Chapter 331 The Ring Appears

Chapter 331: The Ring Appears

The carriage stopped in front of a cave where an oak tree grew.

Boom boom boom…

Gandalf swung his staff and knocked on the door of Bag End with the butt of his staff.

A tense voice came from inside the house: "Please don't come if you want to visit, come to pay a courtesy visit, or to recognize relatives. Thank you!"

Gandalf shook his head helplessly.

It seems that this guy has been harassed a lot recently.

"What if it's an old friend?"

Crunch.

The door opened immediately.

"Gandalf!"

"My dear Gandalf..."

Bilbo hugged.

"It is very good to see you," he said, glancing behind Gandalf.

"Don't look at it. Levi is probably still on the way."

"Oh well." Bilbo looked away angrily.

"I can't believe it, Bilbo."

Gandalf squatted down, held Bilbo's shoulders, and said with emotion: "One hundred and eleven years old, but he doesn't look old at all..."

Old Took is not like this at his age...

Gandalf narrowed his eyes.

There are many things in this world that can keep people young and prolong their life.

For example...a ring of power.

But, which one will it be?

"Well, don't just stand there, come in, Gandalf!"

Bilbo made a 'please' gesture and welcomed Gandalf into the gate.

"Forgive me, I thought you would come over last week. I really don't have any ready-made food for today, only some chicken and pickles. How about I open a bottle of fine wine from my collection? The year of this bottle of wine is older than me..."

As he spoke, Bilbo began to work.

And Gandalf sat down at the table.

He looked at the table and saw an old map on it - it was indeed old, as it was the one used during the Lonely Mountain expedition. To be honest, it was a bit outdated now.

There were a lot of things written and drawn on it, most of which were about the Free Cities.

Looking at this manually updated version of the map, Gandalf suddenly asked: "Are you ready?"

Bilbo stopped moving.

"Yes, I am ready. I miss the outside world, Gandalf. I dream of going out again to see the magnificent fields and mountains..."

“I’m old.”

"It's a strange feeling, Gandalf," said Bilbo, as he poured tea for Gandalf.

"I don't look old. I look younger than some guys in their sixties or seventies, but I'm the only one who can feel one thing—"

"I feel like I've become very thin and weak, as if I were stretched by something. If I had to use a metaphor, it's like a piece of butter spread on a piece of bread that's too big..."

Gandalf's face turned serious as he listened to Bilbo's story.

Boom boom boom…

As the two were talking, there was another knock on the door.

"Who is it this time?"

Gandalf came back to his senses, glanced at the door, and said, "I guess it's the one you wanted to see."

"Oh - welcome, welcome, I've been waiting for you for a long time, Levi. If you don't come, I'll doubt whether my letter has been delivered. Come on, sit down. The water has just boiled. I can make you a cup of fresh tea."

"Thank you for your help."

"No, no, no, it's not a bit of trouble." Bilbo waved his hand quickly and went back to the kitchen to work, looking for tea.

"It seems that I arrived just in time?"

Levi sat down next to Gandalf at the small table.

"Yes, in time."

Gandalf smiled.

The three old friends gathered at the small table and enjoyed afternoon tea.

After entertaining Gandalf and Levi, it was already evening.

Bilbo left first to take charge of the preparations for the banquet.

Taking advantage of this gap, Gandalf found Levi and told him all his discoveries of the day.

"Stretch it out."

He uttered this word.

"The Ring of Power does not have the power to extend a person's lifespan. Just like the ring bearers among humans in the past, they seemed to live longer than ordinary people, but that does not mean that their lifespans were 'extended'. Instead, they were forcibly 'lengthened' by the ring."

"That's why those people's strength becomes weaker as they age - their souls have become so thin due to this 'stretching' that they can no longer support the strength they possess."

"That doesn't sound like a good thing." Levi shook his head.

"Yes, it's definitely not a good thing. I'll have to have a good talk with Bilbo after this."

Gandalf made his decision.

"Hey, Gandalf, Levi, don't just stand there, the banquet has begun!"

"Oh, okay."

Their conversation was interrupted, and at Bilbo's invitation, they joined in the lively banquet.

It was a great party, as Bilbo had said, the greatest party ever seen in the Shire.

And the party was very generous to its organizers - Bilbo prepared gifts for everyone except the Sackvilles.

The atmosphere that night was extremely warm.

Young Hobbit boys and girls were dancing in the open space. Gandalf held bundles of fireworks and stuck them into the ground to light them. When he was in the mood, he would use some magic to conjure up some small animals made of fireworks to amuse the children.

Frodo encouraged his good friend Sam to dance with the person he liked, and old Bilbo told the story in a startled manner. The children gathered around were frightened and opened their eyes wide and screamed.

In an unnoticed corner of the banquet hall, next to two furtive figures, a tent was suddenly ignited, and a huge firework in the shape of a fire dragon emerged from it. However, there was obviously something wrong with the trajectory of this firework. It almost exploded in the center of the banquet hall while flying, and almost caused an accident.

Fortunately, the final result was smooth.

After the fire dragon firework flew into the sky, two young hobbits whose faces were blown black lay where it flew up, looking at the sky and laughing.

Then Gandalf grabbed his ears and scolded him.

"Merry, Pippin, I should have thought of it earlier..."

So the two poor Hobbit boys were assigned to wash dishes.

Everything is harmonious.

Until the climax of the banquet, Bilbo stood on the podium and began his speech, greeting each visitor and his family.

When he was halfway through his speech, he suddenly disappeared from the stage, causing everyone to exclaim in surprise.

"Nice prank."

In Bag End, a sudden voice startled Bilbo.

"You scared me, Levi. If you did it on purpose, then I have to say your prank was quite successful."

“Thank you so much for your recognition.”

Levi leaned against the door, watching Bilbo packing things into his travel bag and leaving a letter by the fireplace.

There was a hint of thought in his eyes.

"That's not a good idea, Bilbo. It's not funny."

Just as Bilbo finally finished packing his things, another voice came from the doorway.

Gandalf.

He and Levi looked at each other and nodded to each other, reaching some kind of consensus.

"Oh, Gandalf."

Bilbo greeted his old friend who had come over later and retorted:

"It's not funny, how could it be, didn't you see their expressions, their reactions were so funny!"

At this moment the old hobbit did not realize the seriousness of the matter.

"Bilbo, there are many magical rings in the world, but none of them should be used indiscriminately."

Said Gandalf, who had just used the Ring of Fire to set off fireworks to entertain the children.

After reminding Bilbo, Gandalf turned around and asked Levi, "You knew about this a long time ago, didn't you?"

Levi shrugged.

"Indeed, very early on, very early on, I tried to destroy it, but failed."

Hearing this, before Gandalf could react, Bilbo got anxious first. He shook his head and said, "Destroy it? No, no, no, that won't do, Levi. I like this ring very much. It's beautiful, isn't it? Besides, it is my property, and I plan to leave it to Frodo."

Finally, it's time.

Looking at Bilbo, whose face showed a hint of obsession, Levi sighed and handed him a glass of milk.

The time has come to deal with this ring.

(End of this chapter)

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