Bilbo listened carefully, and finally he began to doubt all this - maybe Gollum really couldn't see him? Somehow, this idea suddenly appeared in his mind.

Our short hobbit cautiously took a few steps forward and boldly approached Gollum. Fortunately, the other person was still running in a hurry and had no time to look back.

Judging from the dim light on the wall, Bilbo judged that the ugly guy in front of him was constantly looking at the surrounding environment.

As for himself who was right in front of him, Gollum really seemed invisible! Several times Gollum's eyes glanced at him, but he quickly ignored them - this discovery made Bilbo even more surprised and delighted.

"My birthday present! Curse him! How did we lose it, baby? Yes, that's it. Last time we were here, when we broke that little guy's neck. That's it! Curse him! In

After all this time, he slipped from our hands! He is gone, Gulu."

Suddenly, Gulu sat down on the ground. He began to sob. It was a strange symphony that combined a high-pitched whistle and a swallowing sound, which made people feel uncomfortable.

After hearing all this, Bilbo also stopped and leaned his back against the cave wall to hide his figure. After a while, Gollum stopped sobbing and started talking to himself. He seemed to have an argument with himself.

"It's useless to go back and look for it. It's useless. We don't remember where we've been at all. It won't be useful. Baggins put him in his pocket. We think that stinky guy found him."

"We're guessing, honey, it's just a guess. We can't know for sure until we catch that bastard and question him. He doesn't know the way and he can't go very far. The bastard is lost and he says he doesn't know the way out.

.”

"That's what he said, but the guy was cunning. He didn't say what it meant, and he wouldn't say what was in his pocket. He knew. He knew the way in, and he must know the way out. Yes,

He's going to the back door, yes, to the back door! The orcs will get him. He can't get out that way, baby."

"Hiss, hiss, Gollum! Orc! Yes, but if he gets our gift, our precious gift, then the Orc will get his too, Gollum! They will find him, they will know about him

Awesome, we will no longer be safe, no longer safe, Gollum! There will be orcs who will put him on, and other people will not be able to see him, he will be invisible, even our smart eyes will not be able to see him, he will be silent

Come and catch us quietly, Gulu, Gulu!"

"Then let's stop chatting, honey, and move faster. If Baggins goes in this direction, we must hurry over and take a look. Go! It's not far, hurry up!"

Gollum jumped up and immediately started running away. Bilbo followed cautiously, but this time he was more worried about kicking something again and making an unexpected noise.

At this moment, his little head was filled with new hope and surprise. It seemed that the ring he picked up was a magic ring: it could make people invisible!

Of course, as a curious boy who liked to listen to the fairy tales told by the elders of the long-lived Hobbits when he was young, he had also heard of such things in legends and fairy tales, but it was really hard to believe that he actually

Found this treasure by accident.

He couldn't help but not believe the evidence in front of him. Gollum, who had sharp eyes, turned a blind eye to him and just walked past him unprepared.

Monsters and hobbits, these two enemies who should be on equal footing, have reached a strange balance because of an invisible Lord of the Rings.

Gollum's feet clicked forward, and he cursed and hissed.

Bilbo used the hobbit's talent to follow quietly like a ghost. Soon, Bilbo came to the many forks in the road he had noticed before, and Gollum immediately began to count these forks.

"One on the left, yes. One on the right, yes. Two on the right, yes, yes, two on the left, yes, yes..." He kept mumbling to himself.

As he counted more and more, he began to tremble all over and sob. Because he was already far away from the underground lake, he began to feel a little scared. There might be orcs around, and he lost the ring.

Finally, he stopped at the entrance of a low tunnel on the left.

"The seventh one on the right, yes, the sixth one on the left, yes." He whispered: "This is it, this is the way to the back door, this is the way!"

He peered inside, then pulled back. "But baby, we don't want to go in, we don't, there are orcs in there, lots of orcs, we can smell them. Hiss! What are we going to do? Curse these damn ones

Guys! We gotta wait here, baby, just gotta wait and see."

Therefore, they stopped like this. After all, Gollum took Bilbo to the exit, but Bilbo could not go in! Because Gollum just sat there, his eyes glowing coldly, his head between his knees and looking around

With.

Bilbo left the cave wall again with a voice even lower than that of a mouse, but Gollum immediately tensed up and began to smell the smells around him, his eyes glowing green again.

He hissed angrily. He couldn't see the hobbit, but he was already alert. Besides, he had other senses that became sharper in the dark: hearing and smell. He just lay on the floor.

Go up, head is stretched out, nose is almost touching the floor.

Although the other party was just a blurry black shadow in the corner of Bilbo's eye, he could clearly feel that the other party was as tight as a bowstring, and was relentlessly monitoring any clues from all directions.

Bilbo was so scared that he almost stopped breathing, and his body immediately became very stiff. He was very nervous. As long as he still had the strength, he must escape from this terrifying darkness and escape from this place.

He had to fight hard, he had to stab this horrible guy to death and extinguish the light in his eyes. He wanted to kill Bilbo. No, this was not fair, Bilbo was invisible, Gollum was defenseless, Gollum didn't

Threaten to kill him, at least not yet acted upon.

He was alone, very pitiful, and didn't know what to do. Bilbo's heart suddenly felt a kind of sympathy mixed with fear and understanding for this poor creature: he spent countless hours in this underground place without hope and light.

Years, accompanied by hard rocks and cold blind fish, move around furtively and talk to themselves furtively.

These thoughts passed through his mind in an instant, and Bilbo shuddered, and then, with a sudden strange force and determination in his body, he jumped up.

