Chapter 231: Qiongen the Listener

"Haha, Sam, if a few years ago I heard this news, I would definitely have gone looking for the so-called dragon egg!" Qiongen gave a wry smile. Compared to finding the Blood Raven Duke or a dragon egg, he would rather find his uncle Banyang.

He patted Sam on the shoulder.

Having resolved his doubts and decided on a course of action, he hoped to end the conversation quickly. He wanted to go again and discuss the prisoner transport plan with Lord Luodelike and the other Mountain Forest clan soldier leaders.

"The dragon egg and the Blood Raven Duke disappeared together. Qiala believed that before his disappearance, the Blood Raven Duke buried the dragon egg somewhere outside the Wall, and would hatch it when needed."

"The Targaryen dragons have been gone for over a hundred years; even if you found an egg, it couldn't hatch. What egg could last that long? I suppose it's now no better than a rotten chicken egg." He wanted to end the topic quickly: "White Spirit helped us find a tasteless obsidian dagger, but didn't tell us where the rotten, moldy dragon egg is, Sam."

"Qiala guessed that the dragon egg was certainly hidden by the Blood Raven Duke at the place where he last disappeared."

"Tell me, Sam, where did the Blood Raven Duke last disappear?" Qiongen spread his hands. "If you asked Chancellor Ma'erxi, he'd surely say, outside the Wall, in a bad mood." Qiongen dropped his joking posture. "Outside the Wall lie things more terrifying than a dragon egg; at least Mansleide still believes in the 'Qiaoman's horn'—if blown, it can awaken the underground giants and topple the Wall."

Today's fantasy story ends here. He felt that, in front of Sam, he was playing the role of a buzzkill father, constantly pouring cold water on the curious child.

He looked out at the grey sky, finally confirmed it was snowing, then shook Sam's shoulder and turned to leave.

He hadn't taken two steps when Sam called out to him from behind.

"I'm just saying." Sam caught up, panting, "Compared to me, I'm more interested in the dragon egg; if we could hatch a dragon, watching a baby dragon would be more fun, but..."

"If Queen Danilisi had a dragon, she would surely set foot on Westeros, and if she set foot on this land, she would surely ride her dragon to the Wall. There would be a chance to see it." He interrupted the hesitant Sam.

"I want to talk about the Dark Sister, Qiongen. You know I'm not interested in swords, but this one is really famous—aren't you interested?"

"If it could save tens of thousands of free folk, I'd certainly be interested," he said, holding up the light and heat, looking at it, "but it's just a sword; it simply doesn't have that kind of power."

He hoped Sam would wrap up quickly.

"Qiongen, your sister is really generous, giving you all those Valyrian steel swords. This one, this one may not be as big as the Talis family's Heartsbane, but it's still sizable, worth… I guess many would pay a high price for it… but I want to talk about the Dark Sister."

She was indeed generous, but Qiongen felt that if he hadn't died in the wilderness, this sword would have been sent back to the Starks by the Night's Watch, just as the Night's Watch once sent Longclaw back to Bear Island. She is now the main branch of the Starks.

"At least I never asked anyone for a price." Qiongen laughed.

"Nobody would sell a Valyrian steel sword, almost." After his brief comment, he immediately fell back into his own rhythm, which left Qiongen helpless: "Qiala, Qiala noticed that when he last went out beyond the Wall, the Blood Raven Duke didn't bring that Valyrian steel sword, and no one found it in the Black Castle—if they had, they would certainly have sent it back to the Iron Throne. In fact, according to Qiala's records, after the Blood Raven Duke went missing, the Iron Throne had already sent people to search, but after scouring the Wall they found nothing, so the matter was dropped."

"Is it an asset of the Iron Throne?"

"If you found the Dark Sister, would you willingly hand it over to the current Iron Throne?"

"Of course not," Qiongen said, unable to explain why, "it belongs to the Targaryens..."

"Or the Night's Watch." It was Sam's turn to interrupt him. Qiongen felt that whenever Sam got into his train of thought, he always seemed so cheerful: "Qiongen, if we had it, we could sell it for grain, or simply give it to the Dragon Queen of the Eastern Continent to trade for her army's provisions. She would surely want to reclaim her family's heirloom sword, and besides, it's a sword suited for women—it was originally the personal sword of Empress Dowager Visenya."

