Infinite Hunter

So he wandered around the edge of the Dothraki Sea for half a month, and finally figured it out - "Let the dragon grow up. There is no way I can go deep into the Dothraki Sea and kill the newly hatched dragons by myself." He returned to the trading city near the Dothraki Sea, but he did not live in the city.

This also facilitated his escape. For the past two weeks, he had gained a great reputation throughout the Dothraki Sea and the trading cities—he prowled the land in a lion's skin, sighting many and driving many away. Over thirty Dothraki had perished at his hands in that short period, all by the Lion Knight alone—killing so many with bow and sword, even while under siege.

The Lion Knight's bravery and strength were evident, and the key point was that he managed to kill so many without even taking a single injury – this wasn't just some kite-flying style of fighting, relying on his horse and bow. Everyone knew that when facing the Dothraki siege, this Lion Knight dismounted and fought on foot, not on horseback. At long range with a powerful bow, he was an exceptional archer, but at close range, he was a formidable meat grinder.

The Dothraki couldn't defeat Cheng Yijiu from any angle, even when their khals were on the field. Before returning, Cheng Yijiu actually encountered a small khal. He killed all the bloodriders around the khal and chopped off the head of the waist-length khal, but he himself remained unscathed. The fleeing Dothraki spread the news, and from then on, even among the Dothraki, Cheng Yijiu earned the nickname "the man in the lion's skin."

This language isn't about the person, but the title itself, which is practically equivalent to a demigod. In the trading cities, the Lion Knight's reputation originally spread from Westeros, and now they've simply witnessed how powerful this man is. In terms of individual martial prowess, this Lion Knight may have reached the pinnacle of human strength. At least among living knights, he's probably number one.

Of course, this is a foot-fighting knight, and the Lion Knight has never demonstrated his ability in horse fighting.

Cheng Yijiu certainly wasn't in disguise; he hadn't worn his mask since the tournament, so many people knew this Lion Knight was "white." Indeed, Cheng Yijiu's skin was actually lighter than many Westerosi people. If this guy were to return to Westeros, he might even hear new rumors about himself. If he chose, a knighthood was a given.

He had no chance of becoming a landed noble, but he could certainly be a court noble, a knight. His martial prowess was enough to make him a member of the Iron Guard or a chief instructor. But as for the talent to command an army? Cheng Yijiu knew he didn't have it. He didn't think he could command an army just by reading a few books and playing a few games. Cheng Yijiu estimated that he could only command a dozen or so men at most. More than that, even with hierarchical command, he might not be able to operate.

As for a massive army? That's just a dream.

If it were all a game, with just clicking a mouse, he would have confidence. However, this was a real-life situation where commands were given using messengers, drums, and flags, which had a lag. So Cheng Yijiu felt that he would definitely be the defeated general - the more people there were, the faster they would lose.

So, he had joined a noble, likely with only a handful of personal soldiers, deployed to a particular battlefront under the orders of his superiors—his role was similar to that of the Mountain, or perhaps even worse. After all, the Mountain had fought in actual battles and commanded hundreds of men. Cheng Yijiu pondered this question for a moment before disregarding it—he had never considered working for a noble.

He now lived outside the city. He had originally planned to buy a small piece of land and have someone build a house there, but the merchants and nobles in the city didn't give him that opportunity. Instead, they offered him a manor in the suburbs, personally visited him one by one, and invited him to various cocktail parties all day long. Cheng Yijiu didn't refuse this "goodwill." If he wanted to live there properly, he had to build good relationships with the people. He was well aware of their intentions, but Cheng Yijiu didn't care.

He collected information in the city-state's library and talked to the scholars in the city-state to collect information - he just wanted to know where in the world there were dragons.

His efforts bore fruit after a few months - the Valyrian Peninsula, once the site of the Free Cities of Valyria, the kingdom of dragons and advanced technology, was transformed into a shattered hell by the eruption of fourteen volcanoes hundreds of years ago. It is now shrouded in darkness, but it is said that there are still dragons that survived hundreds of years ago - now they will be called magic dragons.

