The snow on the Great Wall was lighter, and fine snowflakes flew in the air.

But the north wind still blows from the land of eternal winter, like the breath of an ice dragon in a legendary story, and it never stops.

The night time has taken up two-thirds of the day and is still increasing, and I don't know when I won't see the sun rise again.

Samwell walked alone on the top of the Wall, the icy walls at his feet glittering blue and white in the sunlight.

On a cloudy day it looks like a white rock, and on a dark night it looks as inconspicuous as a lump of coal, but on a sunny day, the Great Wall shimmers like crystal, and every crevice is lit up by the sun, as brilliant and magnificent as a frozen rainbow.

The lifting cage stopped with a creak, and two figures stepped out.

"What a coincidence, Mance." Samwell smiled at the King of the Outer Plugs and his sister-in-law, "And Miss Varr. ”

"Caesar." Mance Rader greeted indifferently.

A few days ago, Samwell burned the horn of winter in the halls of Castle Black, and forced many of the wildling leaders to kneel and submit, but the king of the outside of the city still insisted on not kneeling.

However, although he did not kneel, he volunteered to stay at the Wall to assist the Night's Watch in defending against the Strangers.

Var also stayed.

The "savage princess" was all white, with white wool breeches over bleached high leather boots, a white bearskin cloak draped over her shoulders, and a white sweater sewn with bone needles inside.

Even her breath was white.

Only the eyes were blue, as bright as the stars.

"Caesar, your crows are dishonest." Var Road.

"You mean the Night's Watch? Are they rude to you? ”

"Someone broke into my tent last night and was beaten out by me." Wa Er patted the long bone dagger on his waist, "Next time someone comes, I'll leave a little souvenir." ”

Samwell laughed:

"The next time something like this happens, I suggest that you castrate him, so that you can't break your oath."

"Great idea!" Tile smiled.

It has to be said that this savage princess is indeed beautiful, and she has a wild nature that the eldest ladies in the southern castle lack, so it is no wonder that some night watchmen are unable to control themselves.

"However, if we freedfolk women can be stolen by men by their strength, we will willingly marry him." Wa Yi said, blue eyes staring at the king in front of him, revealing a hint of provocation.

Samwell was in his heart.

It's a pity that he is not in the mood to steal a savage princess to come back to warm the bed, it has been too quiet outside the Great Wall these days, and there is no trace of strange ghosts and ghouls, this strange calm makes him have an ominous premonition.

"Do you think the strangers are wise?" Samwell changed the subject.

"Should be smarter than some Southerners." Var said with a huff. The appearance is very cute.

"The strangers are wise." "Ghouls are essentially dead, but strangers are not. They are strange, beautiful, like elves made of ice, elegant and dangerous. ”

Sam Wilmo rubbed his chin and said:

If the spirits are wise and can think, then their actions must have a purpose. So, what is the purpose of the strange spirits going south? ”

"What is the purpose of the sun rising in the east and setting in the west?" Wa Er asked rhetorically, "What is the purpose of the arrival of winter when midsummer is over?" ”

"You didn't get what I meant." Samwell explains, "The rising and falling of the sun and the changing seasons are natural phenomena that have no purpose at all. But intelligent creatures are different, lions hunt to fill their stomachs, rats burrow to avoid predators, so what do strange ghosts go south for? ”

"Bringing cold and death to the world?" Var said in a speculative tone.

Samwell shrugged, clearly not convinced by the reason.

"For revenge." Mance Rader Dao.

"Revenge?" Samwell was a little interested, "Do the strangers have a grudge against humans?" ”

"Do you know the origin of the Stranger?" Mance asked rhetorically.

"I was told that they were servants of the God of Cold." Samwell said this, but there was a dismissive disdain in his tone.

"The red-robed witch told you." "But there is another version among the freedmen. ”

The king of the Outer Fortress stretched out his hand to the ice wall of the Great Wall, looked out at the misty north, and continued:

"You should know that the Children of the Forest are the first natives of Westeros, they have supernatural powers, can magic, can communicate with wild beasts, and love to carve human faces on fishbeam wood and worship them as gods.

More than 10,000 years ago, the ancestors came to Westeros from the Eastern Continent through the unbroken Dorne Arm, where they cut down trees, burned forests, hunted animals, and fought with the nature-loving sons of the forest.

