The Mountain of Ice and Fire

An Gai and Brienne looked around. There were traces of leaves being gnawed on in the forest. On the grass, there was a patch of tender grass that had also been gnawed on. There were footprints on the ground that looked like horse hooves but weren't, and there were also footprints of shadow lynxes overlapping with them.

Besides that, there were no other corpses nearby.

There were no traces of fighting on the ground.

Jane dismounted and examined the deceased. She undid his clothes, and his chest was a mass of bruises. She pressed it, and all the bones in the deceased's chest were broken.

Jane could see that the deceased had been struck in the chest with great force, breaking his chest bones.

The deceased had calluses on his palms, and he had a short knife at his waist. The scabbard was rough, wooden, and the handle was rough, wooden, and had not been hand-polished.

The villagers of Crab Claw Peninsula all carry knives with them when they travel.

The deceased's knife proved that he was not a warrior. The knife was very ordinary, and the handle and scabbard were made by himself, not by a professional weapon master.

The deceased was just an ordinary villager.

Finally, everyone dug a pit, buried the deceased, and continued on their way.

*

An hour later, the road began to widen, the terrain sloped downwards, becoming more and more flat. Looking as far as the eye could see, the surrounding terrain became shorter, and the team entered a small basin.

In the center of the basin, a mountain rose abruptly, several hundred meters high. One could see a faint mountain gate on the mountainside and a stone wall on the top of the mountain.

Ahead, a small cavalry team appeared. When this team saw the Clegane army, they quickly came to meet them. Everyone had animal skin and spears, rattan ropes tied around their waists, short knives and daggers hanging on them, and longbows on their backs, with quivers full of black arrows.

Denson rode forward alone, with An Gai backing him up, with his bow and arrow in hand.

Denson shouted, "Are you the warriors of the Archibald Warner family?"

A rough man led more than ten riders to meet him, with circles of white paint on his face, dark skin, and a string of wild animal fangs hanging on his bare neck.

His arms and parts were covered in leather and linen clothes, open to reveal the black hair on his chest, but he wore a horned helmet on his head.

"Where is Lord Mountain?" he asked unceremoniously in standard Common Tongue. This man carried a double-edged heavy axe, with a sharp spike at the front of the heavy axe. He was burly and looked like he must have strong arms.

He was a circle bigger than Denson, like a body cast from rock.

After Archibald Warner's death in battle, the King's Landing affairs officer had sent a raven to the Warner family, saying that Archibald's superior, Ser Gregor Clegane, would personally bring the reward for Archibald to the Warner family and take Kom Warner as a squire.

All the fallen knights and knights would have an affairs officer to handle the post-war comfort work of their families, but the Crab Claw Peninsula was a forbidden area. In order to save their lives, the affairs officers all notified the families by raven and no one dared to enter.

At the head of the Clegane army were six standard-bearers and two flag guards, followed by Brienne and Zelly, and behind them were Jane, the little maid, and Mountain.

Because after passing the Fuka tribe's territory, the road became narrower and narrower, and the carriage could no longer travel, Jane had no choice but to abandon the carriage and ride a horse forward.

Mountain slowly rode out on his horse. After passing the Fuka territory, he took off his plate armor, which was too heavy and a heavy burden on the horses. He also did not wear the huge flat-topped helmet, showing his true face, with thick eyebrows and fierce eyes, and a ferocious appearance.

"Is that Earl Gregor Clegane?" the other party jumped off his horse, his tone becoming respectful.

Mountain was made Duke of Dragonstone by King Joffrey, hereditary, after the affairs officer sent the raven. The affairs officer's raven letter did not dare to call Gregor Clegane Earl Mountain. The Warner family did not know that Gregor Clegane had the name Mountain.

"Warner family warriors, this is our Duke Gregor Clegane," Denson said.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the other party said, "I didn't know..."

"It doesn't matter, everyone calls me Mountain, you can call me that too," Mountain said, his tone casual, which was seriously inconsistent with his fierce image.

Mountain intended to be close to the Warner family.

"Yes, Duke, my name is Stanbeck Warner, I am the uncle of Young Master Kom Warner. Some time ago, we received a raven from King's Landing..." He looked at the supplies on hundreds of horses, his eyes glowing green, and at the same time he was very surprised that the people on the Fuka territory did not rob them. "We are here to welcome your arrival."

"Warrior Stanbeck, where is Kom Warner?"

"Young Master is not feeling well and cannot come to welcome you, sir," Stanbeck said.

"Not feeling well, sick?"

"Yes, since receiving the news of my brother's death in battle, Kom has... been overwhelmed with grief."

