”

“Bison are like lifeblood to Native Americans. What if…” a hunter said worriedly, “…what if Gao Shu and his gang find out about what we’re doing…”

"Gao Shu, my foot!" Wolfskin Hat waved his hand and sneered, "To tell you the truth, Gao Shu doesn't have many days left either. This time, he's going to kill them."

"Really?" one hunter exclaimed. "Did they really capture someone important?"

"Whether you arrest them or not makes no difference. This is business that leaked from the military. You're lucky to have caught the first batch." The man in the wolfskin hat waved his pipe and exhaled a puff of smoke. "If you're scared, get rid of it as soon as possible. There are plenty of people willing to take it."

“In the past, we got along quite well with Gao Shu, but now the rules have changed. In the future, the owners of this land will be those city people in suits and bow ties.”

"The sooner we admit defeat, the better it will be for us."

……

"Hey, wait a minute..." one of the hunters sensed something was wrong. "It looks like someone's coming towards us."

Two fast horses, one red and one white, sped towards them like lightning.

Chapter 662: Killing one bison is equivalent to killing one Native American.

"Did you shoot those bison?!"

This was the first time the chief had shown such anger in front of Zhang Renfeng. He already knew the answer in his heart, but he just wanted to verify it one last time.

The hunters saw him, but they couldn't even be bothered to put on an act.

Seeing that there were only two of them, they naturally assumed that Zhang Renfeng was also an Indian and waved his hand impatiently, "Where did this red barbarian come from? Can't you see we're on a mission? If you don't want to die, get lost."

Having received information from "insiders," they had reached a consensus—the territory of Hightree was about to undergo a dramatic change. What the future rules would be was uncertain, but these Native American tribes were certain to disappear from history, just like other tribes throughout America.

What's the point of reasoning with a bunch of dead people who are about to be wiped out?

……

"I'll ask you one more time." The chief's expression was extremely grim, and he suddenly raised his voice, "Did you do this?!"

"That's right, we slaughtered those damned beasts. If you don't leave, we'll slaughter you too!" A hunter raised his rifle and laughed loudly. "The guns are in our hands. What business is it of yours which beast we want to kill?"

The hunters in the camp also laughed.

"..."

This time, the chief didn't ask any more questions.

He deftly drew his pistol from his waist, aimed it at the hunter's head, and watched as his expression shifted from smugness and contempt to terror and disbelief.

Perhaps this hunter will never understand that, from his perspective, he merely killed a few bison and made a few sarcastic remarks. But the Native Americans were, after all, the lowest rung of society. Anyone could say a few words to them, and they never seemed to retaliate. How did it come to the point of costing them their lives?

"Wait……"

"boom---!"

Before he could finish speaking, his head was reduced to dust.

While everyone was still in a daze, Zhang Renfeng had already entered battle mode. He took a step forward, kicked out like a cannonball, and landed on the abdomen of another hunter!

"Thump—!!"

The sound of his kick was even more exaggerated than the shotgun blast from before. A burly man over 1.7 meters tall seemed to have been hit in the abdomen, his entire body limp and broken. His back slammed heavily against a rock in the distance with a thud, leaving a pool of blood on the surface. He lay on the ground like a broken rag doll, silent.

It's no exaggeration to say that being gored by an angry bison would have roughly the same effect.

This can be considered Zhang Renfeng's classic tactic when facing multiple opponents: first, display his strength and kill one person with exaggerated methods, and then, while everyone's minds are blank...

He slipped into the fray and drew the two light White pistols.

Gunfire erupted.

For those who still use hunting rifles, a repeating pistol is far too overpowered. The gun in Zhang Renfeng's hand is about ten years ahead of its kind, and its rate of fire is on a completely different level from that of a revolver.

His previous arduous archery practice finally paid off. He spun around in the crowd, firing both guns simultaneously, blood splattering everywhere. Before the hunters could even draw their weapons, they were thrown to the ground, bison ears scattered all over the floor.

"Ah...ah..."

The wolfskin hat fell to the ground, and looking at the people lying on the ground, he was still in a daze, not quite understanding what had happened.

"Don't rush, Chief." Zhang Renfeng had excellent combat habits. After firing a few shots, he immediately changed the magazine and put both pistols back into their holsters. "Let me ask you something."

"Snapped!"

