Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen Jon

According to the ancient map Sam found, this place is called White Tree Village, but in Jon's eyes, this place is really not a village: four single houses made of stones without mortar have collapsed, surrounded by empty villages. sheepfold and a well.The roofs of the houses were sod and the windows were covered with ragged furs.Above the house stood a tall, misshapen weirwood, with dark red leaves and pale branches. This is the largest tree Jon Snow has ever seen in his life. The trunk is nearly eight feet wide, and the branches and leaves are luxuriant and expanding, covering the entire village.But it wasn't the size of the tree that really disturbed him, but the face on it... especially the mouth.It wasn't a simple horizontal cut, but a jagged hollow big enough to swallow a sheep.

But what was in the ashes wasn't a sheep's bone, it wasn't a sheep's head. "An ancient tree." Mormont sat on the horse, frowning. "Old tree!" His crow stood on his shoulder and agreed, "Old tree, old tree, old tree!" "There is power in it." The power even Jon could feel. Thoren Smallwood in black armor dismounted beside the tree trunk, "Look at this face, no wonder humans were terrified when they first came to Westeros, even I wanted to pick up an ax and chop this damn thing off .” Jon said: "My lord father believes that no one can deceive the heart tree, because the old god knows everything here."

"My father also believes so firmly." Xiong Lao said, "Go, show me that skull." Jon dismounted at the command.He has long claws slanted behind his back, wrapped in a black leather scabbard.Longclaw is a long-handled sword that can be used in one and a half hands. It was specially given by Old Bear to thank Jon for saving his life.People always joke that this is "the bastard's sword".The hilt was specially rebuilt for him, and the ball was carved in the shape of a wolf's head from pale white stone.The blade itself was Valyrian steel, old, light, and sharp.

He crouched down and reached his gloved hand into the mouth of the tree.The tree hole was full of dry red sap, scorched black by the fire.Beneath the skull he saw another, smaller skull, its jaw cracked, half hidden in ash and bone fragments. He brought the skull to Mormont, and the Old Bear raised his hands, looking into the skull's hollow eye sockets. "The wildlings burn their dead, we've known that for a long time. Alas, it's a pity we didn't ask them why they did it, when there were traces of them." Jon Snow thought of wights coming back from the dead, blue eyes shining in pale dead faces.He knows why the wildlings burn the dead, Jon thought tacitly.

"If only the bones could talk," grumbled the Old Bear. "This guy could tell us a lot: how did he die? Who burned him? Why? Where did all the wildlings go?" He sighed. "It is said that the children of the forest can talk to the dead, but I cannot." He threw the skull back into the hollow, sending up a cloud of ashes. "Search these houses carefully for me. 'Giant', you go up to the tree and have a look. Bring the hounds here, maybe the traces left this time are fresher." But his tone was quite disapproving of the latter. Two people were sent to search each house so as not to miss anything.Jon was paired with sad Addison Tollett, a grey-haired squire as thin as a spear, and they called him "Moody Eddie." "Isn't it scary enough that dead men can walk?" he said to Jon as they walked through the village. "The Old Bear wants them to talk now? I bet they won't have anything nice to say. Besides, who knows Can bones lie? Why do people become honest and wise after death? I think the dead are probably boring and full of complaints—the muddy ground is too cold. My tombstone should be bigger. There are more worms than me..."

Jon had to stoop to walk through the low threshold. The inside of the house was a solid mud floor, without any furniture, and there were no traces of habitation, except for a little charcoal dust under the smoke vents on the roof. "It's not a place to live," he said. "I was born in a house like this," said sad Eddie. "It was the golden years, and then the hard days began." Eddie looked at the hay pile in the corner and said wistfully, " Give me all the gold of Casterly Rock, and sleep in my bed." "You said, this is the bed?" "Softer than mud, with a roof over your head, of course it's a bed." Sad Eddie sniffed, "I smell like poop."

