Chapter 628
The Fellowship of the Ring
Chapter 628 The Fellowship of the Ring
"Long time no see, Bilbo, how are you?"
As Bilbo, carrying his baggage, was about to leave Hobbiton, he heard a familiar wizard's voice behind him.
"Oh, Gandalf. I'm so happy to see you again!" Bilbo turned around and saw the wizard in white robes. He excitedly went up to him and gave him a big hug.
Like the wizards, Bilbo also regarded Gandalf as family, and even as an elder.
“I’m glad to see you too. So, are you sure you’re alright?” Gandalf patted the hobbit on the back to calm him down, then asked the same question again.
“I’m fine, thank you for your concern. But compared to you, I’m old. Unlike you, who looks exactly the same as you did sixty years ago. Time seems to have stood still for you…” Bilbo said with a smile and a witty remark.
He was right; sixty years had indeed etched wrinkles all over his face.
The wizard, now dressed in a white robe, looked even more energetic than before, exuding an even more holy aura.
"Everyone gets old eventually, what are you afraid of?" Unlike the witty hobbits, Gandalf spoke with a very serious expression.
He seemed to have detected signs of dark power corrupting Bilbo.
The One Ring possesses the power to bewitch people; once used, it gradually corrupts the mind, amplifying one's inner obsessions.
Bilbo's seemingly carefree outing actually reveals his resistance to aging through his teasing remarks about the wizard.
Bilbo noticed the wizard's gaze subtly drifting towards his pocket, and his expression turned serious. He seemed to have guessed why the wizard was waiting for him here.
"Is it because of it?" Bilbo took the unusual ring out of his pocket and said casually, "This ring has been with me for sixty years. Do you want it?"
However, the Ring possessed a spirit, and when Bilbo had the thought of abandoning it, he inexplicably became restless.
Subsequently, his expression gradually became ferocious.
"Relax, Bilbo, don't let your desires control you." Gandalf, noticing that something was wrong with the hobbit, immediately spoke up to comfort him.
At the same time, magic power gathers on the wand, ready to deal with any bad situations that may arise.
“I know this ring shouldn’t belong to me, and I’m already very content to have it for sixty years.” The worst didn’t happen; a white light suddenly emanated from Bilbo, making his expression peaceful.
Sixty years ago, Mike cast a protective spell on Bilbo. This energy not only helped him resist a fatal threat, but also helped him keep his true self from being too corrupted by the power of the Ring.
That was exactly what the protective energy did.
"Now it's yours, you can do whatever you want with it~" With his last shred of sanity, Bilbo handed the magic ring to the wizard.
Having possessed the Ring for sixty years, how could Bilbo not know that there was something strange about it?
But at this moment, empowered by the [Power of Protection], he finally overcame his desires with reason.
Meanwhile, Gandalf, after instinctively catching the Ring, suddenly had many inappropriate thoughts pop into his mind.
These bad thoughts, once they appeared, tempted him like demons.
Time seemed to pass in an instant, yet also like ten thousand years. With sheer willpower, the wizard finally threw the magic ring to the ground.
He was now covered in sweat, and his gaze toward the Ring was filled with apprehension and a hint of fear.
It was only then that the wizard realized how much determination Bilbo had put into handing over the ring.
On the other side, Bilbo, having handed over the Ring, didn't even look at Gandalf's reaction, and turned to walk out of the Shire.
It was easy to see from his hurried pace that he was also wary of the power of the Ring.
I'm afraid that if I linger any longer, I'll be tempted to get that magical ring back.
"This is really a problem for me." When Gandalf calmed down and looked up, Bilbo had already disappeared.
In other words, the hot potato that is Lord of the Rings fell entirely on the shoulders of wizards.
After hesitating for a while, Gandalf finally took out an envelope, put the Ring away, and headed towards Bag End.
With trouble already arising, the wizard naturally wouldn't choose to stand idly by.
Before that, however, Gandalf still needs to verify whether the ring in his hand is truly the One Ring.
Meanwhile, in the treehouse at Bag End, Frodo explored the entire house after his uncle left.
"Wow, my family is so rich!" Frodo exclaimed, looking at the several chests full of gold in the warehouse.
As a branch of the Baggins family, Frodo's family was actually quite wealthy, after all, they were a family that could afford to hire servants.
However, compared to the wealth in Bag End, the Frodo family was undoubtedly "poor".
"With this money, I should be able to live a happy life even if I do nothing..." The hobbits' love of comfort made Frodo, suddenly rich, think of lying down and doing nothing. So, when Gandalf entered, he saw Frodo foolishly studying the gold coins and gems of the Lonely Mountain.
