They continued to move forward in a row. The entrance to the path was two large trees leaning against each other. It looked like an arch leading to a tunnel. There were too many parasitic vines and moss hanging on the two trees, causing all the leaves to look black. The path was very narrow and meandered through the trees. Soon, the light at the entrance seemed to be a distant afterglow. The dead silence around them made their footsteps sound like heavy drums. All the trees seemed to listen with interest.
As their eyes adapted to the dim light, they could finally see the scenery on both sides of the road. Occasionally, a faint ray of sunlight would penetrate the dense leaves and tangled branches above and shine in, giving them another source of light. However, this scene was very rare and soon disappeared completely.
There were black squirrels in the forest, and as Birbo's sharp eyes adjusted to the light, he could see them sneaking along the path or peeping at them from behind the trees. There were many strange sounds in the bushes, such as grunts, scratching, and rolling sounds. These sounds would spread all the way to the high pile of rotten leaves on the ground, but he could not see what kind of creature was making these strange sounds. The most disgusting thing they saw was the spider web: These dense, dark nets had particularly thick and hard spider silk, often extending from one tree to another or hanging from the trees on both sides of the road. However, there were no spider webs hanging in the middle of the road. They did not know if it was because some kind of magic had cleared them or if there was some other reason they could not think of.
Not long after, they developed a strong sense of disgust for the forest, just like how they hated the orcs 'tunnels back then. Moreover, the scene in front of them seemed to be even more disheartening. They missed the sunlight or the sky, and they yearned for the feeling of a cool breeze blowing across their faces. However, at the same time, they had to keep moving forward. There was no air flow in the forest. It was always dark and stuffy. Even the dwarves, who were used to living in underground tunnels, could feel the pressure. Not to mention the hobbits who were used to embracing nature and having open-air picnics. He felt like he was about to suffocate to death.
Night was the worst time. The forest would become pitch-black, and it was not the pitch-black that most people imagined. At night, it was so dark that you couldn't even see your nose. Birbo tried waving his hands in front of his nose, and sure enough, he couldn't see anything; Perhaps it was not a very accurate description to say that they were completely invisible, because they could see countless eyes. They slept together and took turns keeping watch, and when it was Bilbo's turn he would see many glimmers of light in the darkness around him; Sometimes, yellow, green, or red eyes would stare at them from not far away. Then, the light would slowly dim and light up again from not far away. Sometimes, these lights would shine on the branches above their heads, which was the most terrifying scene. However, what he hated the most was the white, protruding eyes. "Insect eyes!" He thought,"They're not animal eyes, they're just weirdly big.”
Although the weather was not very cold, they still tried to start a fire at night. However, they soon gave up. The flames seemed to attract hundreds or even thousands of eyes, but these mysterious creatures were always careful not to expose their bodies to the faint light of the flames. Worse, it would attract countless black or dark green moths, some almost as big as your palm. These moths would fly around them non-stop, which was really unbearable. There were also those giant bats that were as black as black hats. Therefore, they had no choice but to give up on the fire and let the darkness swallow them.
For the Hobbits, this torturous process seemed to last decades; Because they had been strictly controlling the food, he was always hungry. Even so, as time slowly passed, they became more and more nervous. Food would not last forever. In fact, the number was already a little insufficient. They tried to hunt squirrels, but after wasting many arrows, they barely managed to shoot one. In the end, when they roasted the squirrel and ate it, they found that it tasted terrible, so they no longer wasted time hunting.
They were also very thirsty because they did not have much water. During this period of time, they did not even encounter any spring or river. One day, they found a running river on the path. The river was very fast, but it was not very wide. At least, it looked dark in the forest. Fortunately, Beweng had warned them beforehand, or they would have filled their canteens immediately, regardless of the color of the river, and even drank their bellies full of water. Now, all they could think of was how to cross the river without getting their hands and feet wet. There used to be a wooden bridge on the river, but it looked like it had rotted and fallen into the water, leaving only broken pillars on both sides.
Birbo knelt by the river bank and looked into the distance. "There's a boat on the other side! Why isn't it on our side?"
"How far do you think that ship is?" Thorin asked, for he now knew that Birbo had the best eye of all.
"Not too far, I don't think more than twelve yards.”
