Bilbo's crampedness meant that his friendship with Ling Qi was being tested like never before, as evidenced by the floating friendship values on the Friends stats panel. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

If it weren't for the fact that the two had been friends for half a year, I was afraid that even if they met and fell in love again, the hobbits who had always been cautious would think that Ling Qi was playing tricks on him and deliberately making him make a fool of himself.

Thankfully, Ling Qi, who left his seat with a hearty laugh and walked down the steps to personally bring Bilbo to Gandalf's side, calmed the hobbit down and stopped stammering trying to explain anything.

The gray-robed old man with white hair made Bilbo feel familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere, but the memory was so far away, far away that it was more than vague.

"Hehe~ Bilbo Baggins, let's meet again. ”

Gandalf stood up, condescending.

His figure was thin, and he looked taller than Ling Qi, and compared to the hobbit, he looked even more awkward, and there was a sense of absurdity.

"Uh~ Lynch... Sir, and this old gentleman, have we seen again? No, no, no, I'm sure I've never seen you!"

The little Hobie who waved his hand again and again, with a slightly panicked look, made the dwarves who were quietly watching a little disdainful.

Lynch and Gandalf couldn't help but wonder at his keen perception, which was not even just an ordinary perception and an extension of his facial features, but a vague peek into fate, a warning of danger in advance.

There is no doubt that from Bilbo's personal standpoint, from the perspective of the macro situation of fate, Gandalf at this moment is indeed the disaster star of his life, and he wants to pull out the warm quilt and push him to the fire pit of the knife mountain.

Asking a merchant to make a cameo appearance as a snitch and steal a dragon's treasure in its lair is murder!

Probably only Gandalf himself doesn't think so, and he calls it fate.

"Oh, Bilbo Baggins, son of Bongo Baggins and Belladonna Tuke, I am a good friend of your grandfather, the long-lived 'Old Tuke' and Gerontes. Plus, I saw you when you were very young. ”

Gandalf whispered, trying to use his charm no lower than Ling Qi to get close to the wary little man.

Unfortunately, he underestimated Bilbo's stubbornness and the Hobbit's ability to anticipate crises in advance, which is probably one of the reasons why the Hobbits stayed away from the war.

Bilbo's ability is particularly prominent, it is simply a talent, and it is up to the master to recognize it.

"Oh~ no, no, no, sir. Maybe you're a friend of my grandfather, and of course, I'm pretty sure you'll be friends, but I really don't know you. ”

"Well, if you are also a good friend of Mr. Lynch, and for his sake, we may be true friends someday, but please don't look at me with that strange look again. ”

Bilbo said, half of his body shrunk behind Lynch, much to Gandalf's amazement, and the little hobbit looked at him with the word liar almost written nakedly.

Ling Qi was waiting for the two of them to round the round, also because Alex, who was watching from the sidelines, kept signaling to him with his eyes, this guy probably didn't want Bilbo to join the adventure.

"Ahem~Bilbo Bagchinson! You little villain! Have you forgotten that you were a kid catching butterflies in the forest, and you said you wanted to leave the Shire and explore the outside world?"

Gandalf coughed dryly and made the last killer move. Ling Qi didn't feel anything when he heard it, but he could detect that Bilbo on the side was instantly stunned, as if he was remembering something!

Exploring the outside world is simply an incomprehensible and incomprehensible idea for the Hobbit. From the hobbit standpoint, only madmen and fools like to leave their homes and run around in those black rumbling holes. It's as ridiculous as a human who suddenly threatens one day that he doesn't like to eat and prefers to eat bugs and flies.

Of course, outsiders couldn't understand Bilbo's mood at that time and at the moment, but Ling Qi knew that there was no need for him to play, so he stretched out his hand and motioned for Bilbo to sit down, the position happened to be next to the second on the left, Gandalf, and Bilbo did not object.

"Okay, okay, I don't remember you, but for Mr. Lynch's sake, I'll treat you as a friend. As for exploring the world outside the Shire, well, aren't I just outside the Shire right now?"

"Uh, and, I don't know what to call Your Excellency?"

Bilbo's unsettled and incoherent speech clearly concealed a huge fluctuation under his pretended calm expression.

His stiff movements and demeanor betrayed him, and even the simple act of slicing cheese after sitting down knocked over the plate, causing laughter from the sidelines who did not know whether good or evil were known.

"Be quiet, can't you show the friendliness of the dwarves, please leave a little room for our guests to breathe freely!"

Probably feeling disgraced, Gandalf first reprimanded the heckling dwarves before turning his gaze to Bilbo.

Not to mention, his "tower empty" still has a bit of weight, and the dwarves immediately stopped making trouble.

Of course, the people led by Thorin have not laughed at Bilbo, but have only scrutinized his every move with a stricter gaze, and everyone has their own evaluation and judgment in their hearts, but no one admits that he will be a qualified snitch.