It is said that the Son of the Forest inserted a dragon crystal dagger into the chest of his ancestors and then applied magic to create it.

But when the Stranger gets out of control and becomes a threat to all life, the Ancestors and the Children of the Forest have to put aside their hatred for each other, make a peace pact at Thousand Faces Island, and work together to drive the Stranger to the Land of Eternal Winter, build the Great Wall of Despair, and set up a legion of Night's Watch to prevent the Stranger from returning.

Therefore, the Wraiths are actually vengeful messengers created by the children of the forest, and from the beginning of their birth, they have only one purpose, and that is to destroy humanity. ”

"I've heard that." "But there's a question. ”

"What's the doubt?"

"The Wraiths were weapons of war made by the children of the forest against their ancestors, but apparently, they were out of control. In other words, they must have awakened their wisdom and escaped from the control of the children of the forest.

In that case, the stranger should hate the children of the forest. If you want revenge, you should go to the Children of the Forest, if you want to destroy, then you should, well, this is not necessary, now the Children of the Forest are about to be extinct.

As for humans, they don't have a deep grudge against strangers. ”

Mance Rader fell silent when he heard this.

At this time, Var said, "Maybe they are here to go home." ”

"Home?" Samwell looked thoughtfully at the Savage Princess.

"Yes." "If the ghosts were changed from their ancestors, the south of the Great Wall would be their homeland. They have accumulated thousands of years of power in the land of eternal winter, perhaps just to break through the Great Wall and return home. ”

"Go home......" Samwell chewed on the guess and suddenly smiled strangely, "Have you been to Custer's fort?" ”

Var shook his head: "Although Custer is a free man outside the Great Wall, we don't want to associate with him. He provided a foothold for the Night's Watch and married more than a dozen wives, many of whom were daughters of his own. ”

"I've been." "Custer is a shameless fellow indeed. Free people have no laws, but they will not marry their daughters, and the gods will not tolerate such behavior. See, he died. ”

Samwell said, "Have you noticed that he is the only man in Custer's fort. ”

"He has a strong desire to protect his wives and doesn't want to share it with other men." Mansdau.

"And what about his sons?" Samwell continued.

That's when Mance realized something was wrong.

Samwell said, "Not long ago, a patrol led by the previous commander-in-chief of the Night's Watch, Geor Mormont, settled in the fortress of Custer, and as a result, a conflict broke out between the two sides, have you heard about it?" ”

"Hmm. Someone has violated guest rights. ”

"No, someone snooped on Custer's secret."

"What's the secret?"

Samwell said: "This guy Custer has more than ten wives, and when he gave birth to a daughter, he married him as a wife, and gave birth to a son. ”

"Kill?"

"No, Custer gave his sons to the Wraith."

Wa Er frowned: "Sacrifice your son to the ghost? Do what? ”

"Have you ever wondered how strange ghosts can multiply?" Samwell asked rhetorically.

Var reacted immediately:

"Did the wrath take the sons of Custer and turn them into wraiths?"

"Possibly." Mance Rader nodded, but soon, he shook his head again, "No. Most of the freedmen beyond the Great Wall are descendants of their ancestors, so why do the strangers only need the sons of Custer? ”

Samwell's tone became darker:

"Mance, do you know Custer's last name?"

Mance Rader shook his head:

"I've only heard that Custer was the son of an Oathbreaker Night's Watch, so he's been helping the Night's Watch."

Var looked at the king curiously:

"Do you know where Custer came from?"

Samwell didn't answer the question, instead looking south.

Although there is only a Great Wall across them, the north and the south are like two worlds.

"Alien ghosts were transformed from ancestors, but perhaps not all ancestors can be transformed into alien ghosts." Samwell said, "Caster married his own daughter, probably to keep the blood pure. ”

"Which bloodline?" Varr's curiosity grew, "What is Custer's last name?" ”

"I don't know." Samwell shook his head, "Just some speculation. ”

The thought of the strangeness in the crypts of Winterfell made Samwell's heart grow heavier.

Linked to the origin of the strange ghosts, and the conjecture that Var said about "going home", his concern about a possible possibility became more and more intense.

