The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The Mountain's warhorse was very large, the most magnificent of horses. He himself was also very tall, and from horseback, he could clearly see the Bookworm's hundred-man squad.

He saw the young recruit with half red and half white hair in the squad. He knew this young man came from across the Narrow Sea, an assassin from the House of Black and White on the Isle of Gods in Braavos, using the alias Jaqen H'ghar.

He saw the slightly hunchbacked big black guy beside Jaqen. This guy was covered in black hair and was called Rorge, the owner of an underground arena in Flea Bottom in King's Landing. Rorge had no nose, only two holes. His nose was cut off in a fight, which made it convenient for him not to have to wash his nose, but the two black holes were unsightly and made ordinary people feel uneasy.

The skinny guy next to Rorge had particularly long arms. The Mountain knew he was called Biter. Biter was an orphan who was found and trained by the boss, Rorge, to fight beasts in order to attract more people to gamble in the arena.

These were three killing gods. Among them, Jaqen believed in the Many-Faced God, possessed a thousand different faces, and was proficient in poison and assassination, with superb narrow sword skills. The Mountain knew Jaqen was the most terrifying, but also the least terrifying.

The Faceless Men don't kill people for no reason, which made the Mountain very relieved. Even if you sat next to Jaqen and knocked over his bowl of rice, he wouldn't kill you; but the thugs around the Mountain were different. A single glance could lead to a drawn sword and endanger one's life.

In comparison, Jaqen and his ilk were noble gentlemen among assassins.

They only killed for two reasons: the first was to be hired, of course, at a ridiculously high price that ordinary nobles couldn't afford even if they bankrupted themselves; if a wealthy earl hired a Faceless Man to kill someone, the person being killed must also be a powerful figure, and then his family would most likely fall into poverty after paying the commission.

Their second reason for killing was that someone deserved to die but didn't for some reason. By chance, they encountered a Faceless Man and had some kind of inner connection, then they had to kill someone to make up the number to the god of death in order to achieve a balance in the number of life and death, and it was a life for a life, no more and no less.

Jaqen, as a top Faceless Man assassin, was extremely skilled, but he would never kill people for no reason, nor would he kill impulsively because of trivial matters or verbal disputes. Compared with the Mountain's fierce generals and bandits, he was the one who made people feel the safest.

How did Arya, Jaqen, Rorge, and Biter get recruited into the Bookworm's squad? The original trajectory of the world had undergone subtle changes, but the Mountain hoped it wouldn't affect Arya learning from Jaqen.

The Bookworm was still too young. Although he only had a hundred-man squad, he couldn't resist and refused to stay in Harrenhal obediently. He liked to stir things up.

Young people are just so impatient!

Arya saw the Mountain from afar. She retreated half a horse's length and turned her body to the side. She was the smallest in the hundred-man squad. She hoped the Mountain hadn't seen her, or that even if he saw her, he wouldn't recognize her. As the Mountain approached, Arya had been slowly and imperceptibly retreating into the squad.

Several months ago, King Robert and Hand Eddard led the group back to King's Landing from the North. In the town of Lord Harroway, not far from here, Arya had a conflict with Prince Joffrey. The Mountain stepped in to save Arya's good friend—Mikken, the butcher's son from Winterfell who was about to be beheaded by the Hound. Arya had a good feeling about the Mountain, and the two became half-friends. The Mountain even told Arya that if there was a chance in the future, Arya would have to return the favor. Arya agreed.

But today, the North and the West went to war, and the two sides became enemies. Arya hoped the Mountain wouldn't recognize her.

The Mountain's gaze swept down at Arya, and as expected, he didn't recognize her. Arya breathed a sigh of relief. She hid herself even deeper, and the little pony retreated into the hundred-man squad, next to Jaqen with a kind smile on his face.

The Mountain called out the Bookworm's name, Mark.

"Mark, why aren't you guarding Harrenhal? What are you doing running around?" The Mountain roared.

The Bookworm dismounted and knelt on one knee: "Lord, the Brotherhood Without Banners sent the head of Ser Amory to provoke us, saying they were going to attack Harrenhal, but they didn't come, so I came out to find them."

This kid just wouldn't settle down as a logistics officer.

"You are no match for Lord Beric and Thoros," the Mountain scolded.

"Don't worry, Lord. Once we find the Brotherhood Without Banners, they will be no match for us."

"Oh? Why do you say that?"

"Lord, when I was looking for the Brotherhood Without Banners, I recruited three highly skilled brothers. Jaqen, Rorge, Biter, come out."

Recruited?

Just hearing this kid's words showed that his ideological awareness was still at the level of street gangsters forming gangs. Did he not know that the Clegane soldiers had already been promoted to earl's professional army? He was still used to the street gangster way of doing things.

Recruited?

Although the wording was very down-to-earth, the Mountain himself wanted to play with a professional legion.

The term 'recruited' should be transformed into 'enlisted'.

