Looking at Thorin who was high on the city wall, looking as if the arrogant king had suffered some great humiliation, Bard below the city wall shook his head in disappointment.

Compared to the sincere man he looked like when Thorin and the dwarves came to Changhu Town to ask for help more than ten days ago, Thorin now seemed to him to have been obsessed with the wealth in the mountains.

Perhaps the stories in legends about the dwarves being greedy for money and unable to resist the temptation of gold and silver are all true!

Seeing Thorin's temperament change so drastically in just a few days, Bard couldn't help but speculate.

Of course, even though he had anticipated that Thorin would most likely reject his proposal on behalf of Lake Town, Bard, who loved peace and tried his best to avoid war, still gritted his teeth and said nothing.

Rather than making random speculations at the top of the city, he now hoped to hear from Thorin his own words about the decision of war or peace.

However, Thorin's next words and actions completely shattered Bard's expectations for the dwarves, the residents of Lake Town, and the elves to cooperate sincerely to achieve peace.

Thorin on the top of the city lowered his head indifferently and said harshly:

"No need to say more, I think among the words you just said, only the last few words that exposed your greedy ambitions in Changhu Town are the most honest!" Thorin replied: "However, if you think that you are bringing those elven leaders with you, If I can be forced to make the humiliating concession of ceding my ancestors' treasure with the help of Ear's army, then you are wrong!

The wealth in the mountains belongs to the dwarf ancestors, and the wealth of the ancestors will only be shared with our friends! We are grateful to the townspeople from Changhu Town for their kind help, and we will also use gold equivalent to the help to share it with all the townspeople, but The prerequisite for all this is that you put down your weapons first! What's more, I'm very curious, if we were buried under the dragon's flames, how would you, the fishermen and traders who are complicit in the pointy ears, treat me? Where are the tribesmen?”

"You asked a good question, but I can answer you," Bud said: "Your questions are all false. It seems to me that you don't have the slightest idea of ​​sharing the treasure in the mountain with us in Long Lake Town. .Dear Dwarf King Under the Mountain, I want to say that we have no ill intentions towards you and your companions when we come this time. We just want to get the wealth we deserve as you promised, nothing more! "

"I have said before that I will not enter into any negotiations when there are soldiers crowding in front of my door. Especially those people of the Elf King. I still remember how they treated us harshly. In this dispute , they have no qualifications to participate at all. If you don't leave, I'm afraid you will have to taste our bows and arrows! If you want to discuss with me again, first drive the elven troops back to their forest, then put down their weapons, and come again I."

"The Elf King is my ally. When my compatriots were displaced, although we only had friendship before and no favors we owed each other, he still extended a helping hand." Bard replied: "We are willing to give you time to take back what you have. What you said, let’s think about it carefully before we come back!” Then he walked back to the camp.

A few hours later, the flag bearer returned and the trumpeter blew the trumpet:

"In the name of Insgar and the Forest," one person read: "We declare to Thorin Oakenshield, the self-proclaimed king under the mountain, that we hope that he will carefully consider the conditions he proposed before, otherwise he will be regarded as being in conflict with the alliance.

The enemy. At least, he should hand over one-twelfth of the treasure to Bard, the heir and dragon slayer of Girion. Bard will use Lord Thorin to fulfill his promise and share part of the proceeds with them.

Friends of the forest, to thank you for this selfless assistance. Lord Bard said, please also ask Sir Thorin to think carefully about the friendship between the ancestors of the dwarf King Thorn and the people of the valley town at the foot of the mountain. Is friendship not as good as a little gold and silver?

Treasure?"

Thorin immediately picked up the horn bow at hand, aimed at the ground under the speaker's feet and shot an arrow. The arrow hit his shield with a whizzing sound, making a terrifying buzzing sound.

"Thorin Oakenshield, King of the Dwarves under the Mountain, is this your decision?" The announcer was obviously very angry at Thorin's reaction: "Listen, we will surround this mountain unless you are willing to lay down your arms.

