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

Chapter 221 Attack on a Rainy Night
As Ed Stark guessed, Gao Yuan quietly left Darry City for the Vale of Arryn after accepting the appointment of the Guardian of the East in the king's tent.But he did not set out in the morning, but as soon as he came out of the king's tent.

The reason why Gao Yuan chose to rush to the Vale of Arryn in the early morning was mainly because he really didn't want to spend the night in the canyon leading to the Blood Gate.When he and Sir Ballinstein walked out of the king's tent, when Gao Yuan informed the Kingsguard of his decision to set off immediately, he received high approval from the other party.

On this journey to the Vale of Erin, Ser Barristan, the witness of this appointment, accompanied him.According to the king's instructions, the aged Kingsguard will accompany him to the Eyrie, and read the king's appointment to the current heir of the Arryn family and their guardians.

Unlike the riverbanks and dense forests near the Trident River, the farther east they walked and approached the radiating range of the Bright Moon Mountains, the more rugged and dangerous the road under their feet became.It took them almost ten hours to rush from the fork of the King's Road to the canyon leading to the Blood Gate in the Bright Moon Mountains.

During this period, they climbed rocky hills and steep and dense forests. In front of these rugged mountain roads, even Gao Yuan and Sir Barristan were riding steeds at their feet, it still seemed a bit difficult to move, not to mention the sky in the sky at this time. It was still pouring rain.It was past noon when the steep passes and abysses of the canyon appeared before their eyes.

After a short rest and eating in front of the canyon, Gao Yuan was going to move on, but was stopped by Sir Barristan.Sir Barristan warned Gaoyuan that it is an extremely unwise choice to brave the heavy rain to cross this precipitous canyon.

The canyon they are about to cross next will be more rugged and dangerous than the road they have traveled before.In this precipitous canyon, falling rocks are common even on clear days.Not to mention that it is still raining heavily, and they are likely to encounter mudslides.

Sir Barristan also told Gao Yuan that there are often shadow lynxes in this canyon.Just when Gao Yuan told him that he would not be afraid of those bobcats the size of lions, he took out the mountain clan tribes that often moved in this area to scare Gao Yuan.

In Ser Barristan's mouth, those mountain clan tribes are a group of lawless bandits, who always come suddenly from the mountains in groups.It is rumored that there are many skin-changers among them. Every time they are killing people and stealing goods, the animals controlled by the skin-changers will find the Canyon Knights and come out to encircle them. They will soon flee and disappear into the dense forest on both sides. .

Clans and tribes in the mountains are a very troublesome problem for the nobles in the canyon. Even the previous guardian of the canyon, Jon Arryn, would bring a large number of people to follow him every time he crossed this dangerous canyon.In Sir Barristan's perception, it is difficult for him and Gao Yuan to cross this canyon safely.

Gao Yuan didn't pay much attention to the warning from Sir Barristan. He even regretted it a little now, and agreed to go with Sir Barristan in the king's camp.If he had chosen to go to the Vale of Arryn alone from the very beginning, he would have already read the king's appointment to the young heir of the Arryn family and his mother Lysa in the high tower of Eyrie City. up.

If he hadn't been afraid of exposing his ability in front of Sir Barristan, he would have already crossed the entire Bright Moon Mountains and the Blood Gate from a high altitude to the Eagle's Nest in the Vale of Arryn by virtue of his flying ability.Why spend more than ten hours with this old Kingsguard, braving the pouring rain to cross this rugged mountain canyon.

"Sir Barristan, we still have a long way to go before the Blood Gate. We can only reach the Vale of Arryn by crossing this precipitous canyon and the blood gate standing on both sides of the canyon." Ser Barristan beside him said, "I don't want to spend a cold and wet night in this valley. We really shouldn't waste time here. If we start now, we can still reach it before it gets dark." Blood Gate."

