"When the thrush strikes, stand beside the gray rocks, and the setting sun will shine on the keyhole by the afterglow of the day of Turin."

Seymour sat on horseback and looked at the map in his hand with a frown.

This is a map taken from Thorin, with the topography of the lonely mountain and a few lines of obscure language attached to it, but fortunately, Thorin and his party found someone to decipher these words before they came to the dark forest, and attached the translation below, which is the sentence that Seymour had just read.

"I guess that means the last rays of sunlight before the sun sets," Bilbo said, pinching the key in his pocket, in a somewhat uncertain tone.

"That's what I thought too." Seymour nodded, tucking the map back into his arms, "Pick it up, we need to feel lonely before the sun goes down." ”

Legolas, who was on the side, nodded, and turned to the army behind him to make a few quick marching gestures.

The group suddenly picked up speed and rode their horses or bighorn deer on the forest road.

Soon, the narrow path turned into a broad road, and the scene in front of me suddenly opened up like the sun in front of the clouds.

Finally out of the dark forest!

Seymour let out a sigh of emotion in his heart, and stopped with Legolas Lerma outside the dark forest.

As far as the eye can see, you can see the endless flow of dense forest river rushing out of the dark dense forest, passing through the gentle slope and merging into a long lake with a narrow shape like a diamond.

On the edge of Long Lake, a small town full of life sits there.

It is inhabited by the humans who survived the original riverdale town, who braved the risk of being attacked by dragons, and still survived by the Jungle River in the western part of Long Lake and the Kelduin River in the south.

As for the further afield......

Seymour and his party raised their heads one after another and looked at a lonely mountain standing abruptly on the plain ahead.

"That's where we're going!"

"It doesn't look like it's far off," Bilbo breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's still far away!" Legolas glanced at him obliquely, "As the saying goes, look at the mountain and run the dead horse, don't look at this lonely mountain has appeared in your field of vision, if you want to run from here to there, it will take at least two or three days to go." ”

"Huh?" Bilbo was dumbfounded, "Then can't we arrive before the evening?" ”

"Of course."

"But Seymour didn't say ......"

"I said before the sun went down, but I didn't say what day it was."

“……”

Bilbo rolled his eyes and stopped talking.

The crowd rode horses or deer, galloping all the way to the gate of Changhu Town.

The guards in the town had long been lazy from the long false peace, and it was still broad daylight, and all the guards actually hid in the house to roast and drink, and did not notice the attack of an elven army.

It wasn't until Seymour and Legolas appeared in the window that they took up their arms in horror.

"Don't panic, we're a royal escort from the Dark Forest." Legolas said with a faint expression.

The guards in the room looked at each other, and the first one, straightening his hat and spear, slowly leaned up with his spear, cautiously leaned over to the window, and glanced behind Legolas.

Hiss –

It's actually a whole neat army of elves!

And it's silver armor, it's really a royal guard!

The guards hurriedly lowered their weapons and ran out of the house to open the gate for Legolas and the others, pulling down the barricades so that Seymour and Legolas and the others could enter smoothly.

Seymour was a little surprised, and Legolas on the side whispered.

"The humans here have maintained friendly trade relations with the Dark Jungle since the time of Riverdale, and after the Lonely Mountain was occupied by the evil dragon Smaug, the trade in food can only rely on us, to some extent, the town of Long Lake has become a vassal of the Dark Forest, but we don't need it......"

"No wonder they don't dare to offend you." Seymour nodded abruptly.

Legolas nodded to the flattering human guards around him, and without even an explanation, rode into the only avenue in Longlake.

The sound of dense horses' hooves sounded, and curious human beings opened their windows or went out to watch, and saw that it was a group of mighty and handsome elf masters, and they all suddenly became interested, hiding aside and pointing, and talking about it.

Seymour heard someone talking about himself in a whisper, and immediately tugged at the corners of his mouth, and leaned closer to Legolas and whispered.

"Why do these humans look so laid-back, the dragons are no more than two days away from their north, and they can still laugh and be willing to continue living here......"

"That's because the dragon hasn't been out of the city below the mountain for hundreds of years, so that the young people in the town don't believe that there are dragons in the mountains at all, and even laugh at the old guys who claim to have seen the dragon when they were young."

"Why?" Seymour had a look of astonishment on his face.