Finally, Samwell spoke:

"Mance, although we have many differences, we are clearly unanimous when it comes to protecting the Great Wall. So, I'd like you to send an elite army you can trust to camp near Winterfell, and if you find anything out of the ordinary......"

"You don't trust Stark?" Mance reacted almost immediately, "Is Custer a descendant of some Stark?" Wraiths need Stark blood to transform? ”

Samwell didn't answer.

But his expression already gave the answer.

Mance took a deep breath, pondered this possibility, and the expression on his face became solemn:

"The Great Wall of Desperation was set up to guard against the Strange Spirits, and judging from their unusually quiet state these days, the Strange Spirits may not be able to force their way through this ice wall. But if there is their inner ...... within the Great Wall"

"Eddard Stark won't betray me." Samwell said, "The same goes for the Stark family who are alive today. But those dead Starks ......"

"What? Can the dead come back to life? Var said with a smile, but she couldn't laugh anymore.

Bringing the dead back to life is not the specialty of the stranger?

"I've been to the catacombs of Winterfell." Samwell continued, "Things don't seem to be going well there. It's inconvenient for me to send my own men to Winterfell, as it would misunderstand the Starks. So ......"

"That's why you want me to send someone."

"Yes."

Mance snorted, "No wonder the temporary residence you arranged for us freedmen who don't want to kneel is the Wolf Forest. It's close to Winterfell, so it's just the right time for us to arrange for the army to keep an eye on House Stark, right? ”

Samwell nodded in acknowledgement.

"Okay, I'll arrange it." "But what about your army?" You wouldn't just count on the Night's Watch and us freedmen to guard the Wall, would you? ”

"The vanguard is almost there." Samwell said, "They also brought a lot of dragon crystal weapons, and they will distribute some to you when the time comes." ”

"Yes. And what about your real army? I heard that you have gathered 200,000 troops in King's Landing, when will they arrive? ”

"It depends." Samwell said helplessly, "The cost of the expedition of 200,000 troops to the Great Wall is too great, and now that winter has arrived, food is already in short supply. Therefore, unless a major battle really breaks out on the Great Wall, these 200,000 troops will not move lightly. ”

Mance pursed his lips, but then nodded his head in understanding:

"Okay. However, now that you know that Stark may have a problem, should the Night's Watch Commander be replaced? ”

"No, you don't." Samwell said, "I trust Ed Stark. ”

Wa Er raised his eyebrows:

"Trusted enough to make you gamble on the fate of all mankind?"

Samwell smiled slightly:

"I trust you so much."

Var stopped talking, but stared at the king with those beautiful blue eyes.

At this moment, the lifting iron cage made another sound.

The three of them looked back, and saw Eddard Stark, the commander-in-chief of the Night's Watch whom they had just discussed, walking briskly.

Ed also noticed that the three of them looked at him with strange eyes, but he didn't ask more, but handed a piece of letterhead to the king, and said:

"Your Majesty, you have a letter from King's Landing with the seal of the King's Hand on it."

Samwell took the letter, opened it and flipped through it quickly, a smile on his face, but then a frown.

Wa Er looked curious and couldn't help but ask:

"What's wrong?"

"My queen gave birth to a little princess for me." Samwell put the letter away.

"That's a good thing." Var laughed.

Mance and Ed also congratulated.

"Along with the princess was born a dragon egg." Samwell continued, "But it was stolen. ”

The three of them also frowned when they heard this.

Samwell thought for a moment, then said:

"I'm going back to King's Landing. Lord Eddard, you are solely responsible for the defense of the Great Wall of Desperation. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Ed replied.

Samwell added:

"By the way, this time back to King's Landing, I hope to bring Bran Stark with me, I wonder if it's convenient?"

"Bran?" Ed was stunned for a moment, "Your Majesty, what are you going to take him for?" ”

"I love Bran." Samwell looked nonchalant, "And I think King's Landing might be a better fit for him than the Wall of Despair." ”

Ed thought of his crippled son, and knew that the way of knighthood had been closed to him, and perhaps the courtiers were Bran's destination.

So he bowed down and said:

"Yes, Your Majesty. Bran is the glory of the Stark family to have your favor. ”

(End of chapter)