Negotiate, otherwise you will not be able to leave here. We come with a kind heart and will not take the initiative to attack your city, but please be aware that your food may not be able to sustain you for too long. I hope you will treat it as a treasure.

Gold and silver can be used as food, dwarves!"

After leaving these words unceremoniously, Bard quickly left with the rest of the guards under the city wall.

Seeing Thorin so resolutely rejecting the proposal jointly made by the townsfolk of Lake Town and the elves, Bilbo, who had witnessed all this with his own eyes, couldn't help but feel a little worried. In any case, he actually hoped that he could get out of here together with the dwarves.

Retreat instead of facing swords with the well-meaning citizens of Changhu Town.

After coming down from the city, Thorin became very gloomy, which made all the dwarves also become taciturn. At the same time, most of the dwarves in the team held the same opinions as Thorin, with exceptions

Only Fat Bomber, Fili and Kili.

...

Every day that followed was very long and tiring. Most of the dwarves spent their time stacking and organizing treasures. Thorin was more like a man obsessed with finding their Durin dwarf royal family to pass down from generation to generation.

A family heirloom diamond.

For this reason, all the dwarves were forcefully ordered by Thorin to search every corner, just for that big gem.

"That is the heirloom diamond passed down by my father. It is a priceless treasure to me and all dwarves. If anyone finds it and takes it as his own, I will be at odds with him!"

"

After hearing Thorin's stern oath, Bilbo was even more frightened than to hand over the family heirloom diamond hidden in the luggage package to Thorin. He was afraid of being suspected by the dwarves or losing their trust and friendship.

Everyone was in a stalemate like this for a while, and Duowu brought new news: Dann and more than five hundred dwarves had come all the way from the Iron Hills, and were now in the northeast, only about two days' journey from the river valley.

Obviously, Thorin regarded this supporting army as a trump card to continue his persistence. He also made a bold statement: "As long as the elves with pointed ears do not withdraw from the mountains for one day, we dwarves will fight with them to protect the integrity of our ancestors' treasures.

I swear in the name of the dwarf king under the mountain, we will fight to the last man!"

That night, Bilbo made up his mind. The sky was dark, there was no moon, and it was completely dark. He immediately walked to the corner of a small room and took out a bundle of ropes from his backpack and the dwarf's house wrapped in rags.

Heirloom diamond.

Then he tiptoed to the top of the city. That night, only the fat dwarf Bomber stood guard at the top of the city. Due to the tight manpower, the dwarves could only send one person on duty at a time.

Bombur looked very happy when he saw that Bilbo seemed to have come to visit him.

"Hello, Bilbo, it's really cold tonight, isn't it?" Bombur said, "At this time, I just wish that we could light a fire to keep warm like the elves at the foot of the mountain. But it's a pity that for

Hidden Thorin won’t let you!”

"It is indeed quite cold, but the room is warmer by comparison," said Bilbo.

"I think so, but I have to stay here until midnight," the fat dwarf said. "This is really sad! I don't want to say anything bad about Thorin, but we all know that when it comes to discussing with elves and humans,

On the one hand, he is so stubborn! I really want to drink a nice glass of wine, but unfortunately our condition will definitely not come true!"

"Okay, Bomber, you are really good at joking. However, it has been a long time since my last night watch. If you are willing, I can stand guard for you. I can't sleep well tonight."

"Mr. Baggins, you are such a good man, so of course I respect you better than obey your orders! If anything happens, please wake me up first! I will go to the room over there to warm myself by the fire and take a nap."

"Go to sleep," said Bilbo, "I will wake you up in the middle of the night so that you can call the next watch."

As soon as Bombur left, Bilbo immediately put on the ring, tied a rope, and slipped down from the wall. He still had about five hours. Bombur would definitely sleep to death immediately; the other dwarves should be at the castle.

Search everywhere for the family heirloom diamond requested by Thorin.

In the bad weather tonight, even the most lively and active brothers Fili and Kili in the team would not be able to run out before it was their turn to stand guard.

It was very dark. When he left the newly built road and came to the lower reaches of the river, he was not familiar with the environment here.

