The Mountain of Ice and Fire

“All men must die!” Arya repeated, though the syllables were a bit strange, but she could remember, “Jaqen, can I ask you not to leave? We can go to Winterfell, really. I once had a teacher, his name was Syrio Forel, he was my teacher and also my friend. I hope you can be my teacher too, and also my friend.”

“Jaqen is dead, Alie is also dead.” The man's voice was calm with a hint of sadness, “I have a promise I must keep, I have a mission I must accomplish. All men must die, Arya Stark, please say it again with me.”

“All men must die,” Arya recited.

The stranger bowed to her, retreated into the woods, walked further and further away, and finally turned and disappeared into the woods.

A sense of sadness also suddenly welled up in Arya's heart, she remembered the stranger's words: Jaqen is dead, Alie is also dead.

“Hey, Someone, I promised you, cancel those three names. I canceled them myself, that agreement has nothing to do with you, may the gods bear witness.”

The wind rustled in the woods, there was no echo, as if the stranger had disappeared into thin air.

“All men must die!” Arya murmured softly, feeling lost. What does this sentence mean? Arya didn't understand.

*

“Hey! Kid, what are you doing here?” A voice with a metallic scraping sound stimulated Arya's eardrums.

Arya turned around and saw the burly black man, Rorge. His arm was holding a girl, who was kicking and thrashing her legs and scratching and hitting with her hands, but she couldn't break free.

Biter followed Rorge with a smirk on his face, his long arms and legs revealing a mouthful of fangs.

Arya recognized this woman as a worker in the kitchen, a former servant of Harrenhal. Because Hot Pie became a member of the kitchen, Arya often went to see Hot Pie, and became very familiar with the people in the kitchen.

The girl's mouth was stuffed with a dark rag, she gurgled in her throat, but couldn't shout, her eyes were full of horror. She saw Arya and stretched out her hands to her, desperately reaching forward, as if a drowning person wanted to grab a straw.

“Let her go!” Arya said sternly, her hand on the hilt of her sword.

Rorge didn't stop at all, he grinned at her, revealing a mouthful of crooked brown and yellow teeth: “Euron's little slut, now I think I finally understand why that black-clothed bastard would take you to the Wall, you are his little pet, right? Tsk tsk, where's your stick? I said I would fuck you to death with it, don't you remember?”

In Euron's team, Arya always had disputes with Rorge, and always whipped Rorge with a stick.

Rorge, with the girl in his arms, approached Arya. Biter followed beside him with interest, showing his white fangs to Arya. Biter was a mute, unable to speak, only making hissing sounds, and his favorite thing to do was to grind his teeth with bones. If he didn't grind his teeth, they would grow quickly and itch.

Biter was Rorge's accomplice. If Rorge killed someone, he would hand him the knife; if Rorge grabbed a girl to the woods, it was conceivable what he wanted to do, Biter came along, either to keep watch for Rorge or to help Rorge hold down the girl's legs.

Arya had to retreat.

“I don't have iron chains to tie you up anymore, are you scared out of your wits, you little bastard? Pull out your fire stick and let me see if your sword is sharp enough.”

Without Rorge's instructions, Biter had already gone over to the other side, blocking Arya's retreat. Biter's speed was very fast, a guy who had been fighting beasts in the arena all year round, his agility was far above Rorge's.

Arya understood that she couldn't possibly be a match for Rorge and Biter.

Biter made a posture to hug her around the waist, with a foolishly infatuated smile on his face.

“I saved your and Biter's lives.” Arya realized that her space was being compressed, there was no way to retreat, and Rorge was still approaching step by step. If her sword was fast enough to stab Rorge, she would inevitably be hugged and knocked down by Biter. If she turned to deal with Biter, the girl in Rorge's hand would be thrown over, and she would also be seriously injured.

Biter grinned foolishly, slowly stepping forward, his eyes showing a beast-like light.

A light flashed in Arya's mind: “I came here to see Jaqen, he asked someone to bring me a message, asking me to come here to see him.”

Rorge immediately stopped, his face stiffened. Biter behind him also stopped moving, turning his head to look around, just like a little mouse that came out to steal something, cautious and timid.

They were very afraid of Jaqen!

Arya saw this, which made her feel relieved: “Here, this is the iron coin that Jaqen asked someone to bring to me, he told me to bring this iron coin to wait for him here.”

“Throw it over and let me see!” Rorge's eyes were suspicious.

Since Jaqen asked someone to bring a message, why would he ask someone to bring an iron coin to Ardo? This kid's words are contradictory, he is likely lying.

Arya tossed the iron coin up, and Rorge reached out to grab it.

