Mera Reed pushed Bran Stark, who was in a wheelchair, to the window.

Looking north, different shades of green light cover the sky, eerily beautiful, terrifyingly beautiful.

The scorching wind whistled in, giving her the illusion of being in the middle of summer.

The green flames from the burning of the [wildfire] were so conspicuous in the snow that a great wall of flames was erected in front of the entire long line of defense of the neck.

The surging tide of corpses just now disappeared in an instant.

The flames reduced them to ashes and smoke.

The ghouls have no sense, they are not afraid of death, and they do not know how to be afraid, and the front row has just been engulfed by flames, but the ghouls in the rear continue to rush forward, like moths to a fire.

"It's time for the ghouls to be finished, right?"

Mera looked at the terrifying sea of green fire and muttered with a sigh of relief.

"It's not going to be that simple." Bran Stark, who was in a wheelchair, said softly, "Wildfires can't be extinguished forever. ”

Mera glanced down at the young man, her gaze lingering on the other man's empty eye sockets for a moment, and said:

"Can you see it?"

Bran shook his head and said:

"I can't see. But I can hear it. ”

"Then you should hear the ghoul howl."

"Yes." Bran nodded, "But I also heard the roar of the cold wind, the roar of the ice and snow, deafening. ”

Mera frowned, and before she could speak, she heard Bran continue to explain:

"The strangers and ghouls are the messengers of winter, the masters of the long night, and this [wildfire] cannot dispel the darkness, let alone turn winter into midsummer. And in this long, cold night, the strangers and ghouls will only gain a steady stream of power, endless, and they will never be able to kill ......"

"So what do you say you should do?"

Mera was about to ask, only to find that someone had already asked the same question.

She turned her head and saw King Caesar quietly appearing at some point.

"Your Majesty," Brandau, "must end the long night if this war is to end. ”

Samwell tugged at the corners of his mouth and said:

"I was told that if I wanted to end the night, I had to defeat the Strangers."

"That's right." "But we're killing ghouls now, they're just servants of the Wraiths, and no amount of killing will help." Our true enemy is the Uniché, or more accurately, the leader of the Unichés, the source of the long night, the Night King.

Only by killing him will the long night end, and the war will end. ”

"The Night King?" Mera wondered, "Isn't this some Commander-in-Chief of the Night's Watch trying to establish a state on his own?" And the Night's Watch was established after the end of the first Long Night, in order to prevent the return of darkness, so how could the Night King be the root of the Long Night, which should appear after the Long Night? ”

"Because the first long night, and the current one, are not of the same origin......" Bran stopped talking, his face full of grief and grief.

"So what is the root cause of this long night now?" Mera asked.

Bran didn't speak.

That's when Samwell spoke:

"The oldest historical record of Westeros was written after the arrival of the Andals, who before them had left only vague runes on the rocks.

Therefore, the so-called historical facts about the Age of the Dawn, the Age of Heroes, and the Long Night that we think we know are all made up by the scholars thousands of years later. As for authenticity, hehe.

There was once a Dr. Fermas in the school city who wrote a book "The Lies of the Ancients", in which he claimed that the Stranger was nothing more than an ancestral tribe from the Land of Eternal Winter, the ancestor of today's savages.

As a result of the long night, they were forced to move south, and a series of wars ensued with the humans of the south, now the North.

Thousands of years later, they evolved into undead monsters in stories and legends, as the Night's Watch and House Stark set out to establish themselves as a heroic savior of humanity. ”

"But the strange ghosts are indeed immortal monsters." Mera argued.

"I am not saying that Dr. Furmas's statement is necessarily true." "But you have to admit that his train of thought is interesting. Bran, I've been to the crypts under Winterfell, and the tombs of the Winter Kings have long been empty, right? ”

Bran lowered his head, unable to make out his expression.

But he didn't deny it.

"The Commander-in-Chief of the Night's Watch who tried to establish himself is said to be a Stark." Samwell said, "The Night King is also a Stark, right?" ”

Mera was taken aback, and quickly looked at Bran to hear his defense.

But Bran remained silent.

It seems to be a tacit acquiescence.

"I'll find him," Samwell said, "and kill him!" ”

With that, the king turned and left.

"Bran," Mera whispered, "the Night King...... Is it really from the Starks? How is that possible? You Starks have always been the patron saints of the North......"

