The Heavens: The Magical World Begins with The Lord of the Rings

Chapter 191 Eddard Stark

As a legend in the middle-earth world, Gao Yuan once settled in Rivendell, which was like a paradise; he broke into the strange orc town; he saw the exquisite dungeons of the woodland kingdom; Fighting side by side with the elves in River Valley City. There are few things in this world that can make Gao Yuan amazed.

Now on this continent of ice and fire in Westeros, the only thing he can admire is the impenetrable Great Wall that spans the continent. After he entered the winter shelter in front of the gate of Winterfell, The first time he admired the central castle in the northern region up close, his heart was not disturbed, and even for a moment he felt that he had traveled to the backward Middle Ages on the earth.

Even the small city in Middle-earth that was destroyed by the dragon, River Valley City, looks more magnificent than the castle and the surrounding villages in front of you.As the family castle guarding the northern border, the political center of the entire north is so shabby.

From this point of view, in this world, the only things that can be compared with Dale City are the legendary capital of the Valyrian Empire; Braavos, the free trade city state of the continent of Essos; The King's Landing City of the leader can be compared with it.

After seeing the magnificent and artistic cities of Middle-earth, Gao Yuan always subconsciously compares what he sees in this world with the brilliant civilization products of Middle-earth.In such a comparison, there are probably very few cities on the Westeros continent that can catch the lofty eyes.

It had just rained in the northern border not long ago, and even though it was approaching noon, the sky was still a bit gloomy.Gao Yuan and Bunyan came to the gate of Winterfell after passing through the winter shelter town, and the dragon leather boots under his feet were already full of mud.

On the road in front of the guardian castle of the northern border, there is no bluestone floor. Gao Yuan looked at the mud stained under his feet with disgust. No matter how he shook it, he couldn't shake it off. Boots are stripped.

"Welcome home, Lord Bunyan!" As the personal soldier of the Stark family and the guard of Winterfell, he naturally recognized his lord's family member at first sight.

Two guards stepped forward and took the reins from the two of them and took the horse away. Although they didn't know Gao Yuan, the ones who could go with Bunyan were naturally friends of the Stark family or other important figures.

"Master Bunyan, do you need me to inform Lord Stark that you are back?" The captain of the guard stepped forward and asked.

Benyan Stark smiled kindly at the guard captain who stepped forward. He obviously knew the guard captain in front of him: "No Wilson, where is my brother Ed?"

"Lord Stark has just finished dealing with the affairs of the territory, and he should be preparing for the king's arrival in the main castle at this time." The captain of the guard, Wilson, replied respectfully.

"He must be in the godswood just now after dealing with the government affairs." Ben Yan couldn't help grinning, "Preparing to meet the king is indeed a very important thing, but it's not what Ed is good at doing. , I know my brother very well, he must have given all of these to Kate."

Faced with Benyan Stark's teasing of his lord, the captain of the guard, Wilson, could not deny it, but retreated silently.

At this moment, Winterfell is full of busy people everywhere. The originally relatively spacious outer city is full of food and drinks that have just been moved from the carriages. The carriages, wooden boxes, and servants in Winterfell occupy most of the space The area made this originally not too big castle look even smaller.

There were still people rushing in and out in front of the gate of Winterfell. The familiar Benjen Stark led Gaoyuan to the godswood. After passing through the inner castle and passing through several heavy gates , entered the godswood surrounded by walls, but after a while they found the Duke of Winterfell who was hiding under the heart tree, Ed Stark.

(Most heart trees are made of weirwood, but not all.)
Rumor has it that the godswood, which was surrounded by Winterfell when it was first built, has grown here for more than 1 years without anyone present. Has the godswood really existed for 1 years? Nobody knows, but they've been here at least 8000 years ago.

In the middle of the godswood stands this very old weirwood, rooted in a pool of black water.Its bark is as gray as bone, and its leaves are dark red, like countless blood-stained palms. On its thick trunk, this vivid face is engraved.

"It shouldn't look like this. There shouldn't be a human face on the trunk of a tree, and the leaves shouldn't look like human palms." Gao Yuan looked at the huge weirwood in front of him and muttered.

Gao Yuan didn't say these words for no reason. He sensed a strange divine power from the weirwood in front of him. Although it was very thin, he could hardly feel it unless he felt it carefully. It does have residual divine power.

The aging face engraved on it is like an old man who is suffering and tormented, with a blood-red tear line hanging from his eyes.Gao Yuan felt as if someone was peeping at him, an outsider, through those blood-red eyes.