This was a piece of iron that was not much bigger than a copper star, the edges were already rusted. One side had some very strange characters, the other side was a man's head, almost completely worn away.

Rorge put the iron coin into his pocket. Although this iron coin was not worth much money, it was still a coin after all.

“I confiscated the iron coin, it's mostly you kid stealing Jaqen's things, I'll take it back to him.” Rorge said, “If Jaqen wants you to wait for him here, then you wait here.”

Rorge decided to take a step back first, what if this kid was telling the truth?

“Biter, you watch Ardo here until Jaqen arrives. If he lied to us…” Rorge suddenly punched the girl in the stomach, the girl let out a muffled groan in her throat, a very painful expression appeared on her face, her hands and feet were no longer able to struggle, her hands and feet and head drooped together, and her eyes also appeared blank like an idiot, “…if you dare to lie to me, I will take the wooden stick….”

Moving like a rabbit! Swift as a deer!

Arya suddenly drew her sword, and stabbed Rorge's arm right in the middle, Rorge shouted, his arm loosened, and the girl fell to the ground. Rorge was furious, and punched Arya's head with his left fist.

Agile as a cat! Quick as a shadow!

Arya ducked under Rorge's fist, and by the time Rorge turned around, she had already run far away.

“Biter, why the hell aren't you chasing!” Rorge's right arm was stabbed with a very deep wound by the sewing needle, almost piercing his arm, blood was flowing, “I must kill him this time.” Rorge swore, flying into a rage.

*

0325 Chapter 2 Magic Box Judgment

The Mountain stood on the high platform, next to the saltwater battery he completed with Arya. In order to ensure the voltage, the saltwater battery was made in two rows. The Mountain declared to Arya that these saltwater batteries connected according to positive and negative poles were called the magic box.

A maid with blood flowing on her face stood beside the Mountain, her clothes were torn into rags, and there were terrible scratch marks on her arms. She was crying softly.

Under the stage, stood two people tied up with ropes, one was the burly black man, Rorge, and the other was his follower, Biter.

Rorge's right arm was wrapped with a cloth strip, judging from the color and material, it was a strip of cloth torn from the maid's skirt on the stage. The cloth strip was already soaked with blood.

The Mountain said: “Rorge, Biter, do you know what crime you have committed?”

“Lord Mountain, I am innocent.” Rorge said.

Biter hissed, also indicating that he was innocent.

The Mountain looked at the soldiers under the stage and said: “Brothers, I will never object to finding women. I, the Mountain, also want to find women, otherwise our lives will be half less fun.”

The thousands of soldiers under the stage all let out laughter.

“The villagers in the villages near Harrenhal have almost all escaped. We live here, and our daily food, clothing, housing, and transportation all require people to do things for us. Who will do these things? It is the maids around me.” The Mountain pointed to the girl who was silently crying while covering her face, “Think about it, if there are no cooks in our kitchen, no blacksmiths in front of the blacksmith's furnace, no horsemen in the stables, no one to repair the damaged armor, and no one to sharpen the swords on our bodies, what the hell are we going to do? Who will cook for me when I'm hungry?”

No one answered the Mountain's words, these guys were all rough men. But the Mountain knew how to manage these guys, it was simple, explain things clearly, and then punish severely.

These guys would be confused by grand principles, they had all not received nine years of compulsory education, but they would appreciate iron-blooded methods and would firmly remember what things were not to be done.

“Military orders are like mountains, they must be obeyed. Those who do not obey will be severely punished.” The Mountain shouted.

His voice boomed in the Harrenhal training ground.

“Logistics recruits Rorge and Biter broke into the kitchen during breakfast and took away this maid. They went out from the back door of the kitchen and took the woman to the woods behind the restaurant for rape and beatings. This may seem like nothing to everyone in normal times. But in Clegane's legion, this is not allowed. Because I am hungry and need her to cook and bake bread. I don't want her to spit into the pot out of resentment and then cook it for us.”

“I am reiterating again today that all the horsemen, blacksmiths, bakers, cooks, handymen, and all servants and masters inside Harrenhal, regardless of gender, age, are all protected by the Mountain, and you must not infringe upon them. If you think you must have women, that's no problem, Sweetmouth Ralph, you are responsible for the camp prostitute work.”

“Yes, Ser Gregor!” Sweetmouth Ralph replied with a grin.

The Mountain looked at Rorge and Biter, his eyes as cold as knives. Now was the time to act tough and intimidate, and also to refresh the minds of the other three thousand seven hundred soldiers. There were many villains among them, but the Mountain knew that it was actually very simple to tame villains, just be more evil than them.

“Rorge, do you plead guilty?”

