Chapter 5 ghost town

Ben Snow had been riding for half a day when he encountered a lone shepherd and his flock—a white stain in a gray valley.He urged the horse to go, and saw the man look up, a mixture of surprise, timidity, and ancient fear on his face.A lone stranger, whether a gunslinger or a cowboy, is usually the enemy of the flock. But Ben Snow was not interested in the bleating animals making way for him.Night was rapidly approaching the mountains in the east, and he needed a place to rest. "How far is the next town from here?" he asked the shepherd aloud. The man standing on the ground was in his early twenties, with a pale complexion, looking at Ben hesitantly. "Crossing the next hill is Yulu Town." He finally said.After a while, he added: "But you don't want to go there."

"Why not?" A night in a hotel was better than a camp under the cold stars. "Yulu Town is a ghost town." "I'm not afraid. Sometimes I like to be alone." "You don't understand, sir," said the shepherd in a pause, as if quoting some wise saying from St. Louis, "there's a ghost in that ghost town. There's a ghost haunting it. No one goes to Rain Deer any more . . . " Ben lowered his head and looked at the man with a smile. "Well, I think I can hold on for a night with ghosts, thank you very much." His horse set off again, and the sheep in front of him scattered.

He rode forward, the night wind was getting cooler, and it was already dusk.Dusk on the plain is always gloomy, especially tonight when he was riding alone, it looked even more desolate and desolate.As if he wasn't headed toward something—it wouldn't feel so bad that way.Instead, it looked like he was running away from something.For as long as he can remember, he has been running away from something. The words of the shepherds are indeed true.A small town stretched out before him, the only remnants of a few shacks and a street.This might be a deserted mining town, but there are no mines within a hundred miles.He rode down a dirt road past a weather-beaten sign that may have stood here for a century:

Welcome to Yulu Town a small town of The characters in the middle, no matter what they are, have long been eroded and weathered until they are blurred.There is also a date on it, which looks like 1866, probably the town was born in the most fearless post-war years, when everyone believed that the most difficult time was over. Ben had no recollection of the end of that war.He wasn't even born when the war started.A book called The Red Badge of Courage had been published in the East, and Ben managed to get a copy that made it to Santa Fe.He was very young then, maybe his approach was not much different from the young man in the book, he didn't know.However, he was born a generation later, still two thousand miles away in the west.There, people are only now starting to have guns.

Welcome to Yulu Township... A ghost town forgotten by time, sleeping in a valley. He tied his horse to a wobbly post, and went into a dark house, looking for a light.But there's only dust, grit, and wormwood in there.There are still some memories.Huge mirrors and where the bar used to be (this used to be a club).In West Texas, bars are precious and often move around. He couldn't help wondering where the name from Yulu Town came from. "Hold still, sir." Ben turned slowly, holding his hands up cautiously, and stared at the barrel of the rifle.He wasn't surprised by that, but what really surprised him was the man with the gun--a girl with a smudged face and a kerchief around her head, in a sweat-soaked sweater. Shirt and a pair of skinny jeans.She stood in the doorway, shrouded in the fading twilight, and she must have a pair of bat eyes to see him clearly in the dark.

"I hear there's a ghost in this town," he said, taking a step forward. Without changing her face, she fired a round that hit the wall two feet to his left. "I said hold still." "I'll listen to you. Be careful with that thing." At this time, another person rode to the door.Two, no, three, they came running wildly all the way.She didn't seem surprised to hear the sound. "Come in," she called, "we have guests." They had lamps, which were quickly lit, bathing the room in a red glow.In this light, Ben saw them for the first time: an Indian in a white men's suit, with a dagger instead of a pistol hanging from his waist; an old man with a big beard and a bad breath, Laughing all the time, his gun dangling at his hip, chewing tobacco; and finally a missionary, his gun almost concealed by a black suit.Almost, but not quite.