The smell was very bland, "should have been dead for a long time," Jon said.The house seemed to have been empty for a while, so he knelt down, reached out and fiddled with the straw to see if there was anything hidden underneath, and then searched carefully along the wall.nothing. "There's nothing here." He hadn't expected to find anything. Baishu Village was the fourth settlement they had passed through since their journey to the north. The situation in every place was the same. The residents had already quietly left with their pitiful belongings and all their livestock.And these villages showed no signs of being attacked, they were simply... empty. "What do you think happened to them?" Jon asked.

"It's got to be something bad that we can't imagine," said sad Eddie. "Well, it's easy for me to imagine, but I guess I'll let it go. It's not bad enough to know it? What's the fuss?" When they came out of the house, two hounds were sniffing by the door.The other dogs were prowling the village, and Chett, the dog handler, swore at them loudly, and he never lost his temper when he spoke.The daylight seeped through the red leaves of the weirwood and poured down, illuminating the boils on his face red.When he saw Jon, he squinted. They didn't like each other.

The other rooms were also empty. "It's gone!" cried Mormont's crow, flying up to the weirwood branches and looking down on them. "It's gone, it's gone, it's gone!" "There were wildlings living in Whitetree a year ago." Thoren Smallwood looked richer than Mormont in Ser Jeremy Lake's shining black armor and cameo breastplate.His thick cloak was intricately embroidered with ermine at the hem, and clasps were crossed silver hammers, the mark of House Lyker.It was Ser Jeremy's cloak...but the wights took Ser Jeremy's life, and the Night's Watch never wastes anything.

"Last year was Robert's reign, and the country was safe and sound," commented Jarmen Buckwell, the very stocky man who commanded the scouts. "It's been a year of change." "One thing hasn't changed," insisted Ser Mallador Locke, "the less wildlings, the less trouble. I don't regret what happens to them. They're just bandits and murderers anyway." There was a rustling sound from the red leaves above Jon's head, two branches parted sideways, and a small figure moved nimbly between the branches like a squirrel.Bedwick was less than five feet tall, but his gray hair belied his age.The other Rangers jokingly called him "The Giant".He stood at the fork on the head of the fire and said, "There is water in the north, maybe a lake. There are some hills in the west, but not high. Other than that, there is nothing, my lords."