"Bilbo, don't be nervous, these dwarves are all me... They're all Lynch's friends, guests, and they're all good people—at least after you get to know each other. ”

"Plus, the charr is a lot more out there than here. Don't you want to go out and see and venture to places you've never set foot before?"

Gandalf tried to comfort him, tried to open up the conversation, but he didn't know what to say.

Bilbo, however, was deeply disgusted by the word adventure, and had made up his mind not to mingle with the scruffy dwarves and the strange old man, and go home after the meal.

He was very skeptical that Lynch could have known these people, and deeply reflected on whether his friendship with the other party was suitable or not.

"Bilbo~Bilbo~Mr. Baggins!Are you listening to me?"

Gandalf's slightly disgruntled voice interrupted Bilbo's self-examination and fixed his friendliness level at 80.

"Uh~yes~sir~ah~I'm listening~sir~"

Bilbo was obviously absent-minded, and Ling Qi didn't even pay much attention to the changes in his friend's attribute panel, he didn't care about it for a long time.

"Well, Bilbo, then I repeat, you can call me Gandalf!"

Gandalf borrowed a fire from Lynch, lit a cigarette gun, and pretended to be casual.

In fact, he was a little proud when he reported his home, as if he was some great public figure.

Of course, if he said this in any other place, it would definitely attract exclamations and onlookers, and the three words Gandalf were more useful than any soundman, Lynch, but unfortunately he was facing a hobbit living in a paradise.

"Ahh

"You~You're the one-"

Before Bilbo could finish speaking, Gandalf had already taken a triumphant puff of his cigarette, and before he could spit it out...

"That wandering magician, isn't he?"

"Hey, what about your fireworks? don't you come to the charr every once in a while to sell them? Besides, they're pretty and old Barbo likes to use your fireworks at banquets, they're a bit more expensive!"

Gandalf nearly choked on a puff of cigarette, feeling that he, the guardian of Middle-earth, was a fireworks peddler and a magic liar in Bilbo's eyes.

"Ahem, cough cough ~ fireworks ~ That fireworks are not yet time this year, hmm~ I haven't built it yet!"

Ignoring the strange gazes of the dwarves around him, Gandalf immediately lowered his face and looked around at everyone:

"Don't mention any more fireworks, I invite you to come today, not to talk about any tricks, but to announce an important matter!"

Gandalf went straight to the subject, so as not to lose face again, and by the way, to save a little sense of existence, and he did.

It's a pity, if he could sit in Ling Qi's position and say this, the effect should be better.

Now he is like an official, a staff member who declares the emperor's will, rather than a leader.

The dwarves immediately stopped whispering and eating, and even Bilbo put down his knife and fork, but Ling Qi didn't seem to react, pouring himself a drink like Charles, and even glanced at everyone while Gandalf was brewing his belly:

"Eat! You're welcome, it's not too late! Besides, rest assured about this adventure, I will do my best to support my dwarven friends to retake their homeland! Weapons, equipment, supplies, and armies are all available! All that's left to discuss now is a few trivial matters!"

Ling Qi's words made the atmosphere in the restaurant less serious, and most of the dwarves cast grateful glances at him, only Gandalf frowned slightly, dissatisfied with his words and deeds, but he didn't say much, after all, the other party had good intentions, and he couldn't feel Ling Qi's malice.

Then, in the course of a pleasant banquet, rather than a solemn meeting, Gandalf announced the mission goal of taking the Lonely Mountain directly.

Since the dwarves are a little drunk, no one is holding back, not to mention that their equipment is brand new and they have a strong and reliable ally!

Gandalf took out the map that he had prepared long ago, and told the secret about the secret passage of the lonely mountain, but it did not cause the expected finishing touch, as if the dwarves no longer cared whether they attacked from the front or sneaked in, and they were drunk, and they really drank too much.

Thorin stared at the map with burning eyes, which caused Gandalf to retract some of what he had wanted to say, but he didn't put it away, because even he hadn't been able to unlock the secrets of the map.

A few people who were not yet drunk gathered around, staring curiously and excitedly at the piece of vellum that was no longer than a foot long.

It is an ordinary sheepskin map, with a rough outline of the landscape around the lonely mountain for hundreds of miles, from the dark jungle in the west to the long lake of Esgallos in the east.

The secret was certainly not in the meaning of this mutilated map, which was worth no more than five silver coins, but on the back of the parchment there were a few words written in the ancient Elven language.

Relying on the unwarranted sound of many people's bloodlines, Ling Qi could recognize one of the words and what light was mentioned.

The dwarves were worse than him, and Thorin didn't recognize the meaning of those words.

But Ling Qi believed that Gandalf would never be ignorant of this, at least he could understand a small half, guess a small half, after all, he was a rare wise man and elder in Middle-earth, but he pretended to be as dazed as a dwarf.