" This guy is really impatient, baby," Gollum hissed. "However, it has to wait. Yes, it has to wait. We can't leave in such a hurry. We need to collect some things first. Yes, take some things that can help us.”
"Alright, hurry up!" Birbo breathed a sigh of relief at the thought that Gollum would leave him temporarily. However, on second thought, he felt that he might just be looking for an excuse to leave and not plan to come back. What could he find on the lake?
But he was wrong. Gollum did want to come back. He was angry and hungry. As a vicious person, he had already thought of a plan.
Not far away was his island, and Birbo knew nothing about it. In this hiding place, there were a few disgusting things and a very beautiful treasure. It was very beautiful and very good. He had a ring-a gold ring, a precious ring.
"My birthday present!" He muttered to himself. He had been saying this to himself since an unknown number of years ago. "We want it now, yes, we want it!”
The reason he thought so was because the ring had magic power. If you put the ring on your finger, it would become invisible. It would only be discovered under the bright sunlight, and it would only be able to know your whereabouts through your blurry shadows.
"My birthday present! I got it on my birthday, baby,"he kept telling himself. However, who knew how Gollum had obtained this ring? In that ancient era, there were many such rings in the world, but no one knew about them now…perhaps even the owners of these rings were not sure. Gollum wore it on his hand all the time at first, but he grew very tired of it. Then he would put it in a pouch close to his body, and it would graze him. Now, he usually hid it under the rocks on the island and often went back to admire the treasure. Sometimes, when he could no longer bear the loneliness of being separated from it, he would put it on. Or when he was too hungry to eat fish, he would wear it. Then, he would silently advance along the tunnel, searching for the lone orc. He even dared to sneak into the tunnel where the torches were lit, because he knew that even if the fire made his eyes blink and shed tears, he would still be safe. Oh yes, it was safe! No one would notice him, no one would notice him. They could only wait for his fingers to grab their necks. A few hours ago, he had worn this ring and caught an unlucky little orc. That guy had screamed so miserably! He still had one or two bones left to chew on, but now he wanted to eat softer meat.
" Quite safe, yes," he said to himself,""It can't see us, baby, can it? Yes, it was. It can't see us, and its stinking sword won't be of any use, yes.”
When he suddenly left Birbo's side and jumped back onto the boat, he only thought about this matter. Birbo thought he would never see him again. However, he still waited for a while because he did not know how to find his way out.
All of a sudden, he heard a roar that sent chills down his spine. Gollum kept cursing and roaring in the darkness, but it didn't sound too far away. He stood on the island and searched around in vain.
"Where is it? Where is it?" Birbo heard him shout. "I lost it, my baby, it's gone! Curse us, we deserve to die, my treasure is gone!”
"What happened?" "What have you lost?" shouted Bilbo.”
"It doesn't ask us," Gollum shrieked."It's not its fault! No, Gollum! It's gone, Gollum, Gollum, Gollum.”
" Well, my way out is gone too," Birbo shouted."I want to leave this place. I won the competition, and you promised me. Come quickly! Take me out quickly, then you can continue searching!”Poor as Gollum sounded, Birbo found it hard to squeeze out much sympathy. He had a feeling that if Gollum wanted it so badly, it couldn't be anything good. "Come on!" he shouted.
"No, no, it's not time yet, baby!”Gollum answered,"We'll have to look for it, it's gone, Gollum."”
"But you didn't even guess my last question. You promised to take me out.”said Birbo.
"I didn't guess it!" said Gollum. Then, suddenly, a hissing sound came from the darkness."What exactly is in its pocket? He must tell us first!”
In Birbo's opinion, he had no reason not to tell the other party the answer. But Gollum thought faster than he did. This was very natural, because for so many years, he had only had this thing in his mind, and he had always been worried that it would be stolen. But at this moment, Birbo just didn't like the other party finding excuses to delay. After all, he had taken a great risk to win this guessing game. " You have to guess the answer, not ask," he said.
"But that's not a fair question," said Gollum."Baby, this isn't a puzzle.”
" Oh, well, if you just want to ask a question,""Then let me ask you first: what did you lose? Quickly tell me!"
What's in its pocket?" The voice grew louder and sharper. As he looked at the source of the sound, Birbo was alarmed to find two lights staring at him. Gollum grew suspicious, and his eyes seemed to burn with a pale fire.
"What did you lose?" Birbo insisted.
At this moment, the light in Gollum's eyes began to turn into green flames, and it was getting closer and closer. Gollum jumped back into the boat and began to row frantically toward the shore. His heart was filled with anger and hatred, and there were no more swords that could threaten him.
Birbo couldn't figure out what had made this guy so angry, but he knew it was all over. Gollum would kill him in the end. He immediately turned around and ran back as fast as he could with his left hand on the wall.
What's in its pocket?" He could hear the hissing still in hot pursuit, and the splash of Gollum jumping off the boat. "What do I have?”he told himself, panting as he ran. He put his left hand in his pocket. The ring felt cold to the touch and slid silently onto his index finger.
The hissing sound was getting closer. He turned and could see Gollum's eyes darting up the slope like little lamps. He ran faster and faster in fear, but he accidentally kicked a crack in the floor and fell to the ground, pressing the sword under his body.