It was the preacher who spoke first, in the tone of their leader, "Throw your gun over, sir, and she'll put it down." Ben shrugged and undid his belt. "I was just looking for a place to spend the night," he said. "I thought there was no one in this town." "There is no one, sir," replied the missionary, "and we are only here for the night. Who are you?" "My name is Ben Snow." The bearded man had obviously heard the name before, quickly reached out for his gun, and immediately realized that Ben had been disarmed.But even so, his hand was still on the butt of the gun. "It's Billy the Kid," he yelled.

The missionary frowned, "Billy the Kid has been dead for a long time." "I'm glad you think so," said Ben, "I've been trying to persuade people for years." "Don't let him fool you!" said the bearded man. "In the 1990s, I saw him kill a man with my own eyes." "Is it true, Snow?" "I did kill a few people. Who hasn't?" "I haven't," said the preacher, "but that's beside the point. We're going to tie you up and leave you here. We can't risk you getting in trouble for us."

"What trouble?" But the man in black ignored him, "Woman—tie him up, tighter." She put down the rifle in her hand and walked to Ben's side, "Very happy." "I'll look around," said the bearded man. "He may have companions." The Indian followed him out the door.The girl bypassed Ben and started to perform the task.He didn't have a gun on him at the moment, but he had a feeling the missionary was quick to draw it, even in his overcoat. The girl roughly pulled his arms behind him and tied his wrists, while the man in black watched coldly.After she bound his knees and ankles, she rolled him onto his side. "I'm sure you can't run away," she said.The missionary nodded and went out to join the others at the horses.

"You must have a name other than 'Woman,'" said Ben when they were alone. "Laura. Are you interested in my name?" "I'm interested in you," he said, staring at the skinny jeans, his hips scuffed from long rides, "how did you get mixed up with those other three guys?" "Harry is my brother." "The one in the black suit?" "Of course! For God's sake, it couldn't be the other two perverts! The one with the beard, Jason, gave me the creeps. The Indian wasn't much better. I don't know where my brother came from dug them up."

