Matthew’s face changed suddenly when he heard that. “I swear, if you dare to do anything to Jane and Wendy, I will kill you, Cook! No matter where you go or how many people you have around you, I will come for you and drive a bullet into your head.”


  “Very well, all I need is this rage.” After that, Cook suddenly stopped talking. He saw Jane walking over with tea and cookies, and he asked, “Are you guys talking about something interesting?”


  “Yes, Matthew and I were talking about our previous salmon fishing trip.” Cook then took the teacup and thanked her with a smile. “I don’t know if he told you about it. There was one time we got lost in the forest after our hunting trip. We walked nonstop, and we arrived at a creek. I’m not sure if we were the first one to find out about this creek. In short, there were so many f*cking salmon in there that they were squeezing against each other! Every single one of them was healthy and fleshy. Matthew and I caught them without using any fishing gear. As long as you extend your hand, you will be able to catch them. And they didn’t even put up a fight, as if they were staying there for you to get them. And it made me very curious. What made them like this?”


  “What is it?” Jane asked with interest. “It’s life, madam. It’s life that made them like this. For a long time, they had no enemies to disrupt their lives. This creek has provided them with lots of sustenance, and they gradually lost their guard against the dangerous world. They dwelled and indulged in their short-lived happiness, and when the threat came knocking on their door one day, they forgot how to escape.” Cook took a sip of the tea and continued, “Seeing them reminds me of the society we live in now. Isn’t it like this creek? It does its best to maintain order and allow the fishes to live in comfort and multiply as much as possible. All these laws, economic orders, God…… these things create an illusion of prosperity, making people feel at ease.

  They become willing to be domesticated, and they eventually lose their self-instinct. Ma’am, did you know that when the real threat comes, none of these things can save you? Your laws, money, and God…… none of them can save you.”


  After Cook was finished, the living room fell into silence.

  Jane tried to squeeze out a smile on her face, “.…… honestly, what you said scared me a bit, sir.” “I apologize for that, ma’am. By the way, your tea is delicious.” Cook raised his glass, then turned his head and looked at Wendy, “You are fortunate to have such a skilled cook for a mother.”


  Wendy commented nothing about that, but instead, asked, “How is your harvest?”


  “What?”


  “You said that the creek was full of salmon. How was your harvest that day?”


  “Oh, great. Although we didn’t catch the deer, we did catch many salmon. I had to take off my coat to put all the excess that could no longer fit into our container. But even so, compared the ones that we caught with the ones of the creek, it is still insignificant. It as if no matter how many fish we pulled out, their numbers didn’t reduce. Your father and I had to eat the grilled salmon for several days. After that, the smell of fish became repulsive to me for a long time.” Cook reminisced, smiling as he went along. Matthew, who’d been quiet all the while, spoke up. “Well, I have something to discuss with Mr. Cook. Wendy, why don’t you go upstairs with your mother first.”


  “Okay, we will leave the living room to you men.” Jane smiled politely at Cook.

  However, her smile suddenly froze on her face the next moment.

  It was because Cook had drawn a revolver from his waist and was now pointing it at her. “I like you, dear, really. You remind me of my daughter. I sincerely hope this will not happen to you. But…… I need you to help your husband sober up because he just wouldn’t listen to what I have to tell him. I think it’s time for life to reveal the truth.”


  Cook then pulled down the hammer of the gun.

  Jane’s breathing instantly hastened. Her eyes bulged in disbelief, and she looked lost. At the same time, Matthew, who was on the other side, also stood up abruptly from his seat, like an angry cheetah, ready to pounce on its enemies. Before he could do that, though, Cook drew out another pistol and pointed it at him.

  “It’s not your turn yet, my child. Be patient.”


  “You don’t know what you are doing!”


  “On the contrary, I know exactly what I am doing!” Cook smiled.

  “What do you want, Cook? If you kill my wife, I will not join your gang even if it costs my life.” “About that, let’s wait and see…… I will kill your lovely wife first; then I will take your daughter with me once I’m done with Lincoln County. But in return, I will hand over the Cook gang to you, and you can use them to find my whereabouts. Many of them have lived with me for a long time. They know my habits, where I like to go, and even the places where my old friends live.

  All you have to do is ask them, and they will take you to me willingly. “Don’t worry; they’re all easy-going folk. As long as you familiarize yourself with their temper and give them what they want, they will treat you as their own. You might lose two family members, but you gain more than forty brothers in return. Sometimes, you might feel that they are a little noisy…… but you will get used to it. You have one year. Don’t let me down, my son.”


  “Don’t do this, Cook. When I find you, I will kill you!” Matthew glared in a shocking rage. “If you are capable of doing that, I don’t mind at all.”


  “If you don’t let my mother go, I will kill you too,” said Wendy.

  “Hahaha!” Cook burst into laughter when he heard what Wendy said. But the next moment,, his laughter stopped abruptly because he saw Wendy’s shotgun.

  Unlike her mother, Wendy once heard the sheriff talk about the past. Therefore, when the old hunchback showed at her doorstep, she immediately knew who the other person was. Nonetheless, Wendy did not act like any other ordinary girl. There wasn’t a hint of fear on her face.

  Instead, she concealed everything in her heart. Her face showed no fluctuation from the beginning till the end. She had even managed to deceive an experienced man like Cook. Wendy was simply waiting silently for a chance to strike back.

  It wasn’t until Matthew and Cook got into a heated argument, that she finally found the opportunity to take out the shotgun that she had hidden behind the cabinet. She forced herself to calm down and recalled the methods that Zhang Heng had taught her. Picking up the shotgun as fast as possible, she aimed it at Cook’s heart.