Chapter 268 The Destruction of Kaho City

"Torch!"

"where?"

"There, northwest, they're heading towards the tenant farmers' villages!"

Fortress of Kahor City, the white sunburst banner of the Karstark family was blown by the cold wind under the light of the torch on the city wall. One of the guards on duty at the city wall saw that under the long night, in the thick snowfield outside the city, there were actually clusters of torches, like dots of stars, in the dark, from the snowy forest far outside the castle to the castle. To the northwest a group of people had evacuated and marched into the castle's tenant village.

"White Walker?"

"Idiot, hold up the torch, it's a human being!" The guard of the Karstark family began to look at the numbers carefully, "At least a hundred torches!"

"Stark's army?" Another person shouted in shock, "They are coming?"

"Maybe he's a scout. You watch here, and I'll go to the city to inform the earl."

The guard on duty immediately set off, took off the small torch from his waist, lit it with the large torch on the city wall, and then ran towards the castle.

Karstark's home keep was built on two steep stone hills, with the observation post and front tower to the west and the main keep to the east. The entire castle is located in an inner recess of a snowfield valley, and further east is the famous large cliff in the north. This is a typical noble hill castle. There is only a wooden covered bridge passage between the front tower and the main fortress. In the cold weapon era, such a fortress could be called a nightmare for attackers.

The person in charge in Cahor City now is Lord Alf Karstark of the Karstark family. He is the uncle of Earl Rickard Karstark who was beheaded by Robb.

After Rickard was recruited by Robb, Alf was appointed to act as Lord of the City. Later, Rickard was executed by Robb for treason in Riverrun, and Hallion, the only heir of Cahor City, was taken captive by Lannister and imprisoned in King's Landing.

This kind of family change gave Alf, the acting city lord, a sudden desire to change his mind. When the Lannister was still there, Alf originally wanted to vote for the Targaryen side. Of course, the purpose was not to actually vote, but to let the Lannister execute Hallion of King's Landing in the name of supporting the Targaryen, and then let himself Cregan Karstark, his eldest son, married Rickard's only remaining daughter, Aly Karstark, to gain the inheritance of Karhor.

However, the situation was changing so quickly that there was no time for the northern princes, who were lagging in news, to react. Before Alf hooked up with Targaryen, Roose Bolton came back with the title of Warden of the North from King's Landing. The first one to win over was Karstark. Roose saw what Alf was thinking. So he secretly promised not to let Hallion return to the north.

Alf is the kind of evil person who can be said to be "a thief who never dies", who only has secret wishes in his heart. At that time, he didn't believe in the theory of the Long Night or the White Walkers at all, and the period he experienced in his youth was also frankly... The decline of the Grian dynasty. After thinking about it, he felt that the North was too far away and Targaryen's hand could not reach that long or that fast. In addition, he was worried that he would not be able to see the day when his team officially took over Kahor City until his death, so he turned to Head and Luce collaborate.

But this person's goal was always to inherit the right to Cahor City, so under the banner of seeking justice for Count Rickard, he sent those people in Cahor City who might threaten his plans and were loyal to Rickard's lineage to help Luz Bo. He suddenly opened his eyes.

But the changes in the situation made it impossible for the old man to keep up.

As soon as Roose Bolton was supported by his front foot, in the blink of an eye, the king's banner at the top of the northern city had turned into Stark again. The Karstarks have unknowingly become typical diehards in the North.

It's so pitiful that Lord Alf just wants his own lineage to take over Cahor City. He doesn't want to oppose Targaryen or Stark. Who can help him fulfill his last wish before he dies? He supports it. who.

He didn't want the situation to come to this point, but there was nothing he could do.

Alf regretted it so much now. If he had insisted on the judgment he made immediately after Targaryen's letter, how could he have relied on the first batch of dragons in the north to facilitate the marriage of Cregan and Ari, and then be regarded as Typical Conglong sects were supported.

But one wrong step, one wrong step after another, and now Karstark, led by Alf's unspeakable honorary guiding ideology and wrong implementation methods for the sake of a small sect and a large sect, has reached a desperate situation.