It is not a huge jump for humans, but don't forget, this is a jump in complete darkness. He flew over Gollum's head, flew forward seven feet, and jumped at least three feet. Facts

He almost smashed his head at the entrance of the cave.

Gollum immediately turned around and ran, trying to catch the hobbit passing over his head, but it was too late: his hand sliced ​​through the air, and Bilbo landed firmly on the ground and began to fly towards the new exit.

He didn't dare to turn his head to see what Gulu was doing. At first, he could hear clear hissing and curses coming from behind, and then the sounds stopped. Almost at the same moment, a blood-curdling sound came from behind.

The frozen screams were full of hatred and despair. Gulu was defeated. He did not dare to go forward. He had already lost: not only did he lose his prey, but he also lost the only thing he cared about in his life.

baby.

The scream made Bilbo's heart almost beat out of his mouth, but he continued to run forward resolutely.

Although the voice was now as weak as an insubstantial echo, the hatred in it still made him continue to float forward:

"Thief, you thief! Baggins! We hate him, we hate him, we will always hate him!"

Then the tunnel suddenly became completely silent. But to Bilbo, the silence was still frightening.

"If Gollum is close enough to smell the orcs' breath, then they can also hear his screams and curses. I have to be careful, this road may lead me to something more terrifying."

This tunnel is not only low, but also seems to be very crudely made. It is not too difficult for the hobbit to walk, but he kicked the gravel on the ground several times during this journey. "Compared with the taller half tunnel

It seems too short for an orc," Bilbo thought, but he didn't know that even the tallest orc could bend his body and walk quickly with his hands almost hanging to the ground.

Soon, the tunnel that had been winding downwards began to extend upwards. After a while, the road began to become very steep again, which slowed down Bilbo.

At the end, the hobbit who ran and fled with all his strength was finally pleasantly surprised to find that the slope finally leveled off, the tunnel turned a corner, and started to go down again. Over there, at the end of the next bend, he saw a glimmer of light.

.It was not the red light emitted by the oil lamp, but the white light of the sky. Bilbo immediately ran away.

He ran with all his strength, rounded the final turn, and finally came to an open space.

After he had been in the dark for so long, the light here became very dazzling in comparison. In fact, it was just a ray of light that filtered through the crack in the door, and the source was a huge stone door not far away.

Bilbo blinked and then saw the Orcs: Orcs, fully armed and holding swords, were sitting inside the door, looking at the outside with alert eyes, monitoring the path leading to the door. They did not dare to relax at all, preparing to face

any danger.

They found the stranger much faster. Yes, they found him. They didn't know if it was an accident or another prank when the ring was transferred to a new owner. When the owner needed him most, he was not in the owner's possession.

On the finger. The orc cheered and rushed towards him.

Bilbo felt a sense of fear and loss, almost indistinguishable from Gollum's pain. He even forgot to draw his weapon, only remembering to reach into his pocket. The ring was still in his left pocket. He immediately put it on, and the Orc was shocked.

Stopped - he just disappeared out of thin air. They roared louder than before, but this time it was not cheering.

"Where has he gone?" they shouted.

"Go back to the door!" someone shouted.

"This direction!" One of the orcs shouted anxiously, "That direction!" Others shouted.

"Watch the gate," the captain ordered.

Whistles sounded, armors clashed, swords waved, and the orcs cursed and ran around, hindering each other, and their anger became more and more intense. In an instant, the originally orderly orc garrison fell into complete chaos.

Bilbo felt extremely scared, but he still managed to maintain a trace of calmness and hid in time behind the vat where the orcs guarded the drinking water, thus avoiding the orcs' blind groping and the fate of being trampled to death.

"I must get to the door quickly, I must get to the door quickly!"

He kept saying to himself, but it took him a long time before he dared to actually do it. It was like a terrifying blind man and elephant game, with Orcs running around aimlessly everywhere. Poor orcs

The little hobbit dodged left and right, but was finally knocked to the ground by a soldier who didn't understand the situation. He seized the opportunity, climbed over the captain's crotch on all fours, and rushed to the door.

The door was still not completely closed, but an orc had already pushed him until there was only a gap. Bilbo tried his best, but found that he still couldn't push, and finally had to find a way to squeeze through. He squeezed again and again, and finally

It was stuck. His button was stuck on the door. He could see the blue sky and white clouds outside, and after running a few steps, he could enter a narrow valley among the towering mountains. The sun peeked out from behind the clouds, shining in the

Outside the door, but he just couldn't get through.

Suddenly, an orc inside the door opened his throat and shouted: "There is a shadow at the door, there is someone outside!"

Bilbo's heart jumped into his throat again. He struggled hard, and the buttons burst in all directions. He finally squeezed out, but his coat and shirt were all torn.

He rushed down the stairs like an excited goat, while the astonished orcs picked up his beautiful copper buttons at the door - it's so pitiful, the exquisite buttons produced in Shire are not suitable for these stupid, greedy but lazy people.

The orcs who make exquisite clothing can be considered a luxury trophy.

Of course, this group of orcs whose brains were possessed by greed soon returned to normal. They chased them out with wild shouts and searched hard in the woods.

But they don't like the sun. It makes their legs weak and their heads swollen. They can't find Bilbo wearing the ring, because he is walking silently among the shadows of the trees, where the sun can't reach.

The place is flying.

So, soon, cursing and muttering, they returned to the door and continued to look around.

Listening to the increasingly faint cries of the orcs in his ears and the loud noises made by their big feet on the ground, Bilbo breathed a sigh of relief - he was safe! He successfully escaped from this group of cruel and cruel orcs.
Chapter completed!