Benyan Stark felt a little funny when he heard the words, he didn't know what Gao Yuan felt on the heart tree, he just thought it was the first time he saw the heart tree.

"Gaoyuan, who has been living on the other side of the strait, you must have never seen these heart trees on the continent of Westeros. In fact, many southerners except the northern border have never seen heart trees, because they are now I no longer believe in the old gods, but choose to believe in the seven gods." Benyan Stark introduced to Gao Yuan, "Those faces on the weirwood are said to be the children of the ancient forest. When our ancestors crossed the strait and came to This continent has been engraved on it before."

"The ancestors inherited their belief in the old gods from the children of the forest, and now the heart tree has naturally become a channel for the ancestors to communicate with the old gods. In order to get the testimony of the old gods, when we need to pray to the old gods, make oaths and When the marriage contract is made, we will come to the heart tree."

Ed Stark was sitting under the heart tree at this time, using a handkerchief with tung oil in his hand, gently wiping the Valyrian steel sword in his arms - the ice.It was a gigantic double-edged greatsword, forged of Valyrian steel, the ancestral greatsword of House Stark.

"When Wilson told me that you were preparing for the king's arrival, I knew you would hide here. Just like when we were young, whenever you escaped from Maester Luwin's noble etiquette class After that, you chose to hide in this godswood." Bunyan first greeted Ed Stark.

Ed, who was sitting on a rock, stopped his hands when he heard Bunyan's voice, raised his head and looked at his younger brother who appeared next to him at some point, with a bright smile on his face.

"Because even if father turned the whole castle over, he would not choose to send someone to find me in the godswood." Eddard Stark put the ice in his hand aside, stood up and gave his brother A big hug, "Bunyan! How are you doing recently, life on the Great Wall. Is it still that hard?"

"Haha, I've gotten used to it for so many years." Bunyan patted his brother on the back lightly, and then let go of him, "However, there have been some abnormalities in the north of the Great Wall recently, Mr. Mormont The commander thinks it is necessary for us to bring this news to our northern border guards."

"It's the news that the wildlings are gathering north of the Great Wall. I've heard about it from the letters sent by the night watchman through the raven." Ed Stark said absent-mindedly, "I've sent this Finally, the Umber family of Hearthwall and the Karstark family of Kahuo City wrote back and told me that they have stepped up their patrols south of the Great Wall."

"When necessary, as long as the night watchmen are in need, they will immediately lead the army to the Great Wall for support."

Ed Stark has long dark brown hair, and a neatly trimmed gray and white beard on a long and narrow face similar to Bunyan.Although seeing his younger brother with a bright smile on his face, his gray eyes always revealed a majesty without anger.

Ed Stark looked at Gao Yuan who was standing behind Bunyan, restrained his smile slightly, his expression looked a little cold, but his tone was slightly kind: "Benyan, who is this friend with you?"

Gao Yuan held his chest with one hand, leaned forward slightly, and introduced himself: "Nice to meet you, Lord Ed Stark, the Guardian of the North of Winterfell, I am a man from the mainland of Essos across the strait. Ranger, you can call me Gao Yuan."

Ed Stark couldn't help frowning when he heard this: "The ranger from across the strait, when you introduce yourself, you should also say your last name."

"Gao, that's my surname. It's just according to the custom in Westeros. I'm afraid you won't be used to saying my surname and first name like this." Gao Yuan explained helplessly.

"I see. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Gao Yuan, the ranger." Only then did Ed Stark realize that he had very limited knowledge of the continents across the strait. The customs on other continents were similar to those on Westeros. The difference is not surprising.

After the two got acquainted with each other, Ed looked at his younger brother with a questioning look: "Benyan, you brought your friend to see me, maybe it's not just because of the gathering of the savages in the north, right? "

"That's right, the purpose of my coming to you this time is not just for the savage's affairs, but to report a more important matter to you." Bunyan said solemnly and in a solemn tone.

"For you to be so serious, it must be a very important thing, Benyan!" Ed Stark stretched out his hand to signal the two to sit down by the black pool, "Tell me, what happened to the north of the Great Wall."

"The three rangers we went to the north of the Great Wall disappeared during the patrol, and Mr. Gao Yuan was the last person to see the three rangers." Benyan Stark's tone was a little heavy, "according to what Mr. Gao Yuan said , he and three rangers who were patrolling north of the Great Wall were in the Ghost Forest, and encountered countless attacks by other ghosts."

"Alien?" Ed Stark's voice was not very loud, but Gao Yuan could hear his surprise in it.

