A certain sword soul's infinite journey

Chapter 41 Crossroads Inn
The water of Shenyan Lake is green and warm. Floating on the endless lake, it seems to be completely far away from the world and the hustle and bustle.

Arya lay on the raft, her eyes staring blankly at the sky.

Feeling the feeling of floating under her body that was completely different from that on land, her soul seemed to start to float along with it.

Father, Sansa, Cersei, Joffrey... Everything in King's Landing gradually drifted away from her like what happened in the previous life.

That's the story of Arya, the daughter of Duke Stark, not Arlie, the orphan of the Night's Watch.

For a moment, Arya did think so.

But she was completely awake immediately.

"Look! It's a black swan!"

A cry of surprise came from the children on the same boat.

Arya straightened up, looked coldly at the black swan flying in the sky, and watched it land on the dense reeds of God's Eye Lake.

"It's so beautiful...much more beautiful than a raft."

The children whispered.

Apparently, Arya's naming of the rafts makes them involuntarily compared to real black swans.

Is not this nonsensical?

Arya was a little speechless, she just didn't want to use Yoren's "Child" and named it "Black Swan".

Looking at the clump of reeds that isolated the inside and outside, Arya couldn't help feeling a little absent-minded.

No matter how the outside world is fighting, they live on this lake without any contention, how comfortable they are!

If only I was a black swan too...

Arya thought to herself.

The adults on the side were not interested in admiring the beauty of the swan. They nodded and commented on the black swan's body shape and fat, and finally agreed that if you catch one and taste it, it must be fat.

Hearing what the adults said, Arya woke up from her daze and shook her head.

Forget it, let’s not be a black swan anymore.

……

After leaving the town, the procession of the team went very smoothly.

Whether it's a raft with sails in the water or a galloping horse with no burden on land, the speed of travel is more than twice as fast as before.

During the day, rafts carried supplies in the shallow waters, while those on land rode horses along the lakeshore.

At night, everyone swung the raft to the lake, and everyone camped on the shore to rest.

The horses were tied up anywhere, anyway, the land was full of fertile grass and sweet lake water.

The daily meal is the fat and tender fish in the lake, as well as various grains brought from the farmland of the small town.

The adults who walked the waterway also tried to get close to the reed marshes with ulterior motives, and caught a beautiful black swan with ulterior motives.

Arya was indignant about this, but considering that the barbecue was indeed delicious, she decided not to bother with them.

In this way, day after day, they kept going until the trees around the lake gradually thinned out and rolling hills appeared in front of them. Only then did everyone realize that they were about to cross the God's Eye Lake.

Yoren and the others propped the rowboat and raft to the shore, and took all the supplies.

Without a carriage, everyone could only free up a few horses and put the supplies on the horses.

"Huh, what about the raft?"

You Lun wiped off his sweat and looked at Lin Yi.

"Whatever you want, you probably won't need this thing when crossing the Trident River."

Yoren nodded, and beckoned them all to push the raft into the lake, with the sails removed and used as cloth.

"Just let him float away."

Looking at the raft floating slowly on the lake, everyone felt emotional.

To be honest, the journey across the Shenyan Lake was probably the easiest part of the journey for all of them going north.

Back on the land again, Lin Yi and You Lun rode at the front.

"Why, are you going to Harrenhal as planned?"

Lin Yi asked.

"...I'm afraid it won't work."

Yoren bit the grass stalk he picked up by the roadside, and looked at the scattered manors ahead with his brows furrowed.

To be precise, there are several dilapidated manors with only charred wreckage standing upright.

"The Lannister army may have taken Harrenhal."

Yoren sighed.

"The Countess of River Ann is good friends with us Night's Watch, but the Lannisters don't care."

"Then go directly to the Crossroads Inn. After crossing the Trident River northward from there, the convoy will be safer."

Lin Yi suggested.

"Well, that's a good idea." Yoren nodded in agreement.

……

After walking for another two days, the Crossroad Inn with a special mark on the map appeared in front of them.

When the Crossroads Inn was first built, half of it was built on the water. Even though it has been rebuilt several times over the centuries, the south wing of the inn is still built on wooden piles in the water.

The water of the Trident River flows through the back door of the inn. Looking at the Trident River, Lin Yi has a complicated expression under his mask.

Finally arrived, crossing this river, completely away from the main battlefield of the War of the Five Kings.

As long as you are not stupid enough to cross the Bright Moon Mountains and go north along the King's Road, it is safe and fast.

However, some things that Lin Yi had expected for a long time still happened.

"Lin Yi, this is not right."

Yoren frowned.

"It's so quiet! The Crossroads Inn is a very famous place. I've stayed here dozens of times, and every time it's bustling."

"Of course something is wrong." Lin Yi looked calm, and drove his horse forward to the door of the inn, "This place is located along the bank of the Trident River, and it is the hub of traffic in all directions. Taiwen is familiar with the art of war, so how could he miss this place?"

With that said, Lin Yi got off the horse, opened the door and walked in.

The crowd followed behind him.

Just as soon as he walked in, Romi pointed at the lobby of the inn and called out.

Everyone looked around, only to see a gallows in the spacious hall with a female body hanging on it.

"It's Martha Hyde."

Yoren sighed, and walked over to set the woman's body down.

"Martha is the proprietress of the Inn at the Crossroads, and I know her very well... It's a pity that the ale she brews is very mellow."

There was regret in Yoren's tone, I don't know if he was regretting the wine or the brewer.

"Poor Martha, the body has been hung up for at least half a month, and she has lost so much weight."

Looking at the bucket-like waist of the corpse, Lin Yi remained silent.

It's hard to imagine the original figure of the proprietress...

Lin Yi passed You Lun, walked to the long table in the center of the hall, bent over and picked up a fragment from the leg of the table, and rubbed the fragment in his hand with two fingers.

Shards are smoother to the touch than glass and a bit denser.

"Glass cup."

Lin Yi threw away the debris, stood up, and glanced at the messy hall around him.

"It seems that Tywin was very anxious when he withdrew, and it seems that the battle situation is more urgent than I thought."

Yoren carried Martha's body outside, intending to dig a grave for her.

Arya's eyes lit up when she heard Lin Yi's words, she ran to Lin Yi's side, and asked in a low voice.

"So, my brother won the battle again?"

"should be……"

Lin Yi nodded, took out the map from his arms, spread it on the long table in front of him, pointed at the map and said.

"We are currently at the Crossroads Inn, which is here, which is equivalent to sneaking through the hinterland of Tywin's army."

Lin Yi's fingers slid across the east bank of God's Eye Lake on the map, rubbing the corner of Harrenhal to connect to the Crossroads Inn.

"The Lannister army must be stationed in Harrenhal. Since Tywin transferred the headquarters from the Crossroads Inn to Harrenhal in such an urgent manner, it means that your brother must be somewhere and made a breakthrough..."

As he spoke, Lin Yi touched his chin through the mask.

"Although I don't know where he made the progress, Tywin will definitely not let it go. There will be a battle in the west."

"Then we..."

Arya glanced at Youren hesitantly, then turned her head to look at Lin Yi, as if asking.

"……Um."

Lin Yi put away the map, and there was no ups and downs in his tone.

"It's time to say goodbye..."

　I finally returned to school today. I never expected that my last college life would end like this. I had a good get-together with my roommates and classmates tonight, so all the manuscripts will be posted today and tomorrow. I will start after I leave school on the 21st. Speeding up the plot of Ice and Fire, and seeing the reactions of many book friends, in fact, I also feel that it is a bit too procrastinated. I still have to write here, because I have to introduce some settings, so be it, this passage was written in the toilet, and my roommate urged me...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)