Beyond the Wall, in the Frostfangs, inside the cave where the Three-Eyed Crow hid.
"Cough, cough..."
Bingling's consciousness returned to her original body. Three days of intensely channeling mana had taken their toll even on her.
Hearing the sound, Leaf quietly came to her side. "Bingling, why did you stay for three days straight? Did something happen to Luke?"
She had keenly sensed that something was wrong. Bingling usually returned the same day she left; she had never stayed so long.
Bingling was just about to explain when she suddenly remembered that their every move was under the Three-Eyed Crow's "gaze."
She immediately changed what she was going to say. "Leaf, I'm so tired. I want to rest. Seeing as I helped you look after Luke, could you rest with me?"
"I'm not tired yet... all right, I'll keep you company." Leaf had intended to refuse, but she quickly grasped Bingling's meaning.
She lay down on the hay with Bingling and slowly drifted off to sleep.
With her Skinchanger abilities, Bingling sent her consciousness out of her body once more and swiftly slipped into Leaf's dream.
This was not the first time they had done this. As long as they spoke within a dream, even the Three-Eyed Crow's Greensight could not spy on them.
In the dream, Bingling showed Leaf everything she had experienced over the past three days.
"How could this happen? How could this happen? How does Luke have the White Walkers' Ice Magic?" The light gradually faded from Leaf's eyes as she murmured, "How could Luke have become a White Walker?"
Bingling shouted, "Hey! Luke isn't a White Walker yet!" "I checked him thoroughly. He's still human. He's just a human who can use the White Walkers' abilities."
Leaf came to her senses. "But the Greenseer won't spare..."
"That's why I didn't let him come back, even with injuries that serious!" Bingling said.
After thinking for a moment, Leaf gritted her teeth. "We can't keep leaving him to his own devices. We need to station someone at his side to watch him at all times."
Bingling already had a plan. "I know. Actually, I already have an idea. Leaf, I intend to give up my body and transfer my consciousness into..."
"No!" Leaf cut her off sharply. "This is my responsibility. Tomorrow, I'll go to the Greenseer and get him to agree to let me go south of the Wall to stay with Luke."
Bingling smiled with considerable amusement. "You're one of the Children of the Forest. You'd just show up south of the Wall like that? Can humans today still accept us? No, they can't anymore. Going south of the Wall would be suicide for you."
Leaf fell silent for a while before saying, "Is that what you've felt during your time in the human kingdoms?"
It had been a very long time since these Children of the Forest had interacted with humans in the Seven Kingdoms, and they were deeply unfamiliar with conditions there.
In their daily lives, ordinary Children of the Forest and those with Skinchanger abilities alike regarded helping the Three-Eyed Crow monitor the White Walkers' movements as their duty.
They rarely had the energy or the opportunity to go south of the Wall.
Only Bingling had been lucky enough to receive the task of watching Gary, giving her a chance to go south of the Wall.
Bingling explained her plan. "I'll transfer my consciousness into another animal. That way, I can stay with Luke at all times."
Leaf said nothing. She did not want Bingling to make such a sacrifice.
The Children of the Forest lived long lives. They were the longest-lived intelligent beings in this world. Even though the two of them were already nearly ten thousand years old, they still had several thousand years left to live.
If Bingling transferred her consciousness entirely into another animal's body, she would be giving up thousands of years of life in exchange for just a few short decades.
Moreover, doing so would cost her her Skinchanger abilities.
In other words, she had only one chance to transfer her consciousness. There was no possibility of transferring it over and over.
"Leaf, Luke isn't just your child. He's a child to all of us," Bingling said softly.
Leaf was still hesitating. "But the Greenseer won't agree."
Bingling's tone was firm. "That's why I never intended to ask for his permission."
Leaf hesitated for a long time, but unfortunately, she had neither the talent of a Skinchanger nor a better solution. Left with no other choice, she could only agree.
"What do you need me to do?"
Delighted that she had agreed, Bingling said, "It's simple. Fake my death and Luke's. And while you're at it, help me steal something."
Leaf was troubled. "The Greenseer can 'see' every corner of Westeros. All he has to do is turn his gaze toward Winterfell, and won't our deception be exposed?"
Bingling smiled. "Didn't the Greenseer tell you? Ever since Luke entered Winterfell, he hasn't been able to see Luke or what's happening in Winterfell anymore. Otherwise, why would he send me to Winterfell to watch Luke?"
"Something like that happened?" Leaf was somewhat astonished. They had assisted more than a dozen generations of Greenseers, but had never heard of a Greenseer's Greensight being blocked.
Bingling shared her feelings. "I think Luke must be hiding some great secret. That's why I need to watch him carefully. I can't let him play with fire and burn himself."
Leaf lowered her voice. "Perhaps you could transfer your consciousness into a human. That would make it easier for you to move around south of the Wall."
In fact, there were human Skinchangers among the Wildling tribes as well. But these Wildling Skinchangers did not deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the Skinchangers of the Children of the Forest.
They had only been Skinchangers for a dozen years or so, and often needed to establish an emotional bond with an animal before they could possess it.
As for possessing humans, that was even more difficult for them-almost impossible.
The Skinchangers of the Children of the Forest were different. Most had thousands of years of experience in Skinchanging and could possess any animal within sight at will. Possessing humans was difficult, but not beyond them.
Bingling, however, had her own ideas.
"Leaf, humans not only kill one another, they're weak, too. They struggle even to protect themselves. How could I protect Luke?"
Leaf was puzzled. "Then you want to possess a wild beast? I don't think that's a good idea."
Bingling shook her head. "Not an ordinary wild beast. Leaf, do you remember the egg the previous Greenseer sent us to find?"
Leaf thought back. More than a hundred years ago, the previous Greenseer had still been alive. He had indeed sent several of them to the vicinity of the Milkwater, west of the Wall, to retrieve a large white egg.
"Do you know what kind of egg that was?"
They had brought the egg back, but they did not know what creature it belonged to. The previous Greenseer had merely told them to store it deep inside the cave, saying it was for a time of need.
But even by the time the previous Greenseer died, the egg had never been put to use.
As time passed, everyone forgot about it.
Bingling offered her interpretation. "I heard a story in Winterfell. More than a hundred years ago, a human king and queen rode their dragons to the Wall and helped the Night's Watch repel a Wildling invasion. The timing matches perfectly."
"You mean it's a dragon egg?" Leaf had never seen a dragon and could not judge.
Bingling could not be certain either. "It's only my guess. Look, you and I both know that egg doesn't belong to a species native to Westeros. And dragons happen to be creatures from elsewhere."
The Children of the Forest had once lived throughout Westeros, and they could not have been more familiar with its plants and animals. That egg clearly had not been laid by a native creature.
"Dragons live longer than humans. I could stay with Luke for the rest of his life."
After saying this, Bingling patiently waited for Leaf's answer.
Leaf desperately wanted to say no, but she knew she could not stop Bingling. With trembling arms, she hugged Bingling tightly and whispered in her ear, "All right. I support you."
Before you continue