"What did the priest say?" Mountain was worried. Kom was the squire he wanted, and he would train him to adulthood and become a knight.

"Our Warner family has no priests, only elders."

"What did the elder say?"

"The child is just too heartbroken and refuses to eat. As long as he feels better, there is nothing serious. Please rest assured, Duke."

Mountain nodded: "Warrior Stanbeck, please lead the way."

"Yes, sir."

*

This was a barren little basin with many small streams, and the bottom of the streams was rocky. The soil was yellowish-brown stone, and the soil was very shallow, with large areas of rock exposed on the surface. There was almost no fertile soil.

As they moved forward, small villages appeared, with stone walls, thatched houses, livestock pens, stables, and sparse barley and corn swaying in the fields.

The team finally arrived at the foot of the mountain. A well-built stone mountain road circled up the mountain, leading directly to the top of the mountain. The team went up the mountain and rested for a while at the mountain gate halfway up the mountain. They saw a group of people riding horses rushing down from the front, and the sound of "Duoluo Luo Luo" resounded through the sky.

The mountain road was very well built. Because it was a winding mountain road that followed the terrain in circles, not a straight line up and down, it was suitable for riding horses.

This team of cavalry had about two hundred people, with spears and animal skins. Like the warriors of the Fuka tribe, they only had a small amount of leather to protect their bodies, and the exposed parts were painted with white paint. They roared as they came, and several leaders hurriedly dismounted in front of them, greeted Stanbeck, and greeted Mountain and others in Common Tongue under Stanbeck's introduction, but they were obviously anxious to leave.

The accompanying cavalry also seemed very excited and were arguing about something non-stop. Mountain and others had seen this situation once among the people of the Fuka tribe.

At the entrance of Fuka Valley, when the two messengers arrived, the expressions of the young leader Joyce and the priest Dolty were as excited and eager to leave as they were.

Mountain noticed that the people of the Warner family, whether leaders or warriors, liked to use animal teeth as decorations, either on their necks, wrists, waists, weapon handles, or even hanging on their ears, like earrings worn by women.

A leader spoke to Stanbeck in the local language with gestures, very excited and excited, with blue veins popping out on his neck, one by one.

What exciting event happened on the Crab Claw Peninsula? It seemed that the two tribes were likely to be acting quickly for the same thing.

Soon, these men jumped on their horses, waved to Stanbeck and Mountain and others, and roared away in the sound of "Duoluo Luo Luo."

The team continued up the mountain.

Mountain could see that Stanbeck was excited, and so were his warriors, who all wanted to go down the mountain.

Although it was taboo to ask what happened in the other party's tribe, Mountain still asked: "Leader Stanbeck, what happened?"

This was also the question that all the generals wanted to know.

The people of the Fuka tribe and the people of the Warner tribe were all equally excited and couldn't help but want to rush to a certain place.

An Gai, Elin, Denson, Brienne, Zelly, and others all stared at Stanbeck, watching what he would say.

"Nothing!" Stanbeck said.

Stanbeck refused to answer.

The generals were really curious, but they all knew not to ask any further.

But Mountain didn't seem to care: "Leader Stanbeck, I don't want to delay you from more important things. If you and your warriors want to leave, we can go up the mountain ourselves."

Before Stanbeck could answer, the warriors around him started talking at once, all talking to Stanbeck, very excited.

Stanbeck stopped everyone from talking at once and said to Mountain: "Duke, I'll send—"

"You don't need to send someone to escort us. We'll go up the mountain ourselves. Give us a token so we don't conflict with the warriors on the mountain."

"Okay, thank you, Duke." Stanbeck took off a string of animal teeth from his neck and put it in Mountain's hand. "We do have very important things to do. I will come back as soon as possible."

"Don't rush to arrange things for us. We'll arrange things ourselves," Mountain said.

Soon, Stanbeck and his party hurried down the mountain.

Mountain and others watched their backs disappear around the corner before continuing up the mountain.

"Duke, generals, when you get to the mountain stone village, don't say I'm the Duchess, just say I'm the Duke's maid, a military affairs officer, responsible for treating the soldiers' knife wounds and fractures."

"A female scholar?" Ser Gratten said.

"A female affairs officer, maid, and female scholar, otherwise how can Mountain live with his wife at night?" Pollyver winked his right eye.

The generals laughed.

The mysterious atmosphere created by Stanbeck and his party disappeared, and everyone's mood suddenly became relaxed.

"What do you think those barbarians are in such a hurry to leave for?" Ser Gratten, as a nobleman, had a strong sense of superiority over the barbarians.

"Gold treasure? Famous sword beauty?" Denson said his true thoughts.

"Power," Brienne judged.

