The world was grey, and the smell of pine and moss drifted in the wind.

A pale mist rose from the black earth, and riders laboriously navigated through gravel and timber down the valley toward the warm fires scattered like pearls. There were so many fires that it was impossible to count, and hundreds of thousands of bonfires formed a swaying ribbon of light, accompanied by the frozen white river, which looked like two rivers. This scene made the five fingers of his right hand open and close involuntarily.

They rode down the ridge, without raising their flags or playing them, and in a dead silence they listened only to the murmur of the distant river, the sound of horses' hooves, and the clashing of bones and armor on their shirts. Somewhere overhead, the eagle spreads its giant gray-blue wings, overlooking the people, dogs, horses, and white snow wolves below.

The horses' hooves kicked the gravel, the stones rolled down the slope, and Bu Yangying saw Bai Flash turn his head to search for the abrupt sound. It followed them from afar all day, it was his habit, and when the moon rose over the sentinel treetops, he would run away with blood-red eyes wide open. As always, the hounds of the Clank-Bells roared and barked at him in unison, but the snow wolf was indifferent. Six nights before, after they had set up camp, the biggest hound tried to attack him from behind, but White Flash was quicker than him, and the dog was scarred and fled. From then on, the dogs kept their distance from him.

The horse neighed softly, but the strokes and soft whispers quickly brought it back to its composure. If only my own fears could be calmed so easily. He was pitch black, the black of the Guardian Legion, but he rode among the enemy. I follow them, follow these savages. Ruilei wears a cloak of thousands of miles, Lang asks for his chain mail, his hand is taken by the large spearwoman Reven, and a certain archer gets his boots. The mediocre-looking short "Spear" Rick wins Wang's helmet, but it doesn't fit his narrow head, so he gives it to Ruilei.

Bu Yangying followed these rangers to Fengsheng Gorge. Dead, they're all dead, and the whole world knows I'm done too.

Ruilei rode behind him, and in front of him was Rick the spear. The King of Dry Bones told the two men to watch him. "If you let the crows fly away, I'll boil your bones," he admonished the two guards as he set out, smirking through the giant's skull used as a helmet, crooked teeth.

Rui Lei scolded him: "Do you want this person or not? If you do, don't talk nonsense, we know how to do it ourselves." ”

They are true freedmen, and Shadow discovers that Clanklers can lead them, but they can't rise above them.

The leader of the wild men turned to glare at him viciously, "Crow, you can deceive the others, but you can't deceive the king of the outside world, Tie Zhan. He can debunk your disguise at a glance. Then I'll take your wolf's skin and make a cloak, and then I'll cut open your soft belly and sew a weasel in. ”

Bu Yangying opened and closed with the hand of the sword, and the burning fingers under his hand moved stupidly. Spear Rick laughed and said, "It's snowing so hard, why don't you go up there to find a weasel?"

The night before, after a full ride, they found a shallow rocky beach in the shape of a bowl on top of a high nameless hill and set up camp. Snowflakes were flying, people huddled around the fire, and Bu Yangying watched as the blowing snow landed over the campfire, quickly melting and dissolving. Even though he was wearing layers of woollen clothing, fur and leather armor, he still felt cold to the bone. After the meal, Rui Lei sat next to him, she pulled up her hood, and her palm was retracted into her sleeve for warmth, "When Tie Zhan hears what you did to Wang Wanli, he will accept you immediately." ”

"Accept me?"

The girl chuckled, "Accept you as one of us." Do you think you're the first crow to fly off the Great Wall? I know from the bottom of your heart you want to fly freely. ”

"I'm free to join," he said slowly, "and I'm free to leave?"

"Of course," she smiled warmly, except for her teeth crooked, "and we have the freedom to hunt you." Freedom is a dangerous thing, but everyone craves it. She placed her palm, which was covering her sleeve, on his knee. "You don't understand anything. ”

Yes, I don't understand yet, Bu Yangying thought to himself, but I will see, listen, learn, find out the details and run back to the penal colony. The savages regarded him as a man who broke his oath, but he was still a man of guardians in his heart, carrying out the last mission given to him by Wang Wanli. His last entrustment before I kill him.