"Have you heard the story of Bard Bell?" Bran finally spoke, but asked a seemingly unrelated question.

Although Mera was puzzled in her heart, she still nodded:

"I've heard of it. He is said to be a king of the outside world, and was called Coward Bell by his contemporary, the King of the Winter Realm. In retaliation for this insulting appellation, Bell climbed the Wall and entered Winterfell as a bard, playing songs at the Stark family's banquet.

The King of Winterland was impressed by his skill, but he did not recognize this man as the King of the Outer Fortress, and promised to reward him.

However, Bell only asked for a winter snow rose.

But the next morning, it was discovered that the only daughter of the Winter King had disappeared, and only a winter snow rose was found in her empty bed.

Later, the Starks sent people to look beyond the Wall, but they never found the princess and the bard.

The Stark family was on the verge of being cut off until one day, when the princess returned to Winterfell with a baby. ”

Bran also nodded, and continued:

"Later, the baby became the new King of Winter. During a war in which the Savages marched south, he personally led his army north to support the Night's Watch, and personally slew the enemy leader, the King of Saiwai, at the Ice Crossing.

But when he returned to Winterfell with the head of his enemy, he saw his mother jump from the tower......"

Bran paused, then concluded sadly:

"Sometimes, you don't know that the enemy you are fighting to the death is actually your closest relatives."

Mera then understood why Bran was telling this seemingly unrelated story, and her heart was filled with sorrow and shock:

"Could it be...... Is the Night King really Stark? The strangers we're fighting ......"

Bran didn't speak again, just stared straight ahead with those empty eyes:

"Luckily, I took my eyes off...... You don't have to watch your loved ones die in front of you......"

Mera only felt as if something was blocking her chest, and she tried to speak several times, but she didn't know what to say, so she could only lean down and gently hug the boy in the wheelchair into her arms.

He's so cold.

——————————

Lady Caitlin Tully felt so cold.

The cold wind howled in the cave, like the whisper of death.

She wrapped her leather cloak tightly, but she still couldn't stop the pervasive chill from burrowing into her bones.

The fire was dim, and the heat was drowned out by the overwhelming chill.

Truth be told, it is extremely risky to start a fire in this situation, and the north has fallen, and their actions are likely to attract strange spirits.

However, Caitlin couldn't take care of any of this, and if she didn't make a fire, she would freeze to death.

But such a small fire gradually tends to be extinguished. Wisps of black smoke rose and burrowed out of the cave and melted into the darkness.

Caitlin tried to move her hands and feet, only to find that they were frozen and completely insensible.

Beside her, her daughter Arya was sleeping peacefully, with a pleasant smile on her red face, as if the biting cold had no effect on her at all.

They Starks do have a far greater tolerance for the cold.

After being married to Winterfell for so many years, Catelyn certainly knew about it for a long time.

For this, she can only envy.

"Arya, Arya......"

Hearing her mother's cries, Arya looked up in a daze:

"What's the matter, Mother?"

"Come here......"

Arya rubbed her eyes, adjusting to the darkness, only to notice her pale and trembling mother.

She hurriedly crawled over and hugged her mother:

"Yikes! Your body is so ice! ”

Arya fiddled with the fire, but saw that the wood was almost burned, and said:

"I'll go out and get some firewood!"

"Don't go!" Mrs. Caitlyn grabbed her daughter, "It's too dangerous outside, you're ...... alone"

"It's okay, there's the big guy and Nymeria with me."

As if hearing his name, the ice wolf, who was sleeping at the entrance of the cave, raised his head and looked over.

"Then you must be careful." Lady Caitlyn admonished, "This should not be far from Neck, and further south is probably the front line of the war between the armies of the Seven Kingdoms and the Strangers, so you must not join in the fun." ”

"No, no." Arya swore by it.

"Don't entangle with strange ghosts when you meet them, let the big guy run away with you, you know?"

"Got it, got it."

Arya was afraid that her mother would continue to nag, so she hurriedly ran out.

Nemelia followed.

"Big guy! Hunk, wake up! ”

At Arya's call, a huge figure slowly moved behind the mountain, and a pair of huge eyes opened, like blue stars in the sky.

"Let's go, let's get some firewood." Arya beckoned, "Remember there's an ice lake not far to the east, maybe you can get some food by smashing the ice." ”

The giant muttered a few words he didn't understand, then stretched out his palm and let Arya stand up.

