#354 - Sudden Invasion
“This doesn't look like a good sign.”
There were trolls with bone-chilling coldness, wargs, and orcs of unknown origin and allegiance.
“What do you intend to do?” Gandalf asked Li Wei.
“What else can I do but go and see.”
“Then I’ll go with you.”
Gandalf made the decision immediately.
“Aren’t you going to deal with the One Ring first?”
“That matter is not urgent, or rather, it can’t be rushed.”
“Do you have other plans?”
“I do have some plans.”
Gandalf replied, “This matter is of great importance, and I intend to have Aragorn inform the other allies so that we can discuss it together.”
“What do you think about this?”
“Reasonable.”
Li Wei expressed his approval.
“I have no interest in this ring. The worst-case scenario is a direct confrontation with Mordor and another great decisive battle, but that’s too radical. Well, you know, I’m a rather conservative person.”
Conservative?
Gandalf’s expression was rather strange.
That's just what you guys think.
“If there’s a better way, I don’t mind offering support.”
“That would be best.” Hearing Li Wei’s words, Gandalf was slightly relieved.
With Li Wei's support, Gandalf left temporarily to explain things to Aragorn.
So Aragorn had something to do again.
“Where are you going?”
Seeing Aragorn about to leave, Frodo, who had become the most familiar with Aragorn during this time, asked.
Aragorn’s answer was also quite brief.
“To Rivendell.”
“Rivendell?”
Hearing this word, Frodo was obviously invigorated.
“Is that the place Bilbo went to?”
“Bilbo? Oh, there is indeed a hobbit named Bilbo there.”
“Great!”
Frodo started packing his luggage on the spot.
“I’ll go with you. It’s been a long time since I saw Bilbo, and I don’t know how he’s doing now.”
“He’s fine. I saw him the last time I went to Rivendell, but he was concentrating on writing a book, so I didn’t disturb him.”
As he was speaking, the other three hobbits also came over.
“Writing a book!”
Merry, Pippin, and Sam exchanged glances.
“After so long, Bilbo’s book must be finished.”
“That’s right. The last time we went to peek, we only saw half of it, and the rest hadn’t been written yet.”
“Rivendell, that’s the home of the elves we saw on the road, right?”
“Please, take us with you!”
Several hobbits earnestly made a request to Aragorn.
Aragorn nodded.
“It’s possible, but…”
“You encountered elves on the road?”
At this time, Li Wei, who had finished discussing with Gandalf, came over and interjected.
Aragorn responded, “Yes, we encountered the Noldor elves of the House of Finrod—Gildor. He led a small team to the Tarchia pilgrimage this spring and is only returning now, so we happened to run into them.”
Frodo excitedly said from the side, “It’s my first time seeing elves. They are just like the rumors say, elegant, tall, and mostly friendly.”
“What about the other minority?”
“Uh, I heard there are some woodland elves in Mirkwood…”
This made Aragorn laugh.
The woodland elves were unfairly maligned.
“Take them with you, Bilbo will surely be happy to see them too.”
At Li Wei’s suggestion, Aragorn set off with the four of them.
However, this was a few days later. The group rested at Bree for a while before continuing their journey.
The road from Bree to Rivendell is also within the protection range of Bree, so there is basically no danger, and they can walk with peace of mind.
The group walked onto the main road, crossed the Last Bridge, and also went to the famous tourist attraction of Trollshaws to take a look, and finally slowly arrived at Rivendell.
Elrond came upon hearing the news and warmly welcomed the group, and Frodo also got to see Bilbo as he wished.
“Recently? I’ve been doing great recently.”
Bilbo seemed quite happy.
“Bilbo, you’ve changed so much.”
Frodo looked at Bilbo, whose hair was graying and finally showing signs of aging, and sighed.
“Yes, I’ve changed a lot. Since coming here, that feeling of being pulled has disappeared.”
Frodo smiled and nodded. Bilbo took him to visit the best scenic spots in Rivendell, and this tour made his eyes widen.
“Such great scenery.”
“How does it compare to Bree? I heard you stayed there for a while.”
Frodo hesitated for a moment, and finally said, “It’s neck and neck.”
“However, Bree is much more lively than here.”
“That’s undeniable.”
Bilbo said, “Actually, I was torn between living in Bree or Rivendell before. The people and elves in both places are equally friendly and kind, but in the end, I chose here.”
“Well, mainly because, relatively speaking, I prefer the quiet and lofty scenery, and I can often come into contact with elves here. They can teach me some things, which is very helpful for my new book.”
“Although there are also elves in Bree, they are really busy. Each elf has many students to teach, and I have to make an appointment to see them.”
“By the way, where’s Li Wei? Didn’t he come with you?”
“It’s been a long time since I saw him last.”
“Li Wei and Gandalf are together. They went to a place north of Bree. It seems like something urgent came up.”
“That’s a real shame.” Bilbo sighed.
Far away in the abandoned fortress of Carn Dûm in the Angmar mountains, Gandalf couldn't help but gasp.
“I’m too familiar with this armor style, even though it’s so tattered that it’s almost unrecognizable, that feeling is unmistakable.”
He poked at the corpse on the ground, which was frozen as hard as ice, with his staff, and said:
“In my opinion, he and the orcs we’ve seen before are indeed the same species, but probably not the same faction.”
“This is Morgoth’s army, most likely the original orcs that survived from the First Age. I really don’t know where they lived before.”
“I dare say, if you put them together with the orcs of the Misty Mountains or even Mordor, the two sides would definitely fight.”
Li Wei squatted down and looked at the orc’s corpse, feeling the chill, and was lost in thought.
“This is really interesting.”
“Indeed, very interesting.”
Gandalf also squatted down, carefully examining the orc.
“Where did they come from?”
“The answer to this question is probably further north.”
Li Wei thought, making a decision.
“Gandalf, I… um?”
As he was speaking, suddenly, bursts of noise came from the mountains in the distance.
A not-weak monster legion was charging down from the top of the snow mountain. They crashed head-on into the dilapidated walls of Carn Dûm. Trolls smashed the already poorly maintained gate, and wargs slipped in like ghosts, searching for the breath of living people. Following them were orcs, some orcs screaming and running inside, their fierce and cloudy eyes darting around.
However, they were destined to be disappointed.
There were no 'people' in their perception here, only a wizard and a Li Wei.
The original garrison had long since withdrawn.
Swish—
Li Wei took out the Dragonflame Steel Greatsword, jumped off the city wall with a bang, directly cutting down a large swath of wargs, and then swung the sword to harvest another crop of orcs.
Several mindless snow trolls rushed up, trying to cause him some trouble.
Boom!
A burst of intense white light erupted on the city wall, and the trolls were immediately dizzy and stopped, taking advantage of this opportunity, Li Wei rushed up and gave them a good beating, ending them with fairly clean movements.
“That flash was well timed.”
