As it turned out, although Goots was an excellent caravan leader, he was not a good guide.
Sheyan's party immediately set off at Goots' suggestion, but after walking for at least three kilometres, they realized that they were still walking in circles in the forest. The forest seemed to have no end. After walking for a while, they would raise their heads, hoping to see a trace of starlight and the dark sky. They also longed for the feeling of the wind caressing their faces. Unfortunately, their efforts were in vain. The forest seemed to be imprisoning them in the branches and leaves.
Apart from the sounds they made, there was a perpetual stillness, a permanent darkness, and a stupefying sterility that lingered in the neighbourhood. Even though they held torches, the light from the torches could only reach five or six metres before they were enveloped by darkness. This was not the kind of darkness that could be casually described. It was a darkness that they could not see even if they waved their fingers in front of their eyes.
Sheyan sensed something amiss. If they encountered any danger in this environment, they wouldn't even be able to retaliate. Hence, he immediately asked Melody.
"What's wrong with us? Something's wrong. "
Melody closed her eyes and shook her head slightly.
"The fragment of the Nazgûl Dwar's armor that you're carrying is suddenly emitting a dense dark aura. I can no longer feel the flow of the aura. All I can feel is madness, panic, and chaos."
Under such circumstances, it was basically impossible for the party to continue on their journey. They could only sit down and start a bonfire. Soon, some tiny parallel dots of light appeared around them. Those were pairs of yellow, red or green eyes staring at them.
When someone approached, the light from those eyes would gradually fade away until it disappeared, then slowly reappeared in another direction.
Fortunately, dawn soon arrived. In the dim light of dawn, they recognized the owners of those eyes. They were actually countless dark grey and black moths. Some of them were even as big as a human's palm. These moths flapped their wings and flew around their ears, scattering a choking powder from their wings. On the wings of these moths, there was a strange pattern of a smiling face.
Sheyan frowned. It must be noted that the personal space of a contestant was completely independent of this world. It could almost isolate all auras from the outside world. From the looks of it, the fragment of the Nazgûl Dwar's armour was definitely not as simple as it seemed.
However, these ghost-faced moths could not resist the power of the morning sun and slowly dispersed. The clouds in the sky were dyed with a layer of gold. Everything indicated that it was going to be a sunny day. Only then did the party realise that they had been walking in a large circle for two hours in the dark. This place was at most one or two hundred metres away from the place where they fought the Nazgûl.
The rest of the journey was needless to say. Goots identified the direction and slowly took a detour to the main road. At noon, they were lucky enough to meet a caravan from the Shire. Party Ace bought a few mounts and successfully arrived at the Shire after five to six hours of trekking.
The Shire was the home of the Hobbits. They were only half the height of the Númenóreans of the North, so they were also known as the Halflings.
Near the Shire, large tracts of farmland could be seen being reclaimed on the hills. Piece by piece, they could be seen neatly in the distance like a brightly coloured carpet. As they got closer, they could see it even more clearly.
The green spring barley would take another two months to mature. The dark green tubular leaves of onions had dandelion-like flowers. The yellow North Hills hops were expected to add fragrance to fine wine. The lavender rushes seemed to be in the process of being harvested. The caravan ahead was filled with greyish-green tobacco grass. They would be sent to the Shire to be made into tobacco with a unique fragrance.
The number of Hobbits on the road increased. They were no taller than a metre and had rosy cheeks, curly hair, broad faces, bright eyes and large mouths that were used to smiling and enjoying good food. The sound of musical instruments could be heard from time to time.
Sheyan noticed that the feet of the Hobbits were covered with hard pads and thick brown curly hair. This was probably the main reason for their amazing speed. Many of the Hobbits were carrying a large leather object on their backs.
After listening to Goots' explanation, he understood that it was their weapon: Catapult Rope. You can think of it as a chain ball that could break the chain of the thrower's will ….. its might was not ordinary. It was said that it could accelerate an egg-sized rock to an astonishing speed.
