While Gary was lost in thought, Leaf quietly came up beside him. She stroked his head and asked with a smile, "I heard you argued with the Greenseer?"
Gary gathered his thoughts and feigned hurt. "Perhaps I was too foolish and angered my teacher."
Of course Leaf did not believe him. She simply thought the child had grown older, developed thoughts of his own, and no longer wanted to share certain things with adults.
She did not press him, merely took a few pieces of dried meat from the bundle on her back and handed them over. "Hungry? Eat up. Once you're finished, we'll set off and try to reach the Wall before dark."
Set off? What were they going to the Wall for? Was he about to be "released into the wild"?
Gary took the dried meat with a blank expression and swallowed it in a few bites. Only then did he notice that Leaf was carrying a long object wrapped in animal hide on her back, along with a small bundle.
That long object... looked like a sword, didn't it?
"Aunt Ye, what are we going to the Wall for?" Gary asked as he ate, his heart full of questions.
Leaf pinched his cheek and smiled. "Haven't you always wanted to see the Wall? What? Have you changed your mind?"
"I want to go!" Of course Gary wanted to visit the Wall. It was the most famous "tourist attraction" in Game of Thrones. "But can I say goodbye to Shuizhu and the others first?"
He had a feeling that once he left this time, he might never return.
Leaf took the opportunity to take one of Gary's hands, forcing a smile with great difficulty. "You'll see them again someday. There's no need to say goodbye. Eat on the way instead. We're leaving now."
She forcibly pulled Gary away before he could say his goodbyes, giving him no room to argue.
An adult stag had already been waiting nearby for some time. Seeing them approach, it lowered itself to the ground.
Leaf lifted Gary into her arms and mounted the stag with him. She whispered into its ear, "Let's go." The stag rose nimbly and plunged into the snowy woods to the south in an instant.
More than ten days later, late one night, ten miles north of the Wall.
A stag stopped there in the darkness, and Leaf swung down from its back. Before she could help him, Gary jumped down as well.
The two gazed into the distance, where rows of burning torches shone especially brightly atop the towering Wall.
Gary turned to Leaf beside him and asked reluctantly, "Aunt Ye, are you going back?" The farewell had come so suddenly that he found it very hard to adjust.
During their journey, Leaf had already told Gary everything. She said the Three-Eyed Crow hoped he could live south of the Wall, far from the troubled lands Beyond the Wall.
This decision of the Three-Eyed Crow's happened to align with Gary's wishes, so he offered no objection.
Leaving Beyond the Wall now and heading south of the Wall was actually a good thing for Gary.
Gary had had enough of the Three-Eyed Crow teaching him only general knowledge and no real skills. He knew that only by escaping the Three-Eyed Crow's control would he have a chance to grow stronger.
And only by growing stronger would he have the power to change Leaf's fate, so that she would not die at the hands of the White Walkers as she had in the show.
Then Leaf raised her arm and pointed south. "That's the Haunted Forest, where the Night's Watch carries out its daily patrols. I can't show myself, so you'll have to make your way through alone. The place with the brightest firelight in the middle of the Wall is Castle Black's watchtower. Castle Black, where you're headed, is just behind it."
Gary looked out. Along the unbroken expanse of the Wall, there were only three places where the lights were relatively concentrated. The Three-Eyed Crow had once said that nineteen castles had originally been built along the Wall.
With the passage of time, were only three left now?
She slowly crouched down to face Gary and continued, "When you reach the Wall, or if you meet the Night's Watch before then, tell them you're looking for Benjen Stark. Once you meet Benjen, give him this letter."
Leaf opened her small bundle, which contained a letter and a pouch of coins. She thrust both the pouch and the letter into Gary's hands. "Take these gold coins. I have no use for them."
Gary tucked the pouch and letter inside his clothes, carefully hiding them away.
"And this sword is for you to defend yourself." Leaf unfastened the long object from her back and peeled away a corner of the hide, revealing part of an exquisitely crafted sword hilt.
She wrapped the hilt again and strapped the sword to Gary's back. "The Greenseer brought this sword with him all those years ago. Its name is Dark Sister. This sword holds extraordinary significance. Take good care of it."
The Three-Eyed Crow's sword? Gary vaguely remembered that the Three-Eyed Crow came from the royal House Targaryen, so this sword ought to be something good.
He immediately said solemnly, "I'll take good care of this precious sword and return it to my teacher someday."
Leaf stroked Gary's head again, equally reluctant to part with him. But she understood that the child had grown up, and the day would come when she had to let go.
She instructed him, "Remember, if Benjen asks about your parentage, you must insist that your father was Brandon Stark. Your mother was a Wildling who raised you. And she sacrificed her own life to help you leave Beyond the Wall."
Gary froze for a moment, then asked, "You mean you want me to pass myself off as a member of House Stark?"
Leaf did not answer directly. "Don't worry. The Greenseer has already arranged everything. House Stark will treat you well. They'll teach you how humans live and make sure you never lack food or clothing..."
"Aunt Ye."
Gary suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist and said from the heart, "In my heart, you're just like my mother. Thank you for twelve years of companionship, for twelve years of care, and for everything you've done. I'm grown up now. I can take care of myself. You don't have to worry."
Leaf's eyes slowly grew wet. Holding back her tears, she pushed Gary away, then decisively turned and mounted the stag. "I'm leaving. Hurry along."
With that, she rode away on the stag without looking back.
Gary watched Leaf's retreating figure and remained standing there for a long time. After gathering himself a little, he turned to look at the lights on the distant Wall, drew a deep breath, and ran swiftly into the Haunted Forest to the south.
Not long after he left, the stag appeared again. Leaf had returned. She stood where she had been before, looking at the footprints Gary had left behind, and silently shed tears.
The stag rubbed its nose against Leaf's arm and suddenly spoke. "Leaf, don't cry. He's human. In the end, his path is different from ours. But don't worry. I'll help look after him when I have time."
Despite being a stag, its voice was female, because the Skinchanger possessing it was one of the Children of the Forest.
Leaf wiped the tears from her face and mounted the stag again. "Thank you, Bingling."
The rider and stag turned away and disappeared into the night.
Before you continue