Chapter 75

Winterfell's underground prison had not been used for many years, because no criminal was qualified to be imprisoned in such a place.

Those heinous criminals were either beheaded outright or thrown into an empty ordinary prison, stared at by a dozen eyes, awaiting the right moment for formal trial.

Most criminals who were not demanded to die by the victim have the chance to don black robes and serve the Great Wall; among them, those whose offenses are clearly minor and who themselves do not wish to serve the Wall will, after trial, serve as laborers for Winterfell.

They either till the fields or raise livestock. The sentenced term is usually one winter or one summer, occasionally stacked; as for the actual length of imprisonment, that is decided by the gods, and mortals have no say.

Today, Winterfell's underground prison received its sole inmate in years. Mei Yi, bearing a torch, made her way through layers of rust-streaked iron doors to stand before the prisoner. Behind her followed six soldiers.

The prisoner's face still bore Rui Ken's skin; seeing this, Mei Yi could hardly contain her anger.

Her fingers stroked the hilt of Passion back and forth. She felt she wanted to draw the sword and stab fiercely at the adult's heart.

Is that what Suoluosi saw?

She relaxed her grip on the hilt.

"Open the door." she commanded.

"This?" Pijiudu hesitated a bit.

What if the other party erupts in violence?

She knew his meaning. If he erupted in violence, that would be best; she could then lawfully inflict corporal punishment on him with a clear conscience.

"Open the door, Bai Li." she said again.

Pijiudu resigned, he could only signal the guards on both sides to open the prison gate.

The torch burned in the freezing air, its light cast upon the rust-streaked iron door; this was certainly no pleasant place.

The guards opened the iron lock, and the iron door emitted a harsh, grating clang that assaulted the senses in the gloom.

"Who are you?" Mei Yi asked, standing before him.

"A nobody." he replied calmly, his hands in shackles.

He was tall and slender, yet his voice was a familiar child's tone, making one feel dizzy and nauseous.

Mei Yi reached out to touch his face, but he hesitated and dodged away.

"Where is my brother's corpse?" she asked.

"In the chest beneath the crypt, behind Lord A De." he answered calmly.

He turned his face, and when he looked at Mei Yi again, it was already another middle-aged man's face.

The guards drew their swords, as if facing a great enemy.

"You ought to return what belongs to him."

"Things? You're mistaken; that is no longer a mundane object, it belongs to the Many-Faced God." he said.

"No matter what you say, you must return it; it belongs to my brother." she said.

He fell silent.

"My brother, Bu Lan Deng Si Ta Ke, once received you, gave you food and clothing. Is this how you repay him today?" Mei Yi asked in a low voice. Even his clothes were those once worn by Luo Bo.

The firelight fell on his face, his face showing no expression, as if he hadn't heard a word she said.

Beneath this face lay another face, and beneath that yet more faces; she could feel it.

Mei Yi did not know whether her attempt was wasting time.

"In this regard, I am guilty. This is also the reason for my mission's failure, and also why I am willing to live until now to see you and speak with you." He smiled. "I have tried hard to refuse that child's kindness, but he was too enthusiastic. Sha Sha was also enthusiastic; I could not refuse, could not avoid becoming a guest. Choosing the face of the red carp was the worst decision I have ever made."

"Who is the red carp again?"

"A boy from Skagos Island. Sha Sha's servant. I took a ship from the opposite shore of the Narrow Sea to the East Sea, and heading south I encountered a dying red carp; he begged me to end his life. I am a follower of the Many-Faced God—how could I refuse such a request? I took him and removed his face."

"Your mission succeeded. My two brothers are both dead."

"I played some part in their deaths, but as a mission, it was a failure."

"Why did it fail?"

"Their souls were not taken by the Many-Faced God; I can feel that the Many-Faced God is not pleased."

"Their fate is the same as their father's: the realm of the old gods, not the Many-Faced God's world of death."

"Perhaps?" He stopped speaking and smiled.

Mei Yi paced in the prison, then asked: "Why did you take my brother Rui Ken's face? He never asked you to take him away, like the red carp did."