"We can camp here tonight," Smallwood suggested. The old bear looked up, searching the sky for light through the pale branches and red leaves of the weirwood. "No," said he, "how long will it be dark, Giant?" "About three hours, my lord." "Then we continue north," Mormont decided, "to the lake, and camp there, and maybe catch a few fish for food. Jon, bring a pen and paper, I should have given it to Maester Aemon." Letter written." Jon found parchment, quill, and ink from his saddlebag, and handed them to the Lord Commander.Mormont scrawled: Whitetree, the fourth village, empty, the wildlings gone. "Go to Tarly and tell him to deliver the letter," he said, handing the letter to Jon, and whistling, his raven flew down from the tree and landed on the horse's head. "Corn!" The crow nodded and suggested, and the horse neighed twice. Jon climbed onto his mount, turned his horse's head, and trotted away.Beyond the shade of the weirwoods, the brothers of the Night's Watch stood under the smaller trees, tending the horses, chewing strips of pickled beef, pissing, scratching their heads, or talking to each other.When the order to go on came, the conversation stopped and everyone mounted their horses.Jarmen Buckwell's scouts set out first, with the forward column led by Thoren Smallwood, followed by the main force commanded by the Old Bear, followed by Sir Malador Locke's train and pack horses, and the rear It was Sir Odin Wheelers.There are two hundred people and three hundred horses. These days they marched by day along the hunting trails and stream beds--the "Ranger's Way" as their brethren often jokingly called it--into the far north into the ancient wilds.After dark, camp under the starry sky, and you can see comets when you look up.When the brothers in black left Castle Black for the first time, they were in high spirits, chatting and laughing all the way, but recently they seemed to be infected by the silence in the forest, and gradually fell silent.The laughter became less and less, but the temper became more irritable.None of them would admit to being afraid—they were men of the Night's Watch, after all—but Jon could feel the unease.In the four deserted villages, no savages were seen everywhere, and the animals also fled without a trace.Even seasoned rangers admit that the Haunted Forest has never been more haunted than it is now. Jon took off his gloves as he rode, letting his burnt fingers breathe.They are ugly as hell.It occurred to him that he used to ruffle Arya's hair with them.His dry little sister, I don't know how she is doing now.He couldn't help feeling a little sentimental at the thought that he might never be able to play with her hair again in this lifetime.So he began to move his fingers one by one, if Shi Jian's right hand became stiff and clumsy, then he would be finished.Beyond the Great Wall, the sword is the foundation of human survival. Samwell Tarly, with the other stewards, was busy watering the horses.He had three horses to tend: besides his mount, and two pack horses, each with a large wire and wicker birdcage full of crows.As Jon approached, the birds flapped their wings and screamed at him through the bars of their cages, and some of them sounded so much like human speech. "You taught them to talk?" he asked Sam. "Only a few words, and three of them learned to say 'Snow.'" "It's strange enough hearing birds scream my name," Jon said, "and the last thing the black brothers want to hear is snow." In the North, snow often means death. "Did you find anything in Baishu Village?" "Skeletons, ashes, and empty houses." Jon handed Sam the rolled parchment. "The Old Bear wants you to send a letter to Aemon." Sam took a bird out of the cage, smoothed its feathers, tied the message, and said, "Brave bird, come home, come home." The crow responded to him with two inexplicable quacks, and then Sam threw it in the air, and the bird flapped its wings and flew up through the treetops. "Wish it would take me with it." "You still think so?" "Well," said Sam, "yeah, but... I'm not that scared anymore, really. The night before, whenever I heard someone get up, I thought it was wildlings sneaking in and trying to cut my throat. I was afraid I Once the eyes are closed, there is no chance to open them again, but...well...it will be fine until dawn." He forced a smile, "Although I am timid, I am not stupid. I rode until my feet were broken, lying on the ground My back hurts from sleeping on the floor, but I'm not afraid now. See," he tried to show Jon how steady his hands were. "In the past few days, I have been studying the map." The world never knew, Jon thought, and of the two hundred brave men who left the Wall, the only one who wasn't growing more and more afraid was Sam, the coward we all knew. "I think you are a ranger," he joked. "In a few days, you will want to be a scout like Glenn. Why, why don't I go and suggest it to Mr. Xiong? " "You mustn't!" Sam drew up the hood of his great black cloak, and lumbered up onto the horse's back.His mount was a great plow horse, slow and clumsy, but only it could bear his weight, not the ranger's steed. "I had hoped to spend the night in the village tonight," he said disappointedly. "How nice it would be to sleep in the house." "Those few rooms are not enough." Jon also got on the horse, smiled at Sam, and rode away.The team had already moved, so he bypassed the village far away to avoid the crowded flow of people. Anyway, he had seen enough of Baishu Village. Bai Ling suddenly sprang out from the bushes, and the horse jumped up in fright and ran away.The white wolf foraged far from the pack, but had no better luck than the men Smallwood had sent to gather food.The forest was as empty as the village, Devin told him one night over the campfire. "We are a large party," Jon told him. "The noise of the march must have scared the game away." "They were scared away. As for what, I dare not say." Devon said. Jon waited until the horse had calmed down, and Ghost followed briskly beside him, and went on after Mormont.The Commander was rounding the hawthorn bushes. "Have the birds been released?" Old Xiong asked. "Yes, my lord. Sam is teaching the birds." Old Xiong snorted, "He will regret it. These damned things have been arguing all day long, but nothing works." They rode quietly for a while, and then Jon said: "If my uncle found out that these villages were empty before—" "—and he will try to find out why," Mormont finished for him. "I see someone or something doesn't want the news to get out. Well, when Colin joins us, it's an army of three hundred men. We're not that easy to deal with, whatever the enemy. We'll find 'em Yes, Jon, I promise you." Maybe they found us, Jon thought.