"The gods have appeared, they are rushing to kneel and worship, and invite the gods back to the mountain," An Gai laughed.

For a time, the generals said all sorts of things!

Zelly said, "Madam, what do you think they are doing?"

"You don't know, how would I know?" Jane smiled.

Mountain's heart moved. He was the one who knew Jane's 'blood witchcraft secrets'. He stole a glance at Jane, and Jane stole a glance at him, their eyes meeting.

Mountain's heart suddenly became clear: Jane knew!

Damn!

Jane actually knew what the Fuka tribe was doing, and also knew what the Warner people were doing. No wonder at the entrance of Fuka Valley, when he looked at Jane, Jane nodded slightly, asking him to release Joyce and Dolty, so that they could do what made them so excited.

If it weren't for Jane's hint, Mountain would have only released everyone else and taken the young Joyce and the priest Dolty to ensure that his party could get out smoothly.

To pass through the dangerous mountain road between the two high mountains, it was safest to have the Fuka young leader and the priest Dolty in hand.

This was originally a bloody place with many uncertainties. Although Mountain knew that there were gods in this world, he did not believe in gods. The gods of this world were like Littlefinger and Qyburn, who could only be used and intrigue with each other, and could not be sincerely believed in.

If such disrespectful and blasphemous thoughts were known to the monks, Mountain would be a heinous demon. They would hope that the Stranger would come and take Mountain away.

With trust in Jane, Mountain released the young leader Joyce and the priest Dolty, even though he was very reluctant.

Jane wanted him to release people, and she must have had her meticulous consideration.

It turned out that she already knew the secret events happening in these tribes!

Did she know or did the witch know?!

Mountain preferred to believe it was his grandmother, the witch!

Mountain reached out and hugged Jane from the horse: "Jane, maid, military affairs officer of the Clegane army, female scholar proficient in medicine, I have a very serious question to ask you."

Jane shouted: "Let go, we're almost at the mountain gate. If the Warner people see a duke so openly treating his maid..."

"I just want to treat my maid so openly," Mountain said, "I am the Duke, I can do whatever I want to Maid Jane."

"You... you... you are doing this without honor!" Jane said anxiously.

"With Madam Jane Westerling as a maid, what more honor do I need!"

The generals laughed.

"Don't worry, I know what you're thinking. You want to see Kom Warner and see if he's really sick, or if there's another reason, isn't that right?"

"Yes!"

"Just see him directly as the Duchess."

"But if it is known by the tribesmen with ulterior motives..."

"Whoever dares to mess around, we will kill him," Mountain said lightly, "Madam, the Cleganes are unmatched!"

Brienne raised her right hand: "Madam, we really don't need to be careful. Kom Warner is the young master, and saving the young master and taking the young master as a squire, the Warner family will only support the young master, not those with ulterior motives."

"Yes, act openly and honestly when you go up the mountain," Elin, a northerner, agreed with Mountain's approach, "Madam, just reveal your identity and see the young master, and whoever has ulterior motives, we will stand up to deal with him."

The northern guards, under the influence of Eddard Stark, were honest and straightforward. He was lucky and didn't have to deal with opponents like Littlefinger.

Gratten smiled: "Madam, I see that the Warner family's territory is not large, and the basin under the mountain also produces little. This family cannot solve the problem of eating by relying on their own land. Seeing that they look more ferocious than the people of the Fuka tribe, I estimate that this family mostly lives by plundering."

“Their forces can't be that large,” Anguy said. “The cavalry that went down the mountain just now, plus Steinbeck's group, I counted the number of people, two hundred and twenty-one. And the Fuka tribe, the cavalry that intercepted us yesterday before and after, already numbered two hundred. Joyce said his brother would bring more people to make trouble for us, I estimate that the Fuka tribe has at least five hundred cavalry.”

“We'll know if the Warner family has any more cavalry when we get to the top of the mountain. I estimate they might only have two hundred,” Denson said, “Look at their anxious expressions, if they had more cavalry, they would definitely have mobilized all of them.”

“Perhaps they have more infantry,” Brienne said.

The Mountain didn't care how many warriors the Warner family had, he cared about what was happening in these tribes.

“Jeyne, do you know what the Warners are rushing down the mountain for?”

“I don't know!” Jeyne said, but her eyes told the Mountain that she did know!

The Mountain's heart skipped a beat, he could see that Jeyne's arrival here was related to the mysterious events of these tribes.

The sound of horses' hooves echoed as the group arrived at the top of the mountain. A circle of stone walls surrounded the entire mountaintop. The stone wall was three meters high, and soldiers with good jumping skills could climb over it. It was three meters wide, with arrow slits and battlements.

