The next morning, Frodo woke up refreshedly.

When he woke up, he found himself lying under a lush tree cover, and there was an extra bed of leaves that the elves had specially made for him. He patted his butt with a relaxed look. Frodo stood up and walked outside the elves. He couldn't wait to confirm whether the elves had left as they had agreed last night.

I have to say that after last night's friendly and comfortable escort and careful reception from the elves, Frodo was reluctant to let them go.

What a reassuring fairy day to be able to have such a group of elf partners with sufficient supplies and powerful forces in this wilderness far away from their hometown of Charles!

Thinking of this, Frodo had already seen his friends Sam and Pipin sitting on the grass with confusion on his face. As for the elves he was extremely worried about, they had already disappeared without a trace.

"Oh my God, Frodo, you're awake. If you don't wake up, I'll wake you up." Pipin said. "The good news is that Kang's kind-hearted elves have left us all the fruits, drinks and bread. Come on, come and eat something to keep your stomach. I guess you're so hungry that you're sleeping until now."

Pipin guessed it was pretty good at all. In fact, he talked with the elves until the night was deep last night. When he woke up, Frodo was almost hungry.

Frodo sat down next to Sam and started eating.

While he was eating, Pi Pin, who had already eaten almost the same food, took the initiative to ask:

"What is your plan today? I hope you asked the elves last night. They are so familiar with the surrounding geographical environment, it's a pity not to be a guide."

"Of course I asked them, and the elves gave the advice that we should go to Bacobery as soon as possible. They also said that our time is very tight and the speed at the moment is far from enough to get there within two days." After that, Frodo took a bite of the white bread in his hand again.

"Do you think we will meet those knights?" After a whole night of great time last night with the elves and a full rest, Pipin, who was in a good mood, was no longer so scared even when he mentioned the Black Knight.

However, his innocent look, which was not worried, was just a calm reaction from someone who knew nothing about the origin of the dark horse. If he really told him the horror of the dark horse knight given by the elves last night, with Pipin's courage, he would have been frightened for a while!

"I can't say it well, this matter itself is a very certain thing." In order not to scare his two partners, Frodo hesitated for a moment and decided not to tell the identity of the Dark Horse Knight.

"By the way, didn't the elves tell you about the Dark Horse Knight during the chat last night? For example, why did they chase us closely?" Although Frodo didn't want to mention the origin of the Dark Horse Knight, Pipin, who was very curious, took the initiative to raise this topic.

"Unfortunately, they didn't say much information, they just gave me some hints."

Frodo did not give a positive answer. But to some extent, he was telling the truth.

After all, no matter how he persuaded him last night, Gildo, the elves' talkative leader, did not mention any additional information except telling him that the Dark Horse Knight is the legendary Dark Demon King's subordinate, right?

Thinking of this, Frodo's heart sank. What a terrifying creature the Dark Horse Knight is, which makes the elves, who have always been brave and fearless, unwilling to mention their dark origins to themselves...

"It seems that the elves know everything, either! Or they know, but they don't tell us. If that's the case, the situation will be bad enough."

Shaking his head, Pipin turned around and ran away after breakfast. For him, the snoring around after dinner in the morning has become a compulsory course every day.

This old habit of morning exercises, even if everyone still had to be wary of the crazy pursuit of the Dark Horse Knight at this moment, he did not abandon it.

For Frodo, the somewhat unsettling morning light did not feel the fear brought by driving away the pursuers. Gildo's words lingered in his mind. In fact, after his words with Pipin, he had already had some confusion and adventure, which was greatly shaken.

"No! I can't do it!" he muttered to himself. "Maybe I'm not a guide and leader who acts as a leader in a comprehensive leadership partner, and these responsibilities make me feel extremely tired at all times. What's more, there is only one reason for me to launch this adventure. But Sam can't suffer with me. As a good friend for many years, maybe I shouldn't take him into these dangerous adventures." He looked at Sam Janji and found that Sam was also looking at him.

"You must have heard all my mutters, Tom," he said. "What do you think? I'm going to leave Charles as soon as possible; in fact, I've made up my mind to not even delay the day in the valley if possible."

"This is of course great, sir!"

"Even after listening to my decision, do you still want to follow me?"

"Yes, I want to go with you, Mr. Frodo."

"Sam, there will be a lot of dangers waiting for us along the way. In fact, I can't guarantee that you will be able to return to Shire safely."

"Don't worry, I promised Gandalf to advance and retreat with you before leaving." Sam said. "The elves' persuasion to me last night made me even more determined. I want to follow you and go out to see the real world!"

"What? The elf has persuaded you too?"

"That's right, it's the elves. We talked for a while last night. They seemed to know that you were going to travel far, so they were so concerned about the progress of our group! I have to say that the elves are really a very friendly race."

At this point when the conversation went on, Frodo thought of Sam's wish since childhood and asked curiously:

"Even if you have seen the elves with your own eyes and fulfilled your wish, do you still want to leave Shire with me now?"

"Of course, sir. Maybe my beliefs were shaken a little when I saw the elves last night. But after contacting the elves, I became more aware of my lack of understanding of the outside world. What's more, even without these elves, I will follow you to leave Shire. We are friends and partners who want to take risks together. Bending the oath we made is not my style!"

"Thank you, Sam. I think Gandalf has found a good partner for me. I am already satisfied. Let's go with you on the next journey."

Frodo finished breakfast without saying a word. Then he stood up, looked at the earth in front of him, and began to call Pipin.

