Two days later, Zhang Heng and Wendy finally arrived at their destination.
Looking at the small town in the distance, Zhang Heng said, "Did your father tell you that he came here to discuss business?"
"Yes, that's what he said before he left." Wendy nodded, then hesitated and said, "Do you think he lied to us about this matter?"
"It's unlikely. Didn't you send a telegram to the sheriff here? He said that your father had left."
"Well."
"At least it means that he is related to this matter. Let's go and see."
After Zhang Heng said that, he rode past a field with Wendy, but the crops in the field were not growing well. It wasn't because of the weather or something else, but they looked listless. The strangest thing was that there were no farmers around.
Zhang Heng asked Wendy to wait for him while he dismounted and walked into a house. He knocked on the door, but no one answered.
So Zhang Heng pulled out the revolver from his waist, pushed the door open, and quickly dodged to the side.
After waiting for a few seconds, there was still no movement inside.
Zhang Heng looked up, took a quick glance, and then put away the revolver.
"How is it?" Wendy asked from behind.
"It's safe. No one's here," Zhang Heng said. Unlike the uninhabited town he had visited before the start of the quest, there was no sign of an evacuation. He even saw a book that had been flipped upside down on the table.
There were also wooden toys for children to play with on the ground.
At this time, Wendy also dismounted from the horse and walked in. "Where did everyone go?"
"I don't know," Zhang Heng said. He simply walked around the house and did not see any blood or other suspicious things. "Let's go out," he said.
The two of them then left the farmhouse and closed the door again.
Wendy looked at the nearby fields again and muttered, "How did it grow so badly? Is it because no one cares about it? How much harvest can there be in a year? "
"I'm afraid not," Zhang Heng said. "Did you notice that it's not just the farmland? Other plants along the way are not growing very well."
"Why is this happening?"
Zhang Heng looked at the well next to him. He scooped up a bowl of water from the well and looked at it. Compared to ordinary well water, it was cloudy, and it tasted bitter and salty.
Zhang Heng took a sip and poured the rest on the ground. "The water here is polluted. That's why the plants don't grow well."
"Is it man-made, or is it natural?"
"I don't know yet, but the people in the town should know." Zhang Heng rode on Radish again. "Let's go. There's smoke coming from the town. There should be people there."
About a quarter of an hour later, Wendy and Zhang Heng entered the town. The town named Bliss looked no different from other small towns in the west.
Although it was a little quiet, it was not like the farmhouse outside where no one could be seen.
Zhang Heng booked two rooms in the hotel and placed his luggage and other things that were inconvenient to bring with him. This time, Zhang Heng did not ask Wendy to scout for information on her own.
The latter stood in front of the window, looking down at the street.
"Is it my imagination? It feels like the people we see along the way are hostile to us."
"Is that so? I'm an Asian. No matter where I go, people are hostile to me," Zhang Heng said. As he spoke, he counted the bullets in his bag. Halfway through, he couldn't stand Wendy's coaxing and pestering. In the end, he taught her some shooting knowledge, pistols, and rifles. He had to admit that Wendy was indeed quite talented in shooting, and she learned pretty quickly. At least, her progress was smoother than Zhang Heng's horsemanship.
When they stopped to rest along the way, she would borrow Zhang Heng's gun to practice her marksmanship. She even hunted two hares for dinner.
"But I also noticed what you said."
"I don't like the look in their eyes," Wendy said. She saw the woman on the balcony across the street. The woman just glanced at her and retreated into the house, closing the doors and windows.
"Is there an outbreak of a deadly disease here? Chicken pox? Or leprosy? When I was born, there was an outbreak of chicken pox in the town. I heard from my father that they would gather the sick people in one room to prevent them from infecting the healthy. Then, they would draw lots and send someone to deliver food and water every day until … "Wendy paused." Everyone inside died. It's more like murder than treatment. "
Of course, Zhang Heng had also heard of leprosy. Even in modern times, it had been effectively controlled. In some remote places, people would still turn pale at the mention of leprosy. In this era where medical treatment was not yet developed, there was almost nothing people could do about leprosy other than quarantining it.
"Be careful. This town is really unusual."
"We will leave as soon as we find my father. So, where should we start next?"
"Let's go straight to the sheriff here," Zhang Heng said. "Since no one wants to talk to us, we have to go to the grocery store to restock."
…
The owner of the grocery store was cleaning the shelves. When he turned around and saw Zhang Heng and Wendy walking towards him, he immediately got down from the scaffolding, hung up the closed sign, and hurriedly tried to close the door.
But the next moment, a hand reached out from the gap of the door, stopping him.
"Sorry, sir, we are closed," the owner said. At the same time, he secretly exerted strength in his hands. However, his two hands combined were not as strong as the one opposite him. The door was slowly pushed open from the outside.
"It seems that we are lucky to be on the last shift of business." Zhang Heng did not wait for the owner to explain and had already walked in with Wendy.
At this point, the owner had no choice but to accept reality and wipe the sweat off his forehead. "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Give me four boxes, no, six boxes of bullets."
"What model?"
"Two boxes of 44-40 Winchester and four boxes of 0.45-inch Colt bullets. Thank you."
"So many bullets. Are you going hunting?" The owner took out bullets from the shelf and tried to talk to them.
"Is there any hunting place nearby?"
"As far as I know, there isn't. If you want to hunt, you have to go further."
"Then we won't hunt," Zhang Heng said. After that, he turned his head to look at Wendy. "Do you want some licorice candy?"
"I'm not a child anymore." Wendy frowned.
"Just because he likes to eat sweets doesn't mean he's a child. I know a guy. To be honest, I don't know how old he is. Anyway, he's older than anyone you've ever met. That guy eats sweets like a bottomless pit."
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