They descended to the bottom of the slope, and in front of them was a small stream that flowed down the mountain and into the river, seemingly motionless and reflective, but there was the sound of water flowing under the solid ice. Jingle Shirt takes them across the stream, breaking the thin ice on the water's surface.

As they approached the camp, the scouts of Iron War approached. Bu Yangying glanced at them: eight horsemen, men and women, all dressed in fur and leather clothing, armed with spears or fire-hardened spears, but armed only with a few helmets and a few pieces of tattered armor. The leader of the other side was a little special, chubby, watery eyes, full of blonde hair, and carrying a huge and sharp steel scythe. It was the weeper, and he reacted instantly. The brothers in black often talked about him. Like Clankler, Hamcro "Doghead" and "Raven Hunt" Afin, he is a well-known raider.

"The King of Dry Bones," the Weeper beckoned, looking at Buyangying and his wolf, "Who's that, that's it?"

"A fleeing crow," said Jingle Bell, who liked to be called the King of Dry Bones, and whose jingling bone armor was his pride, "was afraid that I would lay on him like a thousand miles of bones." He lifted the bag of loot and shook it in front of the savage scouts.

"It was this kid who killed Wang Wanli," said Spearrick, "and he and his wolf." ”

"This kid is a wolf spirit. "The big spearwoman Rui Wen interjected," his wolf bit off Wang Wanli's calf.

The Weeper glanced at the shadow again with those rosy, damp eyes, "Yes, oh, he's got wolf qualities, I see." Take him to Iron War! He turned his horse's head and walked away, his men following him closely.

They marched in a single column through the camp in the valley of the river, and the cold wind was wet and heavy. White Flash followed closely behind, his scent like that of a herald, announcing their arrival. In a few moments, all the dogs of the wild people gathered, barking and barking. Lang yelled at them to be quiet, but it didn't work. "They don't like your buddies," Spear Rick said to Bu Yangying.

"Dogs on one side and wolves on the other," Bu Yangying said, "they are not of the same kind." "It's like I'm not your kind. But I have to put that aside for a moment and do my duty. Wang Wanli gave him the task of disguised as an oathbreaker to find out the secrets that the wildlings had dug in the cold and barren Fangs of Frost and Snow. "Some kind of power," Wang Wanli asserted to Yan Beixing, but he died before he could find out the truth, and he didn't even know if Tie Zhan had dug up "it".

Along the river are bonfires, dotted around carts, carts and sleighs. Savages hastily erected numerous tents out of animal skins and sheep felt, and some built a nest on a large rock or slept under a cart.

Bu Yangying saw men quenching the pointed ends of their long wooden spears beside the fire, throwing spears at the same time, two other young men in leather armor and beards striking each other with clubs, jumping over the campfire and chasing each other, shouting incessantly, and a dozen or so women sitting in circles and feathering their bows and arrows.

These are arrows for my brethren, Bu Yangying thought to himself, arrows for my father's people, arrows for the North Hades, Fort Deepwood, and the Last Hearth, arrows for the North.

But it's not all about war. He also saw dancing girls, heard the cries of babies, and a little boy wrapped in fur ran past the horse, panting from frolic. Sheep and goats roam freely, cattle search for grass on the banks of the river, the smell of sheep spreads from the fire, and a whole boar skewer is smoked on a wooden fork.

When he rode to an open space surrounded by tall green soldiers, he dismounted. "Set up camp here," he told Langle, Rywin, and the others, "and feed the horses, the dogs, and yourselves." Rui Lei, spear, take the crow away, let Tie Zhan take a good look, and then we will peel him. ”

The rest of the way they walked, past more campfires and more tents, White Flash still following behind. Bu Yangying had never seen so many savages.

He even wondered if anyone had ever seen so many wild people.

This camp is boundless, no, not one camp, but hundreds, each of which is vulnerable. Scattered for several leagues, there was no defense, no pits, no sharpened stakes, and only a few small groups of scouts patrolling around. Teams, clans, and villages set up camp without caring about anyone else. This is the freedmen. If his brethren had seized the opportunity, many people here would have to pay with their lives for their freedom. Although they were outnumbered, they lacked the discipline to guard the legions. He was disciplined, won nine out of ten battles, and his father had taught him.