Gollum caught up with him in that split second. But before Birbo could get up, catch his breath, or swing his sword, Gollum cursed and ran on, completely ignoring him.
What was going on? Gollum could see in the dark, and Birbo could see the light in his eyes from behind. He got up painfully, sheathed his sword, which was glimmering again, and followed carefully, for he had no choice, and there was no point in turning back to Gollum's lake. If he had followed Gollum, he might have inadvertently led Birbo to the exit.
"Curse it! Curse it! Curse it!" Gollum hissed,"Curse Baggins! It was gone! What was in its pocket? Oh, we guessed it, we guessed it, my baby-he found it, yes, he must have found it, my birthday present!”
Bilbo stood up straight and listened. At last, he began to doubt all this, too. He took a few cautious steps forward, boldly approaching Gollum; Fortunately, the other party was still in a hurry and had no time to look back. From the dim light on the wall, Birbo judged that this guy was constantly sizing up his surroundings.
"My birthday present! Curse it! How could we lose it, baby? Yes, that was it. The last time we came here, we broke that little guy's neck. That's it! Curse it! After such a long time, it actually slipped from our hands! It's gone, Gollum."
Suddenly, Gollum sat down on the ground and began to sob. It was a strange symphony of whistling and swallowing that made people uncomfortable. Birbo stopped and hid himself with his back against the wall. After a while, Gollum stopped sobbing and began to talk to himself. He seemed to be arguing with himself.
"It's useless to go back and look for it. It's useless. We don't even remember where we've been. Baggins put it in his pocket, and we think the stinker found it.”
"We're guessing, baby, just guessing. We can't be sure until we catch that bastard and interrogate him. It didn't know the way, and it couldn't go far. That stinky fellow was lost, and it said it didn't know the way out.”
"That's what it said, but it's very cunning. It didn't say what it meant, and it wouldn't say what was in the pocket. It knew. It knew the way in, so it definitely knew the way out. Yes, it went to the back door. Yes, to the back door! The orcs would catch it. It can't go out that way, baby.”
"Hiss, hiss, Gollum! Orcs! Yes, but if it has our gift, our precious gift, the orc will have it too, Gollum! They'll find it, they'll know what it's made of, and we'll never be safe again, never again, Gollum! An orc will wear it and no one will see him, he will be invisible, not even our clever eyes will see him, he will come quietly for us, Gollum, Gollum!”
"Then let's not chat anymore. Baby, hurry up. If Baggins went this way, we'd better hurry up and see. Go! It's not far, hurry up!"
Gollum leapt to his feet and began to run away. Birbo was still carefully following behind, but this time he was more worried about kicking something that shouldn't make a sound. His little head was filled with new hope and surprise. It seemed that the ring he had picked up was a magic ring: It could make people invisible! Of course, he had heard of such things in legends and fairy tales, but it was really hard to believe that he had actually found such a treasure by accident. He could not help but believe the evidence in front of him. Gollum, with his sharp eyes, ignored him and walked past him defenseless.
And so they went on, Gollum's feet clattering along, cursing and hissing; Birbo, on the other hand, used his hobbit talent and followed silently behind. Soon, Birbo came to the many forks he had noticed before. Gollum immediately began to count them.
"The one on the left, yes; the one on the right, yes. "Two on the right, yes yes, two on the left, yes yes…" He kept muttering to himself.
As he counted more and more, he began to tremble and sob. Because he was already very far away from the underground lake, he began to feel a little afraid. There might be orcs around, and he had lost the ring. Finally, he stopped at a low tunnel entrance on the left.
"Seventh on the right, yes. Sixth on the left, yes.”He whispered,"This is it. This is the way to the back door. This is the way!"”
He peeked inside and then shrank back. "But baby, we don't want to go in. We don't want to. There are beastmen inside, many beastmen. We can smell them. Hiss! What should we do? Curse these damn guys! We have to wait here, baby, we have to wait and see.”
Thus, they stopped. Gollum had brought Birbo to the exit after all, but Birbo could not enter! Because Gollum just sat there, his eyes cold, his head between his knees, looking left and right.
Birbo left the cave wall again with a voice even softer than a mouse's, but Gollum immediately tensed up and began to sniff around, his eyes glowing green again. he hissed angrily. He couldn't see the hobbit, but he was on high alert; Moreover, he had other senses that became sharper in the dark: Hearing and smell. He was sprawled on the floor, his head sticking out, his nose almost touching the floor. Although the other party was just a blurry shadow in the corner of Birbo's eye, he could clearly feel that: The other party was already as taut as a bowstring, monitoring every direction without slackening.
Birbo was so scared that he almost stopped breathing, and his body immediately became very stiff. He was extremely nervous. As long as he still had the strength, he must escape from this terrifying darkness and escape this place. He had to fight with all his might. He had to stab this terrifying fellow to death and extinguish the light in his eyes. He wanted to kill Birbo. No, it wasn't fair, Bilbo was invisible, Gollum was defenseless, Gollum didn't threaten to kill him, at least not yet; He was all alone and was extremely pitiful. He didn't know what to do. Birbo suddenly felt a mix of fear and sympathy for this poor creature. He had spent countless years in the underground world where there was no hope and no light. He moved around stealthily with the hard rocks and the cold blind fish as his companions, and he talked to himself sneakily. These thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, and Birbo shuddered. Then, with a sudden strange strength and determination in his body, he jumped.
