Meng Ren Rui immigrated to America ten years ago. Fleeing the repercussions of the Taiping Rebellion, Meng finds himself meeting another wave of pilgrims recovering from their own civil war, and Meng cannot help but find humor in the irony of it all.
Having been swept up in the clamor of war, Meng Ren Rui developed a latent talent for medicine. His time spent caring for the wounded turned him against the destructive ways of war, and he set out to find peace with the world in the far off continent of America.
Traveling with the Railway construction gangs as a doctor of all animals, he eventually settled into a nice town and established a practice as a veterinarian, there being plenty of sick cattle and horses, and he is still called upon for human treatment by those who know him. There is trouble sometimes from the more ignorant folks, but even they can't argue with his results.
Shortly after Meng Ren Rui arrived in the town, while he was prospecting where to build his hut he discovered a tall boy whom Meng was very sure was dead. Halfway into covering the young man with stones the kid cried out, suddenly. Immediately setting to work on his injuries, the kid made a rapid recovery for reasons that Meng has learned are sometimes more to the patient than the caretaker. They have been easy friends ever since.
The Judd-Matlock Gang barely merited Meng Ren Rui's attention until a few months ago, when what were passing inconveniences became murderous raids as the crew began targeting the town directly. While he swore he would never take a life again, he readily volunteered to be deputized after his surrogate brother without bothering to try and dissuade him. They never spoke about the bloody ways that they came to meet. Meng Ren Rui had been trying to ignore the sensation that there was still peace to be made with those pasts, but there was no denying the determination in the Kid's conviction. And hell to it all if he was letting him go alone.
Meng Ren Rui packed his mule with all that he could carry comfortably and set out into the desert and last known direction of the Judd-Matlocks. Meng has seen blood and battle and war and death, but he came to be where he is to find a path that leads to healthier ends, and he won't abandon his quest lightly...