When the news came that the Targaryen and Stark forces had recaptured Winterfell, Alf regretted it. He wanted to surrender, but he didn't know in what name. In the end, he could only express his embarrassment to Karstark after receiving the surrender letter. Will fight against the long night in his own way.

God knows, Alf was just trying to stall for time, racking his brains to find a less damaging solution. Who would have expected that there would be no more news after that letter, and before he could confirm Winterfell's current attitude, after two heavy snowfalls, the long night had just arrived.

Two heavy snowfalls blocked the road, and when it was impossible to send messengers or scouts to inquire, Alf was so anxious that he couldn't sleep. It can be seen that when the long night came, he was not anxious anymore.

Seeing the arrival of the Long Night, Alf ordered the Cahor City fortress to be sealed off, and the supplies were inventoried. In the name of fighting against the Long Night, he directly bypassed the certification of any king and lord, and became the Earl of Cahor City. He did not need to wait for any heirs to inherit, and sat directly on his own. He ascended to the position of earl.

To say that people's brain circuits are really complex, Alf is already very old, with a thin body, a stooped back, and a haggard look. Such an old man worked hard and tried every trick for the title of Earl of Cahor City, but in the end he relied on The Long Night, through the northern border, everyone from the nobles to the common people know the horror of the Long Night, relying on what people are more afraid of, and proclaimed themselves count.

Alf is from the North, and of course he knows something about the legend of the Long Night: the cold world is dark and dark, people grow up in the cold winter and die in the cold winter, and the strange ghosts come to the world and slaughter all living things in front of them.

But these fears are not important to Alf, an old man. What is important is the position of earl. He must see that his family gets the position of earl of Cahor City before he dies.

In fact, the city of Cahor is entirely under Alf's control. Only the old man himself has never been able to overcome the psychological hurdle of "being justified". His eldest son Cregen has long been unable to hold himself back. Earl Rickard and his two sons died in the south, and the life and death of the only eldest son is unknown.

As a branch, the family title that was originally unimaginable is easily available. Cregen is not a person with honor, how can he not be jealous?

So when Alf just summoned the steward, bachelor, and knights to discuss the situation in the castle after the long night, he tentatively asked: "After the death of Earl Rickard, the life and death of Hallion, the heir to Cahor City, is unknown. Now the long night Now, I think Miss Arya should take on the responsibility of the family like Arya Stark. What do you think?"

Alf just tested it carefully. Aly Karstark is only a 15-year-old girl. She is truly powerless in Kahor City now.

Those who were loyal to the Lord were all sent to Winterfell by Alf and died on the battlefield with Roose Bolton. Everyone knows what it means to propose that Yali inherit the title at this time.

Cregen took over directly: "The long night is in crisis. Miss Yali is just a little girl. Can she bear such a heavy responsibility? In my opinion, what Kaho City needs now is a powerful earl, a real northern man!"

As he spoke, he put Count Karstark's crown and cloak on Alf.

Except for the bachelor who muttered something in a low voice, no one in Kaho City objected.

In a sense, it can be regarded as the appearance of all living beings under the long night, and it can also be regarded as a kind of "human stars shining".

But it was said that the guard on duty at the city wall reported the news of the crowd with torches outside the city to the castle. Count Alf was eating roast lamb by the fireplace at the time. After hearing the news, his eyes almost popped out of his head: "It's the coalition forces coming. ?”

The guard replied: "It seems that there are only more than a hundred torches. They are too far away and it is dark, so it is impossible to confirm their identities."

Cregan is a wild man from the north with thick hair and beard: "Father, there is no need to panic. It's freezing cold all night long. It can't be the coalition. They are going to the Great Wall to guard against the White Walkers mentioned by King Targaryen. How can they come to Kahor City?" There are probably some savages who have escaped over the Great Wall. Asuer, please bring some people and go take a look."