"12 yards! I think it's at least thirty yards, but my eyes aren't as useful as they were a hundred years ago. Twelve yards and a mile were not much different. We can't jump over, let alone risk crossing the river or swimming over.”
"Can you throw a rope over?”
"What's the use of that? Even if we can hook the ship, it must be tied up.”
"I don't think it's tied," said Bilbo."Although I can't be sure under this light, it seems to me that it's just leaning against the shore. The road on the other side was especially low, just right to meet the river.”
" Dori is the strongest, Philip is the youngest and has the best eyesight," Thorin said."Philip, come over here and see if you can see the ship Mr. Baggins was talking about.”
Philip thought he could see it, so when he was looking in that direction, the person next to him brought him a rope. They took several ropes and tied the longest one to an iron hook that had been used to secure the backpack. Philip grabbed the iron hook, tried to grasp the balance, and then threw it across the river.
It fell into the water with a splash! "Not far enough!" Birbo looked across the bank and said,"A few more feet and we'll be in the boat. Try again. If you've only touched a wet rope, I don't think the magic of the river can hurt you.”
Philip carefully pulled the hook back. When he touched the hook, his face showed a struggling expression. This time, he threw it out with even more strength.
"Be steady!" "You threw it into the woods by the river this time," said Bilbo."Pull the rope back carefully.”Philip pulled the rope back slowly, and after a while Bilbo said,"Be careful! The hook was on the boat, and he hoped that the iron hook could hook something.”
It did hook the boat. Philip pulled it hard, but the boat didn't move. Kili rushed over to help, followed by Ouyin and Gloin. They pulled and pulled, and suddenly they all fell to the ground. Birbo caught the falling rope, and the boat on the other side drifted over after breaking the rope. "Help!" he shouted, and Balin grabbed the rope just in time to stop the boat from drifting down the river.
"After all, it was still tied up!" He looked at the broken rope in his hand." Everyone is really strong. Fortunately, our rope is stronger.”
"Who will pass first?" Birbo asked.
" I'll go first," Thorin said." You, Philip, and Balin will follow." After them were Kili, Orin, Gloin, and Dori, followed by Oli, Nori, Beaver, and Boffo, and finally Dwarin and Pombo.”
" I hate it when it's always the last," Pang Bo said."It should be someone else this time."
"You shouldn't be so fat in the first place. Since you're so fat, you should be the last to come. You can't let the boat bear too much pressure. Don't disobey orders, or you'll run into bad luck.”
"There are no oars. How are we going to push the boat back from the other side?”asked the Hobbit.
"Give me another rope and another hook," said Philip, and when they were ready, he threw the rope into the air as hard as he could. In the end, it did not fall. Everyone thought that the iron hook was already hanging on the branch. "Let's go in!" Philip said," One of you must take this rope to the other side. One of you must hold the iron hook first. When we reach the other side safely, we can hook the hook and let the people on this side pull the boat back.”
Using this method, they quickly crossed the magical stream. Dwarin took the rope and stepped onto the shore. Pang Bo (who was still mumbling) was about to climb out, but he really encountered bad luck. A figure that looked like a wild deer suddenly appeared from the forest. It rushed into the dwarves and pushed them away, ready to jump to the other side. However, it was unable to jump to the other side safely. Thorin was the only one among them who stood firm and remained calm. As soon as they crossed the other side, he immediately drew his bow and nocked an arrow, ready to deal with any creature guarding the boat. At this moment, he aimed at the leaping beast and shot an arrow. When it reached the other side, it seemed to hit the ground hard, and the shadows were all around it, but they could hear a struggle, and then all was quiet.
Before they had time to praise Thorin, Birbo's shriek made them all tense. "Pang Bo fell into the water! Pang Bo is drowning!" he shouted. It was true. When the wild beast rushed out, Pang Bo only had one foot on the ground. He staggered, pushed the boat away, and fell into the dark water. His hands did not catch the slippery plants on the bank, and he could only watch the boat drift into the darkness.
When they reached the river, they could see his hat floating on the water. Soon, they threw thick ropes with hooks in that direction. He grabbed the rope and everyone pulled him to the shore. He was drenched from head to toe, but that was not the worst. As soon as he came ashore, he immediately fell asleep, his hand still clutching the rope tightly. No matter how much everyone shouted, he still slept like a dead pig.
