Chapter 42 Shuhu

Zhao Mian followed the tree man all the way north—or a little more to the west, but in general, it was still north. As the distance grew farther and the terrain began to rise, Zhao Mian found that there were more and more bare rocks around him, and the sunlight shining from the shade of the trees began to gradually become abundant—perhaps not because the sunlight became abundant, but because the surrounding bare rocks deprived the trees of space to grow, which caused the void to appear.

Soon, Zhao Mian was led by the tree man to a stone wall, which should be part of the hill at Zhao Mian's feet, or perhaps an extension of the distant mountain range, on which no trees grew, and the sun shone so fully on the ground of this forest for the first time.

Around the stone wall, some dwarf trees, branches and rhizomes seemed to stretch out, longing for the warmth of the sun. What once looked like a lifeless forest is now a reddish-brown beauty in the sun, the gray-black bark is as delicate as polished leather, and the trunks reflect a soft green glow like fresh grass, which may be a sign of early spring or a remnant of their long-standing vitality.

On top of the rock face, there are steps that seem to have been made by nature, and from the rugged shapes, it may be a natural wonder of rock cracking and rain washing. Above the stone wall, almost at the level of the tallest trees around, there was a small clearing where a few weeds had taken root and grown at the edge, but there was no tree in sight - only the figure like a dead trunk, with its hands raised high, like an old man stretching his waist.

"Treebeard is up there, and he's waiting for you. The treeman turned slowly - this was not easy for a wooden structure, these tall treemen may have great strength and ability, but they really couldn't do anything about small movements, because they were not soft enough. "That's it, master of the horses. After speaking, the tree man did not turn around, but disappeared into the dark forest again with two great strides.

Zhao Mian looked at the stone wall in front of him, then turned over and dismounted—the heavy combat boots struck a heavy note on the bare stones on the ground, and the war horse stood tall and stood upright, and disappeared into the clearing with a cheerful neigh.

It didn't take long for Zhao Mian to quickly climb the stone wall, and above the clearing, he found that the tree man was closing his eyes, as if listening to some beautiful music that humans could not hear. Zhao Mian looked at the tree man and waited for a while, but it seemed that the other party had no intention of receiving him for the time being, so Zhao Mian simply sat down cross-legged on his side, took off his helmet, and took out a thick hardcover book "Far Mountain", enjoying the glory of this afternoon—of course, a leg of lamb still dripping with grease, three butter rolls, and two full pints of mead.

For a long time, Zhao Mian couldn't estimate how much time had passed—but his shadow had begun to draw longer and longer outlines on the ground, and the old tree man finally reacted when the fourth pot of mead had been placed in front of him. He slowly withdrew his hands and turned his high head to Zhao Mian - perhaps it was not appropriate to turn his head to Zhao Mian, because the other party directly turned his entire body to Zhao Mian, and then looked at him with his waist slightly bent. He looked very strong, with a tall head that seemed to have no neck, and it was difficult to deduce if he was wearing greenish-gray bark, or if that was his skin. However, Zhao Mian is at least certain that the hands that are some distance from the torso do not have any crepes, and they are brown and smooth skin. Each of his big feet had seven fingers, and the end of his long face was covered under a thick moss, and the gray moss fluttering in the wind looked a bit like the gray beard of an old man. However, at this moment, the only thing Zhao Mian noticed was those eyes, those deep eyes were looking at them slowly and seriously. His eyes were brown with a green glow in the middle—the same green glow that had been seen in the eyes of another treeman, but not as clear and bright as the one in front of him. For the first time, those who look at those eyes will think that there is a very deep ancient well behind it, full of memories from ancient times and slow, determined thoughts, but the surface of the well reflects the waves of the present world, just like the sunlight reflecting on the branches and leaves of a large tree, or the sunlight shining on the deep water of a deep lake. I'm not sure, but it's like something suddenly waking up between the tops and roots, between the earth and the sky, and looking at the scene with the same slow motion it has seen for eons of years.

"Hello, strange and young human. I saw you not long ago, when you and a dragon skimmed over my forest. The old tree man spoke, his voice slow and long, but Zhao Mian could tell that it was a slightly hoarse lingua franca, and he stared at Zhao Mian tightly, as if he wanted to see something from Zhao Mian's body, "Please forgive me, young human. I may have delayed your journey, but I believe that you will gain more than you want during this period of stagnation. ”

"Mr. Treebeard—if I could call you that. Zhao Mian said this, Shuhu nodded, and Zhao Mian continued, "I still have plenty of time for the time being, so I won't delay my trip, which is an unnecessary worry - but I am more concerned about what you want to know from me now, and what I can get from you than these time problems." ”

"It depends on what kind of news you bring, strange human. Shuhu's deep voice sounded in Zhao Mian's ears, he looked up, Shuhu's body seemed to be more curved than just now, but it still couldn't be said to be a bow, but the light in his eyes became brighter, like a sharp spear, "I can see, hear (and smell and feel) many things, from this ...... From inside this a-llalla-lalla-rumba-kamanda-lind-or-bur. Sorry, it's part of my name, I don't know what the corresponding outside language is. You know, where we are, where I stand, when I think of the sun in the morning, and the grasslands beyond the forest, and the horses and the clouds, and the changes in the whole world. What the hell is going on?what is Gandalf up to?—Braru," he let out a low, muffled sound like the trilling of some giant instrument, "what are these orcs, and what is the young Saruman of Isengar up to? I like new news, but don't talk too quickly. ”

"Sounds like you know Gandalf. Zhao Mian said.