"As for the falling rocks, shadow bobcats, and the Gaoshan clan you are worried about, there is nothing to worry about. As long as we are more careful when walking in the middle of the canyon, how can those falling rocks and mudslides catch up with us on horses?" Gao Yuan tried to resolve Ser Barristan's concern.

"I once killed many direwolves alone in the forest north of the Great Wall. Those beasts could not pose any threat to us even if they appeared in groups, let alone those shadow lynxes who are not afraid. Those Gaoshan clans are nothing more than unorganized and undisciplined savages, how can a mob wielding sickles and hoes be against you and the sword in my hand?"

Gao Yuan's persuasion did not seem to dispel Sir Barristan's worries at all, but instead made him think that Gao Yuan's fearlessness was actually an overconfidence based on ignorance.

"You don't understand anything, Duke High." Sir Barristan said with a bit of resentment, "I don't know if it is true that you once faced a pack of direwolves alone. .”

"But please believe me, those wildlings wielding sickles and hoes are not as easy to deal with as you imagine." Sir Barristan began to tell Gao Yuan about his experience of destroying the Brotherhood of the Royal Forest, "Those Brotherhood of the Royal Forest At that time, they only had some sickles and hoes in their hands. But after they got the help and cover of the civilians in the royal forest, they all became desperate lunatics. Even if the king sent many knights there To encircle and suppress them, they all come back in defeat.”

"If the ancestors of the high mountain clan were just a mob wielding sickles and hammers as you said, why couldn't the elite knights in the valley completely wipe them out for hundreds of years? asked Ser Barristan retorted.

Facing Sir Barristan's rhetorical question, Gao Yuan was momentarily at a loss for words.Although he wanted to refute Sir Barristan's point of view, it was impossible for him to tell the other party that he could defeat ten thousand with one man.Even if he told the other party about his ability, the other party would definitely not believe it, unless he showed it in front of Sir Barinstein and proved it to him.

However, Gao Yuan is not willing to show his ability in front of Sir Barristan at this moment, so he cannot refute the other party's statement.

"We don't have to wait too long here, Lord Gaoyuan! This canyon is the only passage from the valley to the riverland, and there are often noble caravans passing between the riverland and the valley." Barristan The Jazz tried to appease Gao Yuan's eagerness to go to the Vale of Arryn, "We just need to wait here for a noble caravan returning to the canyon, and going with them will save us a lot of trouble."

In this way, Gao Yuan and Sir Barristan quarreled at the entrance of the canyon for a long time. The two insisted on their respective views and did not make any concessions. Ser Barristan, who sang "fearless" so much, is old enough to fear those wildlings of the Mountain Clan who don't even have a decent weapon."

Facing the ridicule from Gao Yuan, Sir Barristan admitted lightly: "Lord Gao Yuan, your words remind me of the youngest brother of the king. Lord Renly, every time someone mentions me as the 'fearless' ’, I can’t help standing up and reminding the other party that I should be calling me ‘Old’ Barristan.”

"Lord Gaoyuan, this time I agree with you and Lord Renly very much. It seems that I, the 'fearless' Sir Barristan, are really old. Fear of danger makes me live for such a long time. Those knights more 'fearless' than I are now dead before me."

Seeing that the persuasion was fruitless, Gao Yuan was helpless at this time. The other party was not hesitant to laugh at himself and was unwilling to follow him to the canyon.Unwilling to just abandon Sir Barristan's lofty ideals, he can only respect Sir Barristan's choice.Choose here to wait for a noble caravan returning from the riverlands, and go to the other end of the canyon with them, and enter the Vale of Arryn through the Blood Gate.

It rained pouringly all day long, with lightning and thunder mixed in between, until the cloud-covered sky gradually fell into darkness. Neither Gaoyuan nor Ser Barristan waited for what he said, returning from the riverlands to the Vale of Arryn Noble Caravan.