They lowered their heads to look at the fatty, cursing everyone's luck and Pang Bo's clumsiness. The boat drifted away, and now they could no longer reach the other side to see the deer that seemed to have been shot; At this moment, they heard the faint sound of a horn and the roar of a hound. Everyone fell silent. When they sat on the ground, they could clearly hear that someone had started hunting in the north of the path, but they could not see any signs.
They sat there for a long time, not daring to act rashly. There was a smile on Pang Bo's fat face as he slept sweetly, as if he didn't care about any of his current troubles. Suddenly, a few white deer appeared on the path. There was a tall female deer and a few young deer. Their pure white fur formed a strong contrast with the black deer from before. The wild deer immediately disappeared into the forest without a sound. The dwarves fired arrows at them in vain.
"Stop! Stop!" Thorin shouted, but it was too late. The excited dwarves had already wasted their last arrows, and the bows and arrows that Beweng had kindly given them were useless.
That night, the morale of the group was very low. In the next few days, their mood fell to the bottom. They had crossed the magical stream, but the path behind the stream seemed to be just as winding, and the forest had not changed. If they understood the meaning of the hunt and the appearance of the white deer, they would know that they were finally approaching the eastern edge of the forest. Soon, as long as they persevered, they would find that the trees were getting fewer and fewer, and the sun was getting brighter and brighter.
However, they didn't know that apart from their heavy hearts, they also had to carry Pang Bo forward. They used all their strength. Four of them took turns to carry the fat man, while the others had to help carry the backpacks of those people. If it wasn't for the fact that the weight of their backpacks had been greatly reduced, they might not have been able to complete this mission. Moreover, compared to food, the giggling Pang Bo was not a burden that could motivate people. After a few days, they were left without food and water. There was no edible food in the forest, only mushrooms and leaves that gave off a strange smell.
Four days after crossing the magic stream, they came to an area surrounded by cypress trees. At first, they were quite happy with this change because there were no longer so many weeds and the shadows were much thinner. There was a green light all around, and in some places, you could even see the scenery on both sides of the path. However, the green light only allowed them to see rows of trees, like endless stone pillars in a deep tomb. The air began to flow, and there was a special sound. However, this made people feel sad. They trampled on the rotten leaves that had accumulated on the ground for countless autumns.
Pang Bo was still in a deep sleep. Everyone felt extremely tired. Sometimes, they would hear unsettling laughter, and sometimes they would hear singing in the distance. The laughter was quite pleasant, completely different from the beastmen's, but it sounded strange and unfamiliar, making them feel uneasy. They just wanted to use their last strength to get as far away from this place as possible.
Two days later, they found that the path began to slope downward. Soon, they came to a valley full of oak trees.
"Could it be that this damn forest will never end?”Thorin said," Can anyone climb to the top of the tree and see what's going on outside? I think we can only choose the tallest tree to try our luck!”
Of course, the so-called "anyone" was Birbo. The reason they chose him was that if the person climbing the tree wanted to be able to stick his head out of the woods, he had to be light enough to let the top branches bear his weight. Poor Mr. Baggins had never had much experience in climbing trees, but they still pushed him onto an old oak tree by the roadside. He could only try his best to climb up. He struggled through the dense branches, and was hit by the branches several times in the middle. Sap and moss growing on the bark quickly blackened and greenened him, and more than once he slipped off a branch, only to end up clinging dangerously to one below; He carefully approached the top of the tree with great difficulty. For what felt like hundreds of years, his mind was full of worries about whether there were spiders on the tree and how he was going to get down later (other than falling).
Finally, he stuck his head out of the sea of trees and indeed encountered several spiders. Fortunately, these were just normal sized spiders, and their target was the butterflies. Birbo's vision was almost blinded by the sunlight. He could hear the dwarf shouting anxiously below, but he could only blink his eyes desperately and could not answer. It took him a while to get used to the light. When he got used to the dazzling light, he found that he was surrounded by a dark green sea. The treetops swayed left and right in the breeze, and the sky was filled with dancing butterflies. I think they are probably a kind of butterfly called the purple monarch butterfly, which likes to rest on the top of oak trees. However, these are not purple, they are dark black, and there are no marks on them.
