Tap, tap, tap!
Jacaerys, accompanied by Ela and Duke Cregan, whose arm was simply bandaged, entered the dungeon of Deepwood Motte.
The Stark Family soldiers responsible for guarding the place had their ears plugged with makeshift cork earplugs to prevent accidents.
Of course, these ordinary soldiers were only used as human alarm bells.
The true guardians were Womax and the other four dragons circling in the sky above Deepwood Motte.
In the innermost large cell, Leaf and her two companions were tightly bound at their limbs in a 'spread-eagle' shape by iron chains as thick as a thumb.
Not only that, their eyes were also covered with black cloth, and each of their mouths was stuffed with a wooden ball tied with a rope.
Uh, the kind from the Sakura Country movies of his previous life.
"Mumble, mumble, mumble!"
Seemingly hearing someone walk up to her, Leaf tried to speak.
Jacaerys stepped forward, tore off Leaf's blindfold, and then said, "Leaf, I hope you can be a little smarter and not try to challenge my bottom line."
Leaf, who had opened her eyes, first looked at the situation of her two companions on the left and right, and then nodded to Jacaerys to indicate her agreement.
Seeing this, Jacaerys reached out and temporarily removed the makeshift wooden gag from her mouth.
"Minion of the Otherworldly God, what exactly do you want to get from us?"
After being able to speak, Leaf immediately opened her mouth to ask Jacaerys his purpose.
"Get what? I told you before, let's find a place to have a good chat.
But you didn't accept my good intentions, so we can only chat this way now."
Seeing that Leaf was willing to communicate with him, Jacaerys's mouth curved into a harmless smile, and he replied in a very relaxed tone.
Leaf was silent for two minutes after hearing this, then opened her mouth and asked, "After chatting with you, can you let us regain our freedom?"
"Of course, but the premise is that you must swear by the Old Gods that everything you say to me is the truth."
"I swear by the source of all things, I will answer with the truth what I can tell you!"
The source of all things is the name the Children of the Forest use for the deity they believe in; the Old Gods is actually the name the people of Westeros gave themselves after the invasion of the Seven Gods faith.
"Very good, then I also swear by the Seven Gods that I will set you free after we finish."
Jacaerys nodded and replied, then turned sideways and pointed at Duke Cregan, continuing, "By the way, before we chat, why don't you use your magic to heal his injuries first?"
Hearing Jacaerys voluntarily let her cast magic, Leaf's eyes lit up, and then she slowly began to sing in that unknown language.
Without needing a hint from Ela behind him, Jacaerys knew Leaf was trying to play tricks as soon as he heard that the melody was different from the one he had forcibly memorized before.
Alas!
Jacaerys sighed, slowly walked to the side of a Child of the Forest on the left, and then directly reached out and grabbed one of her sharp claws.
Crack!
Ouch!
A crisp sound of bone breaking rang out, and one of this Child of the Forest's sharp claws was directly bent backward by Jacaerys by one hundred and eighty degrees.
And this Child of the Forest, who felt the intense pain, could only let out an extremely painful whimper because her mouth was stuffed with a wooden gag.
Crack, crack!
Jacaerys did not stop there, but quickly bent the remaining two sharp claws of this Child of the Forest back as well.
Although the Children of the Forest are not human, they are still flesh and blood, and their body structure is roughly similar to that of humans.
The pain of broken fingers caused this Child of the Forest to whimper in pain non-stop, and even saliva flowed down from both sides of the wooden gag.
"Stop, stop.
I was wrong, I was wrong!
Let me go, I will heal him now.
Moreover, casting 'Gift of Life' also requires the magical materials that you confiscated to assist."
Unable to bear her companion's suffering, Leaf gave up the magical chanting that was more than halfway done, turned her head, and begged Jacaerys loudly for mercy.
Having tested Leaf's weakness, Jacaerys nodded towards Cregan, who was standing silently to the side, and the latter immediately called two of his subordinates to unlock Leaf's chains.
And Ela also timely selected a bag filled with green powder from the magical materials that had been previously confiscated and handed it to Leaf.
This time, Leaf did not dare to make any small movements.
After sprinkling the green powder on her companion's three sharp claws and Cregan's injured arm, the sorrowful singing, like a cuckoo crying blood, rang out again.
