night.
With the help of his apprentice, Scholar Lucius helped the hound to its feet. He mixed the antidote into the poppy milk and gave it to the hound, which had just regained consciousness.
Poppy milk has a very good taste.
The hound's physical abilities are still weak; it still cannot lift its limbs, but its appetite is much better than during the day.
As soon as the poppy milk was placed to his lips, he sucked on it like a baby.
This greatly relieved Sir Lucius.
The look in the Mountain's eyes when he left is still vivid in the scholar's mind.
The scholar was certain that he would need poppy milk to help him sleep tonight.
He had never seen such a terrifying look in his eyes, as if a cold ice blade had pierced his heart.
Maester Lucius regretted it; he shouldn't have gotten involved in the fight between the Mountain and the Hound. The Hound had tricked him out of his venom; his best option was to accept it and forget, rather than hold a grudge. He foolishly and naively went to tell the Mountain, thinking the Mountain would be grateful and behead the Hound.
He was clearly wrong, terribly wrong.
The Demon Mountain, the most notorious villain in the Seven Kingdoms, is not someone of his caliber to be easily 'befriended'!
Others would avoid Demon Mountain like the plague, yet he actually ran right into it. It's like a stupid mother opening the door for a stupid person; he's stupid to the extreme.
The Hound had only tricked him into giving him a small vial of paralyzing venom, but the Mountain had threatened to kill him. In reality, this wasn't a threat, but a fact—if the Hound caused any trouble, the Mountain would definitely kill him. As for how he would die, the most basic option was burning him alive.
Although he was a scholar accompanying His Majesty the King and was respected by many courtiers, he realized that he had no right to provoke the Demon Mountain.
Even if His Majesty the King were to seek justice for him, that would only be after he had been tortured to death by the Mountain. Before that, the Mountain's death threats against him could not be used as any evidence to accuse the Mountain.
The Mountain's eyes and words often conveyed disrespect and anger towards His Majesty the King and Queen, let alone someone who had only obtained a nine-piece maester's necklace.
Lelouch, who sacrificed his life for a belated justice for the Mountain, didn't want any of it. And it's highly likely that his death was in vain!
If the Hound's deception of him with venom was merely a display of power, then the Mountain's death threat was purely malicious.
If anything happens to the Hound, the Mountain will pay with Maester Lucius's life. This Mountain-style tyranny is a nightmare that Maester Lucius himself has brought upon himself.
He was just a scholar who couldn't even kill a chicken, yet he thought of getting close to the Mountain and hoping to use the Mountain to kill the Hound.
How naive must he be to come up with this idea!
From now on, never associate with notorious villains; it's like a pit in the ground with thorns in front of it. If you don't want to fall in, walk around it instead of jumping in.
Unfortunately, none of the dozens of bottles and jars that Scholar Lu Xiu possessed were medicine for regret.
The hunting dogs were starving.
He hadn't even opened his eyes, but he had already drunk two bowls of poppy milk.
Because the nightmare of the Mountain's deadly threat loomed over Scholar Lucius's neck, his resentment towards the Hound seemed surprisingly faint when he saw him. Without comparison, there is no harm; in comparison, he felt the Hound was actually a very good person, having only tricked him out of a small vial of poison without threatening or harming his life.
Scholar Lucius decided to renege on his resentment towards the hound and put the past grievances between them behind his back.
So he and his apprentice fed the hunting dog several bowls of liquid "nutritional soup" with added antidote until the dog burped and refused to drink anymore.
Then, Maester Lucius saw the Hound raise a finger—not a hand, but a finger—instructing him to move the candle to his bedside.
This was a signal that unsettled and puzzled the scholar, because the hound was indeed terrified of fire. This morning, Joffrey had accidentally set the hound's hair on fire with a candle he had dropped, nearly killing him with fear.
But now he's demanding that the candles on the wall be moved closer, to his bedside.
Scholar Lucius, unsure if the Hound had gone mad, instructed his apprentice to light a candle on the Hound's bedside table.
The hound stared silently at the candle flame, its eyes far from calm.