He grabbed the man he had deliberately spared, and with little effort, lifted him up and swung him around in the air. The hunter had never seen such brute force before, and immediately cried out in shock, nearly scared out of his wits. With a thud, he was slammed heavily to the ground, facing Zhang Renfeng's cold, black eyes.

"Why shoot the bison and let them rot there?"

“This…this wasn’t our idea…Jaworth…Jaworth Chadell, it was the army over there, they paid for it. For every bison we killed, we cut off the ear and exchanged it for money, $25 per ear…”

"Bastard!" the chief gritted his teeth.

“The army?” Zhang Renfeng frowned. “What does the army have to do with bison? Why would they hire you to do this?”

“I don’t know either. An officer contacted us. They said he was one of Colonel Jarworth’s confidants, everyone called him ‘Notebook’…”

Notepad?

Zhang Renfeng's heart skipped a beat. He remembered that when he was walking towards Gaoshu, he had been stopped by a group of soldiers at the army's defense line. Their leader seemed to have that same name. If he hadn't produced the letter of recommendation he had prepared beforehand, he would have been extorted by the soldier. He never expected that this annoying guy was actually one of Jiawosi's confidants.

Reflecting on the notebook's personality, Zhang Renfeng wasn't so surprised; it belonged to a typical person who was "pleasing to superiors and harsh to subordinates."

Such people are extremely good at getting along with their superiors, exploiting their subordinates without any psychological burden. It is common for them to achieve results and become trusted confidants.

"That notebook said... this is part of the war, every bison killed is equivalent to... killing an Indian... He also told us to pretend, to pretend it was the Indians who did it, so that later, we could blame you for the extinction of the animals..."

……

Zhang Renfeng felt as if thunder had echoed in his ears; the other party's ruthlessness and cunning far exceeded his imagination.

On horseback, the chief had already explained to him that for the native Native American tribes, the bison was practically the foundation of their survival. They wouldn't waste a single part of the bison: food, clothing, medicine, fire source, tools, containers, ropes, stitching thread, and even building materials—truly making the most of everything.

Now, with large numbers of bison being shot, their traditional way of life, production, and culture have been severely damaged.

Zhang Renfeng wasn't that clever, but he had already realized the cruelty and ruthlessness behind the wolf-skin hat's words—not only would they take away your land, but they would also exterminate your tribe and make you disappear completely from history!

"I...I've heard enough..." The chief took several deep breaths, his blood rushing to his head, feeling dizzy, his voice trembling slightly, "Zhang, kill him, kill him!"

"No, don't kill me! I was just doing my job for money!" The man in the wolfskin hat pleaded, his face contorted with fear. "Please, I have a family, a wife and children! I only killed a few animals, it's not worth it..."

“Yes, you still have family.” Zhang Renfeng smiled at him. “You should be grateful.”

They are not with you now.

His expression was very calm, and without a moment's hesitation, he raised his fist high.

"no no!!!"

----

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

The fists, as big as sandbags, came down one after another, slamming into the face of the man in the wolfskin hat. Blood splattered, and his nose was broken instantly.

Zhang Renfeng beat him to death.

Chapter 663: Learn Fei Ge's methods!

When Flying Eagle and his team returned from the forest, a cheer erupted from the camp among the young people. The time had come, but Zhang Renfeng and the chieftain hadn't returned; the outcome was clear. They only needed to return together before the King of the Tall Trees could announce the winner.

Xiao Mei frowned, finding the result hard to believe. Mainly, the Red Center Gang had been having such a smooth run; they'd easily won their previous matches in Mingdeng City. Deep down, she thought things could continue like this.

What would happen if we lost?

"It won't be anything serious," Silver Frost sighed. "How to fight next, how to arrange things, it'll probably be up to Flying Eagle's faction. Actually, Flying Eagle is alright, it's just that I'm afraid those young people under his command might get carried away and insist on risking their lives against the army, sigh..."

"It's no use saying anything now. The outcome of the Green Grass Ceremony is indisputable. We can only take it one step at a time."

……

The peregrine falcon watched the eagles surrounded by the crowd from afar, its expression calm, devoid of sorrow or joy.

From the very beginning of the dispute, he hadn't clearly taken sides, and both sides were tacitly indifferent, ignoring this claim that should have had a huge impact. With no one advocating for it, Peregrine was happy to remain idle until last night, when Silver Frost brought Zhang Renfeng and the other two to pay their respects to him. Only then did he finally have a slight stance in this conflict.

"Is it weird?"