"Are you ready? Pipin? It's getting late, it's time for us to set off." He said to Pipin who ran over.

After nodding, Pipin put on his backpack without saying much.

"Okay, let me talk about the choice of today's journey. For safety reasons, I think we need to choose a route that is different from yesterday to confuse the dark horse knight hidden in the darkness. Therefore, I am going to take a small road from here to catch up."

"Then you have to use flying," said Pipin. "There is no shortcut to what you use to use to take here."

"Who said we can't take a shortcut, at least I can find some shortcuts to walk on this route." Frodo replied. "The ferry is just southeast of the Giant Wood Hall, and the north side of the front will appear a left turn that can be used to confuse the pursuers. After the turn, we can go directly to the ferry through the path, which can save almost a quarter of the journey."

"'Hastyness is not achieved,'" Pipin retorted. "The terrain here is very rough and there are swamps. Although the swamp can hinder the pace of the Black Knight pursuers, our speed will be delayed a lot!"

"It's difficult to find goals in the forest," Frodo replied. "If everyone thinks you will go through the road, the possibility of spending time looking for you elsewhere is much lower."

"Okay!" said Pipin, "I am willing to follow you into every swamp and mud. Who told me to agree to walk with you! There is nothing I can do..."

"Thank you all for a while and speed up again," Frodo said. "We have to rush to Bacoberli before dark, otherwise we will spend the night in a plain without trees. It will be easy to be attacked by the insidious and ghostly dark horse knight. What do you think?"

"Good idea, I support your opinion, Mr. Frodo," said Sam.

"Okay, your two opinions are really consistent. OK, so let's set off early!" Pipin said.

....

The weather gradually became hotter, which made Frodo, who was already upset about all the troubles that happened on the journey, even more depressed.

If he has a choice, he would rather carry something less on his body before leaving. Or he could choose a lighter and breathable set of clothes, which would be better!

After that, the three of them walked almost sweating for a long time before they hurried to a turbulent stream that looked like thorns growing on the side of the stream and the hydrological conditions of the river seemed to be able to wash away a turbulent stream like a tall horse.

In any case, the stream in front of you doesn’t look like a river that the Hobbits can cross in their bodies!

Just as Frodo looked at the stream in front of him and was worried, he heard his partner Sam shouting anxiously:

"No, it's the Dark Horse Knight! Hell, why is he so fast? How did he know the path we chose? Is his sniff so outrageous!"

As Sam shouted in a low voice, everyone turned their heads and on the top of the steep hill they had just passed, a tall horse as dark as night appeared quietly, and a black knight who was equally ghostly stood beside the horse.

The Dark Horse Knight not only appeared, but seemed to be not far from them! Although the Dark Horse Knight's robe was at a loss and was not seen, at this distance, it would be a matter of time before the two sides met!

In the face of the visible threat, Frodo made no hesitation to make the option of crossing the river. In a panic, he led two Hobbit companions into the dense bushes beside the stream.

"Hurry, hide! Pipin, Sam, have you heard the sound of the dark horse knight galloping up again?"

As he said that, all the three Hobbits were huddled motionlessly in the grass, holding their breath and devoted themselves to listening to the sound of the horse galloping.

However, the three of them listened hard for a long time, but they didn't hear any sound.

"I think he didn't see our specific location just now. Now he's in the light, we're in the dark!" Sam said. "But anyway, I think we all need to speed up. He has a good nose that can smell, and we don't have this unique advantage..."

At the moment of the crisis, everyone accelerated unanimously and soon found a place where the water flow was not so turbulent to pass through the difficult stream.

After trekking through the stream, they hurriedly climbed a flat land in the distance, where unknown grass swayed in the wind, and few trees grew. After the flat ground, the scenery turned from a green grass into a dense and prosperous forest of elm and oak trees like a sudden partition.

Just like the situation in the forest in the past, as soon as they walked into this forest, Frodo and others had to face the problem of obstruction of sight and a lot of noise. Fortunately, they had already accumulated a lot of experience in the past days, but they did not encounter any unbearable dangers.

Half an hour later, Pipin said: "The situation is a little wrong! The forest just looked like it was not large from the flat ground before entering, but even so, we had not walked out after walking for so long. Are we lost?"

"It is very likely that only getting lost can explain the problem that we have not been out." Frodo said. "Continue to go, let's go to a part of the less lush woods and wait for the rain to stop, and then we can judge the direction through the sun."

With a bad mood of uncertainty in the future, everyone could only stop talking and walked a few miles. The only thing that was quite hopeful was that the sun had emerged from the high dark clouds shortly after that, and the sky was about to clear up!

By noon, the weather was completely clear, and only the muddy road surface could still find trouble with the rain that had happened here.

Pipin took the initiative to propose that Frodo and his group decided unanimously to stop and find a elm tree with lush branches and leaves that could be shaded for a while.

Compared to the hilarious moment when he first set off, everyone was unknowingly used to the orderly division of labor in the lounge. For example, Sam was usually responsible for patrolling around and confirming that everything was safe around him. Frodo occasionally was responsible for determining the direction of the wind and using his outstanding vision to find edible wild fruits for everyone in the forest. Piteng usually took advantage of the rest like a big butler to take a break and count whether there were few items on their backs, and occasionally helped everyone arrange the food share of what to eat for three meals a day.

After enjoying a pretty sumptuous meal, Frodo found a tree trunk to rely on and soon made a slight snoring. Seeing this scene, Sam and Pipin on the side couldn't help but lower their voices.
Chapter completed!