“Lord Mountain, I plead guilty.” Rorge knew what the consequences would be if he didn't plead guilty in front of the Mountain. It was just raping a kitchen maid, a small matter, at most he would be confined for a few days.

“Biter, do you plead guilty?”

Biter ah ah ah ah hissed a lot of talk, the Mountain couldn't understand what Biter was saying.

But the Mountain knew that Rorge and Biter were two people who dared to do anything except good things. These two scumbags were trained in the poorest and most violent flea pit.

There was no way, these two scumbags also provoked Arya. They were different from the two small characters, Aji and Abu. If these two guys passed this level, Arya would be very dangerous.

The Mountain had more than three thousand soldiers. Arya's identity could not be exposed. Once exposed, there would be too many people talking, and sooner or later some rumors would spread to Tywin's ears. Once the Mountain's enemies heard a word or two, and said a few good words in front of Duke Tywin, the Mountain might also lose his head.

“Rorge, did you also rob the scribe's little follower Ardo of a few silver stags and copper stars?”

“No, absolutely not.” Rorge was immediately angry, “He is lying, sir. Ardo is lying, I just took an iron coin from him.”

“Iron coin?” The Mountain looked at Elin. Elin immediately stepped forward and searched Rorge's body, and indeed found a badly worn iron coin. One side was a blurred man's head, and the other side was strange foreign writing.

Arya had already told the Mountain that this iron coin was Jaqen's token to her. What Arya didn't know was that this ordinary iron coin was more useful than gold dragons in the Braavos city-state, for boat rides, hiring horses, eating, staying in hotels, and free passage.

The Mountain also knew that the strange words on the iron coin were two sentences: All men must die; All men must serve.

The Mountain gestured, Elin threw the iron coin to the high platform, the Mountain reached out and caught it, glanced at it, and put it in his pocket. His eyes swept across Arya in the crowd. Arya did not stand up to accuse Rorge and Biter, she could not show her face, her father's twenty guards should be able to recognize her, and among these people, he didn't know how many were still loyal to the Stark family.

“Robbing comrades is a big taboo among big taboos.” The Mountain said coldly, “Rorge, Biter, don't say I didn't give you a chance, I created a trial magic box based on Madame Witch's magic spell.” The Mountain pointed to the saltwater battery on the high platform, “If you can pass the trial of the magic box, I will only confine you, and not throw you into the bear pit. Girl, do you agree that I use the trial magic box to try the two recruits who violated you?”

The girl trembled, not knowing whether it was sadness or fear of the Mountain: “…Please, my lord, make the decision for me…”

Trial magic box?

The soldiers in the audience were in an uproar! Everyone stared at the two rows of boxes on the high platform, whispering and talking!

Rorge and Biter also looked at each other, their faces pale, not knowing what the trial magic box was. If they failed, they would be thrown into the bear pit. Harrenhal had a place specially for punishing the most evil criminals: the bear pit. Inside the bear pit, naturally, a giant bear was raised.

The Mountain said: “If the magic box judges you guilty, you will be knocked down by the magic power released by the magic box; if the magic box lets you go, then you will not feel anything. Polliver, do you dare to try it first?”

“Yes, my lord!” Polliver was the Mountain's most trusted loyal fan, he would do whatever he was told to do, without asking why. This kind of person would die slowly in the hands of the Mountain, who was a good person.

“Pick up the two iron wires on the ground, if you are knocked down, it means you are guilty in the past.” The Mountain said.

Thousands of people's bright eyes looked at Polliver on the high platform. Polliver himself was innocent, he reached out and grabbed the two iron wires, he shrugged his shoulders, grinned, and felt nothing.

Of course, he didn't feel anything, the Mountain designed a switch.

Science itself, which far exceeds this level of civilization, is a miracle.

Polliver was not struck down.

“Girl, you come try,” the Mountain said.

The girl was so frightened that she froze.

“If you are innocent, God will not send down his punishment,” the Mountain said. “The Seven Gods are above, everything originates from the will of the Seven Gods.”

The soldiers in the audience all looked terrified; these guys basically felt that they were not good people.

The girl didn't dare not grab two iron wires. She closed her eyes, and fortunately, the girl was not struck down by the Judgment Box either.

“The Seven Gods are above, you are innocent,” the Mountain said.

The girl put down the iron wires, still not quite daring to believe that she was innocent. She had secretly eaten a sausage last night, which violated the laws of food management.

“The will of the Judgment Box originates from the Old and New Gods, and will never favor anyone. Rolger, it's your turn!” The Mountain stood on the high platform, looking down at him.

From now on, to manage this bunch of bastards, the reaction of the Judgment Box represents the supreme will of the Seven Gods.

Large beads of sweat appeared on Rolger's forehead!