It wasn't a very powerful leap for humans, but it was a leap in complete darkness. He flew over Gollum's head, seven feet in front, and at least three feet in the air. In fact, he almost smashed his head into the hole.
Gollum turned at once, trying to catch the hobbit flying overhead, but it was too late: His hand streaked across the air, and Birbo landed steadily on the ground, beginning to run in the direction of the new exit. He didn't dare turn his head to see what Gollum was doing. At first, he could hear clear hisses and curses behind him, and then they stopped; Almost at the same time, a blood-freezing scream filled with hatred and despair came from behind. Gollum was defeated. He did not dare to move forward. He had lost. Not only did he lose his prey, but he also lost the only treasure he cared about in his life. The scream almost made Birbo's heart jump out of his mouth, but he continued to run forward with determination. Although the voice was now as weak as an echo, the hatred in it continued to float forward.
"Thief, thief, thief! Baggins! We hate it, we hate it, we will hate it forever!”
Then, it became deathly silent. However, to Birbo, this was still worrying. "If Gru is close enough to smell the orcs, they can hear his screams and curses. I have to be careful. This path might lead me to something even more terrifying.”
This tunnel was not only low, but it also looked very crude. It was not too difficult for the Hobbit to walk, but he kicked the gravel on the ground several times along the way. " It seems too short for the taller orcs," thought Birbo, but he did not know that even the tallest orcs could bend their bodies and move quickly with their hands almost hanging to the ground.
Soon, the tunnel that had been winding down began to extend upward. After a while, it became very steep, which slowed Birbo's speed. In the end, the slope finally calmed down. The tunnel turned a corner and continued down. Over there, at the end of a bend, he saw a glimmer of light. It was not the red light from the oil lamp, but the white light of the sky. Birbo immediately sprinted.
He used all his strength to sprint forward. After making the final turn, he finally arrived at an open space. After he had been in the dark for so long, the light here had become very dazzling. In fact, this was just a ray of light that passed through the crack in the door. The source was a huge stone door not far away.
Birbo blinked and saw the orc." A fully armed orc with a sword in his hand sat inside the door, looking outside with vigilant eyes and monitoring the path leading to the door. They did not dare to relax at all and were prepared to face any danger.
They realized that the stranger was much faster. Yes, they had found him. He did not know whether it was an accident or another prank on the ring's new owner. When its master needed it the most, it was not on its master's finger. The orc cheered and rushed towards him.
Birbo felt a pang of fear and loss almost identical to Gollum's pain. He even forgot to pull out his weapon. He only remembered to reach into his pocket. The ring was still in his left pocket. He put it on at once, and the orc stopped in shock-he had vanished into thin air. They roared even louder than before, but this time it was not cheering.
"Where did he go?" They shouted.
"Hurry back to the door!" Someone shouted.
"This direction!" Some people shouted," It's that direction!”The others shouted.
" Pay attention to the gate," the captain ordered.
Whistles sounded, armors collided, swords waved, and orcs cursed as they ran around. They hindered each other, and their anger grew. In an instant, the originally orderly garrison fell into complete chaos.
Birbo was extremely afraid, but he still managed to maintain a trace of calm. He hid behind the large bucket that the orc guards used to drink in time, thus avoiding the orcs 'blind groping and the fate of being trampled to death.
"I have to get to the door, I have to get to the door!”he kept telling himself, but it was a long time before he dared to do it. It was like a terrifying game of blind men searching for the elephant. Orcs ran around aimlessly, and the poor little Hobbit dodged left and right. In the end, he was knocked down by a soldier who didn't know what was going on. Seizing the opportunity, he crawled over the captain's crotch on all fours and rushed to the door.
The door was still not completely closed, but an orc had already pushed it open. Birbo used all his strength and found that he still couldn't push. In the end, he could only think of a way to squeeze through. He squeezed again and again, and in the end, he actually got stuck. His button was stuck in the door; he could see the blue sky and white clouds outside, and a few more steps and he would be in a narrow valley among the high mountains. The sun peeked out from behind the clouds and shone outside the door, but he could not squeeze through.
Suddenly, an orc inside the door shouted,""There's a shadow at the door. There's someone outside!”
Birbo's heart jumped to his throat again. He struggled and the buttons exploded in all directions. He managed to squeeze out, but his coat and shirt were torn. He rushed down the stairs like an excited goat, while the surprised orcs picked up his beautiful copper buttons at the door.
Of course, they quickly chased after him while shouting and searching the forest. But they didn't like the sunlight. It made their legs weak and their heads swell. They could not find Bilbo with the ring, for he was moving silently through the shadows of the trees, darting where the sun did not reach. Therefore, they quickly cursed and mumbled as they walked back to the door to continue looking. Birbo finally escaped.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。