“Gandalf, you haven’t left yet?” Upon seeing an acquaintance, Frodo happily shared, “You would never guess how much treasure my uncle has hidden away. There’s no one richer in all of Hobbiton.”
“That’s the Lonely Mountain coin…” Gandalf glanced at the coin in Frodo’s hand with surprise, then shook his head and said, “You can continue with your work, don’t worry about me.”
The wizard, preoccupied with his own thoughts, had no time to pay attention to anything else.
He went to the living room, found a candle, lit it, and then solemnly took out the envelope containing the magic ring from his pocket.
The One Ring, forged by the Dark Lord Sauron, has a smooth, unadorned surface. However, when it is thrown into flames or worn, words written in Dark Elf language will appear on the inside and outside of the ring.
The wizard wanted to use fire to verify the authenticity of the magic ring in his hand.
He carefully used tweezers to remove the magic ring from the envelope and then gently burned it over the candle.
As the flames encircled the Ring, a ring of text slowly appeared on its golden surface.
"This is amazing! What's written on the ring?" Just as the wizard was completely absorbed, a question suddenly came to his ears.
It turned out that Frodo got bored after studying the Lonely Mountain Coin for a while, so he wanted to see what the mysterious wizard was doing.
His sudden words startled Gandalf, causing him to drop the Ring from his hand.
It rolled away and went far away...
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Frodo noticed the surprised look on the wizard's face and realized he had made a mistake.
To make amends, he quickly bent down to pick up the rolling ring from the ground and then guiltily handed it to the wizard as atonement.
"You're actually alright..." Having already confirmed that the ring was indeed the One Ring, Gandalf dared not reach out to catch it with his bare hands.
Seeing Frodo holding the Ring with his bare hands but not reacting much, the wizard's face showed a complicated expression.
"What an amazing ring! It's not hot at all." Just as the wizard was lost in thought, Frodo curiously examined the ring in his hand. "By the way, what does it say on it?"
"The One Ring belongs to the One, who directs the Rings, the One Ring calls the Rings, and the Rings are made into darkness." Gandalf, having made his decision, explained the Dark Elf script on the Ring to Frodo.
It is known that the One Ring amplifies the desires in people's hearts, and only those with pure and kind hearts can resist its temptations.
To destroy the One Ring, there needs to be someone who is not easily swayed, who will take it to Mount Doom and throw it into the lava.
Clearly, Frodo is the candidate who meets these conditions.
"The One Ring, is that the name of this ring?" Frodo, still completely unaware of the truth, asked curiously once again.
“Yes and no. There are twenty One Rings in total, and the one in your hand is the One Ring, which can control all the Rings…” Gandalf, who had already identified Frodo as the Fellowship of the Ring, patiently explained the origin of the One Ring to him.
It's roughly about a dark and ambitious man named Sauron who, in the Second Age, used Mount Doom to forge twenty magical rings, nine of which he gave to the nine human rulers of that time.
Six were given to the six dwarf races, and the remaining three were given to the three elven races.
However, to everyone's surprise, Sauron secretly forged the One Ring, which could control the power of all the Rings.
The One Ring, the most powerful of all, was also kept by Sauron, becoming his weapon of choice for invading Middle-earth.
"So, this ring is very dangerous. You'd better put it away quickly..." Upon hearing the origin of the One Ring, Frodo's first reaction was to quickly "throw" it away.
“Yes, the One Ring has the power to bewitch. Anyone who gets their hands on it, except for Sauron, the Dark Lord, will meet with misfortune.” Gandalf picked up the envelope from the table and had Frodo put the One Ring inside. “And only the pure can resist this temptation…”
"Frodo, can I trust you?"
The wizard held up the envelope and looked solemnly at the hobbit before him.
"Yes, I guess so. As long as I can do it~" Perhaps it was the adventurous bloodline of the Baggins family that worked, because Frodo, knowing that the One Ring was very dangerous, still responded to the wizard.
“Very well. For the sake of peace in Middle-earth and to prevent Sauron from returning, we need to send the One Ring back to the place where it was forged and destroy it…” Gandalf stared into Frodo’s eyes, handed him the envelope, and continued, “And you are the best person to do this.”
"Can I really do it?" The scene described by the wizard and the serious expression on the other person's face both indicated the seriousness of the situation, making Frodo a little unsure of himself.
“You are not fighting alone. Many people will help you later…” Realizing that his tone was too serious, Gandalf smiled and comforted Frodo.
……
At the same time, a colorful butterfly flew over Changhu Town and landed inside the Gushan Grand Hall.
Mike reached out and caught the butterfly, then held it to his ear...
(End of this chapter)