The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 135: The Bull and Bernie

Within the Westerling family's territory, a village bordering the lands of Count Banecroft: Alex Village.

"Hey, what are you dawdling about? Hurry up and pack your things!" A short man, dressed in brocade, glared at his wife with beady, rat-like eyes and roared.

His name was Bernie, and he was skilled at imitating all sorts of sounds from nature, as well as mimicking the voices of others with uncanny realism, blurring the line between truth and falsehood. This allowed him the opportunity to perform ventriloquism at the banquets of noble knights, earning him considerable money and fame.

In Alex Village, Bernie was the wealthiest man in the entire village. Of course, he was also a celebrity in the surrounding area.

Count Banecroft liked him very much.

After Alex Village was sold by the Westerling family to Count Banecroft, Bernie was frequently invited by Count Banecroft and other family knights to perform various lifelike animal sounds or other designated characters' voices at noble festivals and banquets.

Bernie's wife was much taller than him, tall and strong, with thick lips and a broad face. His wife had no name, naturally no surname either. Bernie had picked her up on the streets when he went to the Riverlands to perform ventriloquism. He humiliatingly referred to his strong wife as Bull.

Over time, Bull became the woman's name.

Bull was timid and introverted, and clearly afraid of her much shorter husband.

Bull began to pack her things slowly. She picked up a piece of clothing, then put it down, picked up an exquisite wicker box, then put it down.

Bernie, on the other hand, was packing quickly. Outside the house, there were sounds of people running, as if they were about to go to war with a neighboring village.

"Bernie!" Bull finally mustered up her courage. "I don't want to leave the village. I like it here. I don't want to go... anywhere."

"Are you an idiot?" Bernie roared from the outer room. He was counting his copper stars and silver stags, as well as a few gold dragons, with a clinking sound. "Alex Village no longer belongs to Count Banecroft. It has been returned by the count to the faithless idiot Count Westerling."

"And the idiot Count Westerling married his daughter to the Mountain. Do you know who the Mountain is? He's a demon from hell, taller than our house. He comes out to kill and cook people every night. He's going to conscript troops throughout the territory, making us mercenaries to earn money for him. And he's going to levy taxes here that are so high we can't afford them at all. Damn it, he's a Clegane, hundreds of miles away from us. Why should he come here to collect taxes?"

Bull was speechless. She didn't know what to say.

She was not good with words to begin with. Bernie rarely came home throughout the year. She farmed and worked here, very content and comfortable, not arguing with people, not competing with others. No one scolded her for being stupid, or complained that she ate too much and did too little. She had come to like this place and was unwilling to leave.

"You go, I'll stay!" Bull said timidly, "You can come back anytime. This will always be your home. And you will always be my man."

"No!" The 'rat' rushed in, raising his hand to slap Bull, but Bull reached out and grabbed his wrist. Bull was very strong. "I'm not leaving. He wants to collect taxes. I have no money!"

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, let go, you idiot! If you don't leave, a... beautiful woman like you... will be finished if the Mountain sees you. Your life will be over. He will rape you before killing you, then rape you again and kill you again, kill you and rape you, rape you and kill you! He is a bloodthirsty and brutal demon."

Bull couldn't understand what Bernie was saying at all.

She released Bernie's hand, looking at him anxiously and fearfully.

She saw the red finger marks on Bernie's wrist. She was afraid she had hurt him. Bernie had a bad temper, loved to scold people, and liked to bring prostitutes back to sleep with him when he was drunk. But Bull didn't mind. Bernie was a good man. She was very grateful to him.

After Bull was driven out by her parents and brothers, she had been picking food from the garbage dumps on the streets. Bernie had saved her, given her a stable place, and these several renovated tall stone houses.

"You really won't leave?" Bernie shook his wrist, seeing the red mark on his wrist. Now was an emergency. Everyone in the village was moving, and everyone decided to go to Count Banecroft's territory to reclaim land. Bernie didn't need to. He decided to formally use his ventriloquism to make money, travel around, and make sure to sleep with the local girls wherever he went.

His ultimate dream was to sleep with the women of the Seven Kingdoms.

"I'm not leaving!" Bull shook her head resolutely. She had no impression of the Mountain, but she would never forget the impression of being beaten by her family and starving to death on the streets.

"Everyone in the village will be gone, and you'll be the only one here. When the Mountain comes, you'll be dismembered. Like this, *chop*, your hand is cut off, *chop*, your leg is cut off, *chop* with a knife, your neck is cut off, *bam*, with a kick, your head is kicked away. Are you afraid or not?"

Bull stared blankly at Bernie.

Bernie despaired to find that this bull might not understand what he was saying at all.

"If you really don't leave, I won't leave you a single copper, I swear." Bernie raised his voice to show his shamelessness.

"Take all the money, and take more food," Bull said, "When you're outside, drink less alcohol, and don't trust the girls. They're all just cheating you out of your money."

"Nonsense!" Bernie said disdainfully, turning his head and leaving. "You idiot, you're lecturing me now, get the hell out of here!"

*

Throughout the Westerling family's territory, in village after village on the reclaimed land, rumors were rampant. There were all sorts of terrible rumors about the Mountain's terrifying murders and rapes of women, rumors about conscription without pay but families who went to serve as soldiers had to pay taxes to support the soldiers themselves, and it was a newly added silver stag tax per month, and if there wasn't enough money, grain would be used to offset the debt; there were rumors that the Mountain would launch a full-scale war with the surrounding northern nobles; in short, rumors had no wings, but they could fly freely in all directions, and very quickly.

These rumors did not know where they came from, as if at the same time, these rumors broke out in villages and places, although the statements were different, but the meaning was the same, that is, to quickly escape the Westerling family's territory, or it would be too late to leave.

Bernie packed his personal belongings, mainly money, and went out with a bag on his back. Most of the people in the village had already gathered, with a banging and clattering sound, and many people were rummaging through boxes and cabinets to pack their things.

"Let's go!" Bernie was a celebrity in the village, and everyone was watching him.

"Bernie, where's Bull?" A villager asked.

"She's not leaving, let's go. It'll be safe to enter Count Banecroft's territory before dark," Bernie said.

"Then let's go quickly!" Someone said.

"Take Bull with you, she's a good woman, Bernie," an old woman said.

"It's not that I don't want to take her, she's possessed, and refuses to leave no matter what!"

Bernie said as he whistled, relaxed and content: "Let's go, everyone!"

So the villagers followed Bernie out of the village in a chaotic manner.

Suddenly, in the distance, a young man rode an ox galloping on the road in front of the village, shouting: "Go back quickly, go back quickly, the Mountain's people are here, it's the three-dog banner, it's the three-dog banner."

Bernie and the villagers stopped immediately.

To prevent any accidents, two young men who could climb trees were sent to the big trees outside Alex Village to watch the road. Once there was a situation, they would report immediately.

To escape, they could only escape quietly. Legend has it that the Mountain was extremely cruel, and anyone who fell into his hands would die without a burial place.

The villagers were all panicked, and their faces changed greatly.

Bernie made a decisive decision: "Go back!" He said, "Wait until it's dark at night before leaving!"