Littlefinger had never seen such a miserable person. Those dark, sunken eyes—cloudy, filled with despair, pleading, fear, hope, and aversion to light—were unforgettable. His long hair was gray, curly, broken, tangled, and filthy, crawling with black fleas and gray lice. The wizard's face was no longer human; bloodless, muscleless, skin covering bones—just a skeleton in human skin.
When the raised floor was opened, the stench was so strong that it caught everyone off guard. Little Finger managed to back away in time, but he almost fainted.
When the cover was put back on, everything returned to normal. The floorboards fit together perfectly, without any sign of trouble. Little Finger was still reeling from the stench and shock.
Varys, on the other hand, seemed completely at ease, as if he were already used to it!
"The coffin has air holes?" Little Finger frowned, stood at the doorway, and took deep breaths of fresh air.
"There's a drain hole at the bottom of the coffin, and below that is the Red Fort sewer system. Don't think I haven't thought about these practical matters. I'm not as despicable as you imagine."
The drain hole connects to the sewer, allowing the foul odor to flow downwards.
Little Finger noticed that the movable lids were all sealed, with fabric gaskets around them. When the lids were closed, they were like a tightly screwed-on bottle cap, ensuring that no foul smell inside could leak out.
Varys is very meticulous!
"Lord Petyr, I don't want my blood to be controlled by a blood sorcerer I've never met. It makes me very uneasy. If you and I are in the same situation, we can join forces. Blood sorcerers are not invincible." Varys glanced at the ground where a coffin was buried. "The dark sorcerer in the coffin is fragile. Every sorcerer is fragile. They are not warriors and have no fighting skills to protect themselves."
"Good suggestion," Littlefinger said, "but I've never seen that blood wizard either."
Who has seen it?
"Magic Mountain!"
"The Blood Wizard has also taken control of the Mountain?"
"I have no idea."
To whom will you give my blood?
"The Mountain!" Littlefinger smiled bitterly. "If I don't give him your blood, you might see my mangled corpse tomorrow night."
Varys felt a chill: "The Mountain is indeed terrifying."
"Your little bird won't work on the Mountain. Even if you know everything he does in King's Landing, what can you do to him? Your little bird can't kill him by singing to him. He hasn't committed any murders or broken the law, and the king can't do anything about it."
"I really can't touch the Mountain!" Varys said.
"Even if we join forces, it won't work, my lord. Your fragrance and my smile are not enough to kill the Mountain, nor can they even wound him. Only a sharp blade in the hands of an absolute warrior can do it! So, Lord Varys, can you understand my predicament?"
"I can!"
"Do you have any other ideas on how to deal with that blood sorcerer?"
"If the Mountain also wants to break free from the blood sorcerer's control, then we can."
"You want me to go and ask the Mountain about that Blood Wizard? Forget it. What if the Blood Wizard becomes suspicious and orders the Mountain to kill me? You might not even see my corpse. Any customer who comes to the brothel could bring a dagger into my room and slit my throat. I'm sure my throat would be cut without a second cut." Littlefinger reached up and touched his throat.
Varys looked at Littlefinger's throat. Littlefinger wasn't a big guy; his head was small, and his neck was thin. He really only needed one cut.
"If, by any chance, we happen to hear something from the Mountain, and if you find it useful, we can discuss it," Varys persisted, "we might try poison!"
"Poison? Good idea, do you have any medicine?"
"I don't have it, but Grand Secretary Paisell does."
Medicine is essentially toxicology. Using certain drugs in reverse can lead to highly toxic and incurable poisoning.
Littlefinger looked at him like he was an idiot: "Lord Varys, who is the most admired person by Pycelle?"
Tywin Lannister.
"Do you think Lord Paisell would help us poison the Mountain? Besides, poisoning the Mountain wouldn't make a difference. The Mountain isn't a blood sorcerer; the blood sorcerer is behind him."