At this moment, the bearded Jason came back and walked to Ben's side, "You bloody murderer! Now you can't save you with a quick gun, can you?" He pointed at Ben's ribs and raised his hand. Kicked, but Laura stopped him, stretched out her foot to stop him. "Stop it, Jason. Go away." "Damn slut! Ready to sleep with him?" She slapped him on the bearded cheek and he walked away cursing. "Always," she said to Ben, not looking very angry. "What are you four doing here?" She shrugged innocently enough, "Just rode by. Tell me about you, Ben Snow. He said you were Billy the Kid." He rolled over on the floor, trying to get into a more comfortable position. "Although many people say so, it can't be faked. Billy Bonney was born in 1859 and was murdered in 1881. I was born in 1861 and am still alive. I have spent thirty-four years alive and well." "Then why do they all say that?" "Too many rumors that Billy's still alive after 1881. I guess people want him alive, hero worship, you know. I'm a quick shooter, so the rumors spread. The rumors spread throughout the Southwest in the nineties and still do It’s still not calming down, and I can’t do anything about it. I lived a legendary life for five years and killed five guys who challenged me. Trouble always seems to be with me.” "You speak like a man of culture." "I think I went to school for a few years." She sat on the ground beside him, lost in thought.After a while, she jumped up lightly, "I'll be back in a while, and I want to look around too." He lay there alone for a while, and then began to try to break free from the rope.She was a good hand at knotting, but he reckoned he could manage to free one hand in time.He went on like that for five minutes, and then he heard the scream. Horrific screams echoed throughout the old house, but the most eerie thing was that it stopped abruptly, as if suddenly closed by some djinn's palm.There were running footsteps above him, and after a while, the girl Laura came in from outside. "Who? . . . God, what is that?" "Let go of me, let's go take a look." As if she hadn't heard of it, she ran to the back room.The scream seemed to come from there. "What's this, water?" she murmured on the shadowy porch, reaching for a lamp.Meanwhile, Ben freed a hand.The lamp in her hand fell to the ground, and she staggered back, letting out a suffocated gasp, at this time he had already tore off the leather cord wrapped around her leg. The Indian and Harry in black came running from nowhere.In their panic, they didn't even notice that he had broken free from the restraints.They huddled together on the porch, and the fallen lights flickered on and off, making the room look like hell. Inside was the bearded Jason, like a gigantic butterfly, impaled to the wall by a spear of wood and metal.His eyes were wide open, staring at the approaching death, and he thought he saw something he could not believe in the last moment of his life, before the spear pierced his chest.While Jason's fear was creeping up on them, that wasn't all.At least the corpse is tangible and tangible.But around the body, the ground was covered with puddles of water, large and small, more water than Ben had seen these days.It seems that in the center of this desert, a sea monster descended from the sky and attacked this man. "What's that thing going through his chest?" Harry gasped. Ben stepped forward to look around, carefully avoiding the puddles. "It's a harpoon," he said at last. "It's what they use for whaling." They stood there looking at it, unable to comprehend, because death can never be understood by those who have not experienced it.Ben took this opportunity to remove Jason's pistol from the gun pouch that he hadn't had time to touch.As soon as he turned around, he pointed his gun at them. "Ah!" the Indian yelled, stretching out his hand and drawing his knife.Ben raised his gun and shot, hitting him in the finger.This moment stunned him, and also deterred the others. "Now let's talk," Ben said softly, "in the other room." He followed them and motioned for them to sit down.The gun in his hand gave him a familiar sense of entitlement.He lit another lamp and sat down facing them. "Did you kill Jason?" the man in black asked. "No. I was still tied up then." "But there's no one else in this damned town." Ben shrugged easily. "Then one of you three." He wasn't ready to throw another possibility at them. The Indian's fingers were still bleeding. "No," he said simply, "not killed!" "See?" Harry said, as if it proved something. "Women don't have that much strength, and I was outside when it happened. Besides, why did we kill him? He's a friend." Ben scratched his bearded chin, "If I knew what the hell you four were doing here, maybe I could answer your questions." Harry and the Indian exchanged a look, but neither said a word.Finally, when the silence became more apparent, the girl said, "Well, why don't you tell him? We have a murder case in hand." "Shut up!" Harry yelled at her. She ignored it. "We robbed a train," she told Ben, "and that's it." "Don't listen to her," Harry insisted, "she's just kidding you." "Is this a joke?" she asked rhetorically, standing up abruptly and going over to some bulging saddlebags that the Indian had brought in earlier.She turned one over and dumped the contents onto the gravel-filled, dirty ground. Money, bags of new banknotes, fell into my eyes.Ben gripped