"Perhaps my target is actually the dragons," Cheng Yijiu thought. However, to reach the Broken Peninsula, he would have to either cross the Dothraki Sea or take the sea route—both extremely dangerous. Given his personal abilities, either route would be difficult. Furthermore, slaying a dragon with just the right weapon wouldn't be enough; it would require a heavy dragon-hunting crossbow—a design for which the trading cities actually had designs. Those escaped slaves had used these crossbows to fend off the Valyrians.

At least it made the cost of the Valyrians trying to conquer them too high - compared to these slaves, the death of a dragon was a loss.

Chapter 16 Responsibility

Sometimes Cheng Yijiu thought about failing the mission and accepting the punishment. The problem was that this mission seemed to give him a very long time. He didn't even know how long it would be - "A year? Ten years?" The hunter muttered. If it was a punishment mission, he would most likely turn into a dragon.

"If this world turns into a dragon, it's more of a reward mission than a punishment mission, right?" Cheng Yijiu carefully recalled the punishment missions he had accepted and found that there were not many that were truly dangerous. If this punishment mission of turning into a dragon was also counted, the danger ratio would be further reduced.

Cheng Yijiu had a rough idea of ​​what the dragons in this world looked like from paintings and reliefs. "Wyvern" was Cheng Yijiu's opinion of it. Although they were very large, these dragons were strictly speaking still wyverns rather than real dragons - real dragons had six limbs and far surpassed these sub-dragons in magic and wisdom.

Can a wyvern breathe fire? That's not certain; they can breathe anything from fire to poison, but all the creatures that appear in Westeros' history are fire-type creatures. Cheng Yijiu imagined himself turning into a wyvern, then shook his head, thinking it wasn't very interesting. It would be more fun to just kill a dragon.

The dragon-killing crossbow blueprints were unavailable to ordinary people, even with Cheng Yijiu's current status. He needed to climb to a certain height to see all of this—he could design a simple crossbow, but would the arrows be made of any special materials? This was the key—dragon scales were comparable to plate armor and even thicker. How did those people penetrate the scales and kill the dragon?

What should he do if he wanted to improve his status? Given Cheng Yijiu's abilities, what else could he do besides contribute his own military might? But since both were about selling military might, it was hard to say which was better, the Commercial Federation or Westeros—they both had dragon-killing ballistae, and Cheng Yijiu was pondering this point.

There were wars everywhere in the Middle Ages - the Commercial Federation had to face the Dothraki's plundering and extortion, and in Westeros... from what Cheng Yijiu had seen during his travels across the continent, the conflicts between the nobles were quite serious, and no one knew when the war would break out.

It all depends on when Robert dies. Cheng Yijiu feels that when Robert discovers that he is cuckolded, the war might begin - when he kills the queen with a hammer, then kills the brother-in-law's guard, and finally kills the little bastard, it will be time for him to go to war with his "father-in-law", the old lion.

Cheng Yijiu didn't want to fight, not at all—it was too dangerous, even more dangerous than his time as a hunter hunting man-eating beasts. Here, at most, he'd have to deal with a small group of Dothraki raiding the Grass Valley, which wasn't a big deal, especially since he had the local guards to help.

However, Cheng Yijiu was still looking for a way to reach the Valyrian Peninsula. In the end, he might have to take a boat to a city near the peninsula and then travel overland to avoid crossing the Dothraki Sea. But before that, he still had to help this city - at least to be worthy of the small manor given to him by others.

That is to dispel the extortion idea that the Dothraki will soon launch - they will use cavalry to threaten to attack the city to extort benefits. It doesn't matter whether the cavalry can capture the city, as long as they can loot the villages outside the city. This is enough to scare the nobles in the city and make them pay a large ransom.

Cheng Yijiu would hunt those Dothraki, and if possible he could also try to kill this khal. "It's no problem with a gun, but without a gun... I can only try close combat." The hunter frowned.

The Dothraki raiders had brought over 4,000 cavalrymen, and the Dothraki horse king's army could reach as many as 100,000, but this khal had only led over 4,000 cavalrymen to terrorize the city. The city guards were only around 2,000, but all of them were armored.