The king's tent stood out, twice as large as the largest he had ever seen, and the sound of music emanated from the tent. Like other tents, it is made of animal skin, but the material is pure white plush of snow bears. The top of the tent is surrounded by a circle of giant antlers, which must have been picked from the head of a giant moose that had been unrestrained in the Seven Kingdoms in the days of the ancestors.

As they walked straight to this point, they came across the guards, two of whom stood at the door of the tent, spears and leather shields tied around their arms. Seeing White Flash, one of the guards lowered his spear, "Beasts can't enter. ”

"White Flash, stop," Bu Yangying ordered. The snow wolf sat down obediently.

"Spear, take care of this guy. Jingle Shirt lifted the door of the tent and gestured to Yang Ying and Rui Lei to enter.

The inside of the tent is cool and full of smoke. Baskets of charcoal lay in the four corners, emitting a dull red light, and the floor was carpeted with thick animal skins. A black-clothed man came here, waiting for the chameleon who claimed to be the king of the outside world to dispose of him, and Bu Yangying felt extremely lonely. After adjusting to the red smoke, he noticed that there were six people inside, but no one paid attention to him. A swarthy young man is sharing a dime of mead with a pretty blonde, and a pregnant woman is standing by a brazier grilling a bunch of chickens.

Jingle Shirt pulls down a yellow skull helmet. After taking off his bone and leather armor, he was actually very thin, with an ordinary appearance, a knobby chin, a short beard, flat, grayish cheeks, a thin line of eyes, eyebrows across his forehead, and a few tufts of thin black hair on his pointed bald head.

On a stool by the brazier sat a short, but very fat man, eating a skewer of roast chicken with relish. Rising grease flowed down his chin and into his snow-white beard, and he giggled merrily. His thick arms were covered with heavy gold hoops carved with runes, and heavy black ring armor that could only have come from dead rangers.

A few feet away, another tall, thin man was frowning at the map, wearing a leather shirt with bronze scales sewn onto it, and a two-handed greatsword straddling a leather scabbard on his back. The man was as straight as a spear, with long tendons, a cleanly shaved beard, a bald head, a stiff, straight nose, and deep-set gray eyes. If he had ears, he would look dashing, but unfortunately he didn't have one.

I don't know if it was caused by frost or war, but in short, without them, the man's head was a little unbalanced, and it looked narrow and pointed.

Whitebeard and Bald are both warriors, and Buyangying can be seen at a glance, and they are both much more powerful than Jingle Shirts. He didn't know who of them was the Iron War.

The bald, earless man looked up from the map and glared viciously at Jingle Bell, Ruilei, and the shadow of Buyang sandwiched between them. "Who is this?" he said, "a crow?"

"That's right," said Clankler, "he's a damn wolf spirit." ”

"So what are you bringing with you? ”

"He's turned his back," Rui Lei explained, "and he slaughtered Wang Wanli in the penal colony with his own hands. ”

"Just this kid?" Hearing this, the earless man was a little annoyed, "Wang Wanli is my prey." Raven, do you have a name?"

"My name is Bu Yangying, Your Majesty. I don't know if I should kneel down in front of the "King of the Outside World".

"Your Majesty?" the earless man looked at the chubby white beard, "you see, he thinks I'm the king." ”

The fat man with a full beard laughed so hard that chicken nuggets flew everywhere, and he wiped his mouth with his giant hand. "He's certainly not an eye-eyed boy!Is there a king with missing ears?hell, the crown will fall straight into his neck!!," he grinned as he wiped his fingers from his breeches. "Shut your mouth, crow. Turn your head and the person you're looking for is in the back. ”

Bu Yangying turned his head.

"I'm Mance Red," a man next to him who hadn't caught Bu Yangying's attention at all spoke, "and you're Bu Yangchen's bastard, Bu Yangying's North Underworld." ”

Bu Yangying was so shocked that he couldn't speak for a long time, and only after a long time did he barely regain his composure: "You...... How do you know ......"

