The Neck Swamp was even scarier than before the long night.
The area was still covered by wetlands and swamps, and the temperature was even hotter. If you reached out and squeezed, you would be able to squeeze a puddle of water out of thin air.
The sky was hot and humid, the air was humid, the leaves were wet, there was rainwater gathered in the flowers, and the trunks of the trees were black and wet from the frequent rain. People who entered the swamp would also feel wet, as if they were in a sauna wearing a cotton-padded jacket.
The thick bushes were soaked in the rotten swamp for many years, and gray mycelium and dark green vines hung down from the trunks like a curtain.
The forest was forty to fifty meters high, almost forming two sealed walls on the narrow causeway.
Huge flowers bloomed in the bubbling swamp, and the withered petals fell into the water, becoming part of the sweet smell in the bubbles.
Ah Sha felt dizzy at the first whiff of it and threw up.
Other than that, there were lizard lions the size of carriages and pythons thicker than waists.
Lizard lions looked like alligators, but they had stronger bite force, camouflage ability, and hunting intelligence.
Before they attacked, they were no different from black rotten wood floating on the water. Asha was almost dragged into the swamp by a lizard lion, and the others did not have time to save her. Fortunately, the unicorn was not weak, and its two hind hooves were like drums, kicking the lizard lion until its teeth were broken.
Lizard lions and pythons were not the scariest things in the Neck Swamp.
Asha once saw two huge furry spiders the size of calves, leaning against each other to mate.
Halfway, mosquitoes covered the sky and surrounded them, and then Elder Princess Sansa quickly chanted Dragon Magic, summoning a giant flame shield that covered a radius of ten meters.
She also saw rotting corpses peeping at them from behind the trees with vicious eyes.
She saw gnolls besieging a three-meter-tall giant gorilla …
It was not until they arrived at the home of the Swamp people, Grey Water Watch, that they slowly relaxed.
Grey Water Watch was a wooden castle that kept moving in the swamp, and the short Swamp people followed Grey Water Watch on rafts as they migrated in the Neck Swamp.
But now Grey Water Watch stopped, near the middle of the causeway, to protect the workers in the North who were building the railway.
Now Asha understood why Eide said that the North could only be connected to King's Landing after at least two hundred years.
The road conditions were really terrible.
"How did Neck become like this?" Asha hugged the coconut shell and stood on the wooden castle, overlooking the construction site not far away.
"The Northern Territory hasn't seen snow for a hundred years. Winterfell has been renamed the Summer Palace. There's no reason for the Neck to remain the same," Earl Holland Lide said with a sigh.
In fact, he was also a Stark. His ancestor was the youngest son of Bran and Mera, a pure Stark.
After resting for half a day in Grey Water Valley, Asha and the others set off again.
A day later, the team entered the Northern Region. It was completely different from the Northern Region Asha remembered. There were green plants and bright flowers everywhere. There were also vines with fruits hanging on the roadside. The people of the Northern Region were all wearing colorful shorts and miniskirts.
"It's changed. It's completely changed. Back then, the Northern Region was a desolate wilderness covered in snow. Now, sugar cane, olives, and coconut trees are planted everywhere.
In the past, the people of the Northern Region had thick hair and were as tough as bandits. Their eyes were always shining.
Now, they are fat, and their faces are filled with laziness and indifference. It's as if they could fall asleep at any moment. Even if they fall asleep, tomorrow's dinner will fall from the sky. "
"It's not as exaggerated as you say. The people of the Northern Region are very hardworking. Half of the daily necessities of the Northern Ice Kingdom come from the Northern Region," Eide said with an embarrassed smile.
"That's because the old and new lands still belong to the Night Watchers!" Princess Sansa said calmly.
When they arrived outside the Summer Palace, Asha sighed and said, "The current Winterfell reminds me of the High Court. It's a city of fresh flowers, knights, and white towers."
"Yes, the Summer Palace isn't something that we old folks are used to!"
Asha turned her head and saw a white-haired old woman leading a few young men and women from the direction of the White Blade River Harbor.
"You are …" Asha was puzzled. She didn't recognize the roaring Golden Bear on the old woman's clothes.
"Ah, it's Granny Lyanna." Danny's eyes focused. She went over happily and supported the old woman's right arm.
"Asha, don't you recognize me? A hundred years ago, we were old rivals. Just half a year ago, we met at the Lord of Heaven's birthday banquet, "the white-haired, blue-eyed old woman said with a smile.
"Mormont of Slaver's Bay," Sansa said softly behind Asha.
"Ah, you, are you Meiji's youngest daughter?" Asha was shocked and embarrassed.
In the early years, she did lead Tiemin to attack Bear Island. However, it wasn't to plunder Bear Island. That place was too poor and there was no profit. Her main goal was to prevent Bear Island from assisting Deepwood Castle.
Recalling the female pirate's past made her very embarrassed.
Half a year ago, she had been to Slave Bay. In theory, she had indeed seen old Leanna. However, she had been sitting beside the Dragon Queen at that time. She had been so excited that she had forgotten about the other guests in the palace.
This made her even more embarrassed.
Fortunately, she didn't feel embarrassed for too long. Duke Stark, who received the news, led his family out of the city gate.
Duke Brandon was like "Beast" Eide. He was tall and burly, more than 2.3 meters, like a small giant.
Contrary to his ferocious appearance, his personality was very kind. After seeing Old Lyanna, he insisted on kowtowing to her a few times.
"My mother is from Bear Island. It's my duty to kowtow to you." He laughed heartily.
After the greetings, Asha and Lyanna, the two "old people" from the same generation, talked about the changes in the Northern Region.
