Chapter 228: Jon Snow

Under these circumstances, he could only choose to use Winterfell soldiers. If Mance Rayder understood what he meant, he could choose to surrender to his sister to exchange for his life.

King-Beyond-the-Wall, King-Beyond-the-Wall, no matter what, the fact that he went from a traitorous Night's Watchman to the King of the free folk only proved that he was a truly outstanding leader.

He could at least teach the captured free folk how to submit to his sister, and could also persuade the free folk outside the Wall to defect to Winterfell—the army of the dead was active north of the Wall, which was almost the only chance for the free folk to survive—even if he was proud enough, for the sake of the free folk he wanted to save, he, this former King of the free folk, should also submit. But if he valued his dignity more than the lives of the free folk, that would mean he was just a proud bastard.

In any case, with his assistance, his sister could occupy an advantage in the civil war.

He hoped Mance Rayder could understand his words. But Jon remembered his staggering body and disdainful smile before he left. This was not a person who could easily submit to others, unless his sister was willing...

No, he shook his head, feeling that he was simply absurd to the extreme. She would never be willing, and her marriage was far more valuable than a captured King-Beyond-the-Wall.

According to his understanding of his sister, if Mance Rayder refused to submit, she would never say another word of nonsense to this person. She would cut off his head without hesitation, just like cutting off Theon's, and demonstrate or provoke the wildlings entering south of the Wall. Whether it was a demonstration or a provocation depended on how you viewed surrender, and she would then decide whether to continue killing based on your view... This was not a rational approach, but the evil consequences could only be borne by the free folk themselves.

She had her own rules for doing things. Perhaps he was one of the few who could shake this point.

Perhaps.

He hoped he could write a letter to Winterfell right now to tell his sister his plan to absorb the free folk...

This was the best plan, wasn't it?

The free folk could survive within the Wall, his sister could use their power to strike the powerful Boltons, and the Night's Watch—the Night's Watch could also do what they truly should do—the army of the dead was staggering forward, bringing cold, bringing the long night, and they would keep watch for the true dark night for the Seven Kingdoms.

He wanted to go to the captive camp to find leaders who could cooperate, but the matter of the letter made him uneasy.

This needed to be kept secret, but he absolutely could not let his Night's Watch brothers know, and absolutely could not let the mountain clan warriors know before his sister understood his plan.

He didn't think he was betraying the Night's Watch, betraying the mountain clans, or betraying the North. He even thought he was fulfilling his duty to the Night's Watch and the Seven Kingdoms in other ways.

But he knew how the Night's Watch would view him once they knew his thoughts, especially since he had killed Qhorin Halfhand and defected to the free folk. Although that was according to Qhorin's wishes, who said he wasn't happy to accept it? If there was still room for debate on this point, then his affair with Ygritte could not be explained clearly.

He had slept with a female wildling.

He needed to use other methods to notify his sister.

Ser Roderick was only loyal to Winterfell and was always worth trusting, but in order to delay the wildlings, he had thrown away the ravens flying to Winterfell, so this path was already blocked. But if he used the ravens of the Shadow Tower, he had to trouble Maester Mullin, and Maester Mullin was too serious and upright and would never keep secrets from Ser Mallister for him. And bypassing him to use the ravens, even if sending information to Winterfell, was too easy to alert the enemy. Furthermore, every raven would be recorded in detail; this was the rule.

What to do?

He missed Sam and hoped he was by his side, hoping he could offer him advice.

Sam was a bit timid, but he was a wise and trustworthy person. He would definitely offer excellent advice and would absolutely keep secrets for him, as long as he asked him to keep secrets, regardless of whether the secret was related to the Night's Watch.

Sam, Sam.

He was able to traverse the Shadow Tower rapidly, calmly make deployment, and launch a surprise attack on Mance Rayder's army, all thanks to Huding Norrey and Ser Roderick crossing the Wall in time, delaying Mance Rayder's march speed. Otherwise, by the time he reached the Shadow Tower, the free folk might have already tightly sealed all entrances in front of the tower, and he would have lost the opportunity for a surprise attack.

And it was Sam who provided the interception advice, provided precious information, and made such a decision.

However, until now, everyone had placed this credit on him, and no one cared about Sam or recognized his value.

Sam, Sam. Where exactly are you?

He heard Grenn say he was walking along the top of the Wall toward the Shadow Tower, and he also seemed to see him through the eyes of an eagle, but after a night, he still hadn't seen his shadow...

