There's a skill to lying, and Aegon learned a very practical trick from Zhihu: to deceive others, first deceive yourself. What is truly flawless? Only the truth. If you invent an identity for yourself in a story, it's best to strictly adhere to that identity thereafter—doing things and saying things that fit the identity. It's like writing a novel: no matter how bizarre or fantastical the setting, as long as it's self-consistent within the book, then it's a reasonable novel. If a liar is professional enough to even hypnotize themselves into believing their own words, the deception becomes almost unbreakable.
Aegon immersed himself in the identity of an adventurer from beyond the Sunset Sea. Under this identity, he had indeed truthfully recounted everything he knew—if he hadn't told a single lie, how could the other party possibly see through him?
However, despite intending to conceal the secret of his transmigration, he still tried his best to subtly mislead the witch sitting opposite him. As long as she followed his "guesses" rather than becoming suspicious, he could get past this hurdle.
...
Melisandre, whom book readers and show fans also like to call Aunt Mel, but whether she's Sister Mel, Aunt Mel, or Grandma Mel, there's no need to demonize her—this red-haired priestess is simply a woman who has mastered magic, or rather, a way to communicate with the red god. Facing answers that were entirely truthful, even if she wasn't satisfied, she couldn't find an angle to press further... On the contrary, she was reminded by Aegon's "unintentional" guesses and quickly thought of something, narrowing her eyes in contemplation.
"So that's it." Half a minute later, she connected Aegon's answers with the clues in the flames, and everything made sense: "That boy has the constitution of a divine messenger; that demigod wants him."
"What's a demigod?"
"A demigod is a demigod, an existence weaker than my master, the Lord of Light, but far surpassing us servants. You can understand it as a powerful mage."
"What about the divine messenger constitution?" Aegon asked, "Also, if they wanted to use that child, why did they cripple him?"
"The so-called divine messenger constitution is actually an affinity for gods. Some people can easily see the messages the Lord of Light wants to convey in the fire, while others need help—and some can never hear divine oracles." Melisandre wouldn't normally be so forthcoming with a mortal, but she was in the wrong first, and the other party's Night's Watch identity was also useful to her, so she decided to satisfy Aegon's curiosity first: "Interestingly, some people with the best affinity constitutions also have extraordinary mage talent—a healthy body, a powerful soul, and a firm will. These advantages actually hinder their communication with gods... or more accurately, the gods' communication with them. So, you saw everything that happened next."
A chill ran down Aegon's spine, and he instantly understood the meaning of Melisandre's words: only one in a thousand people is a born warg, and only one in a thousand wargs will be a Greenseer. Bran has the best warg constitution, most suitable to become the next Greenseer... But precisely because he was too powerful, the old Greenseer couldn't directly control him or whisper in his ear to persuade him to go Beyond the Wall to receive the inheritance. Therefore, the latter chose a cruel method to temporarily weaken him!
Even the inheritance itself was problematic: did the previous Greenseer instill all the knowledge and memories into Bran, or did he possess Bran's body and then observe Bran's entire life through observation across time and space, and then calmly impersonate him?
***
This speculation carried too much malice, and Aegon needed confirmation from an insider: "Can I understand it this way: by crippling a healthy person or making them sick, when they are weak from coma or discomfort, the demigod you mentioned can take the opportunity to infiltrate their consciousness and exert a more direct influence?"
"Theoretically, yes." A dazzling smile appeared on Melisandre's face: "But directly harming the body is the most urgent last resort. In fact, when people's hearts are empty and they doubt themselves or the future, a demigod can also take advantage of their weakness. Overall, this is a method used by the weak. The Lord of Light doesn't need such base methods; wherever there is fire, R'hllor's grace can reach... My Lord's power far surpasses the being you fought against."
Receiving a positive answer, Aegon's last bit of doubt faded: that's right, the day Bran Stark fell was the day before he was scheduled to go to King's Landing with his Father. It was the Greenseer who wanted to prevent his ideal successor from leaving the North, from leaving his sphere of influence, and thus created this tragedy!