However, he finally came to a bend in the river and was able to continue towards the opponent's camp.

On this extremely cold day when the sky is dark and the wind is blowing, only those who have truly soaked in the cold water can feel the hardship.

The cold river water was wearing down Bilbo's will and strength all the time, and such a bad crossing experience made him feel even more uncomfortable.

When he was about to reach the other side, he accidentally lost his footing and fell into the water with a crash. He finally climbed out of the water and reached the other side, soaked all over. The elves came out with oil lamps and wanted to do something.

Know the source of this sound.

"Hey, light up the lamp!" Bilbo ran ashore from the river and took off the ring, and then the elves saw him jumping out from behind a rock.

Seeing Bilbo's miraculous ability as if he appeared out of thin air, the elves immediately raised their weapons with frightened faces.

"I am Bilbo Baggins," he replied, "if you want to know, yes! I am Thorin's companion. I know what your king looks like, but he probably won't recognize me when he sees me.

Me. But Bud must still remember me, and I also hope to see Bud soon."

After hearing these words, the elves were obviously a little unsure whether they could believe this dwarf who suddenly came out, "Okay, Mr. Baggins, we need to know the purpose of your visit before informing our king!"

Bilbo trembled quickly, and the cold river water froze him: "Kind elf, can you take me to the campfire first? I'm almost freezing. Besides, you can completely believe what I say."

If you say so, I believe that your noble Elf King does not want to lose this opportunity to meet me."

.....

In this way, two hours after leaving the main gate, Bilbo was sitting in front of a warm campfire next to a large tent to dry his hands. The Elf King and Bard were sitting next to him, both of them looking at him curiously. After all,

A hobbit wearing elven armor and wrapped in an old blanket is not a common sight.

"You all should know," Bilbo was trying his best to put on his best businessman's voice: "The hope of success is very slim. I am personally tired of all this. I hope to return to my hometown in the west as soon as possible,

Everyone there is more reasonable, but I also have my own interests to consider. To be more precise, according to the contract, I own one-quarter of the net profit. I believe this contract is still on my body."

He took out a letter from the pocket of his old jacket, on which he wrote down Thorin's reward and obligations to him, the Hobbit Snitch, for this adventure as his employer when he set out from the Shire.

"Please note that it is one-fourth of the net profit," he continued: "As a member of the team, Thorin's contract stipulates in advance that everyone will obtain each of them after a fair share.

The benefits that members deserve. And I am the one who knows Thorin Oakenshield best among the people present. I assure you that as long as you people are still here, he would rather sit on the gold and silver mountains and starve."

"Whatever!" said Bud, "let this stubborn fool freeze and starve!"

"Perhaps you are right, Thorin sometimes does some stupid things that seem unwise." Bilbo said: "I agree with you. However, winter is coming soon. It will start to snow soon.

, and your supplies will start to become very difficult. In addition, I would like to say one more thing, have you heard of Dane and the dwarves of the Iron Hills?"

"We heard this name a long time ago, but what does it have to do with the current situation? You don't think of mentioning the name of Thorin's cousin from the Iron Hills and want us to give up our due rewards, do you?

asked the king.

"Sure enough, it's what I thought. It seems that I have some information that you don't know. Please allow me to tell you that Dann is less than two days away from here. He has at least five hundred brave and capable dwarves under his command.

, many of them have personally participated in the battle between dwarves and orcs, and I believe you have all heard of it. When they arrive here, I am afraid things will not end so easily."

"Why are you telling us this news? Are you a lobbyist who comes to force us to make concessions, or are you a traitor who betrayed the Savior in order to survive?" Bud said with a serious expression.

"Dear Bard!" said Bilbo: "Don't be so impatient! I have never met a guy as suspicious as you! I just want to save everyone trouble. Here is my suggestion!"

"Say it!" Now the Elf King and Bard were completely looking forward to what kind of proposal Bilbo would give.

"You'll see it soon! This may help improve the difficulties faced by everyone!"

Bilbo took out the heirloom diamond that belonged to the royal family of the Turin dwarves.
Chapter completed!