The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Night.

Two figures appeared outside a stone fortress.

The stone fortress was dark greenish-black, without doors or windows.

There were no other buildings around, only woods.

A solitary fortress in the middle of the woods.

This fortress was famous in Qarth and feared throughout the East; it was the headquarters of the Sorrowful Men.

On the western coastline of Essos, there was the famous House of Black and White of the Faceless Men.

In the East, there was the Scorpion Keep of the Sorrowful Men.

The outer walls of this fortress were painted with images of manticore.

The ground and the trees in the woods all had manticore reliefs and images.

In this small world, the manticore was like a mysterious totem.

"Who's there?" a voice came from inside the stone fortress.

"Haggo Mol." A dark figure said.

"Benerro." Another dark figure said.

"Master Benerro?" The voice inside carried a hint of surprise.

"Yes!"

"Wisdom and Truth, please wait a moment, Master." The voice from the fortress became respectful.

"Wisdom and Truth!" Master Benerro's voice was peaceful and kind.

Haggo Mol was the head of the Thirteen, but he did not receive the respect of the voice from the stone fortress.

On the ground, a relief sculpture flipped open, revealing an underground cave.

A staircase led straight down.

The way to enter Scorpion Keep was from underground.

There were no doors in the walls of Scorpion Keep.

"Please, Master." The voice from the stone fortress was extremely respectful.

Master Benerro did not stand on ceremony and went down the stairs first.

Haggo Mol followed behind the master.

After the two entered the tunnel, the relief floor reset, merging with the relief floor on the ground, making it impossible to see any flaws with the naked eye.

The cave was pitch black, with only very small candles lit on the walls.

The candlelight was as bright as a tiny spark, unable to dispel the darkness.

Haggo Mol lost his sense of direction as soon as he entered the tunnel.

Although there was a small spark of light not far away, he could not see the ground clearly at all.

Fortunately, Master Benerro was leading the way.

Master Benerro walked towards the spark of light, seemingly well-adapted to the darkness.

Even following behind Master Benerro, Haggo Mol was still walking unsteadily, stepping deep and shallow.

It was too dark all around, and his eyes could not see anything.

There was only the guidance of a tiny spark of light ahead.

The two came to a stub of a candle smaller than a little finger, and the dim light only illuminated a low-flying area of about half a meter around.

Then, Haggo Mol noticed another tiny light, like a broad bean, in front of him.

It was a tiny spark of light surrounded by darkness.

This was Haggo Mol's first time at Scorpion Keep, and he felt suffocated.

The only lucky thing was that he had not encountered the terrifying manticore.

A single sting from a manticore could take Haggo Mol's life.

Haggo was unwilling to come to Scorpion Keep, but Master Benerro wanted him to come.

Haggo Mol could not refuse when Master Benerro spoke.

The master continued to walk ahead, and Haggo hurried to keep up.

His palms were already sweaty, and small beads of sweat were oozing from his forehead and the tip of his nose.

The darkness gave Haggo a suffocating oppression and the aura of death.

Even in the House of the Undying, Haggo had never felt so uncomfortable.

After passing who knows how many sparks of light the size of broad beans, Haggo vaguely felt that he had walked in a circle following the guidance of the lights.

He judged that the two had returned to the starting point.

However, in front of him, a voice respectfully sounded: "Scorpion Keep welcomes Master Benerro's arrival."

"Disturbing you," Master Benerro said lightly.

With the sound of a door opening, the front suddenly became bright, as if coming from the deepest part of the night to broad daylight.

Haggo's eyes closed for a moment, and when he opened them again, he was still somewhat unaccustomed to the brightness of the daylight.

But Master Benerro was not affected at all, and he walked into the light.

Lord Haggo Mol also hurried to follow, and then, the sound of the door closing behind him came.

In front, three old men were greeting Master Benerro with clasped hands, saying the Undying House's motto 'Wisdom and Truth'.

Then came very polite and humble words to each other.

The three old men were all wearing robes with manticore patterns, their long hair draped over their shoulders, and their chins were shaved clean.

Haggo had never seen these three old men before, and he guessed that they were high-ranking elders in Scorpion Keep.

The three elders said something to Master Benerro, and when Haggo caught up, they had finished speaking.

One of the old men gestured, inviting Master Benerro to walk in front, and it seemed that the four of them were going somewhere.

