Chapter 368 Decision

"Moriya, the great wonder of the Dwarves."

"Miracle?"

Not only a few hobbits, but Boromir was also a little curious.

He grew up in Gondor and went to the front line as soon as he became an adult, facing the Witch-king every day. He had rarely seen the dwarves, let alone the underground kingdom of the dwarves.

"Yes, a miracle."

Gandalf took over the conversation and said, "It is a miracle that is not inferior to the Roadside Castle or even the Water City. Even though only the empty dusty hall is left now, its grandeur is beyond the imagination of ordinary people."

"Exactly. Gandalf is absolutely right."

Gimli agreed on the spot and immediately forgot about Gandalf's sarcasm on the road.

Most dwarves are always like this, they get angry quickly and calm down quickly.

"When we retake Moria, it will surely regain its former prosperity."

' said Gimli, and he began to imagine.

Gandalf went on to say, "Ballin has often told me about this, and he has mentioned it from time to time since decades ago, but I have always advised him not to do so, because there are still some hidden dangers. If he goes there now, he will end up like his predecessors."

"But when?" asked Gimli earnestly.

It can be said that there is no dwarf in the free camp who does not want to regain his homeland.

Gandalf looked at Gimli deeply, sighed, and said, "It will be soon, Gimli, don't worry, it will be soon, you will definitely see it in your lifetime, you will definitely see it..."

As they chatted, the group continued to move forward, soon drowning out the noise and drawing everyone's attention over.

We’ve arrived at Bantu Town.

"It's so lively. Should we find a place to rest?" Sam suggested.

"I'm hungry."

"Me too."

Merry and Pippin seconded the motion.

Rarely, Gandalf agreed to their proposal.

"There's a 'Halfway Tavern' over there, maybe we can go over there and take a look."

"marvelous!"

Pippin clenched his fist and was about to run over there first.

But soon the noise not far away attracted his attention.

A group of residents from Midway Town gathered there, discussing something excitedly. Their emotions were obviously very excited, and their voices echoed through the tunnel and spread far away.

“Quiet, quiet!!”

The mayor, who was standing at the highest point, raised his hand, and the discussion gradually became quieter. After a quick look around the town, the sound disappeared completely.

As a manager elected by the townspeople, the mayor must first have sufficient reputation, and he must have enough authority and fame to lead the people.

Seeing that something seemed to have happened in Bantu Town, not only Pippin but the rest of the team were attracted and crowded over to hear what the mayor had to say.

Gimli raised his head, jumping up and down anxiously. He asked the people around him:

"Can someone tell me what's going on? I can't see it!"

Boromir looked at the anxious fellow with great kindness and said, "Shall I lift you up, dwarf?"

"No, don't even think about it, never!" Gimli refused decisively.

"I don't care, just stay down there."

Boromir shrugged.

Gimli was indignant for a moment, but the dwarves always had some kind of clever idea.

A moment later, he followed the example of several hobbits and climbed up a nearby streetlight.

"That's clear now, but he'd better speak quickly, this street lamp is a bit hard to catch..."

"Don't get excited yet, nothing has been decided yet!"

After successfully calming the townspeople, the mayor spoke.

He continued loudly: "Even what the elves say may not be accurate. We should see with our own eyes and search with our own actions, instead of blindly venting our emotions because of a word or a piece of news."

"That's right!" Gimli, who was lying on the street lamp, was the first to agree.

His voice attracted the attention of quite a few townspeople. At first, people thought that the guy who interrupted was a bit rude, but when they saw that he was a dwarf, they understood and forgave him.

"Don't blindly follow the elves!"

Gimli was still attacking here, making Legolas below feel like shooting him down.

Sensing the unfriendly looks from his companions, Gimli quickly added: "Well, so can anyone tell me what news you have heard from the elves?"

As soon as this question was asked, all the members of the Fellowship of the Ring pricked up their ears, waiting to hear gossip.

But the townspeople remained silent for a long time.

Finally, the one closest to Gimli spoke.

"They say that our supreme leader, the great legend Lord Levi, has left this world."

"What!?"

Clang.

Gimli lost his grip and fell from the lamp.

Everyone was stunned, finding it difficult to digest the news.

"Gandalf?"

Frodo looked up, expecting to hear some negative answer.

But Gandalf just shook his head as if he had expected it, and said nothing.

Aragorn walked over quickly and asked in a slightly hurried tone: "You knew it a long time ago? What's going on?"

"No, I don't know."

"Rumors, they must be rumours," muttered Gimli.

"I'm afraid it's not a rumor, Gimli. I have not been able to sense his presence since we set out."

Came Gandalf's voice.

Gimli bowed his head and said no more.

Well, now I know why Gandalf was so angry. He really had something on his mind.

"I recognize you. You are the Grey Wanderer, the Grey Wizard Gandalf."

A more knowledgeable resident nearby recognized Gandalf, who had a high reputation in the Free Cities.

"If even you say so..."

"Don't make wild guesses. That is different from death. Tell me, where did Levi lose contact?"

"Deep in the northern wilderness." The mayor dispelled Gandalf's doubts.

Gandalf was stunned.

This time he was really unsure of the situation.

The team fell into silence, and the residents' discussions and quarrels continued. Gandalf stood in the crowd and listened for a while, and found that they were actually discussing entering Mordor and capturing Sauron to interrogate Levi's news.

"Arabian Nights, the army of Mordor number more than 100,000, and the only entrance, the Black Gate, is made of steel and solid stone. Do you know how much it will cost to break in? Do you know how ferocious the monsters inside are?"

