章 233: Chapter 232: The Night's Watch Expedition
Maester Aemon, dressed in a gray robe, his blind white eyes wide open, walked in shakily, leaning on the door frame for support.
Thousands of years, though easy to say, is a span of time so vast that it's impossible to relate to events that happened so long ago. Even language, writing, and physical appearances have changed significantly.
It was impossible for Benjen to convince Mormont of the existence of the Others with just a few words, given that they hadn't been seen for such a long time.
"Maester Aemon."
Upon seeing Maester Aemon's arrival, Benjen quickly stepped forward to support the highly respected old man of the Night's Watch.
He then moved a chair for the nearly hundred-year-old maester to sit down.
Benjen was a very intelligent man. After hearing Maester Aemon's words and thinking for a moment, he understood that the old man was reminding him of something.
The young ranger then lifted his head and spoke to Lord Commander Mormont.
"I have evidence to prove that I'm not lying, Lord Commander."
Benjen then descended from the command tower, beckoning the other brothers of the Night's Watch to carry the body of the ranger to the command tower. He then closed the door again.
"Hmm?"
As the body of the ranger was brought up, Mormont, sitting in his chair, gripped the hilt of his sword and stood up.
He walked over to the body, his face somewhat solemn.
He hadn't paid much attention to the body when it was first brought in, but now he saw it clearly.
The ranger had a shocking, large hole in his abdomen, and his insides had even been pulled out.
This kind of injury was indeed difficult for humans to inflict, and the weapons used by the wildlings couldn't cause such damage. It was as if a hand had been plunged into his abdomen.
"I saw the creature plunge its hand into Cole's stomach and pull out his intestines."
Benjen's voice was low.
"Cole cut off the pulled-out intestines with his sword, climbed onto his horse, and fled with us."
The Chief Ranger glanced at Mormont's face, then turned his head to look at the brother lying on the ground. His face was somewhat gloomy as he spoke.
Just hearing Benjen's description of the scene was chilling enough.
Although this brother had escaped the pursuit of the Others, he didn't survive and died on the way.
"This kind of injury can't be inflicted by wildlings, Lord Mormont."
"The other rangers can vouch for me."
Benjen continued, looking at Mormont's face.
However, Mormont's face remained solemn. He squatted down and gently touched the wound on Cole's abdomen. After a moment of silence, he raised his head.
"Just the injury alone can't confirm that this was definitely the work of the Others, and the other rangers might have already agreed with your story."
"Lord Commander!"
Upon hearing the Lord Commander's words, Benjen looked somewhat anxious and couldn't help but raise his voice.
He didn't know how to prove himself. Being suspected was a minor issue, but delaying the news of the revival of the Others was a major issue.
As a member of the Stark family, he had heard stories about the Others from his wet nurse since he was a child, so he deeply understood the mission of the Stark family.
However, before he could speak, the white-haired old commander stood up from the ground, his eyes sharp as he continued to speak to the Chief Ranger.
"You might be telling the truth, Benjen."
"But as the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, I can't make a decision lightly on matters that are still in doubt."
Mormont's voice was hoarse as he raised his hand to pat Benjen's shoulder.
"Think positively, it might not be the Others, but something else you don't know about."
As the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, he couldn't make a decision based solely on the words of his subordinates about the sudden reappearance of the Others, who hadn't been seen for thousands of years and had even been forgotten by the people of the South.
He had to witness the appearance of the Others himself, or have more direct and powerful evidence to prove that the Others had indeed revived, before he could ask for help from the king and the Lords behind the Wall.
"Hmm..."
Benjen, patted on the shoulder by Mormont, could only let out a long sigh.
He understood the Lord Commander's predicament, so he nodded again.
"I understand, Lord Mormont."
...
Not long after.
A few more days passed.
The news of the appearance of the Others was kept strictly confidential. A ranger who couldn't keep his mouth shut was laughed at by the other brothers of the Night's Watch, who mocked the rangers for being scared out of their wits.
And Castle Black remained as peaceful as ever. The morning smoke rose slowly, the cooks of the Night's Watch prepared meals, and the soldiers practiced with their wooden swords.
A line of soldiers practicing archery shot arrows at the target, emptied a quiver of arrows, and then, under the instructor's scolding, ran over to retrieve the arrows from the target and continued practicing.
Lord Commander Mormont, for some unknown reason, suddenly organized an expedition. Perhaps it had something to do with the wildlings, or perhaps it had something to do with the recent defeat of the rangers.
Recently, not only Castle Black, but also Shadow Tower, Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, and other places have received reports from rangers, indicating that more and more wildlings have appeared in the Haunted Forest, as if they were being driven by something.
So Mormont organized this expedition with the intention of driving all these wildlings back to their homes.
However, this was just Mormont's official reason. The force he organized was not very large, probably only about a hundred men.
All the rangers who had recently returned in fear refused to participate, finding all sorts of excuses.
Only Benjen Stark was willing to join and lead the way for this expedition.
No one in the Night's Watch knew the terrain north of the Wall better than the rangers.
So, after breakfast that morning, all the brothers of the Night's Watch who were participating in the expedition packed enough dry food, mostly dried beef and hard bread.
Then the oak gate was opened again, and more than a hundred Night's Watch soldiers rode their horses into the Haunted Forest, trudging through the thick snow.
Benjen Stark was at the very front of the group.
Two days later, they found the place where they had fought in the Haunted Forest, not far from Craster's Keep.
"This..."
Seeing the scene here, Benjen's breathing became somewhat rapid, his eyes turned red as if recalling some unpleasant memories. He drew his long sword from his waist while sitting on his horse.
All the brothers of the Night's Watch present, including Lord Commander Mormont, were stunned by the sight before them.
"This is..."
What appeared before them was not a chaotic battlefield, but a pyramid made of human heads.
As if knowing they would definitely return, all the bloody heads were facing the direction the Night's Watch had come from.
Among them were many faces they recognized, as well as the heads of wildlings.
And on the ground, there were dead arms surrounding
the pyramid.
They were neatly arranged in a pattern they didn't recognize, which looked like a sun.
Mormont's face was grim, his old eyes fixed on the pyramid of human heads.
But the next second.
All the heads opened their mouths at the same time, letting out a sharp scream.
...
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