Ed's face became very ugly, and he looked at Gao Yuan with a little suspicion in his eyes.

"The number of ghosts is not too many. Most of them are ghouls resurrected by ghosts. Before I came to this continent, I have never seen such a monster!" Gao Yuan knew that Ed Stark was Doubting himself, he emphasized that he had never seen those things before.

"Mr. Gao Yuan, please tell me in detail what you know, what is going on." Ed Stark was eager to know what happened north of the Great Wall.

"This is the family coat of arms that Sir Waymar Royce handed over to me. This time, I am walking with Benyan Stark to fulfill the last wish of this night watchman brother."

After a long time, Gao Yuan finally told Ed Stark the story he had told with the top night watchmen in Castle Black, and handed the family crest to Ed Stark.

Looking at the familiar coat of arms in his hand, Ed Stark knew that there was a high probability that Waymar Royce had died as Gao Yuan said.Regardless of whether the young nobleman he had seen was really killed by a strange ghost.

What he was thinking now was how he should explain to Weimar Royce's father the news that his son had died.

Waymar Royce's father, Jon Royce, Earl of Runestone City, was the most important vassal of his adoptive father, Jon Arryn, as well as his best friend and comrade-in-arms.When he and Robert Baratheon were adopted by Jon Arryn and lived in the Eagle's Nest City, he and Jon Royce had become very good friends.

During the Reaver's War, they were comrades in arms fighting together.

On the way to send his son north to join the Night Watch, Jon Royce once led his son to Winterfell as a guest.During their visit to Winterfell, the Earl of Runestone City revealed his love for his son in every way he behaved and said.

Although a night watchman ranger disappeared north of the Great Wall, it is impossible to blame him, the guardian of the northern border, but as a close friend of Earl Yohn Royce and a comrade-in-arms in the War of the Reaver .

He had to give his old friend an explanation, he had to investigate exactly how Waymar Royce died, and give the father the truth.

It is absolutely impossible to fool the Earl of Runestone City with the absurd reason that Weimar was killed by the White Walker. On the contrary, it will cause Earl Jon Royce to be suspicious of the Night Watchman, and even to him The suspicion of the guardian of the north.

The ghosts have not appeared for thousands of years, and no one has ever seen what the ghosts look like with their own eyes. Naturally, no one believes that the ghosts really exist. Many people think that the ghosts are just a legend.

"Bunyan, have you sent a new team of rangers to re-investigate in the ghost forest where the incident happened?"

Ed Stark will not make judgments based on lofty one-sided words. Even he, the current ruler of the Stark family, does not believe that the rumored ghosts really exist.

I saw Benyan Stark shaking his head: "We only found out about this not long ago, and I was about to take someone to the location of the incident to investigate. I received Ed from your letter from Winterfell letter, requesting that I return to Winterfell to welcome King Robert with you, Ed."

"Commander Mormont asked me to bring this news to you first, and by the way seek the assistance of you and King Robert. You know that the Night's Watch is very short of manpower, and the supplementary soldiers are far from our losses. "

Benyan Stark continued to add: "But all the night watchmen stationed on the Great Wall that night saw with their own eyes the fire and the huge explosion that took place in the Haunted Forest. When everything in Winterfell is over, I will return to After arriving at Castle Black, I will personally lead a team to investigate the incident as soon as possible."

"There is no evidence that the ghosts really exist, and I can't give Earl Royce an explanation." Ed Stark said with some distress.

Benyan Stark met Ed's eyes, and Benyan also knew that his brother still didn't believe in the existence of aliens, and he couldn't do anything about it. Just like Ed said, they didn't have anything in their hands at this time. Evidence that can prove that the ghosts really exist.

All of this is just from the witness Gao Yuan's narration, who would believe it if there is no basis for it.

"Even if Master Benyan Stark went to investigate the incident, it would be difficult to find out the truth." Gao Yuan, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly said, "In that ghost forest, at this time, because of the incident, The huge fire and explosion changed beyond recognition, and I haven't been back, but I believe there is nothing left, nothing could have been left in that explosion."

"The night watchman stationed in the Shadow Tower also submitted to us a suspected sighting report of the White Walker not long ago. The rangers of Castle Black and Eastwatch claimed as early as a month ago that they found a large number of wildlings heading north. Carrying out collective migration, many villages have been vacated, and it looks like they are hiding from something..."

Benjen Stark is still trying to use the signs recently discovered by the Night's Watch to corroborate what they said.

(End of this chapter)