The battle was conducted in a quite traditional way. The city-state commander was able to withstand twice as many Dothraki light cavalry head-on, while Cheng Yijiu attacked from the side and tried to directly behead the enemy's khal... He successfully rushed to the enemy's khal - the key point was that the Dothraki did not expect that someone would suddenly rush in from the gap alone.

Cheng Yijiu, wearing a lion skin, was shot dead almost instantly. He rolled off his horse and immediately knelt on one knee, drawing his long arrow and nocking it. The first arrow killed a blood guard next to the khal. A Dothraki khal would not flee from such an enemy, especially since he had at least a dozen blood guards around him. How could he be afraid of a lion knight?

Didn't you see that the renowned Swordmaster of Dawn in Westeros was defeated and killed by only six men? So, the Lion Knight wouldn't be able to hold out for long against a dozen of them. Sure enough, after Cheng Yijiu shot down one man, he didn't have time to fire a second arrow. He dropped his bow and arrows and immediately drew his greatsword, ready to engage.

The Dothraki Blood Guards rode their horses around Cheng Yijiu, shooting arrows from their bows. Cheng Yijiu ignored the arrows from behind and charged towards the khal in front of him. As expected, the arrows could not penetrate the lion's hide protected by the gods, and this momentary mistake allowed Cheng Yijiu to quickly approach the khal.

One of the two Blood Guards guarding him had already been struck down, horse and horse alike—the greatsword, Soul Breaker, was so sharp that it passed through the horse's head and the man's body with almost no resistance. This was also due to Cheng Yijiu's immense strength. He then slid aside the scimitar's swing, directly cleaving the other Blood Guard's flank, and then faced Kao directly.

Kao was a middle-aged man with long hair covered in bells. He roared and rode towards Cheng Yijiu, but his scimitar missed his target. Instead, Cheng Yijiu chopped off his horse's legs and sent him crashing to the ground. He was then beheaded with a single blow. The other Blood Guards realized they had made a grave mistake; they had misjudged the lion skin on Cheng Yijiu.

Now that Kao was dead, they had to fight to the death to kill this enemy, since they were going to die anyway. This battle also injured Cheng Yijiu. Although he had armor and lion skins to protect him, his arms and legs were still cut by the knife. Fortunately, after killing several blood guards, he finally grabbed a horse and escaped, avoiding being surrounded and killed by the returning cavalry.

This battle was more dangerous than any of his previous hunts. Although the injuries were only scratches, if they were truly surrounded, they would surely die. Although the khals and blood guards were not as powerful as the werewolves, they were still very troublesome to fight against.

Cheng Yijiu was worthy of the city-state this time. The Dothraki people were directly defeated and split into several small tribes, each of which fled, leaving thousands of corpses on the battlefield.

Cheng Yijiu also decided to leave by boat and try to enter the peninsula - but now it seems that he may have to go to Westeros - this city-state does not have the knowledge he wants, so he is afraid that he will have to go to the Citadel to look for it.

Chapter 17 It Has to Be This Way

The great achievement of Lion Knight Cheng Yijiu was to launch a single-handed surprise attack on the Dothraki position, kill the Dothraki khal and his ten blood guards, and thus put an end to the Dothraki's plunder. The collapsed Dothraki left thousands of corpses in the battle outside the city.

King Robert had once achieved a similar feat in Westeros—his miraculous comeback, despite being at a disadvantage in the decisive battle, by slaying the Dragon Prince. And now, news from Essos had truly made Cheng Yijiu one of the strongest young warriors of his generation—because, after all, some people still refused to accept his claim.

Cheng Yijiu now has no interest in this kind of reputation. He just wants to kill a dragon quickly and complete his mission in this damn medieval ghost place and go back. He doesn't want to stay here any longer - the impression this place gives him is very bad, mainly because of the incompatibility of his three values.

But he still had to return to Westeros first, then cross the continent to the Citadel to find some answers, and finally go out to sea and try to enter the Valyria Peninsula - hoping that there were still surviving dragons in the broken volcanoes.

The ship would definitely need to be equipped with a crossbow, with special arrows designed to penetrate dragon scales. But would anyone still be willing to board the ship and take him to the peninsula? Cheng Yijiu felt it would be difficult. He might not be able to find a crew, so he would have to find a way to get a sailboat that could be sailed by one person.

