Chapter 230: The Haunted Forest

A subtle rustling came from the bushes beside them.

"Hmm?"

As the leader of this group of cavalry, Benjen Stark, the Chief Ranger of the Night's Watch from House Stark, slightly raised his head, looking in the direction of the noise.

"What was that noise just now?"

Benjen Stark's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and the rest of the rangers quickly became alert.

Rangers were different from other Night's Watch units, which included thieves, debtors, poachers, rapists, thieves, and bastards.

The rangers were the most elite warriors in the Night's Watch. Most of them came from noble or titled families and had received good swordsmanship training since childhood.

Some joined the Night's Watch voluntarily, while others were forced to do so due to political struggles within the kingdom.

Therefore, the rangers could often gain the upper hand in their encounters with the wildlings, becoming the number one enemy of 'King Beyond the Wall' Mance Rayder. All the wildlings wished they could eat their flesh alive.

At Benjen Stark's words, all the rangers fell silent in an instant.

A dozen 'crows' glanced at each other, then quietly dismounted.

The Chief Ranger with long black hair stared intently at the bush where the sound had come from.

The snowstorm a few days ago was severe, accompanied by chilling winds and the howling of ghosts and wolves. This was the norm in the Haunted Forest, and the climate north of the Wall was harsh.

So they found a place to shelter from the snowstorm, and now they were back on their journey.

Benjen couldn't see what was hiding in the bush he was looking at. He was silent for a moment, then raised his hand.

Two rangers nodded and followed him, the three of them crouching and moving towards the source of the sound.

At this moment.

The bush not far away, which had just made a noise, made a sound again.

But this time they heard clearly. It seemed like a group of people far away from them were shouting loudly, and they were speaking in an obscure language they couldn't understand.

"It's wildlings!"

Benjen, who was leading two brothers, instantly understood the identity of the other party.

Only the lands north of the Wall retained the ancient language of the First Men, and everyone active here, except for the Night's Watch, were wildlings.

And these shouting voices seemed to be chased by something terrifying, running towards Benjen and the other rangers.

"Benjen, what do we do?"

Another ranger brother whispered to their leader.

The long-faced man's grey-blue eyes slightly condensed, he gripped the hilt of his sword, then exhaled a white mist, decisively saying.

"Kill them when they come."

"Good!"

All the ranger brothers nodded.

Then a dozen rangers in black followed Benjen, took their bows and arrows from their backs, strung their bows, and crouched in the bushes, preparing to ambush this group of wildlings.

There are no roads north of the Wall, all are open spaces walked by people.

Their horses were tied to the trees, and the rangers were preparing to ambush these unlucky wildlings.

"These damn guys seem to be chased by some beast."

One of the rangers sneered.

The wildlings hated the Night's Watch, and the Night's Watch naturally had a deep hatred for the wildlings. Many brothers had died at their hands.

Soon, without too much time passing, the group of shouting wildlings finally appeared in the rangers' sight.

But what puzzled Benjen was that he didn't see anything chasing them from behind.

"What are they running

from?"

These wildlings lived in the harsh environment north of the Wall, each of them agile. Those unfit for survival among the wildlings died young, and ordinary beasts were no match for these wildlings.

"What exactly is chasing them?"

If it were one or two, it would be fine, but so many wildlings...

The sharp-faced man furrowed his brows, he had a bad feeling in his heart.

However, at this moment, a ranger couldn't help but release his arrow first.

Thump—

The bowstring made a sound, an arrow made a sharp whistling sound, and then directly hit a wildling's throat.

Thud.

The arrow pierced his neck, blood splattered on the white snow, and the body fell into the snow and disappeared instantly.

"Damn it! There are 'crows'!"

The fleeing wildlings were also shocked at this sight, and then a wildling who understood the common tongue shouted loudly.

"There are monsters! We are not enemies!"

But before he could finish his words, the next second, a dozen rangers released their arrows together.

Thump, thump, thump—

Each of the rangers was an elite among the Night's Watch, their arrows extremely accurate. The group of wildlings, without armor, could only block the rain of arrows with their bodies.

Therefore, they quickly fell, their bodies buried in the snow, leaving a lot of bright red in the white expanse.

The last wildling was shot in the thigh, fell into the snow, but still struggled to crawl in their direction.

"Leave one alive!"

Seeing this, Benjen, who was somewhat uneasy, quickly spoke to stop them.

However, his voice was a step too late, a ranger next to him released his bowstring.

Thud—

The cold arrowhead pierced the last wildling's neck, and blood quickly spread in the white snow.

"This..."

The ranger looked somewhat innocent and shrugged slightly.

"Sir, you spoke too slowly."

"But there's nothing good about interrogating wildlings, they move their settlements frequently, and by the time we patrol next, they've probably moved."

Wildlings often had to migrate to places with more food and water sources for survival, so they had no fixed abode.

"Hmm, never mind."

Benjen frowned, but didn't say much more.

Splash—

Then a group of rangers hiding behind the bushes all stood up.

Since all the wildlings had been eliminated, they were preparing to go forward and search their bodies.

There was nothing good at the Wall, but they definitely couldn't leave weapons and equipment to these wildlings.

Then several rangers slid down the slope, holding onto the trees.

Benjen still stood on the high ground, arms folded across his chest, looking in the direction the wildlings had fled from, pondering something.

At this moment, an extremely pale face suddenly intruded into his vision.

"Hmm?"

Benjen was slightly startled, not reacting at first.

However, the next second, that pale face disappeared from his sight.