Bilbo seemed to have expected that he would appear at this time and come to the bright and spacious living room of Bag End, but Gandalf seemed extremely calm at this moment, without any signs of surprise.

Bilbo and Gandalf, a legendary hobbit snitch who once faced the dragon Smaug alone and escaped unscathed, and a legendary gray robe wizard who united all good creatures to help them defeat all evil forces that threaten the peaceful order.

At this moment, in this seemingly ordinary Bag End, these two old friends who had a legendary experience together were not surprised by each other's appearance and arrival, as if they were extremely

It’s like tacitly believing that the other person will come to you at this happy moment.

After being silent for a while, he noticed that the tobacco at the bottom of the pipe he held in his mouth seemed to be almost burning. Gandalf stretched out his hand and was the first to speak to break the strange atmosphere of silence.

"Mr. Bilbo Baggins, my old friend. It seems that I can see you now thanks to you not wearing a ring and becoming invisible! I have a few words to talk to you, of course.

Well, before asking me another series of questions, I want to confirm one thing - everything you have done tonight so far should have been carried out according to the pre-planned plan, right?"

"Of course, it was all planned. Except for that frightening flash of light, I was almost shocked myself at that time!"

Seeing Gandalf looking down and snickering happily at this moment, Bilbo still couldn't guess whose hand it was that flash of light that shocked everyone.

"Gandalf, I knew you were the one who made that flash. My God, you are so amazing!"

When Bilbo received such words that sounded like praise and blame, Gandalf smiled and said nothing, and admitted these things without even pretending.

After carefully re-lighting his ancient pipe with some appropriate amount of tobacco leaves, Gandalf suddenly asked seriously:

"Well, Mr. Baggins, besides wishing you a happy birthday, I also want to ask you about your plan. Did you suddenly disappear at the banquet in front of more than a hundred hobbit relatives, friends, and neighbors, but you didn't show any signs of it?

Let them understand that all this is actually thanks to the ring on your finger? I think you should at least give them some explanation, otherwise the Shire area will be extremely lively because of your sudden disappearance."

"Gandalf, is that what you came here to say this time? Well, can I say that your sudden flying flash of light also scared me? If it weren't for your flash, my joke would have been ignored.

It’s more perfect! Although I never told my relatives and friends that I have a god-level ring that can make me invisible..."

"Forget it, Bilbo, you know I don't care about those yelling neighbors. In fact, I want to know what you plan to do next? Is it possible that you have angered so many relatives and neighbors just for this?

Isn’t this a little joke?”

Seeing that Gandalf finally seemed to have gotten to the point, Bilbo nodded appreciatively like a teacher who met a student who was good at asking questions.

"As you can see, I am 111 years old this year. I have reached an old enough age. I think it is time for me to take a complete vacation. Maybe this will be a never-ending factory. In fact, I have already arranged it.

After all, as I announced, I will not return to the Shire."

As he spoke, Bilbo shook his arms and legs as if he wanted to demonstrate by his own example. Gandalf couldn't help but nod after seeing that old body.

Seeing that Gandalf seemed to understand his feelings, Bilbo continued to explain:

"I'm tired of the creatures in the Shire, the endless relatives and guests coming to say hello. I want to see the mountains and rushing rivers again like I followed Thorin and Balin and other dwarves. I want to find a place where I can be quiet. Living alone, I happily finished writing my autobiography and memoir. I hope the protagonist of this memoir can live a happy life."

Since what Bilbo wants to write is his own memoir, the protagonist of the memoir is of course himself.

When he said this, even Gandalf, his old friend for many years, felt the firmness of his will, as if Bilbo had been planning for decades and would not give up until the plan was completed.

As if he suddenly thought of Frodo, the legal heir to his property that he was worried about, the old and gray-haired Bilbo suddenly raised his head and asked Gandalf for help:

"You will keep an eye on Frodo for me while I am away from the Shire, right?"

An old friend for many years asked for help, and Gandalf agreed without thinking.

"Of course! Whenever I pass by the Shire in the future, I will take the initiative to come over and see how Frodo is doing."

After receiving Gandalf's promise that he would take care of Frodo, Bilbo felt relieved.

After a moment, Bilbo seemed to think of Frodo, a kind-hearted and extremely grateful family descendant and property heir. Bilbo smiled happily, and then his words were quite emotional.

"Frodo is a good boy, as you will learn from your future encounters with him. Believe me, I know him for that matter! In fact, before I told him that I was about to leave the Shire for the mountains and rivers or When I was living alone in a secluded place, he even took the initiative to follow me.

Of course, of course I rejected him. He has just grown up and is still young! I think compared to the rivers and mountains outside, he, a little hobbit who loves home and has no ambitions, will certainly miss the hills of the Shire. Everything. So I gave him everything I could leave him, except for a few souvenirs of mine. I just hope he can get used to this kind of life where he is the master of his own country."

"Did you really leave everything to him?" Gandalf said. "Where is the ring? I remember that you seemed to have made up your mind yesterday to leave the ring to him too."

"Ah, you said the ring. Yes, that's right, I have been planning to do this for a long time." Bilbo suddenly stuttered when talking about the ring at this moment, as if he was talking about something that he was feeling guilty about.

"Well, my old friend, I won't play charades with you anymore. Let me ask you, is the ring still on you?"

"If you must break the casserole and ask for the truth, I can only tell you that I put the ring in an envelope that I planned to leave to Frodo." Bilbo said impatiently. "If I remember correctly, that envelope should be I put it on the fireplace. Hey, that’s not right! Why is the envelope in my pocket? It’s strange...but what’s wrong with this? I suddenly felt that it would be good to keep the ring by my side.”

