"While Isildur was leading his army back to the city, they were attacked by an orc force lying in ambush!
Thinking quickly in the face of danger, Isildur put on the One Ring and vanished from the battlefield.
But just as Isildur was preparing to swim away from the battle, the ring slipped off in the river, leaving him exposed in the middle of it.
And so Isildur, the prince of men, was shot dead by orc arrows in the river!
The Lord of the Rings vanished into the long river of history, where it lay undisturbed for 2,500 years!"
"Finally, one day, the ring fell into the hands of the creature Gollum.
Gollum had once been The Hobbit, but the ring had ensnared him, and he had killed his dearest friend. The ring had corrupted his soul, turning him into a monster!
But the One Ring had a mind of its own. It longed to return to its master, the dark lord Sauron. So, when Gollum was careless one day, it rolled out of his pocket and was picked up by a passing The Hobbit—Bilbo Baggins.
And the story of today's protagonist is the story of Bilbo Baggins!"
"The Hobbit were short, standing about as tall as dwarves.
They lived primarily by farming, dwelling in a peaceful place on the edge of Middle-earth, far removed from the troubles of the world. They liked smoking, drinking, basking in the sun, and tending their flowers and plants."
"This story must begin with the dwarves of Middle-earth.
The dwarves had once lived in the vast underground city of Moria. Their greed drove them to mine recklessly, and they accidentally awoke a terrible Balrog sleeping beneath the earth. The dwarves of Durin's Folk were forced to flee east. Eventually, they settled at the Lonely Mountain and established the greatest dwarven kingdom in Middle-earth.
As the mines beneath the Lonely Mountain grew deeper, countless gems and treasures of gold were unearthed.
Then, one day, they dug up the most brilliant and precious heart of the mountain.
The dwarves called it the Arkenstone.
The Dwarves king Thror cherished the Arkenstone, and he had it set in his throne as a symbol of the royal authority of Durin's house.
He also invited every allied race to come and behold it.
Yet the treasure Thror had dug up was so vast that gold coins and other crafted objects filled the royal treasury in great heaps.
Without his realizing it, this brought disaster upon them: a great dragon of Middle-earth, Smaug, had set his sights on it.
To a dragon who likewise loved gold, the Lonely Mountain dwarves' hoard was like a sizzling, juicy steak set before someone starving.
He was Middle-earth's most notorious evil dragon, a descendant of evil dragons bred by a fallen wizard.
He came from the north of the continent and seized the Lonely Mountain with his searing dragonfire.
As for the Arkenstone, King Thorin stumbled while fleeing, and it was swallowed up in the sea of gold in the royal treasury.
The dwarves who had survived by luck began a life in exile.
But King Thror refused to accept defeat. He gathered an army, intending to retake the underground city of Moria and use it as a base for a future campaign to reclaim the Lonely Mountain.
By then, however, Moria was occupied not only by the Balrog but also by hordes of orcs.
And so a brutal battle began between the dwarves and the orcