The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 304: Drinking Contest

(Bonus chapter for Alliance Leader Jin Xiaoyanei's reward 2)

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Thenn's one eye gleamed as he stared at the Mountain.

The Burned Men were the only semi-primitive tribe in the mountains without allies, proud and belligerent. Because of this, the Burned Men's Red Hand could not be friends with the chiefs of other tribes.

Thenn's friends and allies were only his tribal warriors.

Speaking of drinking contests, Thenn's poverty couldn't support the amount of alcohol he needed for one. He did take any chance he could to guzzle down a bellyful, though.

Before transmigrating, the Mountain had a decent alcohol tolerance, especially since the alcohol in this world was generally weak, especially the Riverlands' fruit wines, which tasted like sweet drinks from his previous life. Plus, the Mountain was huge, with an enormous appetite, so drinking wine, cider, and beer only filled him up and couldn't get him drunk at all.

Now that the Mountain had taken Harrenhal, the supplies inside were astonishing. The wine cellar was full of all kinds of alcohol, and the food reserves were a huge warehouse. Even if the Westerlands' logistics couldn't keep up, the Mountain's two thousand Clegane soldiers wouldn't have to worry about food and clothing. As for alcohol, there was even a special tent in the Mountain's army dedicated to storing it, a mobile liquor store.

When the Mountain simultaneously stuffed three beer bottles into his mouth and tilted his head back to chug them down in a few gulps, the surrounding soldiers were stunned. This new trick was something they had never seen before. Thenn, living in a semi-primitive state, was naturally even more astonished, his mouth gaping open and his one eye wide.

The Mountain tossed down the three bottles, and Anguy and Polliver were responsible for twisting off the caps and handing him more. Again, three bottles were simultaneously placed in his mouth and tilted back. His huge Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he gulped down the beer in the three bottles without taking a breath. The Mountain tossed down the bottles and grabbed three more.

Before the transmigration, the Mountain had a beer-drinking contest with his brothers at a celebration after military training. He tilted his head back and drank more than a dozen bottles in one go, so he had the confidence and boldness to drink like this.

The lucky transmigrator's huge size came with an unusually thick throat. A bottle of beer was only two gulps, and three bottles were shoved into his big mouth at once. Gulps, gulps, gulps, and the beer seemed to collapse in the bottles as it went down.

In just a short while, the Mountain finished off a whole case of beer.

He waved his hand and called for a second case, this time cider. The bottles were smaller, so he opened them and poured them directly into his mouth, finishing them in seconds. Even Anguy and Polliver, who were responsible for opening and handing him the drinks, couldn't keep up with the Mountain's pouring speed.

Thenn and his Burned Men brothers watched in astonishment!

This time, it took even less time for the Mountain to finish off a case of cider.

Dozens of bottles lay at the Mountain's feet, and the surrounding soldiers applauded like thunder.

The Mountain waved his hand and called for a case of wine. He told his brothers to bring large bowls, first pouring all the wine from a case into the large bowls. There were a dozen bowls in a row, and he picked them up, drinking the wine more conveniently and quickly than with the bottles. He drank a dozen full bowls of wine in one go, even faster than drinking from the bottles.

Amidst the thunderous applause, he glared at one-eyed Thenn: "Now let's have a formal drinking contest. I was just rinsing my mouth earlier. We'll not only compare our drinking capacity, but also our speed. Someone, bring sixty cases of alcohol over here. Thirty cases for us, and thirty cases for your tribal warriors and my warriors."

Anguy, Alyn, Sweetmouth, Drennan, Polliver, Jory, Qyburn, Fat Zollo, Chiswyck, and others cheered loudly, and the soldiers carried the alcohol out of the tents like ants.

Thenn was already intimidated by the Mountain's drinking style and speed. His face turned ugly, and sweat appeared on his forehead: "That's not fair. You're too big, and I'm too small. You're bullying me."

Little beauty Chella, skinny Gonsar, strongman Shagga, and clever Uff heard the commotion and came over with the tribal warriors to see what was happening.

The Mountain glanced sideways at Chella, Gonsar, Shagga, and Uff, who had 'walked right into his trap'. He had always hoped to recruit these people.

