At the summit of Casterly Rock, beneath the watchtower, in the cold night wind, stood two of Gregor Clegane's most formidable lieutenants—Dunsen, the most valiant executioner, and Polliver, the most loyal and devoted follower.
Of the sixty-three cavalrymen, Gregor assigned two to handle this small matter. The rest of the brothers were drinking and reveling in Lord Tywin's castle, their boisterous laughter echoing through the air.
Although this was a minor matter, the reward was breathtaking—according to Sweet-Talking Raft Clegane's drunken slip of the tongue, they had handled the matter brilliantly, and upon returning to Clegane Village, they would be knighted by Lord Gregor and given the surname Clegane.
This is the glory that would make Dunsen and Polliver give their lives without hesitation, the honor of being knights and the Clegane name, the most sacred glory in the hearts of these two die-hard fans.
Polliver would have been willing to die to be knighted by Gregor.
Polliver wants to die now.
He gazed down the cliff and walked step by step toward it.
For some reason, as he gazed at the unfathomable darkness below the cliff for a short while, he felt as if a beautiful eye in the void was looking back at him, silently encouraging him to jump.
As you gaze into the night, the night also gazes into you!
It's likely that Pollifer deeply understood this statement.
Jumping from the top of the watchtower in Casterly Rock, a drop of over seventy meters, equivalent to more than twenty stories, with irregular, solid rocks at the foot of the mountain, would certainly result in certain death.
Polliver was a fellow soldier whom no one wanted to associate with except Gregor. Whether it was the sweet-talking Ralph or Dunsen, or even the clever and obedient Notebook, no one liked dealing with him.
Sweet-talking Ralph kills with "elegance," Dunsen with "one-hit kill," while Sweet-talking Ralph prefers "petty art." For example, a problem that could be solved with one stab often requires seventeen or eighteen stabs, leaving behind dismembered limbs and bloodstains everywhere. The more pieces of flesh and limbs there are, the happier and more excited he becomes, his eyes practically glowing green.
He was cruel not only to his enemies, but also to himself.
When he gets excited, he also likes to play suicide games.
Before every drinking party, or before going into battle, or before doing anything, Gregor would say one thing to him: "Don't stare, don't hurt yourself, don't commit suicide." Three prohibitions, plus one more: got it?
If Polliver simply answers that he remembers, the problem is solved. He will remember Gregor's words perfectly and carry them out completely.
Gregor was a superstar in Polliver's eyes.
Polliver's eyes held a chilling light, and his right cheek twitched occasionally, as if he had a mild spasm; a neurotic temperament emanated from him.
"Polliver, what are you doing?" Deng Sen shouted, his voice dismissive.
"I want to jump," Polliver said.
"Let's jump in a bit!" Deng Sen said with a smile.
"I want to jump right now." Polliver stood on the edge of the cliff, the wind blowing his clothes, one wrong step and he would fall. "Dunsen, why do I always feel like jumping off this cliff when I look down?"
"Now that Lord Gregor has finished what he asked me to do, I'll jump with you." Dunsen whistled casually.
"real?"
"When have I ever lied to you?" The flippant tone was completely devoid of any integrity.
"Alright, let's hurry up and do what Lord Gregor asked us to do." Deng Sen stretched out one foot and dangled over the edge of the cliff, swaying back and forth. He thought it was a lot of fun.
Several young knights were still bound on the ground below the watchtower, their eyes wide with wonder and their hearts filled with fear.
The huge torch on the watchtower has been lit, the oil blazing fiercely, like a giant flaming sword piercing the sky.
Encountering such a madman, these arrogant teenagers were completely terrified.
One of the young noblemen in the middle is Ador Salomon.
The other boys were nobles from the northern part of the Westerlands, bordering the Westerling family of Cliffrock. Much of Cliffrock's land had been sold or mortgaged to them at bargain prices.
Adu's lips were broken, all his front teeth had been knocked out, and his noble tuxedo was stained with blood. His front teeth had been knocked out one by one with stones by Polliver. Whenever Adu tried to scream, Polliver's eyes would gleam with excitement, because he had made a bet with someone he believed to exist but was completely invisible in the air: if Adu made a sound, he would plunge the dagger he had prepared into Adu's eye.
Several of his front teeth were knocked out one by one, but Adu didn't utter a sound and endured it all.
This greatly disappointed Polly.
The young knights with Adu were his playmates, with whom he ate and drank. They were brought here because, during their afternoon revelry, they had been urging Adu to make Jenny Westerling his mistress that night, and had been fantasizing about all sorts of scenarios.
These were originally just casual chatter among teenagers during their developmental years. When the boys gathered together, they would discuss things about certain attractive members of the opposite sex, and when the girls gathered together, they would chatter about the demeanor of a certain handsome jazz.
But the speaker meant no harm, while the listener took it to heart.
With Gregor's status changed, many cunning and scheming nobles, both high and low, began to curry favor with him, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
Gregor, who had now become Tywin's prospective son-in-law, overheard these guys' "drunken musings." After learning in detail that, apart from Ador, several of them were nobles from the city of Cliffrock, which bordered the northern part of the Westerlands, Gregor reported the matter to Tywin.
Tywin's expression remained unchanged, as if he hadn't heard a thing. Gregor asked if he could speak with Ador and the others about the matter, but Duke Tywin remained silent, simply waving his hand.
So, around dusk, Polliver and Dunson invited Adoo and his brothers to come down from the mountaintop watchtower for a chat and a heart-to-heart talk.
Apart from Yadu, the other boys all had bruises and swelling on their faces.
They looked disheveled, but they only had minor injuries.
Although Adu Saloort and others suffered broken lips and knocked-out front teeth, their injuries were actually minor.
However, their inner collapse and fear of Gregor and his gang were more severe than the number of times they were stabbed.
They've been invited here by a killer and a madman for half an hour to have a heart-to-heart talk.
"They're coming up," Deng Sen whispered.
Polliver immediately strode down the cliff edge and hid on the other side of the watchtower.
He and Deng Sen peeked out and saw a young man carrying a black cloak walking briskly towards them.
The black cloak belongs to Polliver.
"I won the bet on the one who carried it up," Polliver said excitedly to Dunsen. "You lost me a golden dragon."
"How do you know that Miss Jenny is definitely loyal to Lord Gregor? She doesn't love our lord."
"I can tell she's a good person just by looking into her eyes. She's the only noblewoman who doesn't have any arrogance towards servants and maids. Only she is worthy of our Lord Gregor. She and Lord Gregor are both very good people."
Was Gregor a good person?
The nobles would burst into laughter when they heard this.
However, several nobles, including Ador, dared not laugh when they heard this.
They were now completely convinced that this bald, black-bearded man was a real madman, and they dared not imagine what terrible things he might do if they provoked him.
Deng Sen, standing beside the madman, was a killing machine. The group of them once rushed at him, only to be easily defeated by him, and then Polliver's sword was pointed at their throats.
"Get out!" Deng Sen cut the ropes binding Yadu's hands with a single stroke, his eyes glancing at the ropes with perfect precision. "You said you wanted to go on a date with Jenny, now go do it."