This morning, Joffrey's candle set the Hound on fire, terrifying him to the point of suffocation. After Eddard Stark extinguished the flames on the Hound's head, fearing he would convulse and die, he punched the Hound unconscious.
The hound hadn't completely passed out; he remained conscious. He still had senses, and his perception of light, shadow, color, and sound was still present.
He suddenly realized that even with flames burning above his head, it wasn't as terrifying as he had imagined. He didn't even feel the heat or the pain of being injured.
It's not as scary as I imagined!
The end of fear can lead to either utter ruin or complete transformation.
Things will inevitably turn into their opposites when they reach an extreme!
Face what you fear, and you'll find that overcoming fear isn't so difficult. This is the only truly effective way to conquer fear.
Do what you're afraid of. You'll find that fear may simply come from within yourself.
These two sentences were said by The Mountain to The Hound!
After the two brothers' first duel, The Mountain made a heartfelt plea to reconcile with The Hound, but The Hound flatly refused.
The Mountain said that the witch helped him emerge from his past rage and evil, and he was no longer the Mountain he once was. The witch taught him a way to overcome fear, and perhaps the Hound could try it too.
The Mountain knew that hounds were afraid of fire!
Then the Mountain said these two sentences, the core meaning of which is: If you are afraid of fire, then face fire!
The Hound, of course, paid no heed. He hated the Mountain, so he wouldn't listen either, and thus, the two brothers' second life-or-death duel ensued.
Now, with Prince Joffrey's malicious help, the Hound's hair was burned by the flames again. Afterward, he realized that the flames that terrified him had not taken his life, nor had they left even the slightest wound.
He is safe and sound!
He decided to try facing the flames for real: he lit a candle by his bedside first.
The next day, the hound was able to walk. That night, he returned to his dwelling and lit two large candles on his bedside tables.
On the third day, the hound strolled through the town's main street. Returning to his lodging that evening, he lit a small candle. Holding it in his left hand, he cautiously dripped a drop of the candle's 'tears' onto his right palm. His mind was unsettled, his eyes uneasy. He nervously realized the candle wax in his palm wasn't scalding hot. He trembled slightly, certain he wasn't injured; the warmth of the candle's 'tears' still lingered in his palm.
For the first time, the hound felt the other side of the flame from the depths of its heart: warmth.
Does the brutal Mountain truly have another side? Like these flames!! Has the witch turned him to the other side now?!
Absolutely impossible!
The hound placed the small candle on the bedside table, shook his head, and banished the Mountain from his mind.
"There can't be another side to the Demon Mountain!" he heard a voice inside him say.
The hound looked up at the dark ceiling.
He didn't want to think about Demon Mountain anymore, but he still saw Demon Mountain's face in the void. Suddenly, a sword mercilessly pierced that fierce face, blooming right in the middle, blood splattering everywhere. The person holding the sword was himself.
The Mountain has left the town and returned to the Westerlands without bidding farewell to His Majesty the King.
Although Eddard Stark, the First Hand, wrote to Lord Hoster Tully, arguing that the arson on Flowing Plains had nothing to do with The Mountain, the Hound did not share that view.
Just because you're not there doesn't mean it's none of your business.
Eddard Stark is too upright!
The Mountain is a complete scoundrel and someone with a natural talent for evil. If the Plains arson wasn't committed by the Mountain, then who was?
The hound couldn't figure it out!
Many others shared the same idea as the Hound, such as Ser Edmure Tully, the brother-in-law of Eddard Stark.
He led a thousand family warriors to hunt down the arsonist, but after several days, they had not caught a single one.
Although Lord Hoster Tully showed Edmure Tully Eddard Stark's letter, a crucial question remains: if the Mountain didn't commit the arson on the plains, then who did?
Even Edmund couldn't figure it out!
Since he couldn't figure it out, Edmure thought the answer was obvious: it must have been the Mountain who did it!
Edmure, a 25-year-old youth who was the same age as Tyrion Lannister, was full of youthful vigor and decided to ask the Mountain himself when he passed through Riverrun.
Edmure Tully, arrogant and valiant, was unaware that his thinking was extremely dangerous!