Chapter 260

These boring battles just never end. She had just finished saying that, when the officer beside her burst out laughing.

Translation: "These boring battles just never end." She had just finished saying that when the officer beside her laughed.

We need to keep it as one line.

We must not add extra info. "She had just finished saying that" is maybe adding nuance but it's faithful. Could also be "She just said these boring battles just never end." The officer beside her laughed. Let's try to be concise but faithful.

These boring battles just never end. She had just finished saying that, when the officer beside her burst out laughing.

Literal: "These boring battles are simply endless." She just finished saying, the officer beside her then laughed.

We'll output: "These boring battles are simply endless." She had just finished saying that when the officer beside her laughed.

That's fine.

She stood on a rise in the vast plain, and from far off she saw Bodun's cavalry rapidly approaching; dust and the sky's gray clouds obscured more detail.

"Should we leave them behind and press on?" Haerluo asked.

"Ah, they're really fast—what should we do now?" Jiasi asked.

Mei Yi pretended not to hear their question. She still wasn't sure what to do.

After a half-day's distance, Bodun's army did not give up and finally caught up with them on this plain.

Jiasi's arranged scouting cavalry had not yet returned with news—in fact, Mei Yi didn't hold much hope for the scouts, nor did she expect any information they might bring; it was merely a drill.

She had just skirmished with a small force of the Moermo family from South Mountain City, and she had still wanted to take advantage of a possible emptiness in South Mountain City and the captives at her feet to easily seize the castle built on a hill across the river, but the appearance of pursuing cavalry forced her to temporarily abandon that idea.

"Sir, how many troops does South Mountain City still have?" Mei Yi asked, looking at the captive bound at her feet.

However, the captive pretended to be inattentive, so Mei Yi, disregarding courtesy, kicked him with her foot to signal that she was speaking to him.

He was the cousin of Viscount Motemoermo of South Mountain City, barely counting as a renowned warrior and knight of the North; soldiers would call him Sir Huotemoermo, and he had an unspectacular nickname, "the Charger."

He had once accompanied Lusibodun and Lord Aide south twice, fighting in Robert's Rebellion and the Iron Islands' suppression; in the Battle of Pike City in the Iron Islands, for his bravery in combat he was anointed with holy oil by the septon alongside the Mormont of Bear Island, and then Laobo knighted him. Because of his extraordinary valor in scaling the walls, besides his knighthood he earned a nickname that even the Mormont earl had never had.

Based on his reputation, Mei Yi maintained respect.

I don't know whether his charge today against the provocateur Haerluo, this young man, was influenced by that nickname; if so, she ought to thank King Laobo again. "That charging golden squirrel," those were King Laobo's exact words, which she had heard in Winterfell.

"Not so few that you could just take them. Anyway, Lord Bodun's cavalry has already appeared—whether South Mountain City's garrison is many or few, what difference does it make? It's enough to accept your surrender!"

When on his warhorse he looked like a true knight, but bound and thrown to the ground he was no longer that, appearing utterly miserable, yet his deep, resonant voice still sounded like a commander's.

One could tell he was strong-built, but unfortunately he had run into Mei Yi today.

Frankly, such a commander should have been taken by Bodun to the front lines to fight; leaving him to guard a forgotten castle in the rear really puzzled her.

He could barely be considered a cousin of Lusibodun; his uncle Motemoermo's aunt and the former Dreadfort earl had produced Lusibodun, making the Moermo family another in-law house of the Westerlands outside the Bodun family. Moreover, because of this connection, Mei Yi had never even considered that a surrender might succeed, especially since he wasn't even a lord.

Not necessarily. She didn't know whether Viscount Motemoermo was alive or dead, nor whether he had other children or a closer heir. Nowadays, with so many changes in the North, anything is possible.

"Where is the Moermo viscount?"

"Who the hell knows—he's either at Dreadfort or by Lusibodun's side. Lusibodun needs a trustworthy person to help him defend Dreadfort, and he himself needs a trustworthy person to help him defend South Mountain City." Was that an honest answer?

"Liar!" Haerluo snapped. "Bodun marching from Dreadfort to Harrenhal would certainly pass through South Mountain City, and you've been in South Mountain City all along—how could you not know whether he's at Dreadfort or accompanying Bodun's army?"

"Oh, turns out not everyone from the West River is as dull as a direwolf." He gave a hehe laugh, "No matter where the viscount is, he's insignificant—Your Highness, why bother asking him?"

How could it be useless?

"He put you in charge of defending South Mountain City, yet you don't seem to have done the job well?" Mei Yi said sarcastically.