"Sigh, there are now millions of people in the Northern Region! They all have to thank Her Majesty Danny Rize. The old people's custom of hunting in winter has completely disappeared from the Northern Region.
It's just that they soak in honey every day. The people of the Northern Region have become the summer knights that we despised the most in the past. Sigh, you win some and you lose some! "Lyanna said with emotion.
"In the end, the pros outweigh the cons. Now everyone has become cultured, civilized people." Asha sighed.
"Civilized people are not necessarily civilized." The old lady rambled on and told them the purpose of her trip.
It turned out that Bear Island's second daughter, Nicole, had a sacred marriage contract with Hightower's eldest son, Jordan.
Later, Jordan's birth mother passed away and his father remarried. He had a stepmother and a stepfather. Both of them did not treat him well.
Therefore, the young boy took a boat to the Yue family when he was 11 years old and asked his future father-in-law for help.
Earl Mormont was a good person. He took out money to sponsor him to study in White Harbor University. But Mormont's second daughter despised her fiancé for being poor and having an uncertain future. She wanted to break off the engagement and even found another boyfriend in school.
Oh, Nicole was also studying in White Harbor University.
"How can you break the sacred marriage contract?!" The old lady was so angry that she stomped her feet. "Our Mormont family has been noble for generations. Not to mention the outstanding ability of the family members, at least all of them are loyal and virtuous. Why did this thing pop out when I'm about to die?!"
"Modern people like to pursue free love," Asha comforted her.
"It's not just free love. Nicole despises Jordan for having no future and despises him for being poor. She is also obsessed with the debauched life of the Northern Region and refuses to go to the old town to live a decent life."
"The people of the Northern Region are decent people too." The Duchess on the side mumbled.
"How can a woman keep an actress at home and a man keep a red saintess outside? How is that decent? The Northern Region now is even more depraved than the city of Ursos. Do you have to be a nouveau riche just because you're rich?
If Duke Eide was still alive, I'm afraid he would go out every day with ice to chop off people's heads. "The old lady sighed.
"There are no actors in the Summer Palace." The Duchess quickly said.
Without waiting for the old lady to reply, she quickly changed the topic to Bear Island's second daughter. "Nicole really likes Soros. Soros's status is not bad.
The chief engineer of Braavos's newly launched Titan is her father. "
"That girl is only the second daughter, and Jordan is the eldest son. How lucky is it for the second daughter to marry the eldest son?
When she was engaged, her parents must have thought of her happiness.
For the sake of free love, should she betray her parents' kindness?
Fine, they're your parents. You can ignore them, but what about your family's honor?
When you want to reap benefits, you're the daughter of the Mormons. When you have to be responsible for your family, you start to clamor about free love.
Don't you think about it? Without the status given by her family, her free love partner will not like her! "The old lady's mouth was like a wheel, running fast.
After only half a day, Bear Island's Earl Mormont arrived at the Summer Palace on a pterodactyl.
However, the otherworldly expedition team did not stay long in the Northern Region. They set off immediately after a night's rest.
On the way to the Great Wall, Asha saw many prosperous towns and villages.
Thinking back to when she and Stannis had marched into Winterfell, there were no signs of human habitation for hundreds of kilometers, she could not help but sigh again. "The Dragon Queen is too powerful. Her casual and unintentional actions can easily change the world."
Danny shook her head and said, "It's not unintentional. The equator passes through the Northern Region, ensuring that more human settlements are livable.
Before the Long Night, the equator is at the Summer Sea, and the North lacks light. There are not many humans, but Sosros has been wasting the excellent climate. "
After arriving at the Great Wall, Asha was shocked again. The Great Wall had shrunk by almost two-thirds.
"There are no more Night Watchers?"
There were continuous farms near the Great Wall, and the Night Watchers' castles had become prosperous towns.
"The ownership of this place still belongs to the Night Watchers. The taxes and crops will be transported to the Northern Ice Kingdom by sea. The new Night Watchers are all there," Eide said.
"What's the point of keeping this Great Wall?" Asha was puzzled.
"This is our world's last line of defense. The Great Wall is also the starting point of our journey. The real test begins now. "Elder Princess Sansa sighed.
She was not wrong.
From leaving the Great Wall to reaching the Northern Ice Kingdom, the group of ten had traveled for three months!
There was not even a muddy path beyond the Great Wall. They had to find their own way with a map, or walk with their unicorns.
Fortunately, the name of Targaryen was more useful than Asha had imagined. In any tribe, as long as Danny and Princess Sansa announced their identities and let the clansmen know that they were the descendants of the Dragon Queen, they would be received with the highest standards.
"Every ten years for the Old Ancestor's birthday, hundreds of clans would send representatives to Slaver's Bay to present gifts. Even when they return, they only acknowledge the Old Ancestor as their king. "Sansa had a complicated expression.
"Only some of the barbarians have returned, right? I met the freedmen of Queen's Horn at King's Landing, "Asha said.
"Yes. Thirty years after the Long Night, the number of freedmen of Queen's Horn exploded. They could not live there anymore, so they followed the centaurs and moved beyond the Great Wall. We will soon meet the Dothraki.
Remy Khaleesi is Sansa's and my second aunt. Of course, Khal Raymun is also a Targaryen, the Targaryen of the Pentashade Dragons, "Danny said.
To Asha's surprise, she thought that she would see a nomadic people living in yurts. Instead, she was surprised to see a city even larger than King's Landing under the snowy mountain.
There were even huge steel mills and wildfire processing plants. The buildings in the city were not as tall as King's Landing, but they were much cleaner and more comfortable than King's Landing.
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