Chapter Ninety-Six: Fun

After sharing food with three strangers on the side of the road, Chen Cheng continued to ride his horse north. He wasn't in a hurry, in fact, he was considering whether or not to go to the vicinity of Storm's End to witness how Ranri* Baratheon died.

He doesn't know what is going on in the world of the version, but in the film version of "Game of Thrones", Stannis Baratheon and the Warlock Melisandre of the Lord of Light have sex and give birth to a shadow monster. The shadow monster resembles Stannis, but is able to silently weave through fences and all sorts of difficult terrain, then kill others without a sound.

It sounds amazing, and it's actually amazing. Unfortunately, the shadow monster can only kill one person at a time, and each time it requires something like a king's descendant to cast a spell, which is more like witchcraft than magic. Melisandre is a mage who serves the Lord of Light, but every spell she uses is related to shadows and blood sacrifices, and the Lord of Light is not so much a symbol of light as a dark demon god.

Maybe it would have been a better idea to follow a stranger to Storm's End, but he was already on his way, heading straight for King's Landing. Magic was fun, but he wanted to see dragons, even bones. Once he has seen the dragon's bones in the dungeon beneath the Red Keep in King's Landing, he will travel north to the Great Wall, then to Braavos on the other side of the Narrow Sea, to visit the Nine Free Cities and see the Mother of Dragons and her three dragons.

Finally, he will continue to the east, to worship Asha, the Lord of Light. There should be more red-robed mages there, so there's no need to go to Storm's End right now. Let Stannis kill his own brother with the vicious spell of the red-robed witch, and the dog-eat-dog thing will not be interesting if you see too much of it.

Chen Cheng rode on an increasingly robust white horse, spent four days on the road, and then arrived at Black Harbor. Black Harbor is the residence of the Dondelion family, located in the territory of Dorne, in the northern part of the Crimson Mountains, near Dorne, is a military stronghold to guard the backbone road against the northern invasion of Dorne, and is also an important security town to clear the mountain bandits.

In other words, there are mountain bandits here? But he didn't see it all the way.

Outside the gates of the Black Harbor, the guards prevented him from entering the city, even if he pulled out a few copper plates. The guards took the copper plate into their arms, and then forced him back with their spears, "Dorn, there is now a war, and the lord of the castle has ordered that no outsiders are allowed to enter the castle. ”

When I was in Dorne, I didn't feel that the farther north I went, the more I could feel the atmosphere of war. However, in Chen Cheng's view, the art of war in this world is still relatively primitive, and if you use ancient China as a metaphor, it is still roughly in the Spring and Autumn Period, and has not even entered the Warring States Period of general warfare.

In Westeros, fighting was only a matter for the nobles, and the common people mostly didn't care who ruled them. They hated the invaders as well as the local nobility. During the long summer months, the countryside and forests are full of food, so everywhere except Dorne and the Northlands are full of thieves, wildlings, or fraternities active in the countryside.

It is said that the free city-state on the other side of the Narrow Sea is not in a primitive feudal era like Westeros, but has entered a highly developed commercial society. If Westeros is like China in the Spring and Autumn period, then the free city-state system is like the Greek city-state system.

In free city-states such as Braavos, wars were fought mainly by a small number of city-state armies and a large number of mercenaries. Neither Westeros nor Essos, the military system did not become a specialized discipline. Fortunately, their opponents are also very bad, so they can maintain the dynamic balance.

No one wants to build a highly centralized state, and people have become accustomed to being in a state of silos. Oh, and that's not necessarily true, the Valyrians have built a vast empire with dragons and magic, and are slowly expanding.

If they continue to develop, they may swallow up the entire known world. But Valyria had been utterly destroyed in a catastrophe, and along with their dragons, only the Targaryens, who had been sealed to the edge of the empire, survived.

Legend has it that the rule of the Valyrians was so brutal that the rest of the peoples were enslaved. In the blood and tears of those slaves, gods such as the God of a Thousand Faces were born. In the end, Valyria was destroyed in successive volcanic eruptions, and it is unknown whether it was pure bad luck or if a god was involved.

Leaving the Black Harbor, Chen Cheng continued to move north. This time, his good fortune seemed to be gone, and he ran into trouble after only a day on the road. "Hey, Dorn, leave your horse behind, and then you can get out!"

Horses are valuable everywhere, even among those who believe in sea monsters, and they are a lot of meat. Now that there are wars everywhere, and there are routs and bandits all over the land, they inevitably become greedy when they see such a well-groomed and clean white horse.