the gun tightly, crouched down, and picked up a pack. "Large denomination notes," he said, "they have serial numbers on them." Harry shook his head. "We ran out of money before they did anything. It would take a week to get the word across the country. How about that, Snow? We'll take Jay Sen's share is for you. He won't need it anyway." Ben didn't buy it. "Of course it will take a week! Haven't you fools heard of the telegraph?" The Indian said, "We'll do it now. Divide the money." "Wait for the morning, Redman. There is time." Ben cracked a smile. "None of us will probably live to see tomorrow morning. Unless one of you comes clean." "Why did we kill him?" asked the girl. "Money. Now each of you will have more money. Or, Miss Laura, he met you there and tried to attack you, and you had to kill him." But she just shook her head without saying a word.The Indian spoke again: "It was the evil spirit that killed him, the water ghost evil spirit." Hearing this, Ben frowned, at least he had to say, "His words are not far off. Some people say there are ghosts in this town." "There is a ghost! Where did the ghost come from?" Harry was a completely unbelieving person.Ben suspected he questioned everything that was neither black nor white, which made his missionary attire all the more strange.Or is it only when he robs a train that he dresses up as a missionary? In reply, Ben shrugged. "We're in a deep mountain valley. There was probably a river here that emptied into the Gulf of California. Maybe a hundred years ago, a whaling ship passed by..." "Don't mess with me!" To the Indian, however, it was no nonsense, Ben realized.He turned around, ignored the gun in Ben's hand, and walked towards the door.He didn't go very far.As soon as he reached the door, he gasped again. "what!" "What's wrong?" Ben asked aloud. "The evil spirit stole the horse!" They all went out to check, and of course the Indians were right.The horses were indeed missing. "There must be someone else here," insisted Harry. "Let's search again. Either of you could take the horse," Ben said factually, "but we'll search again. Nothing will come of it though. Remember, I've got my gun back .” "I will remember, Snow. You will also remember my offer to divide the money. There is enough money for us to divide." "Why do you think I'm going to ask for your money?" Harry grimaced and forced a smile. "Billy the Kid will have it," he said, and walked away. They put on their lamps and searched for horses in the abandoned house separately.Ben finds himself teaming up with Laura. "Your brother is a crazy guy," he said.They are looking in a large barn, which may have been used as stables. "he's good." "Of course. All train robbers are fine." "His childhood was difficult." "The same to you?" She hesitated. "Yes. I guess girls can take it more than boys." "Why is he wearing black?" "He studied hard and wanted to be a clergyman. Really, they fired him for drinking. He wore that outfit on the train and he could sneak into the money compartment without suspicion." "Did he kill someone in the car?" "No. The Indian stabbed a security guard. But I don't think he killed him." "How much did you rob in total?" "We don't know, anyway, it's a lot, at least $100,000. It was supposed to be shipped to the West Coast Bank." He pondered, it was indeed not a small amount.With a quarter, he wouldn't have to hide from people who forced him to use a gun.He could end up in Los Angeles, or head back east to St. Louis.He suddenly realized what Laura was talking about. "what?" "You and me. We can take it all." She did say so—his ears hadn't deceived her. "You want to plot against your own brother?" She shrugged, "I don't owe him anything." "We can't get very far without horses," he paused, then added casually, "unless you hide them." "How could I? You're right, of course. This is crazy." She had been standing close to him.At this time, in the dark, she put her body close to him and kissed him.Before he could respond, there was a shout from outside. "They're looking for us." He said, turned and left. They went out into the dark, where Harry and the Indian were waiting for them in the flickering lights. "The harpoon is gone," Harry told them. "Someone took it off Jason's body." He was terrified. Ben ran quickly toward the house, the gun bag slapping against his thigh, reassuring him.Regardless of whether the murderer was a man or a ghost, he got back his murder weapon.It can only mean that he intends to use it again. At this moment, the bearded body was lying on the ground, overturned by someone or something.The place where the harpoon had pierced was now just a rough wound still bleeding.The bleeding was held back by the harpoon for a long time, when the blood and the wet ground mixed with the puddles. "Didn't anyone see anything?" Ben asked them. "Where are you—are you together?" "No. I'm upstairs and the Indian is across the street. He came over and found this and called me." Ben turned to the Indian. "So, I guess you didn't see anything either?" The Indian shook his head. "Found the water," he said, with some pride in his voice. "water?" Ben followed him out the back door.Sure enough, there was a big rain barrel sitting there with an inch or two of water in it.It rarely rains in this area, but there have been several downpours in recent weeks that would explain where the water came from.Now, what he