"Oops, wrong, wrong, it's east over there, go that way!"

Although the darkness obscured everything, Arya could still discern the direction based on the dim stars in the sky.

The giant was obedient and immediately turned around, and his heavy footsteps made the small hill tremble slightly.

"Oops, tap, tap."

Arya patted the giant's head and reminded.

Still, she wasn't too scared.

Along the way, she had seen a lot of ghouls, and knew that these monsters were no match for giants at all, and they could stump on several with one kick.

And if there are too many ghouls, and the giants run away, the ghouls will not be able to catch up at all.

So, even though she was stranded behind the enemy, Arya wasn't too scared.

However, there was one thing that made her strange-

Along the way, they often saw ghouls, but they didn't encounter a single strange ghost.

Once, Arya had seen a strange ghost riding a giant ice spider in the distance, and she was sure that the other party had found it, but instead of catching up, she immediately turned and left.

The stranger must be afraid of giants. Arya concluded.

So, riding on top of the giant's head at the moment, she is indeed a little fearless.

Legend has it that House Stark once had an ancestor known as Brandon the Builder, who was able to drive giants, the Great Wall, Winterfell, Storm's End, and ...... Some of the most magnificent and miraculous buildings on Westeros were created by him.

Now that Arya discovers that she can also drive giants, she has the idea of building some miracle buildings for future generations to admire.

Maybe you can rebuild the Great Wall of Desperation.

Arya thought triumphantly.

The giant walked quickly, and the cold wind was coming, but it could not blow away the heat in the little girl's heart.

Looking at the world condescendingly, Arya felt as if she had become the hero of the ballad.

The only thing that made her feel a little lost was that she couldn't find her father this time.

Perhaps he had already arrived at Neck, joining the king's army.

Arya actually wanted to continue south, even if the front might be a battlefield where the two armies were fighting, she was not afraid.

There are even some who are eager to try.

How majestic the Stark girl who controls the giants to kill the ghouls.

Unfortunately, Lady Caitlin was tough enough to stop her recklessness.

Arya, whose dreams were shattered, could only sigh from behind.

Seeing the Icewolf stop, spinning in place and whining in a low voice, Arya knew that the ice lake had arrived.

"Big guy, smash the ice."

The giant half-knelt down and slammed a fist into the ice.

Click-

The thick ice surface cracked instantly, and spiderweb-like cracks quickly spread.

The giant reached into the water, and when he took it out again, he had already fished out a few live mackerel.

Arya cheered and hurriedly jumped down to catch the fish.

Nemelia also bit a fish out of the ice hole.

After a busy day, Arya, who had gained a lot of money, climbed back on top of the giant's head and began to return.

When she passed a cedar forest on the way, she asked the giant to pull one out and carry it back to be used as firewood.

Back on the hill, Arya was about to descend from the giant's head, when she suddenly saw a dazzling green light flashing on the southern horizon.

The green point of light quickly spread in both east and west directions, and soon became a green line between heaven and earth.

"Wildfire ......"

Arya blurted out.

When Stannis Baratheon attacked King's Landing, she was also in the city, and she had seen Tyrion Lannister use this horrific substance to set the entire Blackwater Bay on fire.

For this, she even had nightmares for several days.

Unexpectedly, now she actually saw this kind of thing again.

After a brief moment of shock, Arya immediately realized that this was the front line where the King's army was fighting the army of ghouls.

The two sides are fighting fiercely.

Arya hurriedly ran into the cave and pulled her mother out.

"Look, Mother, the King's army is there, not far from us! Let's get there! ”

Lady Caitlin was also startled by the strange and brilliant green flames, but soon she calmed down and shook her head resolutely:

"No, this kind of war is not something that you, a minor girl, can participate in."

"But I've got a big guy!"

"That's not going to work either!"

Arya pouted, unconvinced, but was forced into the cave by Lady Catelyn.

The two rekindled the fire and grilled a few more fish to eat.

With her stomach filled, and the temperature of the fire again, Lady Caitlyn felt like she was alive again.

But at the same time, drowsiness welled up, and she soon fell asleep again.

And Arya tossed and turned and couldn't sleep again.

After some time, she crept up and walked out.

At the entrance of the cave, Arya cautiously looked back, and seeing that her mother was not awakened, she immediately jumped out.

"Nymelia, big man!" She beckoned to her partner, "Go!" Let's fight the ghosts! ”

(End of chapter)