"We know, Mr. Wizard."

One resident replied: "Not only did I know, I saw it with my own eyes."

"The army is at the end of the tunnel. The Vale of Anduin is in turmoil. If you are here to travel, I do not recommend that you continue on. Stop here and turn back."

"What?"

Gandalf was startled and, ignoring the residents' dissuasion, hurried to the end of the tunnel.

The others were no longer in the mood to rest and followed immediately.

hiss--

At the end of the tunnel was not the dazzling sunlight, but the dark sky with huge eagles and ferocious beasts fighting in the sky. It made a shrill scream, which startled everyone and they couldn't help but look up.

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Not only was it a ferocious beast, but there was also a Ringwraith riding on it, emitting a kind of terrifying light. He would chase the eagle one moment and then circle down to create panic.

The fences on the Sky Road and the walls below the Sky Road were filled with defenders of the Free Cities. The commander of the valley was leading his men to fight against the Oak Army that came from nowhere. It was a chaotic situation with both sides attacking and defending.

Plop.

When the roar of the ferocious beast sounded again, Frodo felt his heart suddenly twitch, and there was an excruciating pain where his chest touched the ring.

A Ringwraith in mid-air seemed to sense something, and he swooped down on his giant beast, heading straight for the tunnel entrance.

"Shoot!"

At the critical moment, a wave of arrows came over in an orderly manner, forcing the Ringwraiths to rise up to avoid the attack.

"They are my people!"

Legolas looked at the direction from which the arrows came and recognized the elven army that was rushing to support him.

They are from the Woodland Kingdom.

"go back!"

Seeing the situation so dangerous, Boromir and Aragorn grabbed four hobbits, protected them behind them, and retreated repeatedly.

"Don't anybody care about me?"

Gimli ran after him.

Legolas said seriously, "If you don't mind, I can."

Gimli ran faster, and glared at him. "Don't try to lift me up. I can run!"

hiss!!

The roar sounded again, and after the elf's arrow fell to the ground, another Ringwraith swooped down, trying to find out what was going on in the tunnel.

The elves had no time to react, but another army came up.

They are a group of humans - the defenders of Bantu Town.

"shoot!"

Swoosh——

The rain of arrows covered all the paths of the Ringwraiths, but the ferocious beast flapped its wings and, like the Ringwraiths before it, flew up into the sky and turned back, avoiding the rain of arrows.

Many of the human defenders who came later had trembling hands, and were visibly affected by the fear of the Ringwraiths, but there was more anger than tension and fear.

The great anger that came from nowhere made them dare to attack the Ringwraiths, and also made them suppress the fear in their hearts.

This actually surprised the Ringwraiths.

Damn it, why aren’t these people afraid?

Inside the tunnel, everyone's hearts were pounding as they tried to avoid the Ringwraiths' sight.

It was fine for the others, but the four Hobbits had never seen such a scene before and they were terribly frightened.

Frodo was not only frightened, he became extremely painful and seemed to be tortured by something.

Boromir, who was most concerned about the status of the Hobbits, said:

"We can't stay here any longer. There must be some evil curse on the Ringwraith that can be linked to the ring. Frodo is in pain."

"This road is not safe. There are more orcs below than at the crossroads."

Gandalf looked solemn, thought for a moment, and said, "We can go down directly from here, and secretly walk south under the cover of the Free Cities army, and then..."

Boom! As he was speaking, a loud noise suddenly came from the south of the Black Forest, and a burst of light lit up in the sky, entangled with the dark clouds above.

"Dol Guldur..."

Gandalf felt a pang of pain.

It looks like fighting has also broken out in Dol Guldur, so the roads to Rhovanion are no longer safe.

"We can take the Pass of Rohan."

Boromir secretly looked at the armies fighting outside and said, "The scale of this battle is larger than any I have ever experienced before. From what I see now, the defenders of the Free Cities are at least 20,000, and the number of the enemy must be twice as many."

"Mordor has probably already sent out its main force to attack this place, but it is obvious that their attack is quite strenuous. The defense of the Free Cities is too solid. Even if such an attack continues for another half a year or even a year, it is estimated that there will be no results."

“This is our chance.”

Boromir turned his head, looked at everyone and said, "Mordor has invested most of its forces here, and most of them are unable to take care of Gondor. The forces attacking Gondor at this time must be quite small. We can take the crossing of the Isen River and go all the way to Gondor to accept my father's help."

"No, you can't go that way."

Before Gandalf could speak, Aragorn rejected the proposal.

He knew very well what was in the mind of this man under great pressure. If he really did this, let alone whether he could reach Gondor smoothly, even if he did get there, it would be easy for something to go wrong, making all his previous efforts go to waste.

"I really can't leave."

Gandalf agrees.

As for the reason, I have already stated it before.

"What other options are there for us?" Gimli could not help asking.

Gandalf sighed deeply, feeling that some kind of inevitable fate was approaching.

"We can turn back. With the cover of the Water City, there is still a chance that this matter can remain secret."

"There is still a passage where the enemy cannot find us."

"But... where to go from here, whether to continue the adventure or to change the route to go somewhere else, is still up to our ring bearer to decide."

Clank, clank…

The residents who were just arguing in the town had now put on full weapons and were rushing out in groups to defend.

Hearing the sound, the Iron Golems clanged to the edge of the Sky Road, staring at the Orcs below and the Ringwraiths in the sky.

Amid this uproar, everyone fell silent, and looked towards Frodo, awaiting the hobbit's decision.

(End of this chapter)