Such ships do exist, and they are only about ten meters long. They cannot sail in the deep sea but can get close to the coastline. In this case, the most dangerous part for Cheng Yijiu is the voyage across the strait, if he can get such a ship in the Academy City or the Old Port.

The merchant ship he was on docked at the port of King's Landing. This time, he was unable to hide his identity. He was so famous that even the captains at the port could recognize him. "The Destroyer of the Dothraki? This name is so ugly. It makes me sound like a murderer." Cheng Yijiu complained about his nickname.

He still hid his armor and lion skin well, but he couldn't hide his weapon. The unique blade of the greatsword could be easily recognized. When he got off the boat, a team of palace guards greeted him at the dock. Cheng Yijiu accepted this courtesy with a wry smile.

It seemed that the Wang family wanted to find him. Cheng Yijiu had no choice but to accept this. He rode his horse towards the Red Castle.

As expected, there were some noble knights led by King Robert - all of them were knights with their own reputations waiting for Cheng Yijiu. It seemed like a banquet. King Robert was fatter than the last time he saw him. Cheng Yijiu thought that this guy might weigh as much as a brown bear.

Can such a man still fight on horseback? Perhaps it would be difficult, but fighting on foot should be no problem - it's just hard to say how long he can wield the war hammer. Before entering, Cheng Yijiu was asked by the palace steward, a fat eunuch, to wear his armor.

Cheng Yijiu refused to wear the mail and helmet, but he put on the lion skin. He wore a short-sleeved open-fronted linen shirt, and a simple pair of breeches and boots. The lion skin was draped over him, and the lion's upper jaw looked like a hat and helmet.

Cheng Yijiu, draped in a golden lion skin, was the most handsome of the bunch, despite his ordinary appearance. When he entered the banquet hall, he was greeted by King Robert, who applauded him and raised his glass high in a toast. Cheng Yijiu also smiled and toasted the knights, then joined them in feasting at the long table, his movements rather unruly.

The main dish of the banquet was a wild boar, which was cut up and roasted with spices. Robert said that he had hunted it with his own hands. "Since I became king, this is all I can do." The fat man said self-deprecatingly, but Cheng Yijiu also knew that he sneaked into King's Landing to look for ladies all day long.

Robert did not like his queen, and Cheng Yijiu had sensed this. This became even clearer after Queen Cersei arrived. When Cersei arrived, Jaime also arrived. This guy, dressed in a white robe and holding a long sword, escorted his twin sister into the banquet hall.

Behind the queen was the prince named Joffrey. As soon as this thin blond boy came in, he glanced at Cheng Yijiu with vicious eyes, and when he saw the golden lion skin he was wearing, he showed a greedy look.

Cheng Yijiu didn't care about this little villain. His father was still alive, and this guy was just a prince. He couldn't do whatever he wanted. Under Robert's gaze, the boy sat obediently aside. At this time, the king once again proposed that Cheng Yijiu serve him. He could give Cheng Yijiu the title of knight and even grant him a small territory, making him a feudal noble.

If Cheng Yijiu agreed, he would have achieved the dream of so many wandering knights on the roads of Westeros—receiving the king's reward and title, becoming a landed noble. However, Cheng Yijiu declined again, "I'm sorry, King Robert. I have to refuse. I came here to find a dragon, and my mission is to kill one."

Robert and the knights all laughed, even Jaime, but Prince Joffrey showed a malicious smile. "There are no dragons in this world anymore. Is this a task assigned by your lord?" Robert asked. "No, it's just a task assigned to me by God." Cheng Yijiu replied.

Using faith to solve this problem was Cheng Yijiu's idea, and it was also a suitable excuse. Robert smiled and said, "Okay, I'll have someone keep an eye out for news about the dragon for you, but you have to serve me, and I'll pay you a high commission."

Cheng Yijiu knew that if he refused again, things would get ugly. "Then may I ask, Your Majesty, how long will your service last?" Cheng Yijiu said helplessly. "As much as I'd like to say ten years or more, I know you won't agree. So—I hope you can serve me for three years. If there's any news about the dragon, I won't hide it from you, and you can leave," Robert said.

