In the inner city in the heart of Winterfell, a roaring bonfire brings a bit of heat to the sausage hall and blows away a bit of cold.

Ned. Stark was hosting a banquet for King Robert and his party, and the atmosphere was not very warm and a little depressing. The ten-meter-long table was filled with bread, grilled meat, and wine, but few people were spending their minds on food.

When I first set out from King's Landing, hundreds of people marched along the official road all the way north, but now only a few big cats and kittens have reached their destination alive, and King Robert, Cersei, Jaime and Prince Joffrey don't look good.

Only Tyrion, nicknamed the little devil, kept eating with his mouth wide open, and said vaguely with a satisfied face: "Why don't you eat it, this food in the north tastes fat but not greasy, and it has a different taste." ”

"Ned, have you caught the lawless bandits? I can't wait to see the scene of their execution. With such a group of people on your territory, it seems that the people of the north need to be disciplined. ”

Queen Cersei only regarded Tyrion's words as if they did not exist, her usual grace and luxury had long since dissipated, and only a strong vindictive spirit remained, and her tone was not so polite.

When the children of the Stark family heard this, they looked at the queen with a little displeasure, and if it weren't for the etiquette, they would have refuted it long ago.

Robert took a big sip of wine, glared at the queen, and said, "How can you speak, just give a little time, Ned's soldiers will catch all those bandits, what a hurry!" Come on, Ned, let's have a drink, we haven't had a drink together in over a decade. ”

"Alas, the queen is right, I didn't expect that there would be such bandits in the north, and this is also my mismanagement. But don't worry, the guards of the five hundred cities will definitely catch those bandits. Ned smiled wryly, and returned the salute with a glass of rough ore that is characteristic of the North.

The banquet took place in such an oppressive atmosphere, and just as it was about to end, the steward hurried into the hall. A message whispered in Ned's ear.

"What, how is that possible!" Ned was startled to his feet, his glass falling to the table, the hem of his shirt wet with the spill of wine.

Whether it's a friend like Robert for more than twenty years. The children of the Stark family, who have seen their father's strict face since childhood, are very surprised.

Robert took another sip of wine and asked directly, "What happened, I remember that you only showed such a look once, and it was when we were facing a desperate situation when we overthrew the first dynasty. Now the Seven Kingdoms are peaceful. What else could make you lose your temper like that? ”

"It's a ghoul! When the city guards were apprehension of the bandits, they encountered a large number of ghouls, which could be dealt with. However, the appearance of a large number of ghouls means that the strange ghosts have awakened again, and the dark age of the Seven Kingdoms Continent is coming! Ned looked around the hall and said with a pained expression.

"What, the Wraiths are in Winterfell! It's already very unsafe, we should get out of here right away! Queen Sexi's face turned pale, almost exclaiming.

Robert looked a little nervous, but he didn't mess up. It seems that the heroic leader who overthrew the previous dynasty more than twenty years ago has returned: "Shut up! It's not your turn to point fingers here, and to get out of town now is to die. Ghouls are just that, you can kill them by cutting off your head. Even if there are one or two strange ghosts, it will not be a climate. ”

The children who grew up listening to strange ghosts were scared, and their faces were full of curiosity, they never thought that the bedside fairy tale would actually come to this day.

The banquet could no longer proceed, and after Ned gave the order to mobilize the army, King Robert and his party did not go out in Winterfell for the time being, lest they run into bandits or ghouls.

Robert begged for a pair of armor, reluctantly stuffed his fat belly into it, laughed and said, "I will go if you go." Give me a set of armor, haha! It's been a long time since I've been on the battlefield, and I didn't expect that we would have a day to fight side by side. ”

Ned put on his full armor and carried Valyria's freshly made broadsword. As the leader, he had to face the ghouls, otherwise the soldiers might not dare to act: "Your Majesty, this is not good, you still wait for my good news in Winterfell." ”

And the eager Stark boys were also denied participation in the operation, and the reasons were readily available.

"You're young. Don't come with me today, I'll train you again when I have the chance. Alas, winter is coming, and the night is long! ”

Ned was dressed up, and went out under the worried gaze of the crowd, mounted his horse, and rode to the city gate with the support of the soldiers.

Got it, the horse's hooves slammed into the ground, making a regular pitch, and Ned was thinking about the big deal about the ghouls. They must be eliminated quickly, otherwise they will spread and the people of the north will be panicked and unstable.

The number of soldiers in this sortie exceeded 1,000, and with the 500 soldiers who had previously pursued adventurers such as Wendelin, Winterfell had already drawn two-thirds of its existing military strength, and its defense had dropped a lot. Of course, it is enough to defend the city, and there are still a large number of young people in the city who can serve as temporary soldiers.

In the state of rapid marching, an hour later, the army led by Ned had arrived on the battlefield, and Ned saw the situation and found that the shape was even worse than reported: many of those ghouls were dressed as city guards, and they were constantly attacking around more than a hundred soldiers, and if they were half an hour late, the five hundred city guards would be wiped out.

Dead corpses can only be transformed into ghouls by Wraiths, which means that one of these monsters knows how to hide his identity. If you can't kill all the monsters here at once, it's likely to give it a chance to escape.

"Cleverness is mistaken by cleverness, this greedy stranger will soon die by my sword!" Ned roared, and a thousand soldiers formed a U-shaped encirclement, pressing down on the hundreds of ghouls.

The city guards who were about to collapse received reinforcements, and the morale that had fallen to the bottom bottomed out, and the strength of the originally exhausted body surged again, brandishing weapons and slashing at those ghouls, shouting one by one: "Lord Duke is here!" Everyone worked hard to avenge their dead comrades. ”

Ghouls, who only know instincts, are not at all well-trained army opponents in the absence of numerical superiority, and their numbers are constantly decreasing. Until the remaining half, the pattern of attacking forward with a force of tendons changed suddenly, and it broke through in all directions.

Ned and the twenty guards around him did not participate in the siege, just waiting for this moment, after sweeping the battlefield with a sharp gaze, the big sword pointed to the west, and the horse was clamped between his legs: "This is it, rush with me!" (To be continued.) )