In the middle area between Riverrun and the Crossroads, on the south bank of the bend of the Trident River, there is an inn with a unique shape. Its long and low wing stretches out to the river, as if it wants to embrace the passing travelers.
The bottom floor of the inn is made of solid gray stone, while the upper floor is made of lime-washed wood. The ceiling of the inn is also paved with bluestone slabs.
The signboard on the door of the inn depicts a scene of a king kneeling. This inn is called the Inn of Kneeling. It has a long history of construction and has witnessed important historical moments.
The inn was very lively today, and its stables were already crowded with war horses. In the courtyard of the inn, in a pavilion entangled with green vines, Clay was chatting with Brynden in a low voice.
"Lord Brynden, Tywin Lannister chose this location for the prisoner exchange... to humiliate us?
After all, this kneeling stack was once the place where the 'King of Surrender' Torrhen Stark knelt down and surrendered to 'Yin Geng the Conqueror'."
"You are right. You specifically included the exchange of prisoners' positions among the exchange conditions. In addition to humiliation, you may also be hinting to other nobles that the King of the North will eventually surrender."
After hearing Clay's words, Brynden nodded and expressed his thoughts expressionlessly.
"Tell me, could the Lannister be using this prisoner exchange as bait and have already laid traps around them?"
Clay raised his head and looked around, then spoke with some worry.
"Hey, no wonder His Majesty Robb told me that you are too cautious and suspicious.
Don't worry, I have already sent people to search every inch of the ground around me. Moreover, if Lannister does this, I will be very happy.
Because they blatantly trample on the dignity of the nobility and violate the basic traditions of the nobility, they will be spurned by all the nobles in Westeros."
Looking at Clay who looked wary, Brynden gave a rare chuckle and spoke in a relaxed tone.
"Lord Brynden, Lord Clay, they are coming!"
Hearing Brynden's words, Clay was about to speak when a Northern soldier quickly walked up to them from the inn door and immediately saluted and reported.
After hearing the report from the northern soldiers, Bray turned directly and entered the inn, asking the northern soldiers responsible for guarding the prisoners to bring the prisoners out.
Blah, blah!
The burly Earl of Goldtooth City, handcuffed and shackled, walked out of the inn first. Behind him were seven unrestrained prisoners of the Lannister family. They were all captured when Robb captured Casterly Rock.
.
Among them, there are only two members of the main line, the children of Kevan Lannister, Martin Lannister, and Jaina Lannister. The other five are members of the side line.
When Brynden and Clay led the prisoners to the inn door, Kevan and Patrick were waiting quietly on their war horses. Behind them were hundreds of Lannister family cavalry and eight prison cars containing prisoners.
"Jenna, Martin!"
Seeing his children, Kevan immediately dismounted and rushed towards Brynden and others.
The northern soldiers in charge saw him charging straight towards him, and were about to draw their swords to stop him, but after Brynden shook his head to signal them, they still rushed into the Lannister prisoners with Kevan.
Jenna is Kevan's youngest daughter, just two years old this year. During her captivity, she was taken care of by her brother, Martin, who was more than ten years older than her. Kevan walked up to him and took the hand directly from Martin.
Jenna, kept kissing each other.
Cack!
The young Jenna might have been tickled too much by Kevan's beard, causing her to laugh with a milky sound.
"Hey, Heiyu! If you don't like me too much and don't want me to leave, just get rid of these troublesome things for me."
Seeing that everyone's eyes were focused on Kevan and his daughter, Count Leo growled at Brynden and motioned to remove his handcuffs and shackles.
Upon hearing this, Brynden tilted his head towards a northern soldier beside him. He immediately took out the key and unlocked Count Leo's shackles.
"Our prisoners have been released, please hurry up and release Lord Edmure."
Seeing his side releasing the prisoners, Patrick immediately shouted to the Lannister soldiers behind him.
Squeak!
The captain of the Lannister soldiers saw Kevan nodding to him holding his daughter, and immediately waved his men to open the prison vans. Edmure and dozens of his personal guards jumped out of the eight opened prison vans.
"Edmure!"
Seeing that Edmure was free, Brynden also quickly stepped forward, hugged his nephew, and said, "You are not suffering!"
"No, uncle."
After hearing his answer, Brynden leaned back and looked at his nephew carefully. The situation was just as Edmure said. He was clean all over, his face was rosy, and he did not look like he had been tortured or abused.
He then turned to look behind Edmure at the dozens of guards who were also full of energy and in good condition, and said pointedly: "It seems that Tywin is very good to the prisoners!"
"Indeed, although he is an enemy, I have to say that he is indeed a noble and honorable model."
Edmure thought of his treatment during this period and nodded in agreement.
"A model of nobility?..."
The prisoner exchange ceremony between the two sides went very smoothly. After it was completed neatly, the two teams headed east and west.
Looking at Edmure who was chatting closely with his friend Patrick, Brynden turned back to look at Clay, and the questions he had when he knew the terms of exchange emerged in his mind.