had to explain was the ghost—or why Jason had poured water in the room.If you just want to enhance the effect of the harpoon as a murder weapon, it seems a bit unnecessary.And, if the ghost wanted to drive them away, why did he steal the horses so they couldn't?No, the more he thought about it, the more he was sure that one of them was this murderer, and he wanted to get more money. "Is anyone watching the money?" he asked. "I hid it under the stairs," said Harry. "It's safe." They go outside.The night wind gradually picked up, and the rolled up gravel formed strange patterns on the former streets. At this moment, the stars also appeared from behind the scattered clouds.Ben thought he heard the neighing of horses in the distance, but he wasn't sure, it might just be a trick of the wind. "Well," he said to them, "we'll split up again and keep looking. Go inside, Laura, and keep an eye on the money. If there's anything out of the ordinary, shoot it with your rifle." "I want to go with you," she said. "No." He had a hunch that if he acted alone, he could force one of them to take action.If you go with Laura, the murderer will not show up. He left them and walked alone along the back edge of the crumbling building.He held the lantern close to the ground, looking for horseshoe marks in the sand.But in such a dim light, he couldn't see anything clearly. He walked along the street for about five minutes when he felt someone following him.Laura, probably.He doubted that the Indians could not make such a slight rustling sound when walking on the sand.But he can't risk it.He propped the lantern on a fallen rail, and stepped out of the yellow halo of light. There was a person who came face to face with him through the halo.Someone was stalking him, just like he had been stalking Jason.He drew his gun cautiously and waited, making sure he was as well concealed as the other.However, wasn't Jason also hiding well at that time? Suddenly, on his right side, a tiny and bright fluorescent star appeared.It may be a meteor falling to the ground, or a gray firework blooming like a solidification.It might even be the ghost of Rain Deer, if Ben Snow believes in supernatural beings.He aimed at the eerily bright fluorescent light, but it seemed to flash to his left again in the darkness.There was a sound of heavy blows, the sound of sharp blades touching flesh and blood, and then the fluorescent light disappeared from Ben's sight. He walked around the halo, and at this moment, the light was blocked by him, and the white light cast by the stars enveloped everything.Something, a bulky thing, crouched in the dust, and in front of it was a trail of fleeing murderers.Ben knelt in the blood splattered and tried to pull out the harpoon, but it was too late.The Indian fell before him, and he was dead. Ben also ran, running towards the direction where the footprints retreated, passing through the dark and abandoned houses from time to time.Silence, no warning shouts or shots fired.But Ben still had his gun ready and ran wildly all the way holding it high. The other party was forced to have no way to retreat, and fled through a creaking wooden door, and fled into a house that even the starlight could not expose him.Ben followed. Inside, just inside the black door, the fluorescent star lit up again—the ghost?Ben didn't hesitate this time.He fired twice, and the flames died out with the sound of glass shattering. It's a mirror!He looked down at his murderer, his abdomen, and suddenly realized that the fluorescent light was on him!He stood there naked, an excellent target for the ghostly murderer. He fell to the ground as the gunshot rang out, the bullet ripping open his loose shirt.Ben responded with his four remaining rounds. For a long time, dead silence enveloped him like dust.He waited for the next attack, his glowing belly pressed to the ground for protection.But nothing.At this moment, cautious footsteps came from the porch behind him.Harry and Laura came with lights. "What the hell happened? Are you okay?" "I think I'm all right," Ben said, pulling himself up on one knee. "Show it there." "My God! Whoever this is, you shot him." Ben walked over and tiptoed the corpse.The face, distorted by death, was familiar.It was the shepherd who had warned him hours before. "Here's your murderer," said Ben. "He killed Jason and the Indians. He's the shepherd over there on the hill." "You're such a sharpshooter," Laura said, "even in the dark." "Especially in the dark. If I had used my brain, I would have thought it was the shepherd, no doubt about it. He was the one who told me there was a ghost in this town and tried to scare me away. And the scene where Jason was killed Water marks - there must be a reason. I thought about it, but the outrageous harpoon misled me. The water was only used to wash the ground, clearing away any clues that might have been left to reveal his identity. He waited and met Jason first , his first victim, the shepherd harpooned him, as he had killed the Indian not so long ago." Harry shrugged. "When the Indians die, it's not a big loss. The money can be divided again. But what clues will the shepherds leave on the floor?" "Something he's afraid we'll recognize. It might be dirt, sheep dung, smells, mutton. I'm not sure I'll recognize them, but he's just in case. Sometimes those shepherds tell us It’s a weird perception, like we belong