Jaqen didn't move, but Rorge and Biter drove their horses out to pay respects to the Mountain. The Mountain said coldly: "No need, I see you. Mark, if you had encountered the Brotherhood Without Banners before you met Jaqen, Rorge, and Biter, what would you have done if you had been defeated? Would you have surrendered Harrenhal to them?"

"No, Lord. The Brotherhood Without Banners is only a few dozen people, and less than thirty of them are real professional soldiers. How can they fight my hundred-man squad? Moreover, I have been prepared for a long time. Brothers, show them your stuff."

The warriors lifted their round shields, which concealed short crossbows underneath.

"Lord, once we encounter the Brotherhood Without Banners, as long as Beric and Thoros get close, a hundred short crossbows will leave them with no escape," the Bookworm said.

Short crossbows can break armor and are a powerful weapon for close combat. They are only revealed when close, and almost everyone has one. A hundred short crossbows fired together are indeed difficult to defend against.

Dense short crossbows aimed at the Mountain at close range, and without prepared shields, the Mountain would have a hard time; aimed at Jaqen, Jaqen could only be killed. Arya's dance teacher, Syrio, was the First Sword of the Sea Lord of Braavos for nine consecutive years, but a wooden sword against Meryn Trant's real sword, cloth clothes against heavy armor, even though his swordsmanship was much higher, he was still killed.

The Bookworm showed the street gangsters' trick of using underhanded methods in fights. Round shields covered the short crossbows, luring the enemy close before using them. A simple trick, but very effective.

"Mark, stand up. Have you found the Brotherhood Without Banners?" the Mountain asked knowingly.

Mark stood up and smiled: "Lord, I have searched all the large and small villages around Harrenhal, all three directions of the God's Eye, east, west, and south. The Brotherhood Without Banners is nowhere to be found."

"If they really want to attack Harrenhal, they won't give you a letter of challenge," the Mountain said lightly.

The Bookworm's smiling face immediately became embarrassed. He saw the gloating smiles of his brothers. He had hoped to wipe out the Brotherhood Without Banners and make a contribution.

"I don't like that you didn't guard Harrenhal."

"Ser Gregor, although I came out of Harrenhal, Beric and Thoros cannot take the opportunity to raid Harrenhal. The gates are tightly closed, there are sentries on the walls, and the trebuchets are ready," the Bookworm began to sweat.

"Hmph!" The Mountain snorted and walked past him.

The Bookworm's full of fighting spirit instantly vanished.

The brothers walked past him, everyone complacent and returning with a full load; he also saw that the team was even stronger, with a new, wild army added. These people were very arrogant and basically didn't look at him, as if he and the Mountain's army had nothing to do with them...

*

Arya saw Alyn next to the Mountain, saw Harwin, saw the guards from Winterfell that she was familiar with. She was very shocked and couldn't believe it.

Why had these guards of her father become the Mountain's soldiers? And they looked ahead with arrogant and aloof expressions. They didn't take this logistics team of the quartermaster at all.

Why did they become the Mountain's soldiers?

Were they defeated and captured?

Then why didn't they die in battle? Why did they choose to surrender to the Mountain? Where did these guys' honor go? Did they just participate in the operation against the Northmen?

Arya's eyes looked out from the gaps in the hundred-man squad, staring intently at these traitors of the North. She found that Alyn had changed a lot, becoming darker and more sturdy. In fact, Arya herself had also changed a lot, and there were huge differences in her clothes, pants, hair, body, and temperament from when she was the Hand's daughter.

Alyn and Harwin marched in the team, their backs straight and their expressions cold.

The news of the Western army's great victory and the Northern army's great defeat in the Battle of the Green Fork had already reached Harrenhal. Arya was very worried about her brother Robb Stark.

Alyn and Harwin, when they saw the Northmen on the battlefield, their own comrades, how could they bring themselves to cut them down? Oh, right, they must have put down their masks when fighting to cover their ugly faces.

The Bookworm's hundred-man squad gave way to the side of the road, and the mighty army passed by them. This team, plus Stephen's logistics army and thousands of carts and oxcarts, had no end in sight.

The Bookworm chased after him, following the Mountain. Arya silently mixed into the team, she slowly fell behind, and no one noticed her. The team moved forward, one after another.

"Alyn and Harwin should die!" Arya thought hatefully, and her hand involuntarily pressed the hilt of her sword. On the night the Bookworm saved her, her Needle was found by her outside the wall.

The more Arya thought about it, the more annoyed she became. Unconsciously, invisibly, a stronger and stronger killing intent grew in her heart. But she herself didn't know it.

"Hey, boy, what are you thinking about?" Jaqen's voice chuckled beside her.

"N-N-Nothing?"

"I can see that you know someone and want to kill him. Our agreement is valid. Give me a name, and once the name is spoken, that person will surely die!"

Thank you [Fried Egg Fried Rice] for the reward, thank you, handshake!