He carefully admired the black monarch butterflies for a long time, enjoying the comfortable feeling of the wind blowing through his hair and face. However, after a while, the dwarves below began to stomp and roar, reminding him that he had something important to do. Unfortunately, the situation before him was very bad. No matter which direction he looked, he could not see any boundary between the trees. His mood, which had been lifted by the sunlight and the green scenery in front of him, began to sink. Because his stomach was empty, his mood was especially heavy this time.
As I told you before, they are not far from the edge of the forest. If Birbo was calm and careful enough, he would have discovered that the tree he was standing on was actually in the middle of a valley. Therefore, the scene he saw from the top of the tree was that there were dense forests in all directions. Due to the limitations of the terrain, he couldn't see where the end of the forest was. However, he didn't notice this, and in the end, he climbed down the tree in disappointment. He was hot and sticky, covered in bruises, and he couldn't see anything in the darkness below. Soon, his report made everyone fall into the same low tide.
"This forest continues to extend in all directions! What should we do? What's the use of sending a Hobbit!" They shouted as if it was his fault. They didn't care if there were any butterflies, and when he described the scene of the breeze, they felt even angrier; Because dwarves were too heavy, there was no way they could climb that high.
※※※
That night, they ate the last bit of food. When they woke up the next morning, the only thing they knew was that their stomachs were still hungry as if there were worms crawling in them. It was raining heavily, and many drops of water fell through the dense forest and onto the ground. This only made them realize how thirsty their throats were. In fact, it did not help at all. You couldn't stand under an oak tree with your mouth wide open and wait for the water to drip. Unexpectedly, the only consolation came from Pang Bo.
He suddenly woke up and scratched his head. He did not know where he was, or why he was so hungry, for he had forgotten everything that had happened since the day he had set out in May. The last thing he remembered was the party at the Hobbit's house. It took them a great deal of effort to convince him that they had gone through many adventures in the process.
When he heard that the food had run out, he sat down in dismay and wept, for he felt very weak and his legs were weak. "Why should I wake up!" "I was having a wonderful dream," he wailed."I dreamed that I was walking through a forest just like this, except that there were torches in the trees, oil lamps hanging from the branches, campfires on the ground, and there were parties everywhere... parties that never stopped. A king of the forest had a crown made of fallen leaves on his head. Everyone was singing happily, eating and drinking so much that they couldn't count!”
"Don't say anymore!" Thorin said," In fact, if you can't tell us anything else, you'd better keep your mouth shut. We've already had enough of your weight. If you don't wake up, we're going to leave you in the forest to dream. Even if you didn't eat or drink for weeks, it was still heavy enough to kill you.”
Other than tightening their belts, they had no other choice. They could only carry their empty backpacks and bags and continue to walk along the path in low spirits, wondering if they could see the end of the road before they starved to death. They walked like this for an entire day. Not only was their speed very slow, but they were also unimaginably tired. Pang Bo kept crying, saying that his legs were weak and that he wanted to lie down and sleep.
"No, you can't!" They said,"Let your legs exercise. We've already shared enough for you."”
No matter what they said, this guy still sat on the ground and refused to move forward. " If you want to leave, you can leave," he said." If I can't find anything to eat on the way, I'd rather lie here and dream. There are many delicious foods in my dreams. I really hope that I will never wake up.”
At that moment, Ba Lin, who was walking at the front, shouted,"What's that? I think I see fire in the forest!”
They all pushed themselves to the front, and there seemed to be a red light flashing in the darkness quite a distance away; Then, another spark appeared beside him, and then another. Even Pang Bo got up, and the group ran forward recklessly, not caring if it was a cannibal woman or a beastman. The light before them was on the left side of the path, and when they finally came near the fire, it looked like the torches were burning under the trees, but some distance away from the path.
"Looks like my dream has come true!”Pang Bo caught up from behind, panting. He wanted to rush after the light, but the others did not forget the warnings of the wizard and Beon.
" If you don't come back alive, it doesn't matter how much food you have," Thorin said.
"If we don't have anything to eat, we won't be able to live for long anyway!”said Pombo, and Bilbo heartily agreed with him. They argued for a while and finally agreed to send a few scouts to quietly approach the light and figure out what was going on. However, at this time, they could not decide who to send. It seemed that no one was in a hurry to risk never finding their way back. In the end, hunger overwhelmed the warning. As Pombo kept describing the various delicacies he saw in his dream, the dwarves all left the path and rushed into the depths of the forest.