In the north, it was not uncommon for savages to cross the Great Wall and flee south. Farmers who were attacked by savages and robbed of food often came to the castle to complain. Even in Winterfell, there are frequent incidents of wildlings attacking farmhouses.

"Since they are savages, what do you care about them?" Alf's second son Assol asked. "The tenant farmers outside the castle either moved into the castle to escape the winter, or fled to the south. There are no farmers to complain and let them stay in the castle." It’s okay to starve and freeze to death outside the city.”

"Asol." Alf's face darkened, "What Cregan said makes sense. You can take people to have a look. If there are savages, don't worry about them. Just in case."

Asuer reluctantly put down the leg of lamb in his hand and wiped his hands casually: "Yes, Father."

Asor was quite resentful. He got up and went out with the guard who reported the news. He came to the garrison tower in the lower area below the castle, half buried in the heavy snow, and lit a group of people from the pile of soldiers huddled around a pot of charcoal fire.

Karstark in Kaho City was once considered one of the most important nobles in the North. The territory under his jurisdiction could recruit four to five thousand men. But now, in a battle of six kings and a battle in the North, the number of people is scarce and the huge There were only three hundred spearmen and a hundred riders left in the castle.

Like most northern castles, Kaho City will also accept some tenants to live in during the winter. Therefore, there are still more than a thousand noble tenants composed of old and weak women and children in the castle to escape the winter. These people are the foundation of the Karstark family. .

Under normal circumstances, Winterfell and White Harbor are the two places in the north that have winter resort towns, which are the best places for people to escape the winter. But the northern border is too big, and there are always people who are too far away, thinking that the food they have prepared is sufficient, and do not want to spend ten or twenty days or even more than a month driving cattle, horses and sheep, carrying bags of grain accumulated in the summer, and carrying Traveling to distant Winterfell or White Harbor with a cart full of autumn apples.

In these remote areas, most of the northern farmers, local hunters, and mountain people usually gather in the long hall in the village during the winter. The long hall is a landmark building in large northern villages, which can usually accommodate There are about fifty people. In winter, they are usually filled with haystacks and firewood piles, and adequate measures are taken to prevent cold and warmth. There are corrals, cellars and human living areas. Farmers and domestic livestock that cannot be moved are usually concentrated in the winter. Spend the winter inside.

Of course, there is a big difference between the so-called big villages in the north and the "big" that many people imagine. Generally, there are a few families, a dozen or more than twenty people, a few farmhouses, fences, a few cows and horses, and the ability to A village with a long hall and a watchtower can be called a "big village" in the north. A one-family farm like the one burned down when Theon chased Bran and the others was the norm for the yeoman farmers in the north.

It is sad to say that Alf, who is currently the self-proclaimed Earl of Cahor City, longs for the position of Earl of the Karstark family, which has a population of more than 10,000 in the north and can recruit four to five thousand people in the area.

He is now the Earl of Kahuo City, but the soldiers and horses he can muster are less than one-tenth of what he was at his peak. The population in the area under his jurisdiction has been reduced by half, which is at best.

The only thing that can still show the grandeur of the past is the wealth accumulated by Karstark in Kahor City.

The reason why Alf still pursues the position of earl is largely because he believes that they can survive the long night by relying on the accumulation in Caho City - after all, the winter reserves here in Caho City were prepared based on the times when the family was strong. .

"Maester Moka, why are you here?"

At the stables, Asor unexpectedly ran into the maester.

The other party obviously didn't expect to meet Asuor here, and asked with a surprised look on his face: "What happened?"

Asuor asked the previous question casually. After listening to the bachelor's question, he answered straightforwardly: "A group of savages appeared outside the city. I'll go take a look." After saying that, he shouted in the stable, "Where's the groom?" , where is the stable boy? Prepare twenty horses for me."

"Lord Asor," the groom came out of the side room with a panicked face and a pale face, his eyes wandering, "I'm here."

Asuor was depressed: "What are you doing, drunk? I asked you to saddle up your horse, didn't you hear?"

But he saw that the groom's eyes kept drifting and fell on the bachelor. At this time, a stable boy in thick clothes approached and said angrily: "Master, it's time to prepare the horse for you."

