The small shadow of the head quickly shrank back.
But that only made it clearer to Davos.
He shouted again:
"Get out here!"
At the same time, he moved quietly in the opposite direction of the shadow.
The others grew serious, immediately drawing swords or raising crossbows.
Matthew also quickly pulled a quarrel from his quiver and loaded it onto his crossbow.
After pulling the string back with effort, he squinted one eye, staring intently ahead of Davos, ready to pull the trigger at any moment.
He really wanted to tell Davos to come back.
But he couldn't.
Matthew had no choice but to shove the guards in front of him, urging them to follow faster.
The night was dark, and everyone fears the unknown in the darkness.
Pushed along, the guards moved slowly, just trailing behind Davos.
Matthew hoped Davos wouldn't get hit by a hidden arrow.
Otherwise, if Imry took command and everyone started fussing over him, it would be hard to kill anyone.
Under the moonlight, Davos swayed back and forth like water grass.
He slowly walked into the gap between the shanties, turned sideways, raised his sword, and prepared to strike to scare the person out.
At this moment, standing over a puddle in the depression, he looked like a giant.
Davos stared at the exit, adjusting his grip on the sword several times.
Just as the sword was about to fall, a small figure jumped out from the gap.
"Don't kill me! Don't kill me..."
Seeing it was a young child with no weapon, Davos breathed a sigh of relief.
But he still asked sternly:
"Who are you? Why are you following us?"
Matthew lowered his crossbow and squeezed forward.
"Little Fish? Didn't I tell you to stay home?"
Seeing Matthew, Little Fish lowered his head immediately, too scared to speak, only sobbing.
Davos saw this and asked Matthew:
"You know him?"
Matthew nodded, pulled the child up, held him with one arm, and replied:
"His father was a good man. He was killed by wandering bandits in the Fishmarket during the rain tonight. I found him and saved him."
Little Fish cried louder, clearly terrified.
But crying it out was good.
If he didn't vent, even a strong man would explode from holding it in.
Patting the child on the back, Matthew didn't say much, intending to send him back after a while.
With his own future uncertain, he really shouldn't be dragging a child along.
But someone couldn't wait.
Imry looked at the dirty Little Fish and sneered:
"You don't intend to bring him along with us, do you?"
With that, he walked over smiling and reached out to snatch Little Fish away.
But as soon as he reached out, Matthew grabbed his hand.
The next second, Imry screamed:
"Ow, ow, ow..."
Matthew looked up, his eyes like dark stars, staring coldly, his brows furrowed into deep valleys.
He hadn't expected his own strength to be so great, but it didn't matter now.
Imry instinctively tried to fight back, raising his fist high. But meeting Matthew's gaze, veins bulged on his forehead, yet he couldn't bring the fist down.
At that moment, Davos sheathed his sword and forcefully pulled the two apart.
"Just a misunderstanding. Calm down, everyone."
Dale stepped forward to separate the disgruntled guards and prevent the situation from escalating.
Then, Davos said to Matthew:
"It's true that a child isn't suited to follow us. You should understand that."
Matthew dropped his aggressive stance and nodded.
Suddenly, his ear twitched. He narrowed his eyes, gave Davos a signal with his eyes, and replied:
"I understand. I won't take Little Fish with me. Wait a moment; I'll take him home."
Davos raised an eyebrow, glanced to the rear, grunted an acknowledgment, and turned to Ser Imry.
"Pick two men to go with Matthew."
Ser Imry shook his hand, about to curse.
But thinking of something, he looked at two guards who were facing off against Dale and signaled them with his eyes.
The two guards, one tall and thin, the other short and stout, immediately shoved Dale aside and stepped out.
Matthew glanced at them and led Little Fish forward.
Along the way, they kept their distance from the two men behind them, hands always on the crossbow triggers.
The two guards clenched their fists several times, signaling each other, but neither dared to make a move.
At Little Fish's door, Matthew patted the child's head and promised:
"I will come back. You have to live well. When I return, I'll take you away from here."
Little Fish didn't know the truth. Looking up, face streaked with tears and snot, he sobbed uncontrollably:
"Matthew, you're lying to me again. If you leave, you'll never come back. I'm not a kid anymore, take me with you..."
The child's tears couldn't be wiped away; the more he wiped, the more they fell.
He clutched Matthew's hem and refused to let go.
The two guards following them grew impatient and urged:
"He's home, let's go. We can't outrun Gold Cloak horses."
Matthew didn't want to waste time either. He put on a stern face, glared at Little Fish, and scolded:
"Stop making a scene. Stay in King's Landing and behave. Wait for me to come back."
With that, he took off his bundle, fished out some coppers, and secretly stuffed them into Little Fish's hand.