Haggo hurried forward two steps, and a young man stood out from the side, blocking his way: "Lord Haggo, please come with me."

"I came with Master Benerro, and we have something to discuss together."

"Please come with me." The young man's expression was neither humble nor arrogant, and his voice was neither loud nor soft.

"Master Benerro!" Haggo called out.

However, the four people in front did not look back, and Master Benerro seemed to not have heard Haggo's voice at all.

The four of them walked unhurriedly towards a large door.

Haggo watched as the four people pushed open the door and walked into a very dark room.

The sound of the door closing echoed in the bright hall.

"Please come with me, Lord Haggo, tea is served here."

Haggo looked at the young man in front of him.

He knew that this unsmiling young man would be a terrifying assassin once he left Scorpion Keep.

There might be several manticores lying dormant in his clothing.

Haggo gave the young man a flattering smile and followed him into a lavishly decorated small room.

The room was filled with incense, the floor was covered with thick carpets, the walls were adorned with splendid reliefs, and the ceiling was painted with exquisite patterns.

From the tea table to the stools, everything was exquisitely carved and luxuriously decorated.

Haggo sat down, and soon, fragrant tea was served.

The young man made a gesture of invitation, then withdrew from the room and gently closed the door.

*

On the other side, in the dim light of a broad bean-sized candle, Master Benerro and the three elders faced each other.

"Three elders, in the House of the Undying, I saw that the Sorrowful Men's assassination in Pentos was a complete failure.

The three Sorrowful Men you sent have all been captured.

One of them has been beheaded by the Mountain.

The other two have been imprisoned by Queen Daenerys in the dungeons of the Prince's Palace."

The three elders looked at each other, exchanged glances, and their expressions were grave.

"Master Benerro, how many people did our disciples kill from the Mountain's side?"

"Not a single one."

"That's impossible," the three elders said in unison.

"Not a single one.

I saw the facts.

The prophecies of the Undying Warlock appeared in detail before my eyes."

The three elders looked at each other, a trace of unease flashing in their eyes.

"The three disciples, they all carried manticores," one of the elders murmured, as if talking to himself.

"We all underestimated the Mountain.

The people around him are not ordinary.

A master of ventriloquism as an intelligence minister, and a shapeshifter close to being a prophet, they joined forces to capture the three Sorrowful Men.

Bernie, the master ventriloquist, actually has an unparalleled talent for hearing.

He could clearly hear the sound of the manticore sneaking into his room.

He knew about it before the manticore launched its attack, and he drew his short knife and killed the first manticore."

The tall, fat elder on the far right among the three elders stood up and walked around the room.

He found it hard to believe that there was someone in the world who could hear the sound of a manticore crawling.

The manticores that were going to assassinate people were all sneaking carefully and would not make sounds that would attract attention.

"There's a shapeshifter in Pentos?" a thin elder said.

"Yes, I only knew that he was approaching the realm of a prophet when I saw him capturing the Sorrowful Men's disciples."

The leading elder slowly said, "Our disguise techniques are also excellent.

Even if the disciples are caught, they will not admit that they are assassins, that they are Sorrowful Men.

How did the other party see through their identities?"

"The Mountain's queen is a very powerful blood mage.

Lady Melisandre is the High Priestess of the Red God.

Her magical power in the field of fire far exceeds ours, and her research on poisons will not be worse than ours.

In addition, they also have a blood wizard."

"A blood wizard?"

"Yes, a blood wizard.

Perhaps she is already the most powerful blood wizard in the world.

Blood wizards can identify the true face of anyone through blood.

We can't do that at all."

The leading elder was speechless.

The thin elder was stunned.

The tall elder who was walking back and forth stopped.

"We cannot succeed in Pentos, but in Qarth, it is our world.

Even if the Mountain takes this city, he will eventually be unable to prevent our assassination."

"If a war starts, the Sorrowful Men will be completely eradicated," Master Benerro said slowly.

The three elders suddenly looked sharply at Master Benerro.

The Undying Warlock smiled slightly, his smile evil, his blue teeth and lips making him look like a beast.

"In the East, in Qarth, I'm afraid no one can eradicate the Sorrowful Men."

"The Faceless Men," Master Benerro said slowly.

"The Faceless Men also rest from eradicating us."

"The Faceless Men plus a blood wizard, a shapeshifter, a Red God High Priestess, and dragons.