The old horseman bared his teeth and said, "Yes, yes, sir."

After that, he went to the stable with a slumped face to prepare the saddle and windproof hood.

Asuer was fat and obedient. When he saw that the old groom had gone to work, he had just walked in the snowy courtyard. He was so angry that he couldn't help but cursed: "Damn it, it's freezing cold. Even the groom is on the stove." He has a room to rest, but I have to go out to the city to catch the cold. What are you doing here? Bring me a chair." As he spoke, he also ordered the people who had just arrived in the cold clothes to hide in the stable to move a chair for him.

At this time, Asuor looked at the bachelor of the castle again: "By the way, bachelor Moka, what are you doing here?"

"Me?" the bachelor replied calmly, "The weather was too cold. Five people in the tenant house froze to death yesterday. I'm here to borrow a horse for the buryer to transport the corpses out for disposal."

"Damn the long night," Asor cursed again, and then added, "Bury it farther away."

The maester continued his words: "My lord, according to what the Targaryen royal family and Oldtown Citadel have said, it is actually best to burn the body."

"Scholar Moka, what nonsense are you talking about? In such a cold weather, the living people are not even warm enough, and there is no place for the dead. Not to mention that the burial custom of us northerners is to bury. Now the soil is frozen thick, and there will be Just find a forest and bury it in the snow. Wasn’t it always like this in winter?”

The bachelor said: "But the academy says that strange ghosts can resurrect the dead."

"Oh, White Walkers, damn White Walkers!" Azor shook his head, "I hope King Targaryen really saw those strange things on the Great Wall. Maester, if the White Walkers come here to resurrect the dead, it means the Great Wall has fallen. , The Great Wall has fallen, and there are still four or five dead people missing? Let’s think more about the living people.”

"Alas." The bachelor sighed and closed his mouth.

Not long after, twenty-one horses were prepared and led out of the stable. Asuor stood up from the chair with a grimace and said, "Why so fast? I just sat down for a while."

The old horseman looked panicked: "Sir, I, I thought you -"

Asuoer glanced at him: "I don't blame you, it's true."

As he spoke, the new second son of the earl swayed his fat body, struggled to get on the horse, and impatiently ordered the twenty riders he ordered: "Let's go!"

He didn't hesitate, and soon braved the cold wind and went out through the stable door hung with three layers of windproof woolen cloth.

The old groom watched the second son of the earl leave with a sad face. When he saw everyone had gone out, he immediately turned around and knelt down to beg for mercy: "Miss, you heard me, I didn't say anything!"

"I'm sorry, Master." He heard the horse boy reply angrily, "You are also an old man next to my father. I won't kill you, but please report to my uncle after I leave the city and go far away. Tell him, always One day, I will come back and take back my castle with my own hands like Lord Arya!"

The old horseman's face turned green: "This, this."

But the stable boy quickly ignored him and looked at the bachelor: "Scholar Moka, let's set off!"

The bachelor lowered his head and shook his head: "Miss, I am helping you because your brother or you are the legal heir of Kaho City. But I am a bachelor, and the bachelor should stay in the castle to provide advice to Lord Nayan. This is my duty. ”

"Are you confused, maester? You helped me. Lord Alf will kill you if you stay."

"If that's the case, I've done my duty."

"you--"

"You go, miss. Just dump the body in the woods after you go out. This is how they deal with it. When it snows, the body will be buried."

Aly Karstark could not understand the other party's thoughts, but seeing the other party's determination, she could only give up communication. She turned back and revealed the dagger hidden in her sleeve: "Master, can you help me load the body onto the cart?"

It must be said that, perhaps due to the bitter cold in the north, most of the women here are more practical. There are more female men like Lady Barbari, Arya, and the daughters of the Mormont family. This Miss Ari is also an unwanted person. Damn it, dare to venture out of Kaho City in the long night.

Although the underlying need that gave her the courage and motivation to do this was still the petty intrigues of the noble family - she planned to go to the Wall and seek justice from King Targaryen.