"If I ever have the chance, I'll take care of the poison."
"Oh well..."
The little finger left with Varys's blood, and Varys was deeply troubled; it would be a sleepless night for him.
Varys had witnessed the dark power of the dark wizards firsthand—a mysterious and unfathomable force that defied normal human comprehension. Through various bizarre sacrifices, the wizards could summon creatures from another world. Varys had seen some of these creatures with his own eyes; they were terrifying and unforgettable. Fortunately, these magical creatures had very short lifespans; some perished within a few heartbeats of being summoned. The wizards said that the rules of the world had changed, and the power of magic and spells had been weakened to the extreme.
Nevertheless, why would a mysterious blood sorcerer want my blood? Just thinking about it sends chills down my spine.
Varys decided to go out; he had to save himself.
He was able to deal with the dark wizard in the coffin because he knew where the wizard lived, and the wizard was not a martial artist and had no guards by his side; the blood wizard hid behind the Demon Mountain, a mountain that was almost insurmountable. Any words, schemes and tricks that went to the Demon Mountain would usually only have one result under the Demon Mountain's greatsword and hammer: crushed.
The Mountain's language is sword, and reason is violence; Varys's approach to reasoning has always been very poor.
No matter how many words you utter, I will only use one sword!
*
Varys's bedroom stone bed weighed a thousand pounds and was flawless. But when he fiddled with a certain part of the stone bed, it creaked and rose up. A descending tunnel appeared beneath the bed.
Inside the Red Keep, secret passages are as intricate as a spider's web, leading in all directions, some even directly to the Blackwater River. These passages were built by Maegor I. In Aegon's 12th year, Maegor Targaryen was born. His father was Aegon the Conqueror, the founder of the Targaryen dynasty, and his mother was Visonia Targaryen.
After Maeger ascended to the throne, he devoted himself to the construction of the Red Fort and eventually completed its entirety. He ordered the construction of a city within a city, protected by a moat, which later became Maeger's Tower, the residence of successive kings. He also ordered the excavation of secret passages beneath the Red Fort and personally supervised the construction. The construction of these underground passages was enormous, and to prevent the secret of the Red Fort's passages from being revealed, he held a grand banquet for all the craftsmen who participated in the construction, and three days later, he had them all killed without exception.
After the Red Keep was completed in 45 Aegon's calendar, Maeger I immediately ordered another project—the Dragon Lair atop Rhaenys Hill, now a ruin. He ordered the clearing of the sanctuary ruins and corpses from Rhaenys Hill and began construction of the dragon lair. However, because he had killed all the craftsmen who built the Red Keep, no craftsmen from the Seven Kingdoms dared to work for the king. Maeger was forced to hire craftsmen from Myr and Volantis across the Narrow Sea and to force prisoners to build the dragon lair.
In Aegon's 48th year, the tyrannical Maegor I faced a rebellion led by the people and nobles, with the Church's armed forces also rising up against him. Maegor I was deserted by all and was eventually found dead mysteriously on the Iron Throne. No one knows how he died; the secrets of the Red Keep's tunnels were taken with him.
Over two hundred years later, the last Targaryen king—the Mad King Aerys the Targaryen—appointed Varys, from across the Narrow Sea, as the kingdom's Master of Intelligence. Varys spent over a decade venturing into the Red Keep's underground passages, meticulously studying and drawing them; he was the only one who truly understood their secrets. Littlefinger also knew about the Red Keep's underground passages, but only superficially, and was familiar with only one.
As for the intricate web of secret passages within the Red Keep, only the Eight-Clawed Spider spent over a decade exploring every single path and drawing the most comprehensive blueprints of these passages.
Varys descended the secret passage from his bedroom, avoiding all the guards and eyes of the Red Keep, and half an hour later, he appeared at the gate of an orphanage in Flea Nest.
Varys refused to let his blood be controlled by a blood sorcerer, and he decided to save himself!