The shimmering green light was fleeting, and the injuries of that Child of the Forest and Cregan began to recover at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Seeing this healing magic for the second time, Jacaerys still felt it was quite miraculous.
Causing damage in this world is simple, but healing is as difficult as reaching the sky.
Leaf's healing magic is much more reliable than those scholars in Westeros who only know how to use maggots to eat rotten flesh and bleed for detoxification.
Jacaerys, possessing Dragon Power, should have little need for this magic himself, but Baela and his younger brothers might need it at some point.
He tilted his head and glanced at Ela, who was deep in thought, hoping that this Cloudsky mage, who had been won over with dragon materials, would comprehend the magical principles within it.
Clap, clap, clap!
After Leaf finished the healing magic, Jacaerys immediately applauded.
At the same time, he asked, "Leaf, you are amazing!
I want to ask you, what is this language that sounds like singing called?"
"This is called source language, it is the language the Children of the Forest use to praise all things in the world."
Leaf gradually found a way to interact with Jacaerys; after hearing his question, she only pondered for a moment before answering.
"Hmm, it seems you must use this language to cast magic.
Hehe, can I learn this language?"
"As far as I know, no human can speak source language, but ravens can."
Leaf immediately heard the purpose in Jacaerys's words, so she directly opened her mouth and denied it.
"Ravens can learn, but humans cannot.
You… aren't you lying to me?"
Hearing such a targeted answer, Jacaerys immediately showed a suspicious look on his face.
"I have sworn by the source of all things, so I will never deceive.
Only you cunning humans like to deceive with lies.
A long, long time ago, the Children of the Forest once taught the First Men to learn source language.
But after thousands of years have proven, humans absolutely cannot learn source language!"
Seeing Jacaerys question her words, Leaf immediately replied in a very firm tone.
"Okay, don't get too excited, I believe you are not lying.
Then do your two companions also use source language to use magic? Is that why they can transform into mammoths and ice wolves respectively?"
Hearing this, Jacaerys showed an expression of believing Leaf and skipped the topic.
"I am a Singer, they are Wood Dancers.
So they cannot use magic.
As for their true Skinchanging… I cannot say!"
Leaf first answered the previous question, and then, when she got to the latter part, she bit her lip and shook her head, refusing to answer.
Wood Dancer, true Skinchanging!
Jacaerys stroked his chin, lowering his head to ponder the information revealed in Leaf's words and secretly guessing in combination with his memories from his previous life.
The Singers among the Children of the Forest, like the Cloudsky mages, are like the squishy mages in games from his previous life.
And these Wood Dancers are more like melee druids who can transform into animals.
He knew the term Skinchanging.
In the TV series from his previous life, Bran Stark and a Free Folk Skinchanger could both enter and control animal bodies with their consciousness.
But this true Skinchanging is probably much more advanced than theirs, directly transforming their own bodies into ferocious beasts, and he doesn't know if there are any limitations.
"Okay, if you won't say, then let's move on to the next topic, what is that exploding black ball you threw?"
After secretly guessing for a while, Jacaerys raised his head, pretending to be very casual, and continued to question Leaf.
"That is a magic fruit, it is a one-time magic item that I made."
"A one-time magic item… Is the raw material for making it common? Can it be mass-produced?"
Jacaerys was very interested in this one-time magic item, which was more powerful than a hand grenade, and immediately asked in detail.
In this magical world, climbing the technology tree is undoubtedly putting the cart before the horse.
And if this kind of one-time magic item can be popularized, then even if...
"The raw materials are relatively common, however, it is necessary to be extremely focused when engraving the complete magic circle on the fruit.
I can make at most five or six Exploding Fruits a day."
Regarding what she considered common knowledge, she did not avoid Jacaerys and answered directly.
So, as long as the problem of engraving the magic circle can be solved, mass production can be carried out!
Jacaerys nodded secretly, and immediately asked in a very casual tone, "Where is your cave?"
"Northeast of the Milk River…"
Leaf, who had completely lowered her guard and was chatting with Jacaerys, subconsciously blurted out the location of her lair.
But after she reacted, she immediately shut her mouth.
Northeast of the Milk River.
Keeping this geographical location firmly in mind, Jacaerys continued to question Leaf, "The Green Seer sent you south of The Wall, besides casting magic to make the Heart Trees revive, is there anything else?"
Knowing that she had accidentally revealed important information, Leaf simply kept her mouth shut and shook her head, saying nothing.
