Dust and Bazaars
An Asian man was shopping in a market in India.
Suddenly, market inspectors arrived. The vendor selling Indian street food in front of the man got scared, likely due to food safety issues. Leaving his cart behind, he immediately ran away.
The inspectors checked from shop to shop, eventually reaching the spot near the man. Seeing no one at the stall in front of the man, they intended to skip it. Seeing this, the man told the inspectors that he was in the middle of buying food, and that the vendor had taken his money and fled the moment he saw the inspectors. Upon hearing this, the lead inspector immediately examined the stall and found problems with the food, beginning an investigation.
However, the person following behind the inspector frowned deeply, feeling that this man was simply causing trouble. As the manager of this market, he felt the man was sticking his nose where it didn’t belong. He was about to make a move, telling the inspector to show some respect and skip checking that particular unit. The inspector agreed that he should show the manager some respect, so he decided to let the runaway vendor’s stall go and prepared to move on.
Seeing this, the man immediately stuffed some money into the inspector’s hand. Satisfied with the cash, the inspector went back to checking. But the market manager immediately whispered something to the inspector again, and the inspection was halted once more. Witnessing this, the man stuffed money over again, and the inspector resumed checking. This cycle of bribing, halting, and bribing happened back and forth several times.
Finally, the man ran completely out of money. The market manager, believing the man was entirely bent on causing trouble, now wore a vicious expression that clearly signaled he wanted to eliminate the man right then and there. Meanwhile, the inspector had taken so much of the man’s money but ultimately refused to do his job. Pushed past his limit, the man suddenly drew a gun and shot them both dead in the head.
Only at this moment did the Asian man’s attire become strikingly clear — the old felt hat pressed extremely low, the worn spurs at his heels, all unmistakably revealing him to be a cowboy from America. The barrel of the Colt Single Action Army revolver in his hand was now emitting wisps of blue smoke. The market inspector and the market manager had just ended their criminal lives right then and there.
However, this market was a place of deep corruption between local officials and businessmen, serving as a stronghold for the local mafia. Hearing the gunshots, numerous local thugs and gang members rushed to the scene, intending to take out the protagonist. The entire market instantly threw into absolute chaos.
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Amidst the frantic turmoil, for reasons unknown, the underground of this market contained a complex, intersecting network of tunnels and caves. Diving into a nearby piece of cover, the protagonist discovered a whole different world hidden beneath the market. He began shooting back at the local thugs who were pursuing him down into the tunnels. But he was wielding a Colt Single Action Army; no matter how fast his quick-draw and firing speed were, it was no use, because after every six shots, he had to spend time reloading the bullets one by one. As the enemy numbers were simply too overwhelming, the man gradually fell into a deadlock.
Right at this critical juncture, another person suddenly charged out from the crowd! This person also wore rough, weathered Western attire, though his complexion and features were clearly those of a local Indian. Holding a pistol, he immediately shot down several of the surrounding local thugs upon appearing, quickly meeting up with the protagonist.
With just a single exchange of glances, the two men instantly knew who the other was and where they belonged. Without a single word, they began covering each other.
Strangely, however, the pistol held by the Indian man did not look like a modern creation at all. Yet, it could fire in insane, rapid bursts, and there wasn’t a single sound when it fired. It was truly bizarre — could modern people actually turn a pistol into something like a machine gun?
Realizing that the opponents now had someone with such overwhelming firepower, the market thugs grew frantic. They felt that even if they had to tear down and blow up the entire market, they had to finish these two men off. Consequently, the thugs began tossing grenades wildly.
Seeing that things were turning ugly, the two men began fleeing along the tunnels, firing back as they ran. Yet, a few grenades still came rolling into the tunnel, landing right near them.
“Watch out!” the Western cowboy roared.
Immediately following, a massive explosion violently erupted somewhere in the tunnel.