"I'll tell you later," said Mance Red, "'Tell me, our King of Dry Bones is telling the truth, and you killed my old friend Wang Wanli?'

"Yes. "I didn't do it alone, though.

"The walls of the penal colony will no longer be as terrible as they once were," said the king, with sadness, "Wang Wanli, though my opponent, was also my brother, so ...... Should I be grateful to you, Bu Yangying, or should I curse you?" he gave Bu Yangying a mocking smile.

The King of the Outer Fortress did not look like a king, not even like a savage. He was of medium height, slender, pointed-faced, with shrewd brown eyes, and long brown hair—though he was half-gray by this time. He had no crown on his head, no gold rings on his arms, no chains around his neck, and in short, no ornamentation at all. He wore a woolen sweater and a leather jacket, the only striking thing at the top and bottom was a ragged black wool cloak with several long tears sewn up by faded red threads.

"You should be grateful that I got rid of your opponent," said the last step, "and curse me for killing your friend." ”

"Haha!" exclaimed the white-bearded man, "Well said!"

"Agreed. Tie Zhan motioned for Bu Yangying to approach, "If you want to join, you have to get to know us first." Mance turned to Whitebeard, and the earless man glared coldly at Buyangying, "This fierce chicken eater is my loyal Torre, the woman—"

"Wait, you didn't report my title." ”

Tie Zhan smiled. "As you wish. In front of you are Torre, the giant's nemesis, the braggart king, the trumpeter, and the icebreaker. He is also the Thunder Fist Torre, the husband of the snow bear, and the ruler of living beings. ”

"That's pretty much it. Torre said, "Fortunately, Bu Yang Ying, although I look down on the Bu Yang family, I am interested in the wolf spirit. ”

"The good woman by the brazier," continued Iron Zhan, "is Dana. The pregnant woman smiled shyly. "You must treat her like a queen, who is pregnant with my child. He turned to the remaining two. "This beauty is her sister Val, and the young man of Val, Jal, is her new pet. ”

"I'm not someone else's pet," Jal said fiercely and heavily.

"Var is not a man," Torre the Whitebeard scoffed, "you make it clear to me, boy, Iron War is not wrong. ”

"You already know us, Bu Yangying," Tie Zhan said, "this is the King of Saiwai and his court. Now it's your turn to say. Where are you from?"

"I'm from North Underworld," he said, "this time from exile. ”

"Why did you leave your homeland and come up the river?" he replied, looking at Jingle Shirt, "how many of them are there?"

"Five. Three were slaughtered, the kid was caught, and one went up the mountain, and could not be tracked on horseback. ”

Tie Zhan's gaze met Bu Yangying again. "There are only five of you, and are there any people who have hidden it?"

"No, we are four plus Wang Wanli, and one Wang Wanli can top twenty. ”

The King of the Outer Plug laughed, "Yes, everybody says so. One more question...... Why is it that a novice in the penal colony follows a group of Shadow Tower Rangers?"

Bu Yangying had already prepared a speech: "Lord Yan Beixing sent me to exercise under Wang Wanli, so I participated in the patrol. ”

Torre frowned, "You mean, patrol...... Are you crazy enough to patrol the Storm Gap?"

"The villages have been abandoned," Bu Yangying told him truthfully, "as if all the freedmen had suddenly vanished." ”

"Ah...... Gone, "Iron Battleway," it's not just the freedmen who have disappeared. Who told you we're here, Shadow?"

Torre snorted, "Then you don't need to ask, it must be Morri, otherwise I'll be a shy girl." I told you, Iron War, you should cut off that thing's head. ”

The king glanced at the elder angrily. "Torre, one day you'll have to learn to use your brain before you speak. Of course I knew it was Maury. My purpose is to investigate Buyangying. ”

"Haha," Torre spat out, "well, I'll shut up!" he grinned at the shadow, "Look, boy, that's why he can be king and I can't." I drank a lot, I was strong in war, I sang louder than him, and I was three times as big as him, but I was cunning in iron war. You know, he used to be a crow, haha, a scheming bird. ”

"I'd like to talk to this kid alone, King of Dry Bones," Iron War said to Clankler, "and everyone else, let's go." ”

"What, I'm leaving?" Torre said.

