People in the heavens are as rich as the enemies of the country

Everyone did not stop in Shire, and even simply replenished supplies in Bree before rushing along the Eastern Avenue.

No one encountered any danger along the way. The Oak cavalry that had been following behind seemed to be thrown away. Half a month passed quickly in the boring rush.

This is normal. In this era of underdeveloped transportation, most people may have never left their hometown. If you want to go somewhere farther away, it’s okay to have a horse. Without a horse, the journey is measured in years. of.

During this period, the dwarves were counting the days every day. Seeing that the time for Tang Sen to issue the first commission was getting closer and closer, the smiles on their faces became brighter and brighter.

Dwarves are not afraid of long journeys. They travel during the day and hold banquets at night. With Tang Sen's financial resources, food is never in short supply. It is common for demons to dance around bonfires. If it weren't for the presence of Sarin, Tang Sen doubts They even had to strip naked and run wild in the wilderness.

The only thing that made the dwarves curious was that their employer wore a hood every night, stayed far away, and rarely talked to everyone.

But they didn't bother to explore this in broad strokes.

Earning mithril is enough.

After passing the Terminal Bridge, the group crossed the Missel River, which also announced that the pleasant journey was finally coming to an end. Ahead was the Troll Woodland, and further ahead was the Misty Mountains.

As the name suggests, the Troll Grove is a place where trolls are entrenched. Most people will not choose to travel through this dangerous jungle. Of course, no one will try to climb over the Misty Mountains. This is not an ordinary route.

If you want to go to the Lonely Mountain, the more common way is to go all the way down, bypass this huge mountain range across Middle-earth from the Rohan Pass, and then go up along the Anduin River. This way it takes as long as Although it is many times more, it is much safer.

Of course, it was impossible for Townsend to choose a detour. By the time he reached the Lonely Mountain, Smaug should have been completely cold. He was not sure whether his group was in front or behind Thorin Oakenshield. Townsend was more likely to believe that they had already entered. The Troll Jungle.

"No need to set up camp, just go in."

Tang Sen looked at the sky and said, "We are traveling all night."

"It's too dangerous, traveler." Sharda said loudly: "Night is the time for trolls to be active. I think we should wait until dawn."

"If we enter during the day, we have to spend the night in the troll forest, which is more dangerous." Tang Sen explained: "Let's set off now. We can try to cross here before tomorrow night."

"Besides, didn't you say that even if you meet a troll, you would dare to crush his toes?"

"Of course!" Sharda's eyes widened.

So the group of people dived into the forest. Fortunately, the trees in the troll forest were not as dense as those in the tower hills. They were more of low shrubs. Under the moonlight, they could still see the way forward clearly.

After running at high speed for half the night, Cindy, who was at the front of the team, suddenly reined in her horse.

"There's movement!"

The dwarves immediately became vigilant. Shalin immediately approached Tang Sen, holding both hammers, "Cindy, Suoli, go and have a look. Be careful. Others, prepare to fight."

The two dwarves immediately dismounted, groped forward in the dark, and soon stood in front of the hollow of a banyan tree.

Tang Sen could see that Cindy seemed to have discovered something, and she was hunched over and carefully preparing to get into the tree hole. Then there was a muffled sound, and he was hit directly on the head by something and fell backward.

"Don't you know that an old man needs to be alone when he sleeps?"

Angry roars came from the tree hole, "I've had enough dwarves today! Ilúvatar is on top, can't anyone teach these dwarves some manners!"

Suoli next to Cindy was startled, took two steps back with the ax in hand, and shouted: "It's not a troll! It's a person!"

He paused and added: "Old human man!"

Then, the figure in the tree hole finally came out of the shadows, and the moonlight was enough for everyone to see his appearance clearly.

He was wearing a gray robe, with a long white beard and messy gray hair shawl. He was holding a wooden crutch or preaching staff in his hand. Obviously, this was the culprit who knocked Cindy down just now.

"Oh, it's Shakun!" Suoli raised his head and looked at the tall wizard.

Shakun means "staff-bearer" in Dwarven language, and is usually used to refer to the wizard Gandalf the Grey.

Yes, everyone present recognized the man sleeping in the tree hole. After all, the image of the wizard was very distinct, even if he had not seen it, he had heard about it.

"Huh?" Gandalf also saw the dwarves present clearly and said in surprise: "I thought it was the stubborn Thorin who sent people to find me. Who are you?"

"Thorin?" Shalin's eyes lit up, he rode forward and shouted, "Thorin Oakenshield?"

Gandalf had to turn his gaze, looked at Shalin, and smiled: "Oh, a beautiful dwarf lady."

"It's strange, why do you appear in the Troll Jungle? The nearest dwarf city should be in Eredlon."

Damn it!

Tang Sen's eyes widened under his hood, looking at Gandalf in disbelief.

How did this person identify Salin's gender? And, a beautiful dwarf lady?

Shalin obviously didn't think there was anything wrong with this title. She said happily: "We are from Eredlon."

Only then did she finally remember Tang Sen, so she led Gandalf to Tang Sen and introduced: "This is our employer, a traveler. We will cross the Misty Mountains and head to the Iron Hills."

"Traveler?" Gandalf looked at Tangson suspiciously, "I have never heard of it."

"An unknown entity whose face is hidden behind a hood."

He held the staff, looking a little nervous, and said in a deep tone, "I feel an uncomfortable aura on your body."

"First meeting, the gray robe wizard Gandalf." Tang Sen replied politely: "I am not your enemy."

"I will see with my eyes." Gandalf raised his staff, and light emitted from the top of the staff.

It was the light of magic, powerful enough to penetrate the shadows of the elf's hood.

But Tang Sen had already controlled the horse without leaving any trace, and took two steps back nimbly, out of the moonlight and into the shade of the trees. Then, in the light of the staff, Tang Sen's young and plump facial features were revealed under the hood. .

"This is a bit rude." Tang Sen squinted his eyes and stared at Gandalf. All the dwarves could hear the dissatisfaction in Tang Sen's tone:

"I thought gray robe wizards were at least more polite than dwarves."