In response to such an impudent request, Chen Cheng pulled out two scimitars, "I refuse!" ”

"Haha, an idiot who dares to refuse us! A Dorne idiot! The bald man of the leader, with a big beard and yellow fangs, "Kill him, but don't break the horse!" ”

"Collapse!"

The arrow came from the side, Chen Cheng picked it up with his left hand, and the scimitar and the arrow collided, making a crisp sound. He kicked the horse lightly in the belly with his left foot, and the horse rushed towards the robbers with all his might. Seeing him reach for arrows, the robbers realized that they seemed to have picked the wrong opponent

Although this Dorn man is poor, he is really tough in his hands.

"Let's go together!"

The sharpened sticks and the slashed swords slashed together, and with a clanging clang, the white horse burst out of the nets of various weapons, leaving behind two slain enemies. "Run!" The robbers were afraid of the hard, and when they saw that the enemy was strong in martial arts, they immediately coaxed and ran into the woods on the side.

Chen Cheng rode back, groped around the two robbers for a while, and then found a few copper plates, "Phew, it's two poor ghosts again!" ”

"Bang Bang!"

Someone applauded in the distance, but a group of cavalry stopped at the side of the road, "Dorn, your martial arts are good, are you interested in serving in the army?" I promise you'll have enemies to kill every day! ”

Chen Cheng jumped on horseback, "No, I'm going to King's Landing!" ”

The white horse raised its hooves and ran into the distance. "My lord, do you want to get him back?"

The noble officer in the blue cloak shook his head and said, "Forget it. Go and cut off the heads of the two robbers, and we will go back to the castle. ”

It's just a Dorn, and it doesn't take much effort, and there are Dornites on the other side of the Crimson Mountains.

After passing through the Black Harbor, it took a long journey to reach the Summer Hall. During this journey, Trist "The Twin Blade Ranger" also made a name for himself, slashing and slaying many robbers and bandits, and was known for his superb two-knife skills. There are many people who use knives and swords, knights, soldiers, rangers, robbers, mercenaries, most of them will choose such weapons, but there are really few who use double knives.

Because there are few, it is easier to become famous. By the time he arrived at the Summer Hall, fame had already arrived here much faster.

"Twin Knife Trist?"

"Exactly!"

The knight looked at the two scimitars at his waist, then drew his sword, "Come on, I want to see if your twin knives are as fast as lightning as the legend says!" ”

Chen Cheng looked at the soldiers on the opposite side holding the pattern on the flag, shook his head, and said, "If I kill you, it will be very troublesome." ”

"Can you kill me?" The knight laughed, turned his head and shouted, "You can all testify that this is a sacred contest, and if I am killed by him, you will go back with my body wrapped in a banner." ”

"Dorn, you don't have anything to worry about now, do you?"

"Since you want to die so much, then I will satisfy you. Are you going to fight on foot or on horse? ”

The Dornites are born riders, and they are highly skilled on horseback. So, the knight chose to fight on foot.

"A wise choice, a bad choice." Chen Cheng jumped off his horse and drew his knife in his hand. The cold light flickered on the two scimitars, and after killing more than a dozen people, there were some dark red veins on them, which were traces left by blood, "Come on, knight, let me see your martial arts." ”

The knight strode forward, sword in both hands, and pressed forward. In a one-on-one duel, double knives are a terrible choice, and the strength of one hand is not as good as that of two hands in any case. But he is not in armor, which will make the movement more convenient and will have some advantage in a duel?

It's hard to say, there are many differences between the ranger's swordsmanship and the warrior's swordsmanship. There was a lot of talk on the sidelines, looking for various reasons for the side they supported.

The knight was holding a long sword and was majestic, and Chen Cheng decided to give the other party the respect he deserved. "Come on, don't hesitate, hesitate and you will lose!" He stepped forward, holding one scimitar across his chest and extending the other in a defiant gesture. The knight was really unprovoked, and slashed at him with his sword.

The longsword and scimitar collided together, sputtering sparks. Chen Cheng fought with the Dorn, using the Beidou God Fist that was enough to crush this world. Stone smashing crabs can certainly produce some fun, but only evenly matched battles will be enjoyable. As for full rejoicing, it can only be obtained by striking down stronger enemies.

The scimitar was withdrawn, and Chen Cheng had already roughly understood the speed and strength of the other party. Then, it's better to fight with the same speed and strength. The swords collided incessantly, making a series of sounds. He moves his pace, keeping his distance from the other party. Because he doesn't have armor, he moves faster.

Moreover, there is "no thought and no life", and the enemy's attack has long been expected. The route of each sword has long been known, so such a battle is just as boring.