"No, you are exceptional. Tie Zhan said.

"That's weird! I don't eat in unpopular places," Torre stood up, "I'd better get away with my chicks." He grabbed another string of chickens, slipped them into the pockets sewn in the lining of his cloak, said "Ha!" as a farewell, and walked out of the tent door with his fingers on. Everyone followed him away, except for the woman Dana.

"Sit casually. When the people left, Tie Zhan said, "Are you hungry?" Torre has two birds left. ”

"I am honored to eat your food, Your Majesty, thank you. ”

"Your Majesty?" the king smiled, "no one hears this title from the lips of the freemen. Most of them call me Iron War, and a few call me Iron Chief. Horn mead?"

"Gladly. Bu Yangying said.

Dana cut the crispy chickens and gave them half each, while the king drank the honey. Bu Yangying took off his hand and used his fingers to help him eat, he was so hungry that he sucked on every piece of the bone.

"Torre is right," said Iron Zhan as he tore the chicken, "and the black crow is indeed a cunning bird...... And I was a crow before you were born, so watch out and don't play tricks on me. ”

"As you say, iron war. ”

"I promised to tell stories about why I knew you. Do you figure it out?"

Bu Yangying shook his head, "Jingle Shirt was pre-announced?"

"With birds? We don't have trained crows. No, I remember your face, as I've seen before. Seen twice. ”

It doesn't make sense. Bu Yangying thought about it hard, and finally figured it out. "When you were a brother of the Night's Watch......"

Yes, it was the first time. When you were a child, I was dressed in black, one of the twelve guards of the former commander, escorting him to visit your father in the North Underworld. I was strolling along the inner walls around the courtyard and bumped into you and your brother flying along. It had snowed the night before, and the two of you had piled up a heap at the gates, waiting for some unlucky ghost to pass by. ”

"I remember!" Bu Yangying said with a surprised smile. A young black-clad brother strolling on the city walls, yes...... "You swear you won't expose us." ”

"And I kept my vows. At least, hold on to this. ”

"We poured snow on Fat Guozi's head, the sluggishest guard of my father's men. Later, they were chased all over the yard by Guo Zi, until their cheeks became as red as ripe apples. "But you said you've seen me twice, when was the other time?"

"When the Qingqiu family came to the North Underworld to marry your family. The King of the Outer Plug said softly.

Bu Yangying's eyes widened in disbelief, "How is that possible?"

"That's a fact. When your father found out about this, he sent news to the penal colony. The dealings between the Black Brothers and the Freedmen go far deeper than you know, so word quickly reached my ears as well. I can't resist it. Your uncle hasn't seen me, so I'm not worried about him, and I don't think your father will remember a little crow that flew by in a hurry years ago. I'm going to go to the North Underworld for a long time. So I got on the fastest horse and said go. ”

"But," Bu Yangying objected, "the high walls of the penal colony ......"

"A high wall can stop the army, but it can't stop the lone man. I took my pipa and a bag of silver deer, climbed over the ice wall near the long carriage building, crossed the newly gifted land, and traveled a few leagues south to buy a horse. I traveled all night and immediately joined the royal family. You know, freeriders and mercenary knights often come to the royal side, hoping to stay in the royal service, and my lute makes it easy for me to be accepted," he smiled, "and I will grin all the tunes inside and outside the Wall." You were there at the dinner party, and that night your father entertained Robert, and I drank with a group of free riders on a bench at the end of the hall, listening to Orlando in Old Town play the long harp and sing about the king who rests at the bottom of the sea, and eat your father's roast and honey. I took a good look at the ugly ghosts of the King Butcher and the Qingqiu family...... He also saw the children of the Dust Lord and the little wolves at their feet. ”

"You're like Bell the Wandering Poet," said Bu Yangying, remembering the story Rui Lei had told him on the Frost Fang, and that he had nearly killed her that night.

