The only remaining horse collapsed. Although it was still alive, it could not stand up again.
Egger looked south, then behind him, and sat down on the ground.
...
Ten days have passed since they encountered the terrifying night of the White Walkers. The two of them have also escaped for ten days and ten nights. In these ten days, the total time they have closed their eyes is less than one day. At this moment, they are exhausted both physically and mentally. I want to fall to the ground and never get up again.
Fortunately, we were only a few leagues away from the finish line. No matter how long we delayed, we would definitely be able to sleep peacefully south of the wall tonight.
The escape was not smooth. Although they escaped from the White Walkers, they soon ran into trouble: the supplies carried by the patrol outside the Great Wall were classified and carried by the four people on the mission. As the commander, Weimar Royce rode a war horse, and naturally carried the lightest but most precious dried meat floss; Egg's horse carried blankets and spare clothes, Gary carried bread, and Will kept the food. Oats for horses... If you were asked to choose two of these four things to throw away and run away with only the other two, what would you choose?
The answer didn't matter, because Iger and Gary had no choice. Will's horse was killed by the White Walkers, and Weimaraner's was frightened away. The two surviving night watchmen only had half of the food and warmth supplies... The problem soon came to the door: food and grass, food and grass, there must be food and grass. Of course, horses in the wild can survive by eating only grass, but the horses of the night watchers are carrying heavy loads after all. In order to ensure physical strength, the fat and protein contained in oats are indispensable. Now that the grain is lost, it is impossible for the two of them to There was not much bread for the animals to eat. Gary's horse was exhausted after eating grass for two or three days. The condition of Egger's mount was only half better. As for the reason, Egger suspected that it was simply because he weighed less.
The two stopped briefly after the first horse fell, and quickly made the decision to cut off the strong man's wrist. They killed the first horse and took the meat, and distributed all the remaining bread to the remaining horses as rations. They put weapons, food and blankets weighing dozens of kilograms on the back of the horse, and they could not escape on foot... The three guys who survived the catastrophe just ate horse meat and bread, and escaped for several days. After feeding the last loaf of bread, we finally approached the Great Wall of Despair.
Gary sighed, took off the things on the horse and threw them aside, and pulled out the steel sword.
Iger, who was leaning against a tree for a brief breather, looked at him doubtfully: "What are you going to do?"
"Kill the horse."
"Kill the horse?" Iger felt confused, "Escaped with us all the way, no credit but hard work. We are almost home. You are still half a day away from the Great Wall, and you are crawling back hungry, not to mention you haven't finished eating the horse meat yet."
"Humph." The veteran snorted disdainfully, "You plan to go back to Heilongjiang? Castle?"
"What do you mean." Thinking also consumes energy. Egger really has no intention of playing charades with the veteran now: "Where else can we go if we don't go back to Castle Black." "
I'm going to cross the Great Wall to the south and find a place to hide. "Gary stared at Egger: "At the westernmost end of the Great Wall, there is a natural and dangerous Grand Canyon that runs east-west and cuts off the Frost and Snow Tooth Mountains. Because of its existence, the original builders of the Great Wall thought that this section did not need to be built, only in the canyon. A strong tower was built to the south, and an iron chain bridge was led to the opposite side. This tower is called West Bridge Watch. We all know that the Night Watchmen built nineteen fortresses along the Great Wall, but this one is the only one that does not rely on the Great Wall..."
Escape ? Egger was shocked. He had been thinking about it for a long time: "So, can we bypass the Great Wall and go to the south from that bridge? Commander Mormont will not let such a huge loophole exist." "
Of course not, the Skull Bridge has been destroyed. It's sealed, and the Shadow Tower will send people to guard the west bridge to prevent savages from climbing up the Grand Canyon through the iron rope. We have to cross the Grand Canyon, first go down to the bottom of the canyon, and then climb up to the south of the canyon... There is almost no road. , it is dangerous and difficult to walk, and it is impossible for a large army with baggage to pass through, but if the two of us are lightly equipped, there is still a good chance of crossing." "After bypassing the Great
Wall, are there any follow-up plans."
"No. "The veteran shook his head: "Just take it one step at a time."
"Then run away, you don't know the fate of deserters." Egg shook his head: "Although the White Walkers are scary, there are ways to deal with them. As long as you stay within the Great Wall, Rely on..."
"You know an egg," the veteran interrupted him, "Weima Royce is dead, he was a noble!" "
We didn't kill him."
"We didn't kill him, but somewhere. In the eyes of these people, it's no different from him being killed by us!" The veteran said bitterly, "Subordinates must protect the commander. Now that the commander is dead, the two of us ran back dejected, and our credibility would be compromised no matter what. Share the discount, White Walker? God damn White Walker, it's okay if that kid from Weimar is alive, but now only the two of us are left to go back, it's weird that those guys would believe it!" "
What will happen to us?" Egg frowned. , I just focused on escaping all the way and didn't think about this.
