"Everything you've seen and every word you've heard here today, you are not to mention to anyone."
Lynn's gaze swept over everyone's faces, including the still trembling Ygritte.
"Not even Lord Commander Mormont can know."
"And this horn, you must not mention it either. Do you all understand?"
Jon was speechless.
If Lord Commander Mormont were to find out about this, Lynn would probably be burned alive as a heretic.
In his eyes, Lynn was his brother, and he couldn't bring himself to do such a thing.
"But... but why did that demon..."
Ygritte's voice was tearful. She pointed at Lynn, then at the direction where the Night King had vanished.
"Why did he give you that thing? What is your relationship, exactly?"
"I think you've been controlled by him!"
"Or you're already dead!"
Lynn chuckled, it seemed this wild girl was truly desperate.
"Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine right now."
What kind of answer was that?
Ygritte felt like she was going crazy!
This southerner's mind was even more unfathomable than the weather beyond the Wall.
"Let's go."
Lynn didn't explain further, turning to walk down the mountain.
"Frostfang Mountains, you lead the way."
Ygritte shivered, the fear on her face deepening.
"I told you, that's forbidden territory!"
"The Old Gods will devour our souls!"
"Then you can stay here and wait to die," Lynn said without looking back.
Ygritte gritted her teeth, looking at his tall figure. She wildly swung her fists, as if she could kill Lynn through the air.
But in the end, she resignedly followed him.
She would rather have her soul devoured by the Old Gods than be left alone on this accursed mountaintop.
The atmosphere of the group was even more oppressive than when they arrived.
In their eyes, Lynn had just completed a mysterious transaction with the legendary Demon King.
Jon, meanwhile, was preoccupied.
He wanted to speak several times, but didn't know what to ask.
"Don't think about it."
Lynn's voice suddenly sounded beside him.
"Things you can't figure out, just keep them in your heart for now."
"But I always feel..."
"Feel like I sold my soul to the devil?"
Lynn smiled.
"If selling my soul can bring victory, then I don't mind at all."
Jon looked at Lynn's profile; there was no hint of a joke in his expression.
The group turned northwest.
They headed towards the Frostfang Mountains, a range said to stretch endlessly like the fangs of a giant beast.
Although Ygritte was full of resistance, as a Free Folk who grew up beyond the Wall, her sense of direction far surpassed these "crows."
She led everyone, avoiding dangerous glacial crevasses and beast lairs, though every step was taken with trepidation.
Two days later, they arrived at a vast ice plain.
"Caw—"
A noisy crow's cry came from above their heads.
Everyone looked up and saw a crow perched on a dead weirwood tree not far away.
The crow was larger than a normal raven, and what was most eerie was that it had three eyes.
The third eye was right in the center of its forehead, gleaming with a wise light.
"A three-eyed crow..."
Ygritte's voice was trembling. She instinctively drew her bow and notched an arrow, wanting to shoot the crow down.
"Hey!"
Lynn quickly stopped her.
The Three-Eyed Raven abandoned its thought of fleeing.
It tilted its head, looked at Lynn, as if confirming something.
Then, it flapped its wings and flew for a dozen meters in one direction, landed, looked back at them, and cawed again.
Lynn understood; it was leading the way.
Ygritte's face was already as white as snow.
Everything from the legends was coming true, and she felt her legs turning to jelly.
That feeling of weakness was exactly the same as when she lay in Lynn's arms.
"It's over... we're all doomed... the Old Gods have sent their messenger to take us..."
"Shut up."
Lynn glared at her.
He followed behind the crow, walking forward without hesitation.
Guided by the Three-Eyed Raven, the group walked for most of another day.
The scenery before them began to grow strange.
More and more weirwood trees appeared around them, forming a dense white forest.
On every tree, a human face was carved, weeping tears of red sap. Thousands of faces silently watched them in the quiet forest.
Finally, the crow stopped before a massive mountain wall.
Below the mountain wall, there was a dark, bottomless cave entrance, half-hidden by ice and snow.
The crow flew into the cave and disappeared.
"This is it."
Lynn looked at the cave entrance.
"I... I'm not going in!"
Ygritte backed away repeatedly.
"You can kill me, but I'm not going in!"
Lynn ignored her and walked directly towards the cave entrance.
Jon gritted his teeth and followed.
The remaining three Rangers exchanged glances, and in the end, the fear of the unknown overcame everything else, and they stayed put.
Lynn said nothing, simply leading Jon into the cave.
Ygritte hesitated outside for a long time, then finally stomped her foot and grumblingly followed them in.
She was afraid of those strange things, but she was even more afraid of being left alone outside.
Only by following Lynn did she feel safe.
The inside of the cave was wider than expected, and not dark at all.
A moss that emitted a soft white glow grew on the cave walls, illuminating the entire passage.
In the air, a faint, ethereal song echoed.
The voice was not human, ethereal and ancient, as if it resonated directly from the depths of the soul.
After walking for about a few hundred meters, the path suddenly opened up.
It was a huge underground cavern, too tall to see the top.
Countless glowing plants grew here, and in the center was a weirwood tree of indescribable size.
Its roots, like giant pythons, covered the entire floor of the cavern, even penetrating the stone walls and merging with the entire mountain.
"Old Gods above..."
Jon was completely awestruck.
And beneath that giant tree stood several small figures.
They only reached Lynn's waist in height, their skin like mottled tree bark, with golden-green, cat-like eyes.
They were not human.
Children of the Forest.
A female Child of the Forest, who seemed to be their leader, stepped forward.
Her hair was like tangled vines, adorned with a few small white flowers that never withered.
She observed Lynn with her large eyes, then spoke.
But it wasn't human language; it was a clear, wind-chime-like song.
Lynn didn't understand, but he could feel that there was no malice in the song, only an inquiry.
"Who are you?" Jon asked cautiously.
The female Child of the Forest tilted her head, as if trying to understand his words.
She spoke again.
This time, her voice changed to the Common Tongue of Westeros, though a bit unpolished, it was clearly discernible.
"Leaf."
She introduced herself.
"We are the first singers of this land."
Her gaze passed over Jon, looking directly at Lynn.
"We have been waiting for you, the last Warg."
A Warg?
Jon looked at Lynn in confusion.
Lynn's heart, however, jolted.
They knew about his abilities.
"Take me to him," Lynn said straightforwardly.
"He is waiting for you too."
Leaf nodded.
"For a long time."
She turned and walked towards the base of the giant tree.
Among the gnarled roots, there was a naturally formed passage.
Lynn followed, and Jon and Ygritte instinctively followed behind.
At the end of the passage, the light grew dim.
They arrived at the core tree hollow of the weirwood tree.
Here, countless thick roots intertwined to form a throne.
Upon the throne sat an old man.
He was so thin that he was just skin and bones, his skin like dry parchment.
Countless tiny roots grew from the throne, piercing his body and merging with his flesh.
He had only one eye; the other eye socket was empty.
A blood-red root grew out of the eye socket, spreading across his cheek.
He seemed to have been sitting here for a thousand years, long since merged with this ancient weirwood tree.
He was the Greenseer, the Three-Eyed Raven, and also Brynden.
When he saw Lynn, he actually smiled.
"You've finally arrived."
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