The low stone wall was built on top of steep rocks. Although the stone wall was not high, the outside was a cliff, and enemies could not gain a foothold.

If an enemy attacked, they could only attack from the gate. The rest of the area was steep slopes. Above the slopes was the stone wall.

Inside and outside the mountain gate, men, women, and children were crowded together, all with unfriendly faces. The children's eyes were wild, lacking the innocence Jeyne hoped to see. Whether it was women, old people, or children, they all wore long and short knives at their waists.

Soldiers in crude armor held long spears in their hands, the spear tips pointing to the sky, surrounding a thin, gray-robed old man with all his teeth missing. The Mountain could see that this old man was the elder of the village, an old fellow who hadn't died yet.

The Mountain took out Steinbeck Warner's and Archibald Warner's tokens, a string of animal teeth and a half-body armor embroidered with the House Hewett sigil, the soldiers took it and gave it to the elder.

With these two things, the wary gazes of the people in the village softened, and the silence, suspicion, exploration, and hostility turned into devout bows of welcome.

The group was led into the mountain village, the warhorses were led into the stables by the women, and the goods on the horses' backs were unloaded by the soldiers and men. There were grains, cloths, ironware, armor, swords, a small amount of silk, and many pots and pans.

A person who could speak the Common Tongue followed the elder. The Mountain and the generals were led into a wooden building with four sides suspended in the air, with no walls, supported only by a dozen large wooden pillars. The warriors were led into the barracks, where the women of the village were responsible for receiving them.

Most of the people who came to watch the excitement were women, old people, and children. There were indeed not many soldiers. The Mountain estimated that there were only two hundred infantrymen in the entire village.

The entire mountaintop was filled with many houses, mostly wooden buildings, but there were also many stone houses, all of which were two stories high. The upper floor was for living, and the lower floor was for livestock and horses. This created a livestock stench in the air of the entire village, and flies, mosquitoes, and small black bugs flew everywhere, welcoming the visiting guests more enthusiastically than the people did.

Both sides sat down on the floor of the wooden building, in front of them was a long table like a wide bench, and various suspicious foods were brought up, as well as mountain people's home-brewed wheat wine.

Jeyne explained her intentions, but the elder shook his head, refusing to distribute the supplies sent by the Cleganes to appease the fallen soldiers, the elder was only willing to distribute the supplies to the fallen soldiers of his own tribe, as for the other tribes, he shook his head.

Jeyne hoped that the elder could send clansmen as guides, so that the Cleganes could deliver the supplies to the other tribes themselves, to the families of those fallen soldiers, but the elder refused.

The Warner family elder brought the spirit of benefiting himself and harming others to the extreme!

In the evening, after dinner, the Mountain and Jeyne came to see the elder. The Mountain could see that the toothless elder could speak the Common Tongue, this old fellow was dishonest, the Mountain decided to make him honest.

The Mountain took out a bag of gold coins and placed it in front of the elder: “Elder, I hope to distribute some of the supplies for appeasing the soldiers, and leave most of them in the Warner tribe, please help, Elder.”

The elder accepted the gold coins, and sure enough, he could speak the Common Tongue: “Lord Duke, as you wish!”

“We are under the orders of His Majesty the King to recruit soldiers in the Claw Peninsula, please help, Elder,” Jeyne said.

“Robert Baratheon is dead, the people here do not recognize the orders of other kings, it is difficult to recruit soldiers!”

The Mountain took out another bag of gold coins, this time placing it in front of him: “Elder, you help me send out the news of recruiting soldiers to the various tribes, and then let us go see the sick Com Warner, this bag of gold is yours.”

“Plus this.” Jeyne took out an exquisite small knife, pulled it out, a chilling aura emanated from it, extremely sharp, “A dagger made of Valyrian steel, Elder.”

This was not a Valyrian steel dagger, but just a bodyguard knife carefully crafted by Master Tobho Mott for Lady Jeyne. Jeyne had gone bad after following the Mountain for a short time.

The elder's eyes lit up: “As you wish, Lord Duke, Madam.” He reached out and grabbed the gold and the exquisitely scabbarded dagger, his two chicken claw hands trembling slightly.

It was just sending out the news, not coming forward to recruit soldiers, an easy task.

The warlike peninsula people like good swords and knives, it was their nature, regardless of men, women, old people, or children.

*

ps: Apologies, the update is late. Recently, the update is around 10,000 words, and I have to do other things, I'm tired. Today is 1 update, I'll rest tonight. Thank you for your support, thank you very much!

Thank you for the support of [Swordsman Langxin's Ximen Official] [Mad Turbulent Flow], thank you, handshake. ——{Brother Mad Turbulent Flow, saw the message, sorry}