"Another boy is my primary target; I wanted to use your brother Rui Ken's hairy dog to kill that boy, so I had to temporarily use his face." He fell silent for a moment. "It was successful—the hairy dog panicked, I controlled it and attacked that reckless boy. But it also failed; the direwolf's power was too strong, I could only control it for a while. Moreover, your brothers seem to have other powers."

Mei Yi clenched the hilt of her sword, finally feeling she could draw Passion.

Passion emitted a gentle light, illuminating the dark underground prison.

Mei Yi slowly pointed the sword's tip at his face.

He tried to dodge, but the sword followed him like a shadow.

He suddenly turned sideways, reaching back to grab Mei Yi's elbow, attempting to disarm her.

Mei Yi's upper body remained still; she kicked his knee, and he collapsed from the pain.

The guards drew their swords again, staring in shock into the prison. Mei Yi glanced back at them, and they hesitantly returned their swords to their scabbards.

"This sword is called Passion. Can you feel it? It hates you, it wants to devour you." Mei Yi said to the fallen faceless man.

He gasped heavily; his knee had completely lost its normal angle, been completely broken, yet his face showed no trace of pain, remaining calm.

Passion's sword tip slowly approached his face. He turned his face, completely abandoning resistance.

As the sword penetrated, his face was like a needle piercing layer after layer of sheep-skin balloons.

Under the sword's compulsion, his face continually shifted—man, woman, old man, youth, even child and infant, beautiful and ugly.

The guards were each shocked as if lifted up like ducks.

When Passion pierced through completely, and blood began to flow from his face, his face ceased to change.

It was a young man's face, a foreigner's face, delicate and pale, with bean-sized beads of sweat sliding down his forehead. His hair had also turned half black, half white.

"Who are you?" Mei Yi withdrew Passion, leaving a bloody groove on his face.

Nameless rabble.

Very well. Nameless rabble, why have you come here?

The god sent someone here.

The Many-Faced God?

He pursed his lips, endured the pain, and answered in a distorted voice, "Of course."

Very well. I thought you were just doing your duty.

What do you mean?

According to the law, an employer must bear responsibility for the actions of their employees.

Someone doesn't understand.

Your god is guilty; he murdered children and allowed his employees to violate guests' rights. She said softly to him.

You have no right to judge the god.

I do, as a guardian.

She crouched down, found among the scattered faces the one belonging to her brother, held it in her hands, and left the prison.

After exiting, she nodded to the guards on either side.

They surged into the narrow prison, paired up to seize his arms and legs, and one used pliers to pry open his mouth.

He struggled, uttering unintelligible language, possibly his prayer.

Another soldier poured out crushed bone fragments from a bag and shoved them into his mouth, then pulled out a waterskin and poured water into his mouth.

Only after the waterskin was empty did the soldiers release him.

He began to cough violently, but the bone ash had already entered his belly, and he could not spit out much.

Meiyen patiently waited for him to gradually calm down.

"This is a gift I brought you from Twins River City. Although you are not a descendant of Old Ward, I think anyone who violates guests' rights should taste Old Ward's flavor." She felt her enthusiasm had faded, so she sheathed her sword and left the dark prison.

"Hang him beneath the heart tree of the Godwood, so the old gods can watch him rot slowly before the tree." She stopped at the prison gate and ordered her soldiers.

She had dreamed countless times of returning to Winterfell, but none were so cold and eerie.

Every man, woman, old and young in the city was listless, as if they were losing the war.

Meiyen could not allow this atmosphere to circulate around her.

Anger needs venting; loss needs to be gradually overcome.

Not only she sensed this; Sir Rodrick had already begun advising her to be swiftly crowned Duke of Winterfell to steady the people's hearts.

But now, her army is still slowly moving south, and Winterfell's main force is also mostly in the south. Winterfell's chief supporters—Count Sayn, Count Glover, Count Tallhart, and even Count Amber—are likewise in the south. Without them present, the coronation would be a joke.