Cheng Yijiu sighed, "Okay, but I don't want to live in this cesspool of King's Landing. And I think Your Majesty the King, you have Iron Guards and don't need my personal protection, so can I live outside King's Landing?" This is a reasonable request. In fact, many nobles and rich people also live outside King's Landing because they can't stand the stench.

Robert agreed to Cheng Yijiu's request and rewarded him with a small manor on the Black River, several servants, and several good horses. Cheng Yijiu's task was to train the guards regularly, and he was also one of the commanders of the guards.

Chapter 18 The Long Deadline

Cheng Yijiu had no enthusiasm for this kind of work, but he needed intelligence, enough intelligence to find the dragon. A bit pessimistic, Cheng Yijiu felt that he was likely to be put on a punishment mission, knowing that this mission had lasted unexpectedly long.

Give him another three years? Cheng Yijiu thought that was too crazy.

On his first day, the "students" were quite obedient. These were the King's Guards, many of whom were knights, but most were elite soldiers. They all knew the power of the Lion Knights, and even the few who were rebellious suffered a heavy loss during Cheng Yijiu's first day of "warm-up exercises."

A knight challenged Cheng Yijiu, which was permitted; knights could openly challenge their instructors, and such fighting was even encouraged. Cheng Yijiu was also warming up, and the two exchanged blows with wooden swords used for training. Cheng Yijiu skillfully crossed swords like a game, easily stopping his blade at the opponent's throat each time, while the opponent's blade was always blocked by his strong sword body.

After this repeated several times, no one dared to challenge him anymore—even Cheng Yijiu hadn't hurt anyone yet, and he was considered the most gentle coach. However, when facing him, the knights felt the most pressure. Cheng Yijiu still wore the lion's skin, thinking that this was good enough, as he didn't need to wear chain mail.

Besides, lion skins are soft and comfortable to wear. Cheng Yijiu noticed that when he started training those people, Prince Joffrey appeared from a higher place and looked down. Robert didn't come. This guy drank and had fun and went out to mess around. He didn't often sweat on the training ground anymore.

Besides, although he pushed most of the things to the old man, the King's Hand, he still had to listen to the report - no matter how impatient he was, he had to listen to the report. This guy was drunk all day long, and it would be a joke if he could get up in the morning to train at Cheng Yijiu's workplace.

Cheng Yijiu's work didn't require him to go every day; he only needed to go three days a week. The rest of the time, he was free. Although Prince Joffrey was full of hostility towards him, he still didn't dare to do anything to him. The rest of the time, Cheng Yijiu would endure the stench and go to the Royal Library in King's Landing to search for information. Although this library seemed very shabby to him, it was probably the largest library in Westeros besides the Citadel.

"Although I found the material for a crossbow bolt that could supposedly kill a dragon, I wasted my time. It turns out a steel blade would be just fine, and a powerful crossbow shot would pierce a dragon's scales. However, the documentation states that it's best to aim at vulnerable points like the dragon's eyes and mouth."

Cheng Yijiu sat in a chair in the garden of his manor, worried. It seemed he first had to find a blacksmith in the city to forge a steel crossbow bolt, and then design a ballista based on the bolt's length. Most importantly, he had to determine if there were any dragons left on the shattered Valyria Peninsula. Ever since the Cataclysm, the peninsula and part of the continent had been shrouded in black clouds, and almost no one knew what lay within. Although some had ventured in to search for treasure, not even one in ten would emerge alive...

Since he had promised the king, he couldn't just run away - anyway, he also needed to make steel arrows first, which would take half a month. Because the steel arrows Cheng Yijiu needed even had iron wings at the tail to stabilize them - steel arrowheads, iron arrow shafts and tail feathers.

In order to have enough power to launch, the torsion spring needed for the torsion crossbow would have to be very strong - it would probably have to be made from the tendons of several cows. And the power to pull it open with a winch, perhaps only Moshan and Cheng Yijiu could do it...