"All you've beaten is a bunch of stupid peasants—half a year ago they were still harvesting the last of their crops in the fields, curing the last batch of beef, mutton, and pork." He propped himself up on one arm, turned to look at Mei Yi, and said, "Do you think you've already taken South Mountain City? We're now on a worthless hill, not in the lord's hall of South Mountain City. Don't get cocky, she-wolf."

"What's wrong with feeling proud after defeating a warrior like you? From what you say, the Moermo peasants' stores aren't bad—this is a blessing for the North!"

"Still better than you West River barbarians." He laughed again, "If you keep chatting with me, Bodun's cavalry will be charging soon. Damn, you should learn to lie on the ground like me and listen to their hoofbeats……oh, I fucking love women in this pose……oh……"

He ended that sentence with a pained, muffled scream.

"Bodun has already been defeated beneath Harrenhal, and Frey has been beheaded in the East River. In short, Bodun's venture has failed—do you really want to go down with him?" Mei Yi lifted the sword hilt from his curled-up body, hoping the blow would let him speak properly. "You're also surnamed Moermo—don't you want South Mountain City?"

"I am a knight; I have made promises and sworn oaths to my lord." He said fiercely.

"I have to remind you, your lord also swore an oath to Winterfell."

"The oaths of the king and your immediate superior lord take precedence—don't you understand that? Are you the king or Bodun? Or are you actually Bodun's bastard?"

"Your sense of honor is heartbreaking. So you chose to refuse, huh?"

"My sense of honor only obliges me to South Mountain City—who the hell cares about Bodun? I'm old, I'm not going to do anything dishonorable anymore. I'm a knight, you're a knight; by the rules, I just need to pay ransom, but to have my daughter pay a woman to ransom her father from you, I'd rather you cut off my head or make me wear black clothes, damn! Anyway, do as you wish—I'm not afraid of beheading… It's said the Night's Watch are dwindling, honorable knights even rarer, and what's left are either the old, weak, sick, or disabled, or the absolute scum of the country… Damn it, if you're a northerner's bastard and still have half a conscience for the North, I advise you to pick the second option." He spat a mouthful of phlegm or blood onto the ground, looking somewhat resentful, "I'm not begging you for mercy. Damn, Bodun bringing Frey along to the North—I knew he'd come to nothing."

"Well, that's too bad—the Night's Watch forces have already been disbanded by me, so you probably have no other choice."

"You……" He looked at Mei Yi as if to confirm the truth, then suddenly flew into a rage, "What right do you have, woman, to disband the Night's Watch?"

"What right? My conscience toward the North—you know, as you said, how could such an important place as the Great Wall be left to the old, weak, sick, disabled, and a bunch of scum to guard? After defeating Bodun, I will send troops to light beacon fires on all nineteen castles along the Great Wall, fully incorporating the Great Wall region into the North."

"Madman." He fell silent for a moment, then added, "You can defeat Bodun, but no Stark or bastard could ever take Dreadfort. Damn, we East River folk haven't beaten the Starks, but we've taken Winterfell several times; you may have beaten Bodun, yet you've never once taken their stronghold—this time at most it'll be the same. While you're still young, go ahead and pinch his heir, breed a bunch of Flayed Men wolf pups—for the North—that's the best use of your conscience as a woman."

"You're wrong. I will surely take every castle I set my sights on."

"On account of that crown?" he roared with laughter, "Or is it those two up front?"

Mei Yi ignored him further, walked away from his wailing, trembling form, gazed at the approaching Bodun cavalry, and then instantly merged with the skyward azure hawk.

The azure hawk shifted its gliding direction, rolling over several undulating fields and streams, and saw the cavalry drawn up in slow advance, and……

Bodun's infantry followed closely behind the cavalry, marching in formation, layer upon layer.

Bodun must be in a hurry—the infantry's marching speed is surprisingly fast, she thought.

The infantry bore long shields, silently following the soldiers ahead; their front and rear followed the mounted officers, evidently, at a single command they could instantly join the battle.

She shifted her gaze to a large contingent of cavalry in the center of the infantry.

She saw the lion-and-stag banner of the Iron Throne and a huge Flayed Men banner; the banners were unfurled on both sides of the road.

Ahead of the banners were nearly a hundred mounted officers, each looking grim and displeased—that was the look of defeat—but the gleaming armor beneath their cloaks still seemed fit for battle, except for the man beside them wearing strange robes and a topknot.

That man also seemed to have seen the azure hawk; he lifted his gaze to the sky, so she could see him more clearly: he had only one eye, and even from several li away she could tell that eye was red.

Then she felt her limbs and soul aflame.