"Yes, I do know him, he's the only wizard who cares about trees," Treebeard replied, "Do you know him too?"

"I do know him, but probably not as much as you know about him. But since you know Gandalf, the following explanation is much simpler. Zhao Mian nodded, he first glanced at the beard, then turned and pointed in the direction of Isengard, "The last time I passed through here, I heard the whispers of the forest, and what Saruman's minions did here was deeply remembered by the forest—and he did the same thing in an even worse way in the land of Rohan. The king of the Rohan kingdom rebelled, but the power of Isengar was beyond his imagination, and countless orcs, orcs, and barbarians set out from Isengard, wantonly destroying everything they saw on the land. Outnumbered by the Rohan army, they were outnumbered and had to retreat to the Valley of the Helm - a place that had fought against enemies from Esinger in the past, and the Lord of Rohan hoped to do the same. But Gandalf and my companions knew acutely that holding on was a dead end, and that fighting on the plains might be a silver lining. But the Rohan is still the country of the Rohan people, and this place has been in the blood of the Rohan for many years, they were born here, grew up here, and even guarded it all the time - they have a voice. So in order to tilt the scales of war in the direction of the Rohan as much as possible, I disrupted Saruman's position, and even attacked the Ozan Tower with Sathdom - the dragon you saw - but that tower contained some very old spell, and I couldn't fight Saruman outside of that tower - and I was blown up here. ”

"I don't think that's all you've been through, and it's even far off. After Zhao Mian finished speaking, Shuhu thought for a moment, and then said, "There are still many things you haven't told me - such as what kind of identity Gandalf holds now, such as what kind of identity you are now, such as what kind of identity Saruman is now!"

"If you want to know more, I'll tell you slowly—it's not a short story, and it will probably take us a whole night before I can tell you exactly what Middle-earth is like now. Zhao Mian and Shuhu looked at each other and said.

"Then speak slowly, strange human. Treebeard's voice came a little later, his tone still slow, "I love listening to stories, as long as you're not in a hurry to finish it." ”

Zhao Mian sat down on the platform and began to slowly tell the story along the way. From his involvement in the Ranger story, to Rivendell, then to the snowflakes in the mountains, then to the gatekeepers in the black lake, to all the recent events, Zhao Mian told Shuhu everything - but he didn't mention the Lord of the Rings, he knew very well what could be said and what could not be said.

And Shuhu didn't ask such questions. But he was very interested in the circumstances of those events, whether it was the Black Knight, Rivendell, Moria, the Black Lake, Roslorian, or Galadriel. Treebeard was even more curious about all of Gandalf's deeds, and asked Saruman in great detail.

It wasn't until the end, when Zhao Mian was once again bathed in the sun, that he stopped telling the story, and Shuhu also stopped his endless questions.

"Well, that's pretty much the end of my story. Zhao Mian put down the coffee cup in his hand, raised his head and looked at Shuhu and said, "The master of the forest, Mr. Shuhu, now, it's time for you to make a decision!"

"I was nervous for a while when the darkness invaded the Dark Forest, but when it returned to Mordor, I relaxed. Mordor is far from here, after all, but it seems that the wind is blowing to the east again, and the time when all the trees will wither may be approaching. There was no way for the old treant to stop the storm, he had to survive it, or break it. But now even Saruman is fallen! Saruman is near us, and I can't underestimate him. I thought, I must do something, and lately I've been thinking a lot about what I'm going to do with Saruman. ”

"I think I'm only now understanding what he's up to, he's planning to be a force to be reckoned with. His head was spinning like gears, and he didn't care about other creatures unless they could help him dominate the world right now. Now, I'm sure he's fallen into the dark way, he's taken in a lot of half-orcs and evil creatures!Uh-huh, Hum! Worse, he seems to have done something dangerous to them, because these Isengar soldiers look more like evil humans. It is characteristic that the Orcs of the Darkness fear the sun, but Saruman's men hate it but can tolerate it. I don't know what he did, were they polluted humans, or did he mix the orcs and humans?

Treebeard muttered for a moment, as if reciting some old treant proverb: "Some time ago, I began to wonder why orcs were so comfortable traversing my forest," he continued, "Until recently, I suspected that Saruman was behind this, that he had been snooping in the forest for a long time, planning the way, and that he and his evil men were causing a lot of chaos. They cut down many trees at the border, many good ones, and some of them were cut down to the ground and left to rot, which was the evil of the orcs, but most of them were transported to the Orzak Tower to be used as fuel for fires. These days, the smoke from Issinger continues all day long. Damn, this guy with all the roots and leaves rotten! Many of those trees are my friends, old friends of mine who know me from branch to leaf, and many of them have their own unique voices, and they are lost forever. Many of the once dense and fertile woods have also been reduced to broken branches and ruins. I've been sitting idly by for too long, and I'm going to have to stop this!"

He slammed to his feet from the ground, and all the dewdrops that radiated in the morning sun scattered all around. There seemed to be a thick flame in his eyes, and even the moss-like beards stood on end, proving the excitement in his heart.

"But an old tree man and a paladin can't do anything that can change the tide of battle. Zhao Mian said - and at the same time opened the bag of almond bread.

"No, it's been a long time since we've been so angry, and the whole forest is shouting his name—Saruman will get the end he deserves!" shouted Treebeard, the whole forest echoing his voice, and the voice resounded through the sky, shaking the wilderness, and even the ground trembled.

"Saruman!!!"