But such practical women are indeed emerging in the northern families.

The plan is bold and risky, but the success rate is extremely high.

Shortly after Asor led twenty people out of the castle, Yali Karstark had dressed herself up as a corpse burial wrapped in a black woolen hood, driving a skinny old horse to pull a cart with five corpses, slowly passing the creaking wooden bridge and coming to the tower.

Almost no guards walked out of the room at the city gate to check. They only took a look at the window, and then pulled the noose with a curse, letting the carriage and the corpse burial that represented death pass.

She was nervous, but the only communication with the guards from beginning to end was a servile bow, and she drove the carriage away from the heavily defended city of Kaho.

After leaving the city gate, she staggered down the hillside along the snowy road. She paid attention to the footprints of Asor's men and horses. In the snow, she vaguely saw the black shadows of more than 20 riders who did not hold torches to hide their bodies. She confirmed the direction and deliberately took the opposite route with the other party.

But she was not familiar with driving the cart, and did not follow the ruts left by the corpse transporter. As soon as she entered the snowy field, the cart full of corpses sank into the snow. No matter how she drove, the skinny old horse could not cross it.

She would have to ride this old horse to escape later, and she was reluctant to hit it too hard. Seeing that the cart was stuck, she simply got off and helped the horse unload the cart with great difficulty. Then she rode on it, roughly determined the direction, and rode away directly in the night.

The cart with five corpses was abandoned in the snow, and no one cared about it.

As for Asor, when his twenty riders arrived at the tenant village where the guards found more than a hundred torches entering, there were only rows of dense footprints.

"Looking at the traces, they seemed to be looking for food in the farmhouse, but in the end they got nothing, only the door panels and the dry straw of the hut."

Judging from the footprints, there were quite a few people on the other side, and their footsteps were chaotic in the snow. There should be hundreds of people.

The other side obviously deliberately avoided Kaho City and went west.

Someone asked: "Sir, do you want to chase them?"

Asor asked unhappily: "It is probably just wild men. Why chase them? Do you want to marry a wild woman or what?"

"Sir, there are people here!"

The scouts were experienced and found that there were multiple rows of footprints leading to a farmhouse, and finally stopped in the cellar of the farmhouse, only entering but not leaving. So they quickly captured more than ten people from the cellar.

Asor rode up to the captured people: "Wild man?"

"No, no," the leader looked panicked, "We are sailors. We are sailors of the Manderly family's cargo ship, islanders of the Three Sisters Islands, not wild men."

"Haha, sailors?" Asor couldn't help laughing dryly. The nearest sea area was thirty leagues away. "Then where is your cargo ship? Why can't I see it?"

"My lord, it's true. Our ship was frozen in the sea, and we had no choice but to walk over the ice."

"We walked for a long time and were too tired. We wanted to take a rest and then go to Kaho City to report the intelligence we found. My lord, they are coming, White Walkers!"

The "sailors" talked to each other.

"Haha, White Walkers!" Asor thought it was funny enough to meet people who called themselves sailors here, but he didn't expect to hear something funnier from them, "So you were driven here by the White Walkers from the sea, right?"

"Yes, sir." The leader was very excited, "They are all crazy, planning to walk to Winterfell by foot through the snow, and the city of Carhor is right in front of them, they are all crazy."

Asor asked: "Why are they going to Winterfell? Aren't you from Manderly?"

"Sir, there is Rickon Stark in the team!"

"Who?"

"Rickon Stark!"

With a flash of white light, the "sailor" who was speaking had his throat cut by the cold sword, fell to the ground, and blood spurted, dyeing the crushed snow red.

Asor wiped the blade casually: "I hate it most when others play tricks on me, do you think I'm stupid?" He swept his cold eyes over the trembling crowd, "Tell me, where are you from?"

No one dared to answer.

Asor stretched out his sword and began to call out names: "You, say it!"

The sailor who was called out was silent, so scared that he peed his pants, his lower body was cold, and he stammered: "My lord, it's true, we came from-ah!"