"Remember to hire someone to reinforce the door."
Little Fish stared blankly.
Matthew smiled, gave a thumbs-up, and turned to leave.
Watching Matthew's back, Little Fish gripped the money, tears still flowing, and suddenly shouted:
"I'll wait for you! You have to come back alive!"
He felt Matthew must be going to do something dangerous.
Hearing this, Matthew simply waved his hand.
Then, he quickened his pace, stepping into the shadow of a shack, and ordered the two guards:
"One of you go back first. Be fast, make noise. Bring Ser Davos and the others here."
The two guards were stunned but didn't refuse.
The thinner guard immediately walked forward, making enough noise for three people all by himself.
"Follow me."
Matthew then whispered.
Taking the remaining guard, he turned a corner and sneaked back.
Returning to the back of Little Fish's house, he saw several people peeking out from the path they had just left.
The guard wanted to charge, but Matthew held him back and shook his head.
Sure enough, those people soon ran out and headed straight for Little Fish's door, followed by quite a few others.
Matthew counted silently and couldn't help smiling:
"Dinner is served."
The guard licked his lips and asked:
"How long do we wait?"
Matthew was cautious.
"Either until our backup arrives, or until this group breaks down the door."
The guard gave Matthew a deep look.
Then he laughed:
"Kid, you're too cautious. Careful you don't let them get away."
Matthew shook his head.
"I don't want my own people taking blind risks. Dying unluckily isn't worth it."
The guard looked sideways at him, stayed quiet for a while, then grinned and said:
"Now I believe you're the King's seed. I'm Harwin Flowers."
Matthew glanced at him, smiled back, thinking this man might be won over.
But Harwin raised an eyebrow and whispered:
"Don't smile like that. I'll never follow you. Give it up, kid."
Matthew's smile vanished instantly.
But Harwin kept talking, buzzing like a fly.
Matthew found him too chatty and just shut up, but the veins on his forehead kept throbbing.
Meanwhile, the group was still kicking the door.
Thud, thud, thud. The noise was constant.
Yet not a single neighbor came out.
Matthew listened to Little Fish crying, separated by just a wooden wall, but couldn't call out to comfort him.
Suddenly, a cracking sound came from the front.
Harwin moved on the sound, drawing his longsword and charging forward.
Matthew hurried to follow.
As soon as he popped out, he shot a bolt through one guy's butt.
Amidst screams of despair, a dozen people turned around simultaneously.
Harwin shouted, swung his longsword, and cut down two men.
At the same time, the rest of the Little Birds scattered like loaches.
Harwin swung his sword in circles, hitting only air.
But he noticed immediately that the Little Birds were all dodging toward Matthew, so he shouted:
"Run! Their target is you!"
Hearing this, the Little Birds dropped the act. Like madmen, they drew their daggers and charged forward.
Matthew was still reloading. Seeing he wouldn't make it in time, he used the crossbow as a shield in his left hand, drew his axe with his right, and swung at the neck of the person in front.
[Slashing Proficiency +1...]
Blocking and chopping, Matthew finally felt how much the runes had boosted him.
One swing of the axe went through the neck like hot cheese, cleaving it in two. No second strike needed.
The momentum carried him backward, rolling him in the mud.
The Little Birds were relentless. They lunged one after another, trying to grab Matthew's waist and legs.
Matthew had to strike repeatedly while twisting to dodge.
Fighting and retreating, seven of them fell to his axe in pools of blood, like葫芦娃 (Calabash Brothers) trying to save their grandfather—one by one sending themselves to death.
It was a complete crush of speed and strength.
But the Little Birds saw red too. Only two were left, yet they didn't retreat.
While Matthew was retracting his axe, one of them ignored everything and lunged low from the side, stabbing a dagger straight at his thigh.
Matthew hurriedly blocked with the crossbow, but only stopped one.
The other Little Bird jumped at him ferociously.
Hunching his body, he grabbed the crossbow mechanism and slashed at Matthew's stomach.
In a panic, Matthew sucked in his gut.
The dagger sliced open the front of his tunic, a flash of silver drawing a half-arc.
Matthew felt his scalp go numb, rage burning in his chest.
Suddenly, his black pupils constricted rapidly into pinpoints.
As he glared in fury, the black abruptly turned red.
Instantly, a red sword sigil formed in his eyes.
At that moment, a nameless fire suppressed all reason. Impatience and rage exploded instantly.
A scorching heat burst from within him, feeling like he was burning.
Just as Matthew looked down into the attacker's eyes, a strange sensation suddenly appeared.
It felt like an out-of-body experience.
But it was brief, lasting only an instant.
When he snapped back to reality, he saw only the tip of a sword flashing past his eyes, and warm blood splattering all over his face.