"What will happen?" Gary sneered. "Although we brought the information about the appearance of the White Walkers back to Castle Black, whether we will be treated as deserters is a matter of the above sentence. Since we may be treated as deserters, why Why don't you just really run away?"
Egger was silent for a while and then said uncertainly: "The Night's Watch is so manpower-strapped right now. The two of us are rangers after all... It's impossible for Commander Mormont to kill him just because he wants to. "
Of course Commander Mormont doesn't want to kill us, but the family of Waymar Royce will want an explanation!" Gary said bitterly: "The Royce family was once the supreme king of the valley, and the same is true. The ancient First Men family has a history of thousands of years. After being surrendered, it has been the most powerful vassal of the Arryn family in the valley. Even the Stark family has to be polite when meeting them. And that boy After his father sent his son over, he generously provided a large amount of supplies to the Night's Watch. If such a great nobleman wants an explanation for his son's death, do you think Commander Mormont will protect us?"
＊＊ *
Since the ruler of the valley did not participate in the War of the Five Kings in the original plot, most people may have little impression of the Royce family, but if I tell you: Sansa was brought to Winterfell to help during the War of the Bastards Jon Snow defeated Ramsay Bolton's Vale Cavalry. They all took orders from Waymar Royce's father, Jon Royce. Half of them were even directly from the Royce family. You will understand. What a big family this is.
Egger didn't know if Gary was being alarmist. Although it had been nearly a year since he traveled back in time, he was born in a world that called for equality for everyone. To be honest, he didn't know how much influence and voice the great nobles in this world had. But he knew very well that even though the big families were being screwed around under the conspiracy of Littlefinger and the Great Eunuch, it was still easy to deal with a small Night's Watch soldier...
No wonder the survivors of the patrol trio in the original plot ran away.
Now the problem is: the patrol survivors who crossed the Great Wall eventually died under the sword of Ed Stark. Egger does not think that joining the escape team as a time traveler who knows neither the road nor the people can change this fate... Should he go back to Castle Black or take the Grand Canyon of the Frostfangs and bypass the Great Wall to escape south? Or to put it more abstractly, should we leave the decision-making power of fate in the hands of the Night's Watch, or should we take control of it ourselves?
＊＊＊
"Even if the Commander-in-Chief doesn't chop off our heads in the end, we will be on the blacklist. Next time there is any dangerous and death-defying mission, we will be the first choice." Gary continued, adding another extremely Convincing reason for escape: "If nothing else, that guy Benjen Stark will definitely lead people north to find out whether the White Walkers really exist. If the two of us haven't been beheaded, we will be useless by then. The guide and cannon fodder of suspense. I have been at the Great Wall for forty years, and I know the temperament of these officers clearly. They don't even have to stick their butts out, I can guess what shit they will poop."
Iger was speechless. Said and sighed, at least Gary was right about one thing. Benjen Stark did lead people north to search for Waymar Royce in the original plot, and also disappeared during the search. Even if he can survive another patrol, there will be a ranger expedition launched by Lord Commander Mormont to find Benjen Stark; and then there will be wildling invasion and White Walker siege... He He is just an ordinary person who has just learned how to use a sword and ride a horse. Who can guarantee that he can survive one crisis after another?
I'm afraid it's too late to make a long-term plan, and we must leave the Night Watch as soon as possible. It's better to choose a day than to hit it, otherwise, let's run with Gary!
It's a pity that this horse that he is used to riding, and that he escaped from the White Walker sword together with him in life and death, will eventually become his food ration on the road of being a deserter.
Just when Xin Yiheng was about to make a decision, the horse that was lying on the ground began to grunt uneasily and struggled to stand up, as if it was aware of Gary's intention to draw the sword. The veteran waved his sword, intending to kill it quickly. He was about to strike, but his expression suddenly changed and he hesitated: "What's the sound?"
"Don't scare me." Egg's hair stood up at once, but the other party stopped him with a gesture. After speaking, they quickly shut up, and the two of them just sat and stood motionless, quietly receiving the information from the surrounding environment to their senses.
The whistling of the cold wind and the rustling of branches and leaves formed the background sound between heaven and earth. In addition, there were only the breathing and heartbeats of the two people, and the restless snoring of Eggmar. But gradually, a muffled impact with a fixed frequency emerged from the background sound... From far to near, from an illusion to a clearly audible, "pop" and "pop" are very rhythmic, obviously Approaching the two.
This was the sound of horse hooves trampling in the thin snow. Of course it was familiar to the two of them after hearing it for ten consecutive days, but now the horse that had accompanied them all the way was lying paralyzed on the ground. Where did the sound of horse hooves come from?
Was it the frightened Weiman horse that caught up with him, or...