In the rearguard, his father-in-law Gavin Westerling's army had a total of two thousand men. His own Clegane soldiers, plus the Brave Companions and Amory Lorch's three hundred soldiers, totaled more than two thousand three hundred men. If he could recruit the three thousand tribal warriors from the Mountains of the Moon, that would be seven thousand three hundred men. With these people, the Mountain's strength would surpass any earl or marquess in the Seven Kingdoms.

The Northmen's army was marching south to start a war with the Westerlands, and the assembled army was only more than twenty thousand men.

Doing the math, the three thousand combatants from the mountain tribes were a huge fortune, making the Mountain's heart itch.

The Mountain's drinking contest attracted the other four tribal chiefs besides Thenn, which was exactly what he wanted. He waved his hand, including all four mountain tribe chiefs: "You are all warriors of the Mountains of the Moon. Thenn is afraid to fight alone. Do you dare to have a drinking contest with me? I'll take on all five of you."

The mountain people loved alcohol, both men and women, young and old. This was related to the heavy humidity in the mountains.

As soon as the Mountain said this, Shagga, Chella, and the others were immediately tempted.

For people who loved alcohol, using alcohol to build relationships and break through psychological defenses was the best way.

Shagga had long been itching all over from the smell of the alcohol, and the fine wines of these flatlanders were a huge temptation to Shagga, impossible to resist: "Okay, I'm in!"

Shagga forgot the grudge of the Mountain throwing him away at the Crossroads Inn. As long as there was alcohol, they were friends.

"Count me in," Clever Uff wasn't clever at all when it came to alcohol.

Skinny Gonsar and Chella had already chosen the best seats to sit down. They didn't say anything, but their words and actions had already explained everything, and any further words were purely superfluous.

In the distance, Tyrion staggered towards them, with Bronn following behind him.

Tyrion had a sense of crisis. The mountain tribes were the ones he had painstakingly coaxed down from the mountains, but the Mountain gave him an aggressive feeling. Although drinking contests were common in the army, Tyrion didn't feel at ease at all.

He felt that the Mountain was scheming!

The Mountain saw Tyrion staggering towards him with Bronn from a distance, but he didn't care. If nothing unexpected happened, Tyrion would be forced to leave King's Landing next year and cross the Narrow Sea to join the Dragon Queen Daenerys. At that time, the mountain tribes would be driven away by the King's Landing city watch and the city residents as trash.

Tyrion walked over with a smile, and the drinking contest arena was already packed. Even Earl Gavin Westerling of the rearguard was alarmed and came to watch with his guards.

The Mountain was taking on five people, and a dozen brothers were responsible for opening the boxes and bottles. The two sides were competing in speed and drinking capacity. The soldiers' rhythmic shouts of 'Ho! Ho! Ho!' rang out on the east bank of the Green Fork, floating in the sky and attracting more people to watch.

Fortunately, Duke Tywin wouldn't be moving here until the day after tomorrow. Today and tomorrow were the time for all the troops to cross the river and set up camp here. Once the enemy was only a few days away from the army, soldiers were forbidden from drinking.

The mountain tribe chiefs were too straightforward, drinking too quickly and fiercely, so dozens of cases of alcohol were quickly emptied. In the unified shouts of Ho— Ho— Ho—, the first to fall was little beauty Chella, the second was skinny Gonsar, the third was Thenn, the fourth was Uff, and the fifth was Shagga.

He grabbed the Mountain's hand and shouted 'Good brother, open another bottle!' before falling down contentedly.

Just as the Mountain was swaying and about to sit down, a Clegane cavalryman covered in sweat squeezed in through the crowd: "Lord Gregor, the scribe sent me to deliver a message to you. Amory Lorch's entire force was wiped out while chasing the hundred-man squad of the Brotherhood Without Banners, and he himself was killed by the Brotherhood Without Banners. The Brotherhood Without Banners sent Ser Lorch's head to Harrenhal and threatened to attack Harrenhal and drive us all out."

Thank you for the reward from [Su Ka Bu Lie], thank you, handshake!