By the God's Eye.
Two figures, one large and one small, rode the same horse, sneaking westward along the lakeshore.
The cold night wind made it almost impossible for Arya to keep her eyes open.
Clinging tightly to the saddle, she looked up, barely able to see the Hound. His burned profile appeared even more hideous under the moonlight.
After a moment of silence, she couldn't help but shout, "Hey! How did you get down from the tree?"
"Heh." The Hound sneered, pulling a dagger from the leather bracer on his wrist, mocking, "Thanks to that haunting bastard Beric Dondarrion. After being tied up by his men last time, I learned my lesson."
"Always have to hide some life-saving trinkets on me, don't I?"
With that, he glanced down at the little girl in front of him: "But then again, how did you think of using that guy Halson?"
"Honestly, that was played pretty well. Even I admire it a bit."
Hearing Halson's name, Arya didn't explain. Instead, she looked back worriedly at the woods where shouts of killing arose.
"We have to go back and help him!"
Her tone was very stubborn, reminding the Hound of her father.
"Help him?" But he reacted quickly, laughing so loudly it made Arya's ears numb: "Come on!"
"Look at us, little she-wolf. One beaten half to death, the other barely surviving by playing cute and pathetic. What do we have to help him with?"
"But he helped me!"
"That was his own choice!" The Hound growled impatiently:
"None of my business, and none of yours."
Hearing this, Arya elbowed the Hound in the abdomen angrily, hurting herself on his chainmail, but she disregarded it and continued to ramble:
"Halson is a Northerner. He is still very loyal to the Starks. He stuck to honor..."
"Fuck honor!"
This word thoroughly ignited the Hound's anger. He jerked the reins, forcing the horse to slow down slightly.
The back of the dagger in his other hand pressed against Arya's neck, threatening: "Those who stuck to honor are all dead, idiot!"
"Rhaegar Targaryen fought with honor, he died miserably. Your father stuck to honor, he didn't die nobly either!"
"So, don't mention bullshit honor to me again. Honor can't fill your stomach, let alone keep you alive in chaotic times!"
He seemed to try teaching Arya his way of survival in this rough manner.
However, hearing the Hound mention her father, Arya's eyes reddened, instinctively wanting to curse back with the most vicious words.
Just then.
Whoosh—!
A sound of breaking air came from behind. The Hound was startled but had no time to dodge. Fortunately, the arrow just grazed the horse and plunged deep into the soil ahead.
Neigh~~~~
The warhorse was startled, nearly throwing both off its back. The Hound spent great effort to stabilize it.
Looking back sharply, he saw a tall Northern soldier standing not far away, his longbow drawn again, aiming at him.
"Halson!" The moonlight illuminated the man's face, and Arya cried out in surprise.
But the Hound spat and said nothing.
Seeing Arya seemed unharmed, Halson breathed a sigh of relief first, then shouted sternly: "Do not harm Lady Stark, you despicable fellow! Let her go!"
"Harm?"
His tone made the Hound extremely unhappy, roaring irritably: "Are you fucking blind? Can't you see I'm protecting her?"
Halson didn't speak, his gaze just moving to the dagger the Hound held against Arya's throat.
"Damn it..."
The Hound reacted immediately, hurriedly retracting the dagger, looking down at Arya grumpily and scolding: "Explain quickly, little she-wolf!"
But he didn't know that his previous actions had made Arya lose trust in him.
Remembering the Hound's attitude of only caring about Gold Dragons while letting Karstark soldiers insult her earlier, a thought of revenge welled up in her heart.
She suddenly used all her strength to shout loudly towards Halson: "He kidnapped me!"
"He wants to take me to Riverrun to demand ransom from my brother! Save me!"
"Fuck!"
This nonsense infuriated the Hound, and he subconsciously covered Arya's mouth tightly with his hand.
But this rough move, in Halson's eyes, was undoubtedly ironclad proof of attempting to silence a witness after his crime was exposed!
"Stop!"
Halson's eyes cracked with rage. Because Arya was blocking the Hound, he dared not shoot easily, fearing accidental injury.
Throwing away the bow and drawing the longsword at his waist, he immediately spurred his horse to charge fiercely at the Hound, giving him absolutely no chance to explain!
"Damn it!"
The Hound cursed, pushing Arya away slightly, forced to fight.
Clop-clop... clop-clop... The momentum of the warhorse charge was strong.
And the Hound was already heavily injured, lost too much blood, and hadn't eaten for a long time. His stamina was long near its limit.
Clang!
Two swords crossed. The Hound's arm went limp, and the powerful impact knocked him off the horse along with Arya.
Seeing the Hound fall, Halson turned his horse around, preparing to finish him off.
However, just as he charged over again, the Hound climbed up from the ground. The dagger from his bracer appeared in his hand again, and he threw it fiercely with his last strength!
Squelch!
His luck was good. The dagger sank into the horse's eye. The warhorse crashed to the ground, throwing the caught-off-guard Halson out heavily.
Seizing this opportunity, the Hound struggled to pick up the dropped longsword, walking step by step towards Halson who was too stunned by the fall to get up.
At this time, Arya looked up and saw this scene, hurriedly shouting to stop him: "Don't kill him!"
But hearing her voice, the Hound's face showed no hesitation.
He walked up to Halson, and the moment the other just raised his head, the longsword in his hand stabbed down unhesitatingly, piercing straight through the chest.
Squelch!
Halson's body trembled, unable to get up again.
"No!!!"
Watching him die at the hands of the Hound helplessly, Arya's anger exploded immediately. She rushed to the Hound regardless of everything, punching and kicking him with all her might.
Crying while hitting: "Why did you kill him! Why!"
"You killed Mycah, and now you killed Halson! You devil, devil! Die!!!"
However, the Hound was thoroughly enraged by her crying and fussing, backhanding her with a punch.
Thud!
Arya stumbled and fell to the ground, bewildered.
The Hound squatted down, his burned face like a demon under the moonlight. He grabbed Arya's collar, growling in a low voice: "Listen! That damn bastard wanted to kill me, so I killed him!"
"And you..." He poked Arya's chest hard: "If you had been willing to speak a word of fucking truth just now, he wouldn't have died!"
"This is your fucking fault, understand?"
The roaring and accusation made Arya's ears buzz, and also made her more angry and aggrieved.
Gritting her teeth, she instinctively reached for Needle at her waist, but grasped air.
Only then did she remember that the slender sword Jon gave her had been taken away when she was captured.
Just as the two glared at each other angrily, the sound of hoofbeats came from the edge of the woods not far away, followed by crisp applause.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
The applause was unhurried, sounding exceptionally piercing by the silent lake.
"Truly wonderful, Sandor Clegane."
"I didn't expect you to still have such combat power after being heavily injured."
"But... this is also not bad."
The Hound and Arya turned their heads sharply at the same time.
They saw a figure riding over, stopping a dozen steps away.
The two exchanged a glance, both exclaiming:
"Doctor!"