In dragon fire, Scorpion Keep will turn into a pile of black liquid," Master Benerro said lightly.

"Not only the Sorrowful Men, my House of the Undying will also be in danger."

The faces of the three elders changed slightly.

Master Benerro said that his House of the Undying would also be in danger, which meant that it would be burned down by dragons.

The prophecies of the House of the Undying came from the dead man of the House of the Undying—the living skeleton, which was an immovable warlock statue.

Other people's beliefs are statues or paintings, or concrete objects such as heart trees.

The Red God worshipped by the Valyrians in the Red God Temple is a statue; the seven gods worshipped by the Westerosi in the Faith of the Seven are seven statues; but only the warlock god worshipped by the House of the Undying is a skeleton with its heart dug out, a living dead man.

Dragon fire would destroy the House of the Undying, and the warlock god worshipped by the warlocks would also be burned to ashes.

In the silence of the three elders, Master Benerro slowly turned around and walked towards the door, he was about to leave.

"Master Benerro," the leading elder said, "Did the warlock see the prophecy, but did not give a way to deal with it?"

"No!"

The three elders were slightly shocked.

Master Benerro walked to the door and opened it.

He did not turn back: "The warlock could not give a way to deal with the future, but I thought of a way, maybe it can be tried."

"What way?" the three elders said in unison.

Master Benerro stopped and slowly closed the opened door again.

This was the reason he came to Scorpion Keep: to persuade the Sorrowful Men to stand on his side.

He needed the support of the Sorrowful Men's power, otherwise, he himself would be in danger.

If the warlock power and the Sorrowful Men's power clashed, although the warlock power was not afraid, and would even take the upper hand by striking first, the risk was too great, and there was no need.

Obtaining the support of the Sorrowful Men was the best choice, not the opposite.

*

Three days later, in the guild hall of the Thirteen.

This was an oval hall.

A circular long table could accommodate dozens of seats.

The ceiling, floor, long table, chairs, curtains, carpets, reliefs, and tapestries were all goose yellow.

Yellow is the color of gold.

Goose yellow has the color of gold and also has a warm visual effect.

This was the color that the Thirteen liked.

The Thirteen, the Tourmaline Brotherhood, the Ancient Guild of Spicers, the Sorrowful Men's elders, and His Majesty the King were all in attendance.

In front of each important figure were various fruit platters, pastries, bread, smoked meat, honey, spices... from the East and West.

Beside them stood a dedicated beautiful maid.

The Thirteen's guild was never short of stunning girls from all over the world.

These girls were professionally trained, could speak the local language of Qarth, and could also speak the Common Tongue.

Generally speaking, each maid could speak more than four languages, and those with talent could speak dozens of languages from different regions.

Various kinds of wines were placed in front of different important figures, including sour wine, sweet wine, wine, beer... catering to the tastes of each important figure...

But at His Majesty the King's request, everyone did not drink or eat.

They were waiting for the most important figure, who would bring them a guaranteed prophecy, and this person was Master Benerro of the House of the Undying.

A demigod who knew the past, present, and future.

A figure similar to the green seers on the continent of Westeros.

Standing outside the main entrance waiting to receive Master Benerro was Lord Haggo Mol, the head of the Thirteen.

With the transmission of the maid outside, His Majesty the King took the lead in standing up, and the lords followed suit.

Footsteps came from outside the hall, followed by Lord Haggo appearing with a smile on his face.

He led the way, followed by Master Benerro, who was tall and thin, with cone-like eyes, wearing a silk robe, and with blue lips and face.

"Wisdom and Truth!" His Majesty the King said, pressing his right palm on the position of his heart on his left chest.

"Wisdom and Truth!" the lords said in unison.

"Wisdom and Truth!" Master Benerro repeated.

Everyone repeated the phrase 'Wisdom and Truth' again, and then sat down.

Master Benerro did not sit down, and he looked at Haggo Mol.

Haggo took out a short-handled scimitar from his arms, held it with both hands, and presented it to Master Benerro.

This was a very famous short-handled knife in the Eastern world, cutting iron like mud, extremely sharp, and had a name: Light and Shadow.

Master Pu Li accepted the light and shadow, his gaze sweeping over the crowd as he said indifferently, "In the name of truth and wisdom, you shall all die." As his words fell, a Master Pu Li appeared behind each of the important figures, each holding a blade of light and shadow, the blades resting against the throats of the king and these dignitaries.