The main components of the ballista had to be made of bronze, while the other parts could be completed later. Just as Cheng Yijiu was gradually beginning to build it, a major event occurred in King's Landing: the Hand of the King, the old duke and King Robert's adoptive father, was assassinated. Robert was immediately furious, but he couldn't find the murderer, so he could only blame it on the remnants of the Long family.

All this had nothing to do with Cheng Yijiu. Perhaps someone wanted to pin the blame for the assassination of the old man on him, but Cheng Yijiu did not enter King's Landing that day. Instead, he was leisurely basking in the sun in his manor - he had not been there for the previous three days and had even taken a leave of absence.

Robert didn't ask for Cheng Yijiu's opinion—the people of the Red Keep recognized the Lion Knight as the Red Keep's strongest swordsman, but he was a rather down-to-earth person. Indeed, Cheng Yijiu had fought every member of the Red Keep's Iron Guard, from Ser Barristan the Fearless to Jaime Lannister, and none of them had been a match for him.

Barristan and Jaime could only withstand three to five swordfights with Cheng Yijiu, after which they would have been killed with a real sword. Cheng Yijiu's strength, speed, reflexes, and skill completely surpassed them. Yet, Cheng Yijiu refused to serve in the Kingsguard. "Sorry, I have no interest in it," he said bluntly, implying he was the king's equal. Robert laughed it off, while Joffrey and Cersei looked grim.

Cheng Yijiu, now wearing the lion's skin, gave everyone the impression of being powerful and radiant. Although he considered his appearance ordinary, the maids and knights all considered him a handsome and powerful knight. There were more than one noble lady who threw him a bouquet of flowers. However, Cheng Yijiu did not accept any of them...

Word of the Lion Knight's prowess had spread from north to south, but the nobles who truly desired his marriage were waiting to see what would happen. The old man had just been assassinated, and the king seemed ready to travel north to find his sworn brother, the King of the North, to serve as Hand of the King. Cheng Yijiu had no choice but to accompany him; he wouldn't be able to stay comfortably at the manor.

This mission was taking an unusually long time, nearly a year already, with no sign of completion. Cheng Yijiu had suppressed his impatience. "As a hunter, you need to be patient. Wait patiently for your prey to appear." He also got to see the so-called northern scenery; the lion's skin was quite warm at this time.

Of course, he also fought against the swordsmen of the Direwolf family, but he was still no match for them. His speed and reaction were so fast that he easily defeated all the knights - in a foot battle. This was very proud of King Robert, although even if the fat man Robert went on his own, he would definitely be defeated by Cheng Yijiu easily - the fat man was no longer the powerful warrior he was when he started the rebellion.

In the north, Cheng Yijiu got information about Long...

Chapter 19: Help

In the castle of the King of the North, there is a very huge fish-beam tree. The bark of this tree is as pale as bones, and the leaves are like blood-red palms. It aroused Cheng Yijiu's curiosity at the time, "Isn't this an oak tree? Except for the color of the leaves and bark." These trees in the world of ice and fire do not exist in the real world. The author obviously combined several different tree species to describe them, but just looking at the trunk and the overall appearance of the tree, Cheng Yijiu thought it was a huge oak tree.

Atop the trunk was an aged, human-like face, giving it a mystical, tree-man-like appearance. Its eye sockets were lined with red resin, giving it a decidedly ominous appearance. "Things like that are called thousand-year-old tree demons in our area," Cheng Yijiu muttered, circling the strange giant tree several times. That night, when he went to sleep, he dreamed of a weirwood and a three-eyed crow perched atop it.

The dream was unexpectedly real. Cheng Yijiu found himself flying through the air, crossing the earth in an instant. Before him lay a vast expanse of white snow and countless enormous trees. Beneath the trees, snowflakes blew away, revealing countless dead bodies with ashen faces. Between the trees, Cheng Yijiu saw knights riding skeleton horses encased in ice. These knights were all white, looking a bit like skeletons, but more like people formed from frozen white ice.

"What is this? I remember it's called a White Walker?" In his dream, Cheng Yijiu was still able to think, and the next moment he flew over the sea again. Before him was an area shrouded in black fog. Cheng Yijiu rushed into the black fog. Below was the dark sea, and in front of him was the broken archipelago. The earth was black, the sky was dark and gloomy, and the red light from the eruption of a huge volcano illuminated this land and ocean.

