Over fifty bandits quickly approached Richard, finishing off all the other men with supplementary shots, then turned the two carriages around and drove them out of the valley, simultaneously dragging away the 28 corpses from the path.
In just over ten minutes, the valley path returned to its usual quiet appearance, silently awaiting the next visitor.
This time Jim volunteered to bring Richard and the others to where the gang kept their horses, because he really wanted to know how much these fat sheep were worth.
Boss Frank was truly too ruthless - every time they played cards Jim was the victim.
Superior card skills were one thing, but if Frank had bad luck and lost money, they had to keep playing until he won money before they could stop!
Upon arrival, Jim jumped down from his horse, walked up to Richard to search him, taking away his Patek Philippe gold pocket watch, then approached the hardtop carriage. Opening the carriage door, he said with great gentlemanly manner: "Ladies, we've arrived, please get out."
Madeline and Edith looked at each other helplessly and had no choice but to get out.
Madeline got out first, and as soon as her feet touched the ground, she quickly walked to Richard's side and hugged his right arm.
The maid Ruth also luckily kept her life due to Frank's orders and obediently stood behind the Richard couple.
Edith followed closely behind, and after standing steady, she timidly raised her head, immediately shocking Jim's heart!
This was too beautiful!
Jim's heart seemed to be heavily struck by something.
With his limited vocabulary, he didn't know how to describe it - she was just beautiful! Damn beautiful!
This made his voice involuntarily soften by a dimension.
"Miss, stand steady, don't be afraid, we aren't good people."
Jim's heart was filled with uncontrollable excitement, completely unaware that his true nature had slipped out and he'd said the opposite.
'If this family has no money, this girl still can't be killed! I have to talk to Frank, give me this girl, and I'll play cards with him until dawn every day.'
Jim kept calculating in his mind how to approach Frank about this.
Edith looked despairingly at the bandit one meter away who thought himself gentlemanly - his mouth full of rotten teeth, the stench of tobacco strong enough to knock someone over from a distance, his coarse cloth shirt so covered in grease you couldn't tell what color it originally was, the greed in his triangular eyes completely undisguised, as if he wanted to swallow her whole from head to toe, inside and out!
Richard said loudly: "Sir, we are guests of the McKinley family."
Jim's triangular eyes fiercely gouged a look at Edith before turning to Richard and saying viciously: "We're capturing exactly the McKinley family's guests, boy. Who are you? If you're not worth anything I'll send you to hell right now."
Richard's heart trembled, but feeling his wife's hands tightly gripping him, a surge of courage arose from nowhere.
"I am the new head of the Mellon family. You can state your demands."
"The Mellon family? The one that runs banks?" Jim asked excitedly.
"Yes, the bank is just one of our family's enterprises," Richard confirmed.
"Very good! I hope what you're saying is true. Our boss hates being lied to most - those liars have all been sent to hell by him," Jim said coldly.
"No, money isn't a problem, but you must guarantee our safety," Richard made his demand.
"Wait, our boss will find you after he's finished with his business," Jim said, then told Russell who was responsible for watching the horses: "Watch them closely, don't touch them, they're people the boss wants. I still have to go help the boss deal with Henry."
Russell chuckled and said: "Don't I know you? Don't worry, I'm not as lustful as you. Be careful Henry doesn't blow your head off!"
"Fuck you, shut your dog mouth. I won't blow Henry's brains out because he's worth ten thousand dollars, so I'll use a knife to chop off his head!" Jim made a chopping motion with both hands, chuckled, and quickly left.
"Sir, who is Henry?" Richard asked sensitively.
Russell looked at Richard mockingly and laughed: "You should indeed hate him. If not for him, we wouldn't be here today, and neither would you."
"But we really don't know him. Haven't you captured the wrong people?" Richard held onto a glimmer of hope.
"What does it matter whether you know him or not? We were already here ambushing him, but you came barging in yourselves. So now aren't you happy? You'll get to witness the death of a legendary figure," Russell taunted.
"Legendary figure?" Richard pressed.
"A monster! We're demon hunters, hahaha!" Russell was very proud of his nickname-creating ability.
"Who is he? I've never heard of him," Richard kept probing.
"A monster who single-handedly killed dozens of gunmen! But he's bound to die here. You'd better think about how much ransom to pay for your lives," Russell said, then took out rope and tied Richard's hands behind his back together with another bandit.
"Boy, where's your wallet? Did that pervert just take it?" Russell asked unwillingly.
"It was with my manservant. The body was dragged away by them," Richard answered.
Russell spat out a thick glob of phlegm near Richard's feet with a "ptui."
"Fuck, Jim must have taken it. Girl, will you obediently hand over your purse, or do I have to do it myself?"
Edith immediately handed Russell the small purse on her forearm and mustered courage to say: "Sir, there's no money in my bag. I came out to travel with my sister and brother-in-law. We rarely carry money ourselves."
Russell took the purse and found indeed there was no money, muttering: "Shit! I thought Jim was so distracted by lust he forgot to take it."
In fact, Jim had truly overlooked the purse on Edith.
Russell handed the purse back to Edith and continued binding Richard. Having gained nothing, he used extra force to tie Richard tightly.
After tying up Richard, Russell grinned at Madeline and Edith and said: "I won't tie you up. Just wait obediently. After we kill Henry we'll leave together. If you don't behave, I can't guarantee what will happen."
Leaving two subordinates to watch the four people, Russell began playing cards with three card partners - who knew when Henry would arrive? They couldn't waste time.
At this time Henry's group had reached a place two miles from Death Valley and stopped to rest.
The time was just around noon at 12 o'clock. Henry found a severely eroded hill terrain - convenient for defense - and had the others eat something here.
Henry began giving instructions one by one.
"Pete, I'm going ahead to scout Death Valley. You, Charles, Owen and the others should prepare defenses and wait for me to return."
"Charles and Owen, you assist Pete in preparing the team's defenses."
"If I don't return, don't advance and don't look for me. Just wait here. This reconnaissance won't be short - if I encounter enemies, four to five hours is normal. I'll be fine, but you must not run around."
"Linda, rest well and wait for me to return. Don't worry about the night here. As long as I return, everything will be fine."
"Alright," everyone responded in unison.
(End of Chapter)
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