Mufasa had long since sent Ser Kevan to The Bloody Gate to meet Brynden.
Now, when he arrived at The Bloody Gate leading a few wildling chieftains and some attendants, Brynden and Ser Kevan had already been waiting for a long time on the other side of the gate.
Upon seeing The Bloody Gate, only one phrase came to Mufasa's mind to describe it.
"One man can hold the pass, and ten thousand cannot open it."
Given the terrain here, it was almost impossible to conquer from land, except by flying dragons.
That was why Mufasa planned that if the White Walkers were too strong and the Seven Kingdoms allied forces were faring poorly, he would lure the White Walkers to The Bloody Gate to wage a war of attrition against them.
"Ser Mufasa!"
Brynden, a tall man with snow-white hair, his trout cloak fastened with a black fish-shaped pin, said to Mufasa.
"Ser Brynden," Mufasa replied.
"Ser Kevan has already told me about my appointment as a Knight of the Round Table, but I still need the permission of the Warden of the Vale before I can accompany you Beyond the Wall," he said.
"That six-year-old child? Ser Brynden, little Robin is your grand-nephew, after all. But it seems Lady Lysa is the one in charge of the Vale now, and she is said to be quite mad. Mentally unstable!" Mufasa said.
"Lysa!" Brynden said. He knew his niece had become unstable due to multiple miscarriages, and because her marriage to Jon Arryn was a political one, she had never been happy.
It was hard to say whether a widow and her orphan child could hold the Vale!
"The mountain road is not easy to travel, and so many people cannot pass at once! Let us spend the night here! The High Steward of the Vale, Lord Nestor Royce, will be coming as well," Ser Brynden said.
Mufasa followed his suggestion.
That night, Robar Royce told Mufasa the legends of the Vale, the decisive battle between the Falcon Knight and the Griffin King.
The wars between House Arryn and House Royce for the title of King of the Vale.
And how a branch of the Royces had split off.
Nestor Royce was a pot-bellied man, even fatter than Yohn Royce, and he had never participated in a Tourney in his life.
However, he had served as the High Steward of the Vale for Jon Arryn for decades.
"Ser Mufasa!" Nestor Royce came to Mufasa's side to greet him.
"My Lord Steward!" Mufasa said.
"The Seven Kingdoms have truly been in a tumultuous period lately. Lord Jon Arryn has been dead for less than a year, and King Robert has passed away as well."
"What's more frightening is that the White Walkers have awakened Beyond the Wall. Ser Mufasa, are you truly going Beyond the Wall to fight the White Walkers?" Nestor asked.
"Indeed. Fighting the White Walkers Beyond the Wall is far better than waiting until they tear down The Wall to fight them," Mufasa said.
"If we truly cannot defeat them, I will retreat step by step, and perhaps I might even utilize the natural defenses of The Bloody Gate to hold back the White Walkers," Mufasa said.
"What? Absolutely not! You must do your best! You must absolutely not let the White Walkers come south of The Neck," Nestor Royce said.
If the White Walkers really reached the Vale, they would all be finished.
Nestor Royce began to cheer Mufasa and his men on; he certainly didn't want the Vale to be under the threat of the White Walkers! He had never even killed a man, so how could he possibly deal with the White Walkers?
"I appreciate your kind words! We will do our best! Hahaha!" Mufasa laughed.
The next day, they set out from The Bloody Gate and arrived at Moon Gate Hold, the castle where House Arryn lived during the winter; in the summer, they would reside at The Eyrie.
At Moon Gate Hold, one could see Alyssas Tears, a waterfall located on the west side of the Giant's Lance. It was named after Alyssa Arryn, a woman of House Arryn from ancient times. Legend says she watched as her husband, brothers, and children were slaughtered, yet she never shed a single tear.
The gods punished her by making her weep endlessly after death, until the tears she shed watered the black, fertile plains of the valley, for all those she loved were buried there. Even now, six thousand years after Alyssa's death, not a single drop of river water has reached the valley floor.
Mufasa felt that perhaps Lady Lysa would also face retribution after death, weeping forever like Alyssa, because she had conspired with her lover Baelish to murder Jon Arryn.
However, Mufasa also knew that now was not the right time to expose and kill them, and he had no hard evidence.
Mufasa had used the power of the Dreamwalker to view the details of Baelish and Lysa conspiring to murder Jon Arryn, but he could not clearly see the whole story.
He only knew that Baelish had obtained Tears of Lys from Lys, and he had Lady Lysa put it into Jon Arryn's food. After Jon Arryn ate it, he immediately fell into a coma, developed a high fever, and his body became burning hot.
That was the fever that Robert and Pycelle spoke of, and he died very quickly. Of course, if Pycelle had truly tried to save him back then, perhaps he could have survived, but because Pycelle mistakenly judged that Cersei was the one who poisoned him, he did not do his utmost to save him, which led to Jon Arryn's death.
"Robar, why is Alyssas Tears still flowing? I see the river from the waterfall has already flowed into the sea," Mufasa asked.
"That's just a legend, General Mufasa. Why are you taking it seriously?" Robar asked. He was very surprised that someone like Mufasa would actually believe in things like the gods' punishment.
Mufasa had no choice but to believe it. Not long ago, he had been burned to death by dragonflame in a cave at the Looking to Heaven Capital. Thanks to the protection of the Nine-Colored Deer, he had returned to three hours prior, and then devised a plan to kill the last dragon: Sheep Stealer.
"I wonder if Daenerys has hatched the dragons yet. Without long-distance communication equipment, it's just awkward," Mufasa thought.
Far away in the heart of the continent of Essos, near what the Horse-people called the Womb of the World lake.
This was the location of the Horse-people's holy city, Vaes Dothrak.
Jon Snow had endured great hardships to finally arrive here. With the cooperation of Varys's informant, he disguised himself as a jewelry merchant, selling jewelry in Dothrak.
Among the jewelry he brought, the best necklace was coated with a deadly poison. According to the plan, he was to sell or present this jewelry to Daenerys Targaryen, which would cause her to die from the poison a day after wearing it.
However, Jon Snow had waited for a long time without seeing his contact arrive. It was only recently that he learned Varys had another informant by Daenerys's side; it was this person who provided the intelligence about Daenerys to Varys.
Jon Snow had heard of that person's identity: Ser Jorah Mormont. The son of the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.
It was said that back then, he had illegally sold slaves and was reported to Winterfell. Eddard Stark had taken ice to Bear Island to carry out a just judgment upon him.
Upon hearing the news, Jorah Mormont immediately fled with his wife. They left the continent of Westeros and came to the Free Cities.
Actually, if Eddard Stark had used ice and Jorah Mormont had used Longclaw in a duel, the probability of Eddard Stark winning would not have been high.
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