After crawling forward for a while, they finally saw an empty space where the trees had been cut down and the land had been leveled. There were many elf-like figures here, all dressed in green and brown clothes. They formed a circle around the felled trees. There was a campfire in the center, and many torches were inserted into the surrounding trees. However, the happiest thing was that they were all happily drinking and enjoying the delicious food.
The aroma of the roasted meat was so alluring that everyone crawled out at the same time and rushed into the crowd, hoping that the other party would reward them with some food. As soon as they set foot on the open space, the flames extinguished at the same time as if they had been enchanted. Someone kicked the campfire, and it exploded into countless sparks and disappeared. They fell into complete darkness again, unable to see each other. After a while, they began to feel their way through the darkness. They kept tripping over trees, hitting tree trunks, and shouting loudly, waking up almost all the creatures in the forest. Finally, they gathered together and counted everyone by touch. By then, they had already forgotten the original direction of the path. Before dawn, they were completely lost.
They had nothing to do in the darkness, so they could only sit down. They were worried that they would get lost again, so they didn't even dare to search for food scraps on the ground. They hadn't been lying down for long, and just as Birbo began to feel his eyelids grow heavier, Dori, the first night shift, whispered,"The flames have appeared again. This time, there are even more of them!”
They all jumped up. Indeed, there were a dozen warm light sources not far away, and they could clearly hear the laughter coming from ahead. They lined up in a row, each of them touching the back of the person in front of them, and walked forward one by one. When they were near, Thorin said,""Don't be anxious this time! Before I give the signal, no one is allowed to come out. I'll send Mr. Baggins to scout ahead. They wouldn't be scared of him-("What if I'm scared of them?”thought Bilbo.) - I hope they won't do anything to him.”
When they reached the edge of the fire, they gave Birbo a sudden push from behind, and before he could put on the ring, he fell into the fire. This was useless. All the light was extinguished, and the darkness that could not even be seen was once again enshrouded.
If it was difficult to gather in the dark before, it was much worse this time. They couldn't find the Hobbits no matter how hard they looked. They counted, but there were still only thirteen people. "Bilbo Baggins!" they shouted. Hobbits! You damned Hobbit! Hey! Hobbit, you stinky thing, where are you?”There were other similar shouts, but the other party did not respond at all.
They were about to give up hope when Dori accidentally stepped on him. In the darkness he thought he had kicked a log, only to discover that it was a curled up, sleeping hobbit. It took them a lot of effort to wake him up, and when he woke up, he was in a bad temper.
" I just had a good dream," he muttered."There are so many things to eat.”
"Oh my god! He's become like Pombo,"they said."Don't tell us about your dream. The things in the dream are useless and we can't share them.”
"In this damned place, I'm afraid I can only rely on dreaming to fill my stomach!”He mumbled and lay down beside the dwarf, trying to fall asleep again.
However, this was not the last time the strange light appeared in the forest. In the middle of the night, Kili, who was on duty, woke everyone up again.
"It's lit up again not far away, there's hundreds of torches and dozens of campfires, they must've been lit by magic, listen to their singing and harps!”
After lying down for a moment, they found that they could not resist the desire to go and investigate again. They got to their feet again, and this time it was even worse. The feast they had seen before was now even more sumptuous and astonishing. In front of a large group of people who were drinking and having fun sat a king of the forest. His golden hair was decorated with a crown made of leaves, just like the dream character described by Pang Bo. These elf-like creatures were handing big bowls to each other. Some were playing harps, while many were busy singing. Their shiny hair was decorated with flowers, and green and white gems were pinned on their collars and belts. Their expressions and singing were full of joy, and their songs were very pleasant. Thorin boldly stepped into their midst.
In an instant, the forest fell into a dead silence again. All the light disappeared, and the flames turned into black smoke. The dwarves could only see ashes and ashes in their eyes. The forest was once again filled with their frantic roars and complaints.
Birbo found himself running in circles (he thought so), shouting,"Dori, Nori, Ori, Orin, Gloin, Fili, Kili, Pombo, Biff, Boff, Dwarin, Balin, Thorin Oakshield," and the people he could not see or touch were doing the same thing beside him (with the occasional "Bilbo!”）But the cries of the others grew more and more distant, and after a while they seemed to become distant cries for help, leaving him alone in the darkness.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]