Beneath the dark clouds, above the crimson glow of the volcanoes, a black figure soared. It was undoubtedly a dragon. Almost instantly, Cheng Yijiu knew this was the Valyrian Peninsula, ripped apart by the eruption of fourteen volcanoes. "There's the dragon," he uttered in his dream. The next moment, he opened his eyes, and above him was the painted ceiling of the castle. Although he had woken, the memory of the dream was remarkably clear, completely different from the usual dreams that faded upon waking.

From this moment on, Cheng Yijiu was fully aware of the dragon's location, and every move he made was geared towards reaching Valyria. As for King Robert's contract? Cheng Yijiu remembered him being assassinated. Wouldn't it be enough to rescue him once, and he would surely be free again—when would that happen? Cheng Yijiu vaguely remembered Prince Joffrey ascending the throne at a very young age. King Robert was probably going to die within the next few months, he thought. And Cheng Yijiu remembered him being killed by a wild boar.

That's so simple. Just follow King Robert whenever he goes hunting and kill the boar before him. It's not that Cheng Yijiu looks down on Robert. Even if the fat man was once a very brave knight, wielding a warhammer that ordinary people couldn't lift, that was in the past. Now Robert is just a fat drunk, and he's long since worn out. It's easy for a guy like that to get into trouble when he goes boar hunting—especially after drinking heavily.

After arriving in the North, Duke Stark agreed to become the Hand of the King, and the group returned the same way, Cheng Yijiu among them. After returning to King's Landing, King Robert became even worse, spending his days either drinking or on the road to drinking. Duke Stark, who took over the position of Hand of the King, also took over the old Duke's case and seemed to have found clues about who assassinated the old Duke.

This was discovered by Cheng Yijiu, who had deployed soldiers several times according to orders and sometimes personally led the troops. They raided several places in King's Landing, from a secret base in the slums to a villa in the rich district, and finally captured several court nobles - all of whom seemed to be related to the assassination of the Duke. Cheng Yijiu displayed excellent martial arts skills during the raid. He easily disarmed his opponents without killing them, which made Stark's investigation easier - after all, only the living would confess.

There is no doubt that Cheng Yijiu is the contemporary "Sword Saint".

"Going wild boar hunting tomorrow?" When Cheng Yijiu heard the news, he felt that this might be the day of Robert's death, so he told Robert that he was also interested in hunting and hoped to go together.

Robert used a boar spear, a sharp short spear with a crossbar to prevent it from piercing too deeply and becoming lodged in the pig's body. While it was a valuable weapon, it was also a dangerous hunting method. Cheng Yijiu didn't bring his short spear, but instead wore a lion skin and carried a greatsword, escorting Robert on foot while he hunted. The king before him was clearly intoxicated; he had probably consumed at least a gallon of liquor in just a few minutes.

This made the king's movements distorted and his steps unsteady, but he insisted on killing the trapped boar himself. The boar was a male, of medium size—average size in Cheng Yijiu's eyes, weighing perhaps three hundred pounds. Robert thrust his short spear from his horse, but it missed, sliding down the boar's back. The already enraged boar knocked the horse over, ready to strike Robert down the next instant.

At that moment, a flash of sword light appeared. Cheng Yijiu grasped the sword with both hands and slashed it with a furious slash, severing the boar's head. Blood gushed out from its cavity and sprayed Robert all over, turning him into a bloody mess. Only then did his other two guards arrive and help him up from his fallen horse—Robert had a broken leg, and he was drunk and too fat to get out of the stirrup in time.

Cheng Yijiu had essentially saved Robert's life, and he felt he had done his duty to the king. "Your Majesty, I have received news of the dragon. I believe I have fulfilled my agreement with you, and I will leave." Robert, lying on his sickbed, had lost a bit of weight, but he was still quite sober. He couldn't continue drinking with a broken leg, unless he wanted to recover. Cheng Yijiu, cloaked in a lion's skin, stated his demands before him.