An Earl of the Golden Teeth with an heir, plus seven Lannister members who were not close to Tywin, were exchanged for the sole heir of Riverrun, plus dozens of elite personal guards.
Does Tywin really value his subordinates and family members, or does he have other purposes?
…
Winterfell, the godswood, the heart tree replaced by leaves, unfortunately withered and died again.
Woo, woo!~~
The cheerful low roars of animals sounded in the forest. This was the Wolf Guards cultivating relationships with their respective direwolves according to the method Robb told them.
Unlike Robb and Bloodwind, the Wolf Guards do not have the close connection granted by the blood pact. If they want to form combat effectiveness as soon as possible, the first step is to cultivate intimacy.
The direwolves who had been locked in the kennel were very happy after coming out for the first time, playing happily with their respective wolf guards. Moreover, the wolf guards also fed them dried meat in their hands from time to time. Their intimacy was simply incredible.
Visible increase.
"Your Majesty, Master Sam is ready."
Gendry appeared from the other side of the godswood, trotted over to Robb, who was observing the wolf guards, and whispered his report.
"Well, I'll go there now!"
Seeing that he didn't have to worry about anything here, Robb took Gendry directly to the other side of the godswood.
After walking for about ten minutes, in a wasteland in the godswood, Robb saw Bloodwind, Sam, Daisy, Ye Zi and others in the distance.
At this time, a small wooden table was placed in front of them. Various materials were placed on the small wooden table. Ye Zi was holding a ball of moist soil with his hands.
Today Ye Zi will make explosive fruits. In order to test the power on site, Robert specially set the venue in this wasteland.
"let's start!"
To be on the safe side, Robb did not approach them and waved hello to them from afar.
When Sam saw Robb waving, he immediately said to the little girl-looking Ye Zi: "Your Majesty is already here, you can start making it!"
"It's been made."
Hearing Sam's words, Ye Zi turned around, held the rounded black mud ball in his hands, and said to him.
"???"
After hearing Ye Zi's words, Sam and Daisy looked at each other with astonishment on their faces.
Although Ye Zi's back was turned to the two of them just now, they probably saw her actions, as if she grabbed several kinds of grass on the table, chopped them into wet mud, and then kneaded them into a ball shape.
"This is the explosive fruit. It can only be used after the soil has dried."
Seemingly understanding the expressions of Sam and Daisy, Ye Zi opened his mouth to explain.
This is too simple, and it feels like it’s completely perfunctory to us!
When Sam and Sam were sure that Ye Zi was not joking, they both had the same thought in their minds.
Looking at the black mud ball in Ye Zi's hand, Sam pondered for a moment and ran towards Robb.
After hearing Sam's story and knowing that the explosive fruits made on site must be dried before use, Robb went directly to Ye Zi holding a black mud ball.
He carefully took the black mud ball from Ye Zi's hand and lowered his head to observe.
I saw that there were many special patterns on the surface of this black mud ball. These patterns were completely natural, with no trace of artificial carving at all.
In the procedure Sam reported just now, there is absolutely no process of carving patterns on leaves!
When Robb thought of this, he immediately raised his head and smiled at Ye Zi: "Thank you for your hard work. I remember you said that you can make two explosive fruits every day. Please continue to make them, I want to see them up close!"
"Well, my magic power only allows me to make one more explosive fruit."
After Ye Zi answered, he began to grab wet mud on the table.
Robb stood opposite the small wooden table, wanting to carefully observe the making process of the leaves. Sam had the same idea and stood quietly behind Robb.
After Ye Ye grabbed about the same amount of wet mud as the black mud ball, he spread the wet mud flat on the empty space on the table, then grabbed some grass very casually, and started to chop it up with a table knife on the table.
Seeing Ye Ye's production process this time, the corner of Sam's mouth under the mask couldn't help but twitch. Because the order and quantity of grass grabbed by Ye Ye this time were completely different from last time.
So, can the step of adding green grass be very optional, or is it not necessary at all?
He was thinking in his head, but Sam did not interrupt the leaf making process rashly.
After Ye Zi randomly sprinkled the chopped grass on the wet mud, he began to use his hands to spread the wet mud flat from the left to the middle. This time, Robb and Sam, who were standing directly in front, could clearly see Ye Zi.
The hand is emitting a gleaming green light.
After the wet mud was accumulated and shaped, Ye Zi held it in the palm of his hands and began to shape it into a round shape. During this process, the green light in Ye Zi's hands began to weaken and seemed to be immersed in the wet mud that gradually turned into a round shape.
among.
After a few minutes, the green light in Ye Ye's hand completely disappeared, and the surface of the black mud ball that had been rolled into a round shape appeared with the same special pattern as the exploding fruit just now.
"Ye Ye, can these two explosive fruits only be dried in the sun? Can they be dried by fire? Also, how should we use them after they are dried?"
Seeing that Ye Zi had finished making the explosive fruit, Robb immediately threw a series of questions at her.