"Alright!
I am very satisfied with your answer.
And I have always kept my promises, now I will set you free!"
Jacaerys nodded, praised Leaf, and clapped his hands twice.
Cregan was now genuinely impressed by the methods of this new king, so he didn't ask any further questions and directly had his soldiers release the other two Wood Dancers.
Clatter, whoosh!
The iron chains binding their limbs were unlocked, and Leaf looked at Jacaerys with a face full of disbelief.
She couldn't believe that this minion of the Otherworldly God would really release them so easily.
But opportunity knocks but once!
Leaf and her two companions exchanged glances, and immediately took a step, wanting to escape this dungeon and return beyond The Wall.
Huh???
But as soon as they took a step, they felt the surrounding air surge towards them like seawater.
Leaf and her two companions were immediately like three little insects trapped in amber; the further they walked, the greater the resistance.
After walking five or six steps, they could no longer move at all and could only stand still.
Seeing this, the two Wood Dancers wanted to use true Skinchanging to break free from their predicament.
Thud, thud!
Jacaerys's fists came from behind, gently hitting the back of their heads.
The two Wood Dancers, caught off guard, didn't even let out a grunt and were directly knocked unconscious by him.
"Unfortunately, you who gained freedom are now captured by me again!
Cregan, tie them up just like before!"
...
Thenn is located in the northernmost area beyond The Wall, situated in a valley in the high mountains, hidden in the far north of the Frostfangs.
In this land of ice and snow, even ordinary Free Folk cannot live here, except for the Thenns.
The Thenns call themselves the descendants of the First Men, they speak an ancient language that only a very few people can understand, and most Thenns only know a few common words like eat, drink, die, and mate.
The harsh environment can temper will and body, every Thenn is a fierce warrior, they are equipped with short spears with leaf-shaped tips, clothes sewn with bronze plates, and simple leather shields with copper edges.
Due to lack of food, the Thenns eat everything, even other Free Folk.
Their image in the TV series of his previous life is that group of bald cannibals.
Outside a village where thousands of Thenns gathered, dozens of Thenn warriors were chatting in the ancient language about their recent hunting gains.
"...Hmm, why is it suddenly snowing?"
Looking at a snowflake falling on the back of his hand, a Thenn warrior looked up at the sky and said.
In the eyes of the Thenns, what is called snowing is completely the kind of heavy goose feather snow that can make the whole world white.
A thick, exaggerated gray cloud covered their heads at some point, and pieces of snowflake the size of a thumb fingernail began to fall continuously.
The Thenn warriors didn't react much at first, but remembering the increasing number of missing hunters and the legends in the village, their faces suddenly changed drastically.
Crack, crack!
Suddenly, a chaotic sound of footsteps stepping on the snow entered the ears of the Thenn warriors, and this sound grew louder and louder.
A Thenn warrior with excellent eyesight, staring with wide eyes at a large area of black shadows surging out of the distant forest, immediately shouted in terror, "Dead men, the dead men are coming!!!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Dozens of flaming arrows shot into the sea-like army of dead men, easily hitting a Ghoul.
Although compared to the Ghoul army, which is counted in units of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, losing a few dozen Ghouls had no impact at all.
Tap, tap, tap!
Thenns of all ages and genders rushed out, skillfully wrapping their weapons with thick clothes, then pouring grease or other substances on them, and igniting them with fire.
Hoo, hoo, hoo!
Thousands of burning torches warmed this ice field, and in the light of the fire, all the Thenns stared closely at the approaching White Walkers.
Whoosh!
Click, click, click!
Ghouls, as if injected with adrenaline, charged into the ranks of the waiting Thenns.
Bang!
Clatter!
A Thenn swung a flaming weapon in his hand and struck a skull that lunged at him, the long stick with grease instantly igniting the skull.
But then two or three Ghouls holding long swords surged forward, instantly piercing him full of holes.
It didn't take long for the flames, like stars, to be submerged by the Ghoul sea, and these thousands of Thenns were all killed.
Tap, tap, tap!
An Other, holding an ice spear and riding a zombie warhorse, walked forward.
It pointed the ice spear in its hand diagonally at the sky, and the thousands of blood-soaked Thenn corpses on the ground opened their eyes, revealing their ice-blue pupils.
The gray clouds in the sky continued southward, for all living things in Westeros, winter is coming!