"I'm like him. Ah, Bell's story is exciting...... I don't have the guts to steal one of your sisters. Bell writes his own ballads and lives them on forever, and I only cover songs made up by people who are better than me. Do you want mead?"

"No," Bu Yangying said, "if you are discovered...... Caught ......"

"Your father will not cut off my head," the king shrugged, "for I eat in his hall, protected by the rights of the guests." The rules regarding guests are as old as those of our ancestors, so you are also a guest here, and you will not be harmed by my protection...... At least, tonight. Honestly, Bu Yangying, are you a coward who has betrayed out of fear, or is there another reason?"

Regardless of whether he has the right to be a guest or not, Bu Yangying knows that he is walking on thin ice, and if he makes a slight mistake, he will be doomed and have no place to die. Every word had to be weighed carefully, he admonished himself, taking a big sip of honey wine to delay the showdown. When he put down the cup, he said, "Tell me your reasons first, and then I'll say it." ”

As Bu Yangying expected, Tie Zhan smiled, the king was clearly a confident man. "I'll tell you how I gave up, I will. ”

"Some say you're a crown, others say you're a woman, and others say you're born with savage blood. ”

"The bloodline of the savages is the bloodline of the ancestors, and the bloodline of the ancestors is also the bloodline of the Buyang family. As for the crown, do you see it here?"

"I saw a woman. He glanced at Dana.

Tie Zhan hugged her, "No, my wife is innocent. On the way back from your father's castle, I met her, Wang Wanli is a sculpture made of rotten wood, I am a man of blood, fascinated by the charm of women...... Like three-quarters of the brothers in black. Seriously, some of the men in black have ten times as many women as the poor king. You'll have to guess again, step up the shadow. ”

Bu Yangying thought for a moment, "Commander Wang said that you like the music of savages. ”

That's right, it's close to the answer, but it's not accurate. Iron War stood up, loosened the clasp of his cloak, and laid it on the table. "I'm here for this. ”

"For a cloak?"

"A black wool cloak of a brother of the Night's Watch who swore to his life," said the King of the Outer Cypriots. "Once, when we were on patrol, we killed a beautiful giant deer, and we were busy skinning it, when the smell of blood attracted the fierce beasts of the nearby nest. I drove it away, but the cloak was torn to shreds in the fight. Do you see this, here, and here?" he chuckled, "and the beast tore my arms and back, and I shed more blood than the deer. The brethren feared that I would die before I could return to the Shadow Tower for the Medicine Master's treatment, so they carried me to a savage village, where an old witch was said to have some knowledge of healing. Unfortunately, she is dead, leaving only one daughter. It was she who cleaned my wounds, sewed up the wounds, and fed me porridge and potions until I recovered. She sewed up my tattered cloak with bright red silk from Asha, which her grandmother had found from a shipwrecked boat that had washed up on the frozen shores. This is her greatest treasure, a gift she has given me. He put his cloak back over his shoulders. "Back at the Shadow Tower, they gave me a new woollen cloak from the warehouse, an all-black cloak, neat and crisp, with black breeches and black boots, a black blouse and black chain mail. The new cloak has no worn, no scratches, no tears...... There is no red either. Guardians had to wear black, and I was sternly reminded in the penal colony that I was a forgetful. He also said that your old cloak can be burned. ”

"I left the next morning...... Go to a place where kissing is no longer a sin and people are free to choose their cloaks. He buckled and sat down again. "What about you, Bu Yangying?"

Bu Yangying took another sip of honey wine. It seems that there is only one statement that can convince him. "You said you had been to the North Underworld and attended my father's dinner with the Queen. ”

"Yes, I did. ”

"Then you should know that clearly. My brothers and sisters walked through the central passageway, and the crowd was watching, and the place where they sat was only one seat lower than the high platform of the queen and lord. ”

"How?"

"Do you see where I'm sitting, Iron War?" he leaned forward, "did you see where they threw their bastards?"

Tie Zhan examined Bu Yangying's face for a long time. "I think I'll find you a new cloak," said the king, holding out his hand.

At least Bu Yangying was sure that his reason convinced Tie Zhan, the king of the outside world.