Chapter 180

"Father" Jon woke up exhausted and saw a familiar yet unfamiliar ceiling in front of him. Was it just a nightmare?

He dreamed that his father fell under a giant's stick in order to save him.

"You're awake" was a gentle voice.

"Maester Aemon." Jon turned his head.

"You can't move yet," the maester told him. "Moving will open your wound again, Jon."

Jon marveled at how sharp the maester's hearing was.

"There is something I must tell you, my child." The maester's tone changed. "You have to be mentally prepared."

Jon's heart suddenly wanted to be grasped tightly by a hand. He didn't want to hear it at all, not at all. But nothing came out of his mouth, and his body was trembling slightly.

The bachelor sighed, "Your father."

"Please, Lord Bachelor, please." His tears flowed down uncontrollably.

Aemon knew that this was too cruel for Jon, and the maester's mind was complicated. "These are Lord Stark's last words to you before he died. This letter should have been handwritten by Ser Harris Moran." Leave it to you, but he has to escort Lord Eddard’s body back to Winterfell, so I will do it for him.”

"No." Jon let out a cry of grief. "You're lying to me, aren't you? Maester Aemon."

The maester just sighed, then bent his body and was helped away by Clydas. "I know this is painful, my boy. But this is the test the gods have set for us, and Lord Eddard loves you very much."

He didn't know how long he cried. The letter was held tightly in Jon's hand.

"Why?" he asked the empty room, why are the gods so cruel!

I don't know how much time passed, but Jon stayed in the dark room, filled with infinite grief and regret, if he hadn't saved him

"Jon?" A call came from the darkness, but Jon was already exhausted from crying.

Big-eared Piper walked in with a candle and a plate. Behind him were a big man and a short man, Grant and Virgil.

Piper placed the candle on the table, letting the light spread across the room. "We are deeply sorry about your father, Jon."

"Not father." Grant reminded him softly.

"Would you like some water?" Weegee asked Jon, who was staring blankly.

"No, thank you." The voice was hoarse and weak. He turned his head slightly and asked, "How did I come back?"

Grant's face showed excitement, "Do you know who is coming? Jon." He seemed to realize that his behavior was not appropriate, so he quickly calmed down his expression and turned serious.

"who?"

"Cole, he's back." Piper answered him.

"You should really go and take a look. He is so powerful now. He led the people to defeat the savages and then saved you." Grant continued. "If you saw him, you wouldn't recognize him."

"Stupid cow" Glen's eyes flashed with envy.

When the horn sounded from the east, they couldn't help but look there. The gold-trimmed battle flag showed off the silver flaming bird. The cavalry raised up the billowing snow mist. The leader was a man dressed in silver. A, a majestic knight.

The cavalry from the Stormlands overwhelmingly defeated the chaotic wildling army, and Grant saw the Silver Knight knocking down a giant with his own hands.

"This is the food that Chief Bowen Marsh asked to prepare for you. You'd better eat some." Piper also put the plate on the table.

"Thank you,"

Piper shook his head, "There is no resurrection, so be patient, Jon."

"Thank you." This was the third time he was saying thank you, but his mind was like a ball of lint at this time.

The three of them looked at each other and walked out silently, leaving only candlelight and food plates behind.

When the space became quiet, Jon's mind kept recalling past memories, and the scenes in the snow kept echoing in his mind.

He brought the letter in his hand to himself.

————

Mance Rayder was tied up in front of a young man. The soldier kicked him in the back of the knee and Mance staggered to the ground.

"In front of you is His Excellency the Prince Regent of the Seven Kingdoms." The fat knight next to the silver-haired young man said to Mance.

"Another King of the South." Mance Rayder smiled contemptuously.

"King beyond the wall, Mance Rayder." Cole looked at him, a middle-aged gray-haired man with an average appearance.

"Any advice?" The smile lines on his face rose.

"I've known you since I was a kid, but you weren't the King Beyond the Wall at that time," Cole said.

Mance was stunned, "Really? It's a great honor for me to trouble the prince's thoughts."

"Maybe we have met again. When did you betray the Night Watch?" Cole asked him.

"It was many years ago? I just remember that old Kogel was still the commander of the crows at that time." He replied.

"My name is taken from Kogel, the 996th Commander-in-Chief of the Night's Watch."

Mance seemed to remember something and opened his eyes slightly, "Oh, are you that boy?"

Mance Rayder was also a child picked up by the Night's Watch, so he had a deep memory of the baby picked up by Commander Kogel from the Kingdom Road.

Cole just smiled, "They said you betrayed the Night's Watch because of a cloak. I'm curious about what kind of cloak could make you break the oath you swore without hesitation."

"You don't understand."

"woman?"

He remained silent.

Cole chuckled lightly, "So what is your purpose of going south? Mance Rayder, is it because the land beyond the wall is not broad enough? Or do you also want to go south to fight for the Iron Throne?"

"I have no interest in iron chairs, boy."

"Watch your words, savage." Duran cursed at him.

"What's for?" Cole continued to ask.

"Do you believe in the White Walkers?" Mance Rayder asked him.

Cole's expression suddenly became serious. During these days in the south, he rarely thought about the White Walkers. The source of his great fear of the world was the living dead from outside the Great Wall.

"The dead are coming," Mance said.

"Have you seen it?"

"Of course." The Savage King was very sure.

"Your Highness, the White Walkers are just a story to scare children. Why do you have to listen to this savage's nonsense." Duran said from the side.

"You have to know that I grew up on the Great Wall, Duran. I know far more about some things than you do." Cole said to him.

Mance thought he would be wasting his words, but Cole's reaction was beyond his expectation.

"We originally caught a ghoul, but in the chaos, I burned him. But if you are willing to search outside the wall, you may encounter them."

Who the hell wants to bring bad luck to those dead people?

"So the purpose of your crossing the Great Wall is to escape those White Walkers?"

"When the dead are around, walls, stakes, and swords become meaningless. One cannot fight the dead, and no one knows that better than me."