The houses of the Hobbits were similar to cave dwellings. Only the roof was exposed and the oval-shaped wooden doors were their favourite architectural style. As the number of oval-shaped street signs increased and the houses became denser, the number of people on the road increased as well. They were filled with Dwarves, Elves and Númenóreans. The coarse laughter and the smell of gin mixed together to create a unique charm.
Goots finally heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the famous symbol of the Shire, the Redtop Windmill. It was obvious that he was worried about being chased by the Nazgûl. They had finally reached the symbol of the Shire.
The whole of the Shire was built on a few hills with gentle curves. The streets were like winding mountain roads. The sides of the hills were all dug into the shape of cave dwellings. The wooden decorations gave off a unique Hobbit style. When viewed from afar at night, it looked like many brightly lit ribbons gently wrapped around the hills. It gave off a tranquil and warm sense of beauty.
The party of four chose an inn called the 'Black Lamb'. The signboard of the inn was charred with smoke and fire. The various livestock tied to the entrance showed that the inn's business was very prosperous. After deciding on a place to stay, Goots hurried off with a solemn expression. After all, the caravan returning to the Shire had been wiped out. This was no small matter. Goots' base was in the Shire, so he had to give everyone an explanation.
When Guste was about to leave, Sheyan handed him a small pouch of jingling items. It was a pouch of 8 platinum coins that Melody had given him out of guilt. This was a huge sum of 8000 silver coins. Guste seemed to be in dire need of money, and very straightforwardly accepted it.
When the party of four entered the inn, they were warmly welcomed. They shuttled through the maze of small round tables and heavy wooden stools. They breathed in the smell of ham, fried eggs, toast, ale and tobacco. Finally, they sat down at an empty table in the corner that was not very clean. While waiting for their food to be served, Sheyan suddenly heard the person at the next table yelling.
"I've never seen such a generous person before! I swear on my tobacco pipe that he didn't hesitate to spend thirty platinum coins just to teleport from here to Eriador! More importantly, he even gave me one as a tip. That's why I have the money to treat you guys to the smoked meat that Mrs. Suchel meticulously prepared! "
There were at least a hundred such conversations in the inn every minute. Sheyan was only attracted by the name 'Eriador' because that was the only reason he came to the Shire. Of course, he also had to look for the King's Thistle. However, he did not hear anything else after that.
Soon, the food they ordered was served. Sheyan was not in a hurry to let the lame, bearded waiter leave. Instead, he placed ten silver coins on the table and smiled.
"This is the reward for keeping you here to ask me a few questions. Well, if the answers can satisfy me, I'll give you an extra 20 silver coins as a thank you gift."
The little bearded waiter cast a puzzled glance at Sheyan, before keeping the 10 silver coins.
"I only have five minutes. If I exceed the time limit, Queen Suchel in the kitchen will skin me alive. That's a risk of at least ten platinum coins."
Sheyan smiled and asked.
"Do you know where I can buy King's Thistle?"
The bearded waiter muttered.
"King's Thistle? What the hell is that?"
He then asked unwillingly, "What's the matter?
"Or can you wait for another hour? Can I help you ask around? "
Sheyan raised his eyebrows.
"I'll be staying here tonight. Second question, which is also the last one. Is there a shop that specializes in selling plants or seeds?"
"You can find many magic material merchants in the stag fields. The Shire's tobacco pipe grass is extremely famous, even sages would fight to purchase it. This plaything is an essential magic material, the plants you need can be found there. Sir, thank you for your silver coins."
The bearded waiter deftly took the silver coins that Sheyan tossed onto the table, then suddenly turned around and added.
"If this is your first time in our inn, I suggest you smear some cream on the smoked meat. It'll taste even better."
Sheyan smiled and nodded, but his mind was filled with a question.
"Who's in such a hurry to go to Eriador? Is this a damned coincidence, or is it an ominous design? " If you like this work, you are welcome to come to qidian.com to vote for me. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
