Lynd said in a deep voice, "Black Hollow has always been researching methods for limb regeneration. Recently, there have been some results, and some live experiments have been conducted. However, the people who underwent limb regeneration had too weak a willpower; none of them could survive the active transplantation of the limb, and ultimately all failed. Are you interested…"
"Yes, I'm interested." Before Lynd could finish speaking, Jaime eagerly responded, afraid that if he answered too slowly, Lynd would regret it.
"Don't rush, let me finish." Lynd motioned for Jaime to calm down and said, "I can arrange for you to undergo a living tissue transplant, but you need to provide the source living tissue yourself."
"What is source living tissue?" Jaime asked, puzzled.
"It's your severed hand." Lynd said in a deep voice, "I assume you've kept your severed hand, haven't you?"
"Yes, I've kept it," Jaime replied with a joyful expression, nodding.
In the Battle of Riverrun, after his hand was chopped off, it was still connected by a bit of flesh. Roose Bolton completely severed his hand and then, using Bolton family techniques, preserved it as a specimen. When he was released from Harrenhal, it was given to him as a gift. He had originally wanted to throw that hand away, but ultimately couldn't bring himself to, and saved it. He never expected it would be useful now.
After responding, he couldn't help but ask curiously, "If I didn't have a severed hand, would I not be able to undergo the living tissue transplant?"
"Not necessarily, but such a transplant is full of uncertainties. It's unknown whether what grows on your body after the transplant will still be a hand, or if your hand will cause some kind of mutation to your own body." As Lynd explained, the failed bandit experiments in Black Hollow came to his mind. Those people could now be described as living a life worse than death.
Although Jaime couldn't fully understand Lynd's words, he could still feel that not using his own hand as the source living tissue would entail great danger.
Lynd then asked Jaime to find a time to give him the severed hand, which he would take back to Summerhall to cultivate it into a source living tissue, so that Jaime could undergo the transplant at any time.
Jaime then did not linger any longer and hurried away from Lynd's official residence.
Not long after Jaime left, two uninvited guests arrived at Lynd's mansion.
"Your Highness, please help us." Beric Dondarrion bowed and pleaded after seeing Lynd.
Lynd looked at Beric, then at Thoros, the Red Priest beside him, and said, "I appreciate what your Brotherhood Without Banners has done. If you want me to help you lift Duke Tywin's bounty, I think I can do it."
Beric quickly shook his head and said, "No, Lord, you misunderstand! We don't want you to lift the bounty on us, but rather hope that you can provide us with some supplies, such as food, medicine, and weapons."
Lynd frowned and said, "Just recently, all the Duke and their representatives from the Seven Kingdoms, except for the Vale, have signed a peace agreement. The war has ended. Are you still planning to wander the Riverlands and attack nobles?"
Upon hearing Lynd's words, Beric and Thoros were both stunned, looking at each other, not knowing what to say for a moment.
Their Brotherhood Without Banners had always been like rangers, attacking nobles who harmed common people, plundering the wealth of unscrupulous nobles, and then distributing it to the populace, allowing those suffering in the war to survive. They thought such days would continue for a long time, but they never expected the war to abruptly end without warning, leaving them somewhat caught off guard. For a time, they lost their purpose in life, and the entire group felt particularly lost.
"How many times have you been resurrected?" Lynd looked at Beric, feeling the strong magic fluctuations on him, and asked.
Beric was stunned and didn't answer immediately, but instead recalled his resurrection count very carefully.
"Seven times," Thoros remembered very clearly.
"How much memory have you lost?" Lynd asked again.
Beric was at a loss for how to answer.
Lynd said, "Do you still remember your wife and children? They have been brought back to Blackhaven by me. They miss you very much, and you should go back and see them."
"Wife, children?" Beric's face showed a bewildered expression. Although he knew he had a wife and children, and a very happy life, he couldn't remember what his wife and children looked like at all, and even the experiences of them living together had disappeared.
"How many memories that make you happy are still in your mind?" Lynd continued to ask.
Beric was still at a loss.
"Humanity. Your resurrections consume your own humanity. When all the happy memories in your mind disappear, then your humanity will also disappear, and you will be no different from a walking corpse." Lynd looked at Beric and said, "No, there is still a difference. You will become a vessel, a vessel that can be used by the Lord of Light."
Although Beric's situation was completely different from Willas and Patchface, there was one thing they all had in common: they were all vessels for an ancient existence.
However, the process by which the three became vessels was different. Willas inherently possessed the bloodline of Garth the Gardener, making him a perfect vessel. Through Willas, Garth the Gardener could recover some god-like power.
Patchface was an accident, ultimately leading to a failed vessel transformation. Patchface was resurrected, mentally deranged, but possessed a portion of the ancient existence's power that remained within him. This power granted him the ability of prophecy.
As for Beric, he was entirely transformed into a vessel by the Lord of Light's power through repeated death sacrifices.
It's no exaggeration to say that compared to Stannis, Beric Dondarrion at this moment actually resembled the reborn Azor Ahai from legend even more, because Azor Ahai was very likely also a vessel of the Lord of Light.
"A vessel of the Lord of Light?" Thoros looked at Beric in shock, a look of sudden realization on his face.
All along, Beric had been resurrected again and again through his prayers, and he always believed there must be some kind of revelation, hinting at the Lord of Light's revelation to him. He just never understood what the revelation was, and now Lynd's words instantly resolved his confusion.
And Beric also fell into deep thought. After a long while, he asked Lynd, "What is the purpose of the Lord of Light transforming me into a vessel?"
"I think it's to prepare for the great decisive battle with the cold god Beyond the Wall," Lynd guessed, then looked at Beric and Thoros and said, "The war is over, and there's no need for you to be active in the Riverlands anymore. You should go to the Wall! They probably need you more there."
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