He suddenly recalled all the dreams about the three-eyed crow Bran had after falling into a coma, and Jojen Reed, the guide with green sight who always looked sickly when he went Beyond the Wall, and many other crazy but accurate prophets... Everything could be explained. The Greenseer wanted Bran to be crippled, partly to prevent him from leaving his sphere of influence in the North, and partly to take advantage of the boy's coma to instill in his dreams the message that "he carries an important mission and must go somewhere to see someone," and then let Jojen, who was already under his control, guide him and bring Bran before him!
What a cold and ruthless method!
But one thing still couldn't be explained. Aegon had seen Bran fall with his own eyes; the cause and effect of the incident were very clear and didn't seem to be affected by any external force. He wanted to know how the Greenseer caused this accident: "But... this was clearly an accident."
"You are facing a demigod, my Night's Watch friend." Melisandre showed undisguised disdain for Aegon's question: "You saw an accident, but was it really an accident? Demigods spread their faith, allowing people to voluntarily help them radiate their influence everywhere. Within this range, they can influence people—directly controlling people is something no god can do, but by using subtle suggestions deep in the subconscious and soft whispers in the ear, combined with proper arrangements, allowing what they want to happen to occur in the form of various coincidences..."
"Heart trees, Old Gods!" Before Melisandre could finish explaining, a flash of lightning cut through the fog of thought, and Aegon instantly understood everything. He felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, and blurted out in shock.
Melisandre narrowed her eyes and stared at him, then nodded almost imperceptibly, then shook her head, signaling him not to speak further.
The Red Priestess's expression and actions were almost equivalent to confirming Aegon's guess. Everything made sense: the Old Gods are just a faith fabricated by the Greenseer, or in other words, the Old Gods are actually the Greenseer. The latter, through this "god" identity and related faith, made the Children of the Forest and the first wave of invading First Men plant weirwood everywhere, thereby continuously radiating his influence outwards—he not only sees and monitors the world through the weirwood, but also influences people through them!
And less than two hundred meters from where Bran fell was Winterfell's godswood! All it took was a subtle manipulation deep in his subconscious, making him suddenly want to climb the Ruined Tower to feed the crows, and then similarly enticing the long-suppressed desires of the Lannister siblings, leading them to look for places to have sex in their unbearable passion... Finally, getting rid of himself, the troublesome guy, and an accident was created.
But what made Aegon fearful was that in this accident, he repeatedly and forcefully tried to interfere, almost averting the crisis multiple times, which attracted the attention of the Greenseer... or rather, he should be called the "Old God." Melisandre had said before that she had fought with a very powerful being and thus carried the other party's aura. Thinking about it carefully, hadn't he just fought with the Greenseer?
Fortunately, he didn't succeed.
Cold sweat soaked his thin black shirt. Following this line of thought, was Melisandre's cursing and killing of the three "false kings" by burning three leeches also similar in effect?
...
Robb Stark was killed at the Red Wedding by the Frey family, who had colluded with the Lannister. It seemed completely unrelated to the three leeches. But could the King of the North's uncontrollable willfulness and oath-breaking, as well as the final choices of the two treacherous families, not have been caused by a series of whispers and provocations deep in the subconscious? Could this be the work of R'hllor?
Joffrey Baratheon was poisoned by Littlefinger and Queen of Thorns working together. This matter also had no connection to the leeches. But Petyr Baelish took huge risks, seemingly on a whim, just to stir up chaos that was of no benefit to himself. Queen of Thorns, Olenna Redwyne, had the killing intent to prevent her sweet granddaughter from marrying Joffrey, the "monster" who inherited the Mad King's style. The two schemers hit it off and jointly assassinated the King. Could there also have been the Lord of Light's inducement and suggestion in this?
Balon Greyjoy was believed to have fallen to his death while crossing a bridge during a storm, but his long-exiled brother, Euron Greyjoy, who returned to the Iron Islands immediately after his death, was the real killer. This fellow had been away from Westeros for several years, claiming to have traveled the world. Why did he return home precisely at the critical juncture of the War of Five Kings and help Melisandre's curse come true?
The Red Priestess's curse cannot directly kill people, but the Lord of Light behind her ensures that the people she curses are always killed by those who want to kill them. "Subconscious interference and whispers in the ear" are the means by which the "gods" of this world control it and use to attack each other!
Is it possible—this game of thrones, this duel of life and death, this song of ice and fire, is essentially a bunch of gods and demigods fighting each other, vying for influence over this world?
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