Asor's sword tip was in front of him: "Hmm?" Seeing that the other party was scared, he let him continue, "Go on."

"We really came from the sea. Don't kill me!"

Asor put his tongue against his teeth, puffed up his face and squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth: "Damn it!" He realized that the other party might be telling the truth, "Go on."

The other party continued: "We really walked for a long time, stepping on the ice from the sea, landing on a flat beach, and then passing through the jungle and snowfield. We were too tired and couldn't walk anymore, so we left the team here while peeing. We wanted to rest here, and after they left, we would go to Kaho City for help and tell the information to the noble lord of the castle in exchange for a chance to survive."

"White Walkers," Asor licked his dry lips, "Talk about White Walkers."

“.After we climbed onto the coast, we saw a blizzard coming from the sea. It was a very strange and slow blizzard. The knight who was left behind said that he saw dense white walkers and a large army of corpses in the blizzard, and urged us to leave quickly. Although I didn’t see it, I heard him say that there was a white walker army in the blizzard.”

“Damn it!” Asor raised his head and looked at the cloudy night sky. He felt that the cold wind blowing from the northern jungle suddenly became several degrees colder. He asked again, “What happened to Rickon Stark?”

“It’s like this.” The frightened sailor spoke more fluently than ever before, and told everything he knew like pouring beans.

They didn’t know much either. They only knew that they risked driving the boat to Skaggs Island in the long night, and then picked up a boy with a wolf. The boy was called Rickon Stark. They probably guessed something, but the specifics were not clear.

Hearing this, Asor gnashed his teeth and said, "You, take them back to the castle and bring them to the Earl. The rest of you, split into two teams, one team will go back along their footprints to confirm whether the damned White Walker army is real, and the other team will follow me to chase this group of people."

Someone backed out: "Lord Asor, there are nearly a hundred of them, and there are knights from the Manderly family. Should we wait for the Earl?"

"How far have they walked? We are riding horses, and no matter how strong the knights are, it will be useless. Follow me to chase them!" Although Asor may not be smart in some small matters, he is a noble after all, and he knows very well what Rickon Stark represents to the current "New Karstark Family".

The twenty defenders Asor led out of the city were quickly divided into three groups here. Two of them were responsible for taking this group of "sailors" back to the castle, and the other eighteen were divided into five with good eyesight to explore along the footprints. The remaining thirteen and Asor followed the footprints to chase the sailors.

There is a dense forest to the northwest of Kaho City, and the footsteps became chaotic when entering the forest.

At this time, Asor realized that the door panels and straw taken away from the village were used to clear the footprints in the snow and disrupt the traces. The other party should have brought heavy objects, but there was no means of cutting wood in the ice and snow, so they risked looking for villages to find things like wooden boards to carry heavy objects.

The other party was obviously afraid of the Karstark family, otherwise they would definitely ask for help from the castle in this situation. But this was obviously a series of consequences caused by the attitude of Kaho City after the defeat of Lus.

"Damn it!" Asor chased into the dense forest and was soon led to the wrong path by the deliberately chaotic traces.

It took a long time to spread out the troops in the dense forest. He estimated the opponent's speed in his heart and regretted it for a while. If he had left the city earlier, maybe

"North!" At this time, one of the people who spread out came back to report, "New footprints were found in the north, very new!"

Azor breathed a sigh of relief and quickly blew the whistle to gather the people who had spread out to chase.

Soon, more than a dozen riders gathered together and chased deep into the dense forest.

But when they arrived at the place where the traces were found, an experienced scout in the team suddenly found something wrong: "No, why are there wheel tracks here?"

Upon closer inspection, there was indeed a layer of faint wheel tracks in the frozen ice near the new footprints. The tracks were obviously covered by snowflakes blown by the wind and re-condensed ice crystals for some time.

New footsteps.

Old wheel tracks.

Asor vaguely sensed a kind of hidden uneasiness, and a kind of tension that was almost fearful was spreading in the cold wind.