Bilbo also looked puzzled, and his eyes looked at Legolas with curiosity and curiosity.

"Because there are so many treasures in Erebor!"

Legolas let out a long sigh, his sea-blue eyes staring with fear at the lonely mountain in the distance.

"How could he have left the vast treasures tainted with the curse of greed, which not only devoured the mind of Throl I, King of the Mountain, but also became the invisible shackles of the dragon Smaug, whose possessiveness grew day by day, so that he stayed there all day and all night, lying even in his deep sleep on the mountains of gold and precious stones?"

“……”

Seymour and Bilbo looked at each other, and their hearts were a little creepy.

Legolas glanced at the two of them silently, and said in a quiet tone, "I sincerely hope that you will not follow in the footsteps of the king of the mountain and the evil dragon Smaug......"

"Don't worry, gold and treasure mean nothing to me."

Seymour shook his head without hesitation, his gaze clear and sincere, without the slightest impurity.

Legolas smiled, "That's right, after all, you are the disciple of that Excellency. ”

Hearing this, Bilbo on the side hurriedly said, "I won't either." ”

Legolas glanced at him, "You'd better not. ”

"It's okay." Seymour smiled, looked at Bilbo and said kindly, "Even if you really get devoured by the treasure, I will tie you back!" ”

Bilbo: "......"

Thank you so much!

In the midst of the discussion, the group came to a noisy dock.

Looking at the boats coming and going on the lake, Seymour couldn't help but be a little surprised.

"I didn't expect the fishing industry in Changhu Town to be quite prosperous."

"The town of Riverdale was more prosperous back then." Legolas shook his head and said, "They can trade with the elves of the Dark Forest to the west, ore to the rich kingdom of the mountain to the north, and the human kingdom to the south along the Kelduin River. ”

"At that time, there were countless ships floating on the water, which were either loaded with gold or heavily armed warriors, but now? Many heroic and inspirational deeds have sunk to the bottom of the lake, and only when the dry season comes, when the lake recedes, can you see a trace of the dilapidated old town from the bottom of the lake. ”

"You're right."

A slightly vicissitudes of sound came from the front, and the elves turned their heads one after another, and found a black-haired male human leaning on the stake on the dock in front of them, looking at themselves and the others calmly with dark eyes.

"So you're going to rent a boat?"

"Of course." Legolas glanced at him faintly, "Our goal is a bit unusual, though, so we need a bold guide. ”

"Then you've got the right person!"

There was a hint of a smile on the black-haired man's face.

Seymour turned over and dismounted, walked up to the black-haired man, looked him up and down, shook his head, and said, "Not necessarily, you don't even know our destination yet." ”

"I don't need to know...... the dark-haired man shook his head, "as long as you can pay enough honorarium, even if it's Dogurdu or Erebo the Lonely Mountain, I'm willing to break in." ”

"What a coincidence!"

Seymour smiled and patted the dark-haired man's shoulder, and the elves behind him also smiled.

Seeing the expressions on the faces of these elves, the black-haired man's body suddenly stiffened a little, and an ominous premonition poured into his mind.

He hurriedly asked, "Wait, you don't really plan to go to Lonely Mountain, do you?" ”

Legolas said lightly, "What? Wasn't it quite brave just now, but now I'm afraid? ”

The black-haired man smiled bitterly: "Of course, it is a lonely mountain inhabited by an evil dragon!" ”

Seymour was a little surprised: "Do you believe in the legend of the evil dragon?" ”

Hearing Seymour's words, the black-haired man couldn't help but fall silent.

After a long time, he shook his head and said, "I know that many of the young people in the town don't believe it, but ...... I have to believe it! ”

"Why?"

"That's a long story."

The black-haired man was obviously unwilling to talk more on this topic, and immediately changed his words: "But I didn't say anything big, as long as the remuneration you gave was enough, even if it was Lonely Mountain Ereb, I would be willing to accompany you on a trip!" ”

"Even if you meet the evil dragons that inhabit there?"

"Even if you meet the dragon!"

Looking at the black-haired man with a determined expression, Legolas nodded, rolled over from his horse, and walked over to Seymour's side to look at the black-haired man.

"Tell me, how much money do you want?"

"At least five times the parity."

Legolas smiled, and he took a bag of gold from his bosom and threw it into the black-haired man's hand.

"I'll give you tenfold!"