"You can use fire to dry it. The exploding fruit is very strong. As long as you don't throw it directly into the fire, there won't be any problem.
There are two ways to use it:
The first method is the simplest and can be used by anyone. That is to use your own nails to pick out any pattern on the surface of the explosive fruit. After picking it out, you must throw it out within eight breaths, otherwise you will explode.
die.
The second method requires a user with magic power to use his own magic power to call it. When it responds to your call, it will explode after the same eight breaths."
Ye Zi handed the black mud ball in his hand to Robb, and at the same time answered his questions in great detail.
After watching the making process of the exploding fruit, coupled with Ye Zi's explanation, Robb processed it in his own mind in a way that he could understand.
In his opinion, the core of the exploding fruit is the magic power stored in the black mud ball. The pattern on the surface of the black mud ball is the pattern array engraved on the black mud ball when the magic power is poured into it, which is used for stabilization.
of magic.
Therefore, after the user destroys the pattern with his nails, the pattern array is no longer stable, and the magic power will explode after a short period of brewing.
The same principle applies to using magic power to respond. After the magic power structure in the black mud ball loses its stability, the same explosive effect will be produced.
"Well, I generally understand. Ye Zi, your daily limit is two explosive fruits. Is there no way you can continue making them?"
"There is no way, my magic power is almost drying up. If I want to continue making... I have to find a singer with magic power to help me."
Hearing Robb's question, Ye Zi shook her head decisively and then proposed a solution that she thought was completely impossible.
"A singer with magical powers, with magical powers... Can Blood Wind do it?"
Robb repeated Ye Zi's words twice, then suddenly an idea flashed and he pointed at Xue Feng who was lying lazily next to him and said.
"It does seem to have magic power. However, I have only extracted the magic power of the Sons of the Forest Singers before. I have never tried other races."
"Then give it a try. Only after you try anything yourself can you know the specific answer! Xuefeng, come here!"
After listening to Ye Zi's words, Robb decided directly, then turned around and called Xue Feng over.
When Xue Feng's huge body came to the small wooden table, Ye Zi began to make explosive fruits again with some nervousness.
Ye Zi repeated the previous production process again, but before starting to pile up the wet mud, she opened her mouth and let Xue Feng place his claws on her body.
When Robb heard this, he immediately sent a message to Xue Feng in his heart. Xue Feng stretched out his huge right front paw and gently placed it on her back. Ye Zi was indeed too short, and Xue Feng's claw almost covered her entire body.
.
When Xue Feng's claws came into contact with Ye Zi, a white light that was different from before appeared on Ye Zi's hands. As she kept rubbing, all the white light was integrated into the black mud ball.
Since the white light appeared, Robb has been keeping a close eye on Bloodwind. When the leaves were completed, he found that Bloodwind's original magic power of 23 points had dropped to 21 points.
"This exploding fruit...is different from the ones I made before!"
Ye Zi's voice sounded, and Robb immediately shifted his gaze from Xue Feng to the black mud ball in her hand.
Compared with the previous two, the biggest difference between this black mud ball is that its surface is not patterned, but instead engraved with many hexagonal snowflake patterns.
"It doesn't look like much from the outside, Sam, start a fire. Dry them and we'll just test them."
After comparing the two explosive fruits, Robb turned to Sam and ordered.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
When Sam heard the words, he immediately nodded in agreement, and together with Gendry, they picked up many dry branches around and built a bonfire.
Place the three explosive fruits next to the fire and continue to bake them for a long time before they are completely dried.
"Sam, let me throw it, you all stay back!"
Seeing Sam preparing to conduct his own explosive fruit experiment, Robb directly stopped him.
"Your Majesty, let me do it! After all, we have never used this thing."
Sam looked at the two exploding fruits in his hands and replied to Robb with some worry.
"Okay, I've seen something similar to the exploding fruit before. Bring it to me, I want to test it myself!"
"yes!"
Seeing that Robb insisted on testing it himself, Sam walked up to him and handed over the explosive fruit.
Robb took the first explosive fruit handed over by Sam, picked out a piece of the pattern with his nails, and threw it towards the empty space in the wasteland.
Peng!
The explosive fruit turned into a blue meteor in the sky and exploded directly on the wasteland. A ball of orange-red flame appeared along with the explosion sound.
This time, Robb threw it himself, and he clearly felt that the method of using the explosive fruit was very similar to the grenade in his previous life, but it was more powerful.
After testing the normal explosive fruit, Robb took the one handed over by Sam, which was made by the blood wind magic. He also picked out a piece of snowflake pattern with his fingernails, and then Robb quickly threw it out.
Bah!
This explosive fruit emitted a dazzling white light in the air. It did not explode when it hit the ground. Instead, spiky ice crystals were produced out of thin air and covered the wasteland. The visual effect was very shocking.
"This shouldn't be called Explosive Fruit, it should be called Ice Crystal Fruit!"