"Damn it, this is where the dead are buried!" A rider cursed.

Since this is where the bodies of the frozen dead in the castle are thrown, then the question is.

Where are the bodies?

At this moment, all the legends suddenly came to mind, and there seemed to be an indescribable and terrifying atmosphere in the dark curtains of the familiar forest.

The gloomy north wind rustled the shadows of the trees in the forest, and it seemed that some hideous creatures were secretly watching in the thick night.

"We should have chased in the wrong direction." Someone said.

"Sir, should we retreat?" Someone asked.

The frosty dense forest seemed to whisper in the ear, and the warhorse was uneasy and panting.

Everyone looked at Asor, waiting for his order.

Asor looked at the fresh footprints in the forest, and felt that the coldness on his back, which could not be resisted by the mink coat, was wrapped around his body, and it was terribly cold.

At this moment, Asor tasted something wrong and wanted to turn his horse around and flee back to Kaho City, but he said, "Someone has to go and see where these footsteps lead to."

No one said anything, and the forest was chilly for a while. These riders were veterans who had fought in the battlefield, but they had never been so scared for a moment, fearing that Asor would call their names.

The second son of the earl continued, "Climb up the slope ridge in front, take a look and come back, one gold dragon."

After the tenants came, the role of coins in the castle became more and more, no longer just gambling chips. As a reward for reconnaissance, one gold dragon is a heavy reward.

Sure enough, there are still brave men who come out under the heavy reward, and an old voice sounded: "I'll go."

The cloak covered the old man's face, but Asor could see the fear and greed in his eyes: "Very good, who else?"

Three more came out immediately.

They took out torches from their waists, lit them with flints, held them high in their hands, and rode forward.

Azor and the remaining riders no longer thought about hiding. They all lit torches and stood quietly in the woods, watching the few people following the footprints into the woods and gradually going farther and farther.

When they were only a small spark in Asor's eyes, they began to climb the slope and walked onto a not very high ridge.

Finally, they stopped under a large sentinel tree, as if they were watching the situation behind the ridge.

Something strange happened suddenly.

The sparks on the ridge went out in a moment.

The scouts in the direction of the ridge seemed to be swallowed by a dark beast with its mouth wide open.

Asor's heart beat half a beat slower as the sparks went out.

The cold wind blowing from the north seemed to be mixed with screams of fear.

The wind became stronger, like a knife cutting.

The air seemed to have suddenly become more than ten degrees colder.

Several shadows suddenly emerged from the darkness on the left and right of the woods where they were.

"Ah!"

"What!"

"Don't come over!"

Asor didn't know how the enemy got to them quietly until his death. He only saw huge strange pale spiders rushing out from the darkness of the forest. He couldn't even tell whether they appeared from the snow or the treetops. Then he saw the spiders spit out white glowing spider silk, trapping him and his horse in the same place.

The horse cried shrilly.

Asor also screamed in a way that didn't sound like a human voice.

When Asor fell off the horse and sat up to look around. A tall and strange figure with a haggard and resolute figure like a dry bone and a skin as pale as milk had raised a very thin crystal fragment on the spider that rushed over. The fragment emitted a faint and strange blue light, as thin as a blade and as bright as moonlight.

Asor subconsciously raised his sword to block it.

But he only heard a strange sound of "chuang". His throat was cold, and his brain seemed to be immersed in ice water. In an instant, his thinking stopped and his mind froze.

At the very end, the last thought in his mind was: what he raised in his hand was not a steel sword, but a torch cut in half by a sharp blade.

The cold wind was biting and icy.

The darkness under the long night quickly swallowed up the few flames in the forest, and the cold forest was silent again, falling into a dead silence, as if nothing had happened.

If someone looked from a high altitude at this moment, they could easily see that in the north of the dense forest of Kaho City, a huge blizzard curtain was slowly but swallowing everything, attacking Kaho City from the northwest and northeast little by little.

Two hours after what happened here ended, Viserys learned from the Three-Eyed Raven that Kaho City was destroyed and no one in the city survived.