Robert nodded. "Yes, sir. You saved my life." He gestured to Lord Stark beside him to bring a coat of arms. "I hope you will accept my gratitude." Attached to the coat of arms was a document, which indicated a fairly large area within the royal domain, encompassing more than a dozen villages and towns. This was the fiefdom given to Cheng Yijiu, and his title was Earl. Robert was never stingy.

Chapter 20 Dalang

Cheng Yijiu accepted Robert's reward, but he didn't care about his fiefdom at all. It was certain that he would go there at most to go through the formalities, and he might not go there again until he completed his mission and left. It was a good thing that the earl's family line was extinct. It would be great if the king could just take it back. Fortunately, this place was on the way from King's Landing to Old Harbor. Cheng Yijiu didn't want to get a ship in King's Landing at all. There were too many cunning people and scum here.

He preferred to take the longer route, placing the steel components on a large cart, which he drove along the main road to the western border. After about a month's journey, he heard a piece of news in the town—important news would spread at the fastest speed through the channels of the scholars, which Cheng Yijiu had heard were some kind of birds. The news was that the king had died, due to an "infection" caused by a broken leg.

Cheng Yijiu was silent for a moment, knowing full well that this was completely impossible. Robert had been in good spirits when they met him, with no infection or fever. His fracture was a simple one; it was unlikely that such a healthy man would die from such an infection. "It's probably Dalang who drank the medicine..." Cheng Yijiu was certain that this was the case. Cersei and the others had definitely poisoned Robert to keep their secret secret.

He had saved Robert's life, but he couldn't save Robert I. This wasn't something he should have done, but rather the seven members of the Kingsguard. They probably had no way to deal with the palace conspiracy... Anyway, Robert was dead, and after more than a decade of peace, Westeros was about to fall into chaos again. None of this had anything to do with Cheng Yijiu, and he wouldn't risk his life for any great noble.

It now seemed possible that the only ones who could stop him from recruiting were the Duke of Hejian and the Old Lion, the Western Territory's guard. Cheng Yijiu's advantage lay in the fact that he wasn't a subordinate of any of them, but rather a direct subordinate of His Majesty the King. This put him on the same level as the Hejian Territory and the Western Territory. This day, Cheng Yijiu had already entered his "fiefdom." The main city was a low castle perched on a low hill, with a river running down its back. Water could be obtained directly from the castle, protected by the castle.

The castle's surroundings were open and, upon closer inspection, easily attacked but difficult to defend—the area was crisscrossed with paths and fields, and the various sources of income must have been substantial. King Robert had treated him well; he hadn't changed his decrees when he entered his own castle, still allowing the king's men to manage it and not taking any of the castle's funds. This earldom could provide the king with military provisions, funds, and an army of no more than three hundred men. If it were a full-time knight, the number would likely be only a few dozen.

Cheng Yijiu changed his draft horses and had the castle's craftsmen overhaul the carriage before continuing on his journey. The four-wheeled carriage was large enough to hold his gear and food, and he could sleep there at night. There were robbers along the way, but they quickly ran away after seeing the gleaming golden lion pelt. The reputation of the "Lion Sword Master" had spread throughout Westeros, earned through his undefeated record in many palace tournaments.

Many famous sword masters have been defeated by him, even the entire Kingsguard. A swordsman like him must be very safe on the road. A few bandits are no match for him.

In fact, when Cheng Yijiu was walking on the road, many merchants and travelers also followed him. They probably thought that they would rely on the Lion Knight to protect them. With so many people, the bandits would not dare to rob them. Cheng Yijiu actually killed a few people on the road, and it was a show-off fight, killing them at an astonishing speed.

A knight from the Riverlands approached Cheng Yijiu on the road. Their conversation was shrouded in mystery—afterward, Cheng Yijiu suspected they were trying to understand their place in the impending war. Indeed, there were soon to be several claimants to the throne in this land—Robert's two younger brothers, Robert's "cheap" son, and perhaps trouble in the North, too—since Lord Stark had recently been beheaded by Joffrey... for the king's murder.

As for the Iron Islands out in the sea, the Iron King there has long been in turmoil.