At this moment, the Spider gazed at The Lineages and Histories of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms on the table. After a moment of hesitation, he said pointedly:
"Lord Ned, if you continue to investigate with such fanfare, I'm afraid it won't just be your own life you'll be risking, but His Majesty the King's life as well."
With that, the Spider stood up and left, leaving Duke Ned deep in thought.
However, the Duke did not know that he wasn't the only person Varys had mobilized before coming here.
Just after the Master of Whisperers leisurely walked out of the Tower of the Hand and quietly left, he soon appeared outside the walls of King's Landing under the cover of dusk.
At this moment, however, the Master of Whisperers who stepped down from the carriage had changed into an inconspicuous cloak.
Before the setting sun completely sank into the sea, several fast horses rushed from the direction of the Rosby Road. Leading them was the topic of conversation everyone in King's Landing knew—Baron "Little Jon."
At this moment, the new baron was pulling the reins while rushing towards the Lion Gate, not forgetting to support Tyrion, who was almost bumped off his horse.
After receiving the warning from the Spider, Jon didn't dare delay for a moment and immediately chose to return to King's Landing overnight.
Because the message sent by the Master of Whisperers mentioned Duke Ned's investigation and the unusual movements of the Lannister family.
Although the other party didn't say anything specific, he mentioned needing to talk to him face to face to prevent the situation from changing or secrets from being leaked.
But the transmigrator, who knew the subsequent development well, knew that there was no room for hesitation at this time. Therefore, regardless of the Imp's objections, he forcibly put the other party on horseback.
After that, the two friends were stopped by Varys on the roadside, and were then separately informed that the problem between the Direwolf and the Lion had exceeded everyone's imagination.
The bald manager, ignoring Jon's look of strong prevention, directly told Tyrion about the incident caused by that Valyrian steel dagger.
It wasn't until this moment that the Imp had time to recall the meaning of Jon's warning at that time.
Therefore, after a short silence, Tyrion couldn't care less that Cersei didn't intend to summon him. He bid farewell and left first, ready to discuss with his sister to avoid causing tremors in the court and unnecessary trouble.
However, after sending the Imp away, the Master of Whisperers was not in a hurry to return to King's Landing with Jon. Instead, he dragged him all the way to the seaside, and after bypassing the slums, came to the entrance of a deep cave.
Although called a cave, with the filth constantly flowing out and pouring into the sea, Jon could roughly guess that this must be the sewer of King's Landing.
However, before he could think too much, Varys in front had already stepped into the darkness, leading the way deep into the cave.
Seeing this, Jon could only choose to follow closely behind.
It wasn't until he saw Varys light a torch that he had time to step forward and ask the other party.
"Lord Varys, could you please explain what exactly happened?"
When saying this, although Jon tried his best to suppress the dissatisfaction in his heart, the attitude in his words was keenly captured by the Spider.
However, regarding Jon's questioning, Varys did not use his title or status as a minister of the Small Council to suppress the junior. Instead, while raising his hand to signal Jon to follow him, he responded calmly.
"My dear friend, during the time you were away, Duke Ned almost turned King's Landing upside down. Even the fishmongers on the roadside know that what the Lord Hand wants to investigate is far more than the cause of Duke Jon Arryn's death..."
Speaking of this, the two had come to a wider underground passage, which already had traces of human modification.
This also allowed Varys to climb the stairs easily, and even continue to talk to himself while leading the way in front.
"Of course, if it were just this, perhaps no one would question Duke Ned's reverence for his foster father."
"But in some people's eyes, this is tantamount to a prelude to war, which needs to be completely extinguished urgently."
When saying this, Varys had already stopped, and made a throat-slitting gesture across his neck when turning his head.
Looking at the other party's obvious signal, Jon naturally knew the meaning of his words. Perhaps it meant that only dead men tell no tales.
However, even knowing the subsequent development trend, Jon still hadn't figured out what kind of change had occurred in the short time he left to make Varys so alert.
Moreover, he didn't intend to involve the Imp in it.
Although no Lannister is innocent, this halfman is quite an unjustly blamed scapegoat.
Even dragging him into these troubles wouldn't change anything; instead, it would make things more complicated.
However, just when Jon wanted to continue this topic, Varys leading the way put a finger to his lips and signaled the baron to follow closely.
Descending continuously along the spiral stone steps, the air quickly became cold and stagnant, as if sinking into the cold abdominal cavity of some huge creature.
And the torch in his hand seemed to be the only living thing struggling in this absolute darkness, casting huge, twisted, crazily dancing shadows on the rough rock walls of the narrow passage.
The further down they went, that mix of aged dust, the damp cold of deep-buried stones, and an indescribable...
At this moment, Jon only felt the petrified ancient aura becoming heavier and heavier—that was the smell of time itself, heavy enough to be suffocating.
Until he stepped into that space.
Most of the torchlight seemed to be swallowed instantly, leaving only a pitiful, trembling halo that could only illuminate the square inch under their feet.
However, looking up and forward into the endless darkness with this weak light source, a primitive fear of colossal monsters originating from the marrow seized the soul of every visitor.
Those were rows and rows of huge, hideous, and silent skulls.
Like ancient titans sleeping in huge sarcophagi, or like primeval trolls solidified by time at the moment of roaring.
These were the cornerstones of the Targaryen dynasty's power, and also the cold tombstones of its final withering—the remains of dragons.
The largest one, a shadow towering like a mountain, almost filled the darkness at the end of the field of vision.
The huge eye sockets were two deep, hollow, pitch-black abysses that seemed to suck everything in. Even if the torchlight shone in, it couldn't reach the bottom.
The oral cavity that once carried destructive flames was like the entrance of a huge, deep cave. The edges were lined with teeth as white and sharp as huge scimitars, each longer than an adult's arm.
The skull itself presented a dull ink-black color, and the surface was covered with deep etchings left by the years, like solidified lava.
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