He thought of the sword Passion that his sister used. Maybe Passion is the Dark Sister. How many unnamed Valyrian steel swords could possibly still exist in the world?

"Unless you know where the sword is stored, Sam, I have to leave. In my view, getting those prisoners safely to the Black Castle is far more important than obtaining the Dark Sister."

"Qiala didn't record where it was placed, which is natural, but he gave plenty of clues. Qiongen, coincidentally, I know the most important clue. If we could sell the Dark Sister, maybe we could save more free folk, right? I truly suspect the Old Gods are helping me, Qiongen Qiongen—I've never been this sure." Sam again pulled Qiongen aside, opened the book and pointed, saying, "This is Qiala's description."

"What?" He couldn't make out the characters and didn't want to lean in to read.

"The Blood Raven Duke's thinning white hair could no longer cover the mark on his face; he was old. Looking at his face, I felt as if I were looking at a history etched onto it. The members of his Two Hundred Raven Teeth Guard were dwindling day by day among the black-clad Night's Watch, until finally only he remained, clinging to life. Yet I see him, and he still seems as energetic as in his youth, and with time passing, he grows ever wiser..."

Qiongen forced himself to listen patiently as Sam read, but it was far from reaching the point where it sounded like a "clue." He didn't know how much longer he'd have to wait, but urging was pointless, because Sam's voice rose and fell with rhythm, making him feel like an emperor in that cadence.

Qiongen watched the snow melt on his chubby face, disappear between his breaths, swirl in his excited smile over the book's back, and drift down onto the dusty snow beneath his feet.

Qiongen watched the snow fall onto his chubby face, melt, vanish in his breath, swirl in his excited smile onto the book's spine, and drift down onto the dusty snow at his feet.

"Right here… right here…" Sam shouted excitedly, "I finally had the luck to meet his gaze and speak with him. I asked him why, on this sortie beyond the frontier, he brought neither a longbow nor a sword. I thought that if he brought a sword, perhaps he could slay the ghosts and spirits outside the Wall, though everyone knows there are no ghosts or spirits outside the Wall, only endless wildlings. The great Blood Raven Duke, our Night's Watch Lord Commander, at this moment showed a rare smile—though it didn't look like a smile, I was certain it was, this being the deepest impression of my journey. He said, as Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, when he needed to take up arms in battle, it proved his undertaking might face failure."

"Just here……just here……" Sam shouted excitedly, "I finally had the fortune to meet his gaze, to speak with him, I asked him why on this expedition beyond the frontier he brought neither longbow nor sword? I thought to myself, if I could bring a sword, perhaps I could slay the ghostly spirits beyond the Great Wall, although everyone knows there are no ghostly spirits beyond the Great Wall, only endless barbarians. Great Blood Raven Duke, our Night Watch Commander-in-Chief, at this moment revealed a rare smile, though it didn't look like a smile, but I was certain it was, this is the deepest impression of my journey. He said, as the Night Watch Commander-in-Chief, when he needs to take up arms and go into battle, it proves his undertaking may face failure."

"Soon, soon. Right here, listen." Sam sucked in the cold air, cleared his throat, and continued reading: "He laughed just then, saying, 'On this journey I will certainly not fail, so I need not bring any weapon.' I remember him saying that, 'I have already placed all my weapons there.' I asked where, and he replied, 'The uttermost darkness, the beginning of light, the crossroads of the oath, the depths of magic, the beginning and end of honor.' He is the one who got lost on this trip beyond the frontier."

"Soon, soon. Here it is, listen." Sam sucked in the cold air, cleared his throat, and continued reading, "He laughed at this moment. 'On this journey I will certainly not fail, so I need not carry any weapon,' I recall him saying, 'I have already placed all my weapons there.' I asked where, he answered, 'The extreme of darkness, the beginning of light, the crossroads of oaths, the depths of magic, the beginning and end of honor.' He is the one who got lost beyond the frontier on this trip."

"Yeah, this is a riddle, a riddle about where the Dark Sister is hidden. I already know where."

Yeah, this is a riddle, this is a riddle about where the Dark Sisters are hiding. I already know where they are.