It was only then that Gao Yuan realized that under such harsh weather conditions, no noble caravan would choose to pass through this rainy and slippery canyon.Now those caravans must be hiding in the hotel in Earl Harroway's town for repairs.Or a loan in a farmer's barn.

When Gao Yuan realized all this, it was too late!As the sun above the clouds disappeared, the sky, which was already dark enough, became darker and darker until you couldn't see your fingers.If you choose to enter the canyon at this moment, it will undoubtedly be even more dangerous.

The two braved the heavy rain to find a relatively dry cave on the steep cliffs on both sides, and planned to spend the night in this cave tonight.Gao Yuan, who shouted that he was cheated, kept complaining about Sir Barristan's wrong decision, perhaps because he knew he was in the wrong. During Gao Yuan's complaints to him, Sir Barristan kept silent, but silently picked up some With dry firewood, he took out the flint he carried with him and lit a bonfire in the cave.

Looking at Sir Barristan who was sitting silently in front of the bonfire, Gao Yuan had already made up his mind, if the other party still refused to follow him into the canyon after dawn tomorrow morning.Then he would ignore Ser Barristan, and choose to embark on the journey to the Vale of Arryn alone.

Gao Yuan can forgive the other party just for wasting his own day, and he can even excuse Sir Barristan in his own heart, thinking that the other party is only concerned about the danger of the canyon.But if Sir Barristan still uses various excuses to evade or obstruct himself tomorrow, so as not to let himself enter the canyon.Then Gao Yuan has to re-examine whether the other party has ulterior motives.

The damp firewood sizzled in the campfire, and outside the warm cave was a cold, rainy night.This cool and warm summer rain has been falling continuously for a whole day, and there is no sign of stopping even in the middle of the night.Gao Yuan, who was chatting with Sir Barristan, couldn't help but look at the darkness outside the cave.In the dark and rainy night where you can't see your fingers, Gao Yuan can't help but secretly guess whether there is something waiting for an opportunity outside.

Under Sir Barristan's puzzled eyes, Gao Yuan stood up in front of the bonfire with some uneasiness. He walked to the entrance of the cave and began to check the condition of the horses tied to the entrance of the cave.When they first entered the cave, they covered their horses with a layer of oil skin to prevent the horses staying at the entrance of the cave from getting sick due to the continuous torrential rain.

"Master Gao Yuan, did you find something?"

Perhaps sensing something was wrong with Gao Yuan's state, Sir Barristan picked up the saber he had placed by the bonfire, walked step by step to the entrance of the cave, carefully observed the dark rainy night outside, and did not find anything amiss After that, he asked Gao Yuan who was beside him.

"It's so quiet in the canyon!" Gao Yuan replied.

Sir Barristan shut his mouth wisely when he heard that, and pricked up his ears to listen carefully to the voice coming from the canyon in the dark rainy night.The sound of the pattering rain falling among the dense leaves; the swishing sound of the criss-crossing branches rubbing against each other due to the impact of the rain;

There didn't seem to be anything wrong with it, and Ser Barristan had a puzzled look on his face.Just when he was about to speak to ask Gao Yuan what he had found, a small screaming sound, accompanied by the sound of rainy night in the forest, entered Sir Barristan's left ear.

As an old knight who has experienced many battles; as a captain of the Kingsguard who often guards the king, even the sound made in the rainy night of the mountain forest almost completely overwhelmed this small scream, But it still couldn't escape his ears.It was the sound of an arrow piercing the air, and it must have been a rusty iron arrowhead.

For experienced warriors like Sir Barristan, this rusty iron arrowhead is the deadliest.Once hit by this kind of arrow, even if the skin is scratched a little, the wound will soon fester.Immediately afterwards, symptoms such as malaise, persistent high fever, and headache appeared.

In this medieval era where antibiotics had not yet been born, for warriors like Sir Barristan, he could basically be sentenced to death.Even Khal Drogo, who was as strong as the Dothraki, the first husband of Dragon Mother Daenerys, died of wound infection.

(End of this chapter)