to another world.” They left the body there and went back to the house that used to be a bar. "What about the horses?" Laura asked. "I reckon they're right behind the hill, with his sheep. We'll have a look." "Let's split the money first," said Harry, bending his legs in black trousers and kneeling beside the Indian's saddlebag. "It's easy money for you, Snow. It's so easy!" "I don't want a cent," said Ben. "Hell, I don't mean you get something for nothing. You at least killed the Shepherd. Killed him before he killed us all. What's wrong with him—mad or something?" "Weird insanity, I suppose," Ben replied slowly.He took the lamp and carefully blew out the flickering blue flame, plunging them into darkness.Across the pile of banknotes, another bright and fiery fluorescent star shines.This time it was no longer an image. "What the hell are you trying to do?" Harry yelled. "I gotta see if you have one too...?" Ben sighed silently. A bullet from a revolver flew past his ear, and the fluorescent light went out like a star hidden by clouds.Preacher Harry screamed and fell on Ben, knocking away his drawn gun. Laura lit the lamp again, illuminating Ben and the girl holding her gun steady, who had just shot her brother. "You're smart," she said, "too smart." "I have a gun too, Laura," he said, pointing it at her, but he remembered that he hadn't reloaded it since he killed the shepherd. "How do you know?" she said, holding the gun.They were a few feet away from each other, kneeling on the ground facing each other, with the lamp, the money, and her brother's body between them. "The shepherd's motive for killing was to drive me away, but that was before you arrived. If he was waiting for you, someone must have told him beforehand. Someone told him about the money. He used it in the dark That harpoon killed Jason—where did he find that, in one of the houses?—it was a good weapon for scaring people away. He killed him in the dark, and in the dark Killed the Indian, but I saw fluorescent spots on the Indian's shirt, and the target stood out like a lamp - your brother had it too. It was a small amount of phosphorous, a chemical that glows in the dark. If my If my belly isn't fat, I'll notice the fluorescent light on my belt buckle right away. There's no way that shepherd put phosphorus on all of us, so he must have an accomplice who did it instead—that is, put the train robbery and stolen money The man who told him. You, Laura." "Why me?" Under the light, her face was as cold as ice. "No one else had a chance. You tied me up—but I guess you put phosphorous on my belt buckle while you were kissing me." "Put down your guns and we can talk," she said. "They're all dead now. Just you and me." He shook his head. "You can't put the gun down. Maybe you think your gun is faster than mine. Maybe you want to try it." "The money belongs to both of us." "Now that your boyfriend's dead, I'm a partner—isn't it? No, thanks. I'm sure you don't think of me more than your own brother, and see what happens to him." "I never owed him anything." "Yes, but you gave him one thing. A gun." Now, she looked into his eyes, "Put the gun down. You wouldn't shoot a woman, would you?" "That depends on whether I'm really Billy the Kid. In that case, I think Billy would shoot a woman." She considered his words for a moment, then said, "Okay. Let's drop the guns together, and then we'll talk about the money." "Agreed," Ben nodded.The two guns clanked and fell to the ground at the same time, "What should we do now?" "If you don't want to come with me, we'll split the money here and go our separate ways." But now Ben shook his head. "I'm taking the money to town and turning it over to the sheriff. I think you'd better come with me." Cursing softly, she lunged for the pistol, but Ben got ahead of her.She grabbed his gun, pulled the trigger twice, and seeing no bullets, she threw the gun at his head. "Damn cowboy! You can kill it if you want." Then she grabbed the kerosene lamp and threw it at him too.The lamp knocked down the wall behind it, and the dry cross-bar immediately burst into flames. "You little fool!" Ben holstered her gun and tried to catch her, but she moved so quickly that she rolled and fled, then jumped up lightly and ran for the stairs.At this time, the entire wall was lit up, covering the place in a dangerous raging flame.Hot as the desert sun. She would have fled to a window on the second floor, and from there she would have jumped to the ground and fled into the night.But she didn't expect that the rapidly spreading flames had already made the old wood brittle and brittle.The whole staircase collapsed in one fell swoop, consumed like a log in flames.She disappeared screaming into the ever-expanding hell... Ben hurriedly dragged the saddlebag full of money out into the street.Then, by the light of the leaping fire, he headed back up the hill and found the missing horse, tethered to the restless flock.He took his horse, let the others go, and mounted his horse, and walked the way he had come.Until the first rays of light in the morning lead him to find a way around the ghost town. Somewhere ahead, he found a town and a sheriff, leaving money without explanation.Then, move on.Leave it to others to discover the burnt ruins and the five scattered bodies. It's a veritable ghost town now. He couldn't help wondering where the name Yulu Town came from...