Benjen lowered his head and saw the dagger still embedded in his chest. He instinctively pulled it out, but nothing happened—he didn't even feel any pain. Then he raised his hand, observing the unnatural blue veins faintly visible beneath his skin.
For the first time, confusion and pain belonging to "Benjen Stark" appeared in those ice-blue eyes. "I can't feel my heartbeat, and there's no pain..." His voice was filled with a complex tone about everything that was happening.
The earlier commotion attracted more members of the Nights Watch. They crowded at the tent entrance, and upon seeing Benjen sitting up with those conspicuous ice-blue eyes, they erupted in uproar.
"White Walker, he's turned into a White Walker," shouted Ellyn, the only member of the Nights Watch who had seen a White Walker and survived, in terror.
He would never forget the eyes of the White Walker when it looked at them back then.
"Lord Benjen has been cursed, turned into a monster."
"What should we do now?"
"Should we kill him?"
"Is he really still Lord Benjen?"
Hearing these words from his black-clad brothers, a violent fluctuation flashed in Benjen's ice-blue eyes—the pain and anger of human emotion.
He suddenly raised his head and hissed, "No, I'm not a monster." But his voice, paired with his current appearance, held no persuasiveness whatsoever.
The scene descended into chaos for a moment.
"Quiet," Viserys commanded in a low voice, his tone carrying a peculiar penetrating force that temporarily silenced everyone present. He then looked at Benjen. "Benjen Stark, do you remember who you are? Do you remember the oath of the Nights Watch?"
Benjen's breathing grew slightly more rapid, releasing more chill, but the confusion in his ice-blue eyes gradually gave way to a resolute expression.
"I am Benjen Stark, younger brother of Lord Eddard Stark, First Ranger of the Nights Watch," he first answered Viserys's initial question.
Then, he directly began reciting the oath of the Nights Watch: "Night gathers, and now my watch begins..." Though his voice remained strange, each word was clear and distinct.
Hearing Benjen recite the oath, the members of the Nights Watch exchanged glances, their doubts about his identity slightly diminishing.
Viserys continued, "Then do you remember what happened before you fell unconscious?"
Benjen's eyes grew vacant for a moment, as if recalling. After a pause, he slowly spoke, "I only remember the White Walker appearing, then an attack struck me. I don't remember anything else."
He paused for a long time, and an expression of extreme confusion and fear surfaced in his ice-blue eyes. "But I also saw some images—memories that don't belong to me."
"What images?" Viserys, intrigued, pressed further.
"A man tied to a weirwood tree, surrounded by many small beings with wooden skin and black eyes. The leader held a black Obsidian Dagger..."
Benjen described the images he saw, but his gaze involuntarily drifted to the dagger he had just pulled out, his voice growing softer. "The dagger plunged into the man's heart, they chanted strange words, and then the man's eyes turned blue."
So it was the memories of the Children of the Forest creating the White Walkers. Hearing this, Viserys lost interest.
However, the surrounding members of the Nights Watch were baffled, but keywords like "Obsidian Dagger" and "eyes turning blue," combined with Benjen's current state, made them worried again.
After saying all this, Benjen seemed to have exhausted his strength—or rather, the icy energy made it difficult for him to stay conscious. The blue light in his eyes kept brightening, and his control over his body wasn't as smooth as before, as if he were the outsider.
Looking at these uncertain and fearful members of the Nights Watch, Viserys spoke up. "Benjen Stark has indeed 'died' once. But he has 'revived' now. I can assure you, he won't harm you."
After all, in the original story, Benjen was missing for over a year and could still recognize Bran when he reappeared. Though it's a bit earlier now, it should at least be fine before the plot begins.
He looked at Benjen. "What do you plan to do next?"
Benjen struggled to adapt to his stiff facial muscles. His ice-blue eyes swept over the complex gazes of his black-clad brothers, finally settling on Viserys. "I don't know what I am now, but I shouldn't be a White Walker yet—I have my own thoughts."
His voice carried determination. "But I can't return to the Wall like this. You can tie me up and take me back to the Wall. If I lose control, or if I truly become a monster..." He paused, his voice lowering. "Then kill me."
The members of the Nights Watch fell silent, but they also thought Benjen's proposal was quite rational.
Finally, with Viserys's tacit approval, the members of the Nights Watch tightly bound Benjen's hands and feet, wrapping several more coils around his waist and chest.
Ygritte had arrived at the entrance at some point. Watching Benjen—revived, bound, with ice-blue eyes—she couldn't help but feel a trace of sympathy for him. Even though he was a Crow, now she felt he was like her, seemingly abandoned by his companions.
The atmosphere of the southbound party grew heavy and eerie after Benjen's "resurrection," but today, dawn finally arrived—they could see the Wall. A Nights Watch horn-blower, upon seeing the Wall, sounded the horn representing their return.
As they passed through the long tunnel beneath the Wall, the women who had decided to head south no longer had numbness eyes; instead, a glimmer of hope for their future lives shone in them.
Craster, gagged and tied up like a pig ready for slaughter, was dragged along the ground by a horse, having suffered greatly along the way. Entering the tunnel, his eyes dimmed—he knew his life was over.
When Benjen entered the tunnel, he closed his eyes, but the ice-blue light still seeped through his eyelids. He felt extremely suppressed.
Because there was magic beneath the Wall, specifically designed to prevent White Walkers from heading south. Even though he was now half-human, half-ghost, he felt immense pressure. He felt that even if he were freed, with his current strength, dealing with an ordinary person would be difficult.
Ygritte had originally blended in with the women, but now she walked at the front, examining the Wall with great interest. Before, she had only glimpsed it from afar. She never thought she'd walk through the tunnel into the Wall today—she felt she might be the first Free Folk to do so.
Viserys had ridden Ghidorah back to the Wall ahead of them and briefly explained Benjen's situation to Mormont and the others. The reason he had traveled with them earlier was to observe Benjen's changes. Now that he had seen it, there was no need to endure the hardships of camping with them any longer.
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