He stepped on the dirty, old snow ground, passed through a stone bridge corridor, and crossed a small mountain. Layers of gullies were under the bridge, as if they were billions of feet high. The wind from outside the Wall blew through the deep gaps of the gullies, making a wailing sound here. The snow on the shady side of the mountain wall fell bit by bit, slowly falling into the deep and dark places.

The free folk captives were kept on a flat surface of a low hill, waiting in the open. That was originally the drill ground of the Shadow Tower Night's Watch. It was said that every day, soldiers threw dozens of corpses that died of illness into the valley.

He hoped to find a few free folk who could cooperate with his actions there, perhaps he would be lucky enough to find a leader who could cooperate, so that his entire journey could become smooth.

Lyla Norrey.

He saw her standing on the bridge facing the wind, looking down at the dark, gloomy valley.

"Is the scenery beautiful?" Jon asked, stepping forward.

"This is what you look like in black," she turned around and looked at him, her eyes incomparably desolate, "There are mountains in the mountains, but there is no such valley. The bottom must be hell, right?"

She had reason to be sad.

The soldiers of the Norrey family led by Huding Norrey suffered the heaviest casualties among the mountain clans. They were ordered to assist in the defense of Castle Black, successfully defended the wildling army south of the Wall, and suffered heavy casualties in this battle. Later, on the way from Castle Black to the Shadow Tower, they met Sam, Pyp, and Grenn on the Wall. According to Sam's opinion and Pyp's guidance, they crossed the frozen Wall from the "Black Gate".

They knew the risk of harassing the wildling army, but still chose the dangerous mission.

Jon only had gratitude.

Their total force was not large, and as a harassing unit, they needed to deal with a wildling army of a hundred thousand. Jon couldn't imagine if it were himself, whether he could complete such an arduous mission. In fact, if Ser Roderick hadn't appeared in time to relieve them, this advance unit of Norrey family soldiers would have been completely wiped out at the Wall.

Only eleven Norrey soldiers remained.

Jon still remembered the scene when he parted with the Norrey clan in the valley—old men, boys who looked like children, some looking as small as Huo De, and some looking as old as Zahuzi.

"Every warrior and soldier will be gifted an excellent steel sword and a set of leather armor, and every sacrificed warrior will receive a gold dragon compensation." He remembered promising this, but when these warriors really died, he found that a gold dragon was so cheap.

Like a mockery.

"If the bottom is hell, Brandon the Builder definitely wouldn't forget to put hell outside the Wall." He felt it was funny and pursed his lips against the cold wind.

Lyla listened earnestly, slightly curling the corners of her mouth. She wanted to say something, but stopped.

"I'm going home." After a silence, she said.

Jon was stunned, speechless.

"The Norrey clan is really too small; we can't help your sister." The wind blew her hair swaying by her ears, every strand so clear, "Jon, I'm going to take the remaining boys back."

"When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning." She sighed, "The corpses that can be collected have already been collected. Those that can't be found can only let them follow the Old Gods and return to this world."

Jon felt extremely uncomfortable, and couldn't say a word of comfort.

Lyla laughed miserably.

"What's wrong with you, looking absent-minded again? Are you thinking about some grand plan?"

Jon put his hand on the railing, feeling a moment of hesitation, so he took off his glove and put it back on.

Ice-cold to the bone, as if carrying thorns.

The Stark soldiers were guarding the bridgehead far away. On the bridge, there were only the two of them, so he poured out all his thoughts about the wildlings.

After saying it, he regretted it. The hundred-plus warriors of the Norrey clan all died at the hands of the free folk. How would she view this act of shielding the enemy? He almost wanted to run away immediately.

"You think you are doing the right thing, yet you are escaping." She looked blankly at the falling snow on the cliff wall, "The Norreys and other mountain clans took huge risks to choose to believe in you, support you, and send troops to assist you, not because they felt you could win, and certainly not because you are Eddard's son, but because they felt that helping you was doing the right thing."

"Thank you." Jon said sincerely.

"But you still have doubts."

Her eyes were like deep pools, and he was a bit embarrassed.

"Yes, a friend," was this really the doubt? "It's the Night's Watchman who guided Huding out of the Wall and delayed Mance Rayder's advance. I've been at the Wall for two days, but I haven't seen him. I'm really worried..."

"That fat guy?"

"Yes." He had to admit.

"After he came down from the Wall, he was arranged by the Maester to the warehouse under the Wall to count supplies... You are on the battlefield, of course you can't see him."

After she finished speaking, she lost all interest in talking.

"Thank you. I know what to do," Jon was even more embarrassed, "I mean about the free folk."

"Jon Snow," she turned and walked away, then looked back at him, "You know nothing." ===== CHAPTER 229 =====