Seeing Bilbo chattering at this moment, with an expression in his eyes that was bewitched and extremely obsessed with the ring, Gandalf cast a very stern look at Bilbo, as if there was a wizard's unique light of wisdom in his eyes.

"Bilbo, I think we all agree on one thing, that is, you should keep the ring and leave it to Frodo, the heir to your fortune, as you planned in advance. Don't you want to?"

"Of course I want to! But...but I suddenly don't want to do it anymore. Or should I keep guarding this magic ring as I have done for the past few decades?!"

"Yes, that's it! Gandalf, you have tried every means to ask me about the origin and subsequent performance of this ring over the years. Why don't you ask me about the other gold rings I brought back? Where is the ring?" Bilbo seemed to have found some very "reliable" reason to convince himself, and even his tone when he refuted Gandalf's words became extremely suspicious and angry.

After seeing his abnormal behavior before and after, Gandalf silently sighed in his heart and made some determination.

"There is a reason why I keep asking you about the magic ring." Gandalf said, "I want to know the truth. This kind of magical magic ring with unknown origin is always very dangerous. After all, the endless unknown means With the same degree of danger, for this magic ring, we have no way of knowing what the real owners of the ring before you did with it. Now, Bilbo, I think you no longer need this ring. A ring?"

Bilbo's face turned red, with an angry light in his eyes: "I have said it many times, this is my ring! It is my baby. Yes, it is my baby!!"

The wizard's expression suddenly became more solemn, and he was really suspicious now. "Someone called it this before, but it wasn't you."

"Why can't I call that ring that? Even if Gollum said this before, it doesn't mean anything. I think I should keep it."

Gandalf stood up and said in a very stern tone: "Bilbo, we have been friends for life. You at least owe me this favor. Don't hesitate! Do as you promised before: put down the ring!"

"I won't let you succeed. I will never hand over my precious ring just like that. Absolutely not." As he said this, Bilbo's hand slowly moved to the dagger at his waist.

Gandalf's eyes flashed. "Don't make me angry. In order to awaken your true good will, you will see the true face of Gandalf the Grey." As soon as he finished speaking, Gandalf's old body suddenly became extremely tall. The small room was completely shrouded in his shadow.

Bilbo stepped back panting, still clutching his pocket. The two faced off for a moment, and the atmosphere in the room became extremely solemn. Gandalf's eyes were fixed on each other. Bilbo's hand slowly relaxed. Come on, start trembling all over.

Bilbo put his head in his hands, his eyes clear again.

"I'm sorry, I feel so strange. However, if I can stop worrying about this ring, I will definitely feel a lot more relaxed. Maybe I am obsessed with this ring. In the past few days, whether I am eating, sleeping or writing books, I Walking in the garden, my mind is filled with the image of this ring. I even want to take this ring out and look at it anytime and anywhere, as if it will disappear at any time. I don’t know why, I can’t seem to make up my mind at all. . ”

"Then please believe me," Gandalf said. "You have made up your mind. Put down the ring and leave here. Don't be attached to this ring. Give it to Frodo and he will keep it well."

Bilbo was stunned for a few seconds, then he sighed.

"Okay, you're right." Then he shrugged and showed a regretful smile. "After all, this is the real purpose of the birthday party: to give out many, many gifts to help me finally get used to this kind of generous giving. Although In the end, it didn't make me feel more relaxed, but wouldn't it be a pity to have all the previous efforts wasted? It almost ruined my entire well-planned joke."

"I agree with you on this point. To be fair, this would indeed undo the only important thing at the party," Gandalf said.

"Okay," said Bilbo, "just give it to Frodo." He took a deep breath. "I really have to go now, otherwise I will be discovered by others. For mercy's sake, I'm here The pranks at the banquet were bad enough. I don’t want to be caught and scolded by those annoying relatives and friends.”

Bilbo looked like a normal old man who was more relaxed, carrying his bulging oversized backpack and walking towards the door.

"The ring is still in your pocket," said the wizard.

"It's true!" Bilbo said as if he was a child caught in a prank. "The letter of explanation and other property documents that I prepared to hand over to Frodo are also in this envelope. You'd better accept them. , hand it over on my behalf. This may be the safest method."

"Wait, you don't need to hand the envelope to me right away," said Gandalf. "You just need to put the envelope on the fireplace. I will sit here until Frodo opens the envelope with his own hands."

Bilbo took out the envelope, and just as he was about to place it next to the clock, his hands began to tremble as if they were suddenly out of control.

Sure enough, the envelope also fell to the floor with his shaking hands.

Just as he was about to pick up the envelope that fell on the ground, Gandalf on the side picked up the envelope with a speed that was incompatible with his old appearance and put it back on the fireplace.

Seeing this scene, the hobbit was about to say something angrily. Then, this angry look was replaced by an extremely relaxed smile from Bilbo himself, who was completely free from the bewitchment and control of the ring.

"That's it," he said. "It's time for me to go!"

When he arrived at the door of Bag End, where he had lived for nearly a hundred years, Bilbo skillfully took off his hiking stick from the shelf at the door, and then he whistled again.

Upon hearing the whistle, several dwarf guides and helpers hired by Bilbo who had been waiting at the door for a long time immediately stood up from the ground to greet their employer.

"Okay, boys, I'm ready, let's go!"
Chapter completed!