"Does Rick Bolton command four thousand troops guarding the Dreadfort and the banks of the Weeping Water?" Meiyen asked.

She herself had fought a campaign in the south, only delayed nearly two months, but Bolton's army moved obviously more slowly; they spent about one and a half months cleaning up at Twins River City, another one and a half months delayed at Saltpan Town, and over two months provisioning at Seagull Town. Meiyen thought that if Luce Bolton continued waiting at Seagull Town, he might discover that the ruler of the Capital would still change.

Now no one knows where his great army drifts somewhere at sea; in any case, there is not a trace of landing.

"Yes. Rick Bolton is very cautious, having launched no probing attacks on Winterfell. But they have been stockpiling supplies and gathering allies. As far as I know, the Houses of Ryswell, Dustin, Locke, and Flint have already gathered at the Dreadfort. I fear that when Bolton's southern army arrives, that will be the moment they launch their assault." He showed great dissatisfaction with this.

"And our situation, Sir?" Meiyen indicated.

"We? Winterfell has never issued an order to potential allies to gather forces, and even your southern troops are merely cobbled together from Winterfell's lands. I don't know why you do this. Your Highness, do not delay; send out ravens across the realm to gather the armies; it is time to fight Bolton to the death!"

"Indeed!" Everyone except the scholar agreed.

"How is it beyond the Wall?"

The air was utterly still; Meiyen indicated the scholar and asked the question again.

"Sorry, Your Highness." He adjusted the metal ring around his neck, "Jon is gathering troops in your name in the northern mountains and may soon attack the King Beyond the Wall. The Wall has sent multiple pleas for aid. If not for the reinforcements provided by Earl Norris, which barely held back the southern wildlings' assault on Black Castle, we would now have to face the onslaught of the northern wildlings' great army. Now the Wall itself is also in danger; I fear the Night's Watch cannot hold out much longer."

"I recall that when my father was alive, he already proposed to King Robert to gather the northern army to conquer that Mance Rayder. How could this be solved solely by mountain soldiers?"

"Your Highness." Sir Rodrick's tone was full of difficulty, "The wildlings' army has breached the Wall many times, and we have defeated them in the south; the urgent priority is to defeat Bolton, for once Bolton is defeated we can gather the northern forces and destroy Mance Rayder south of the Wall; if the mountain folk perform well, perhaps we can defeat them north of the Wall. Your Highness, you must make a decision."

"Subdue the exterior only after securing the interior?" She never imagined she would one day face such a dilemma.

"It's already snowing outside." Meiyen said after withdrawing a sense from the raven outside, "My lords, please help distribute food and clothing at the winter market..."

"Hmph! Is that your order, woman!" Kongqi Kongdun interrupted her.

The hall fell utterly silent under his explosive voice, leaving only the crackling of burning firewood in the hall's hearth.

"I will decide the strategy at dawn tomorrow." Meiyen stared hard at Kongqi Kongdun.

Kongdun belongs to the minor house of Long Lake, but Kongqi does not represent that minor house; his troops are his own private soldiers, similar to how Chambers, Cred, and Ronald are to Meiyen.

"I tell you, woman, my soldiers are here to fight, not to hand out clothes and food to the wildling clans outside the city!"

"I will not behead you for disrespecting me, but I can ask you to take your people back to Long Lake or anywhere else, even the Dreadfort." The ruby on the sword hilt flashed again.

She gripped the sword hilt, locked eyes with him, and waited for his response.

If he does not understand, her authority does not come from her surname, and he cannot make the correct choice. What qualifies a woman to become Brandon's regent, what qualifies her to be the de facto guardian of the North?

Governing men is not easy; governing northern men is even harder. Governing men with impure motives is as hard as climbing to heaven.

"Pah, do as you please, woman!" He turned and strode away.

He took a few steps before the hall's main door, then slowly halted.

A massive black shape appeared against the gray-white snowy backdrop outside the door.

Its jet-black fur was like ink, its shape like a huge boar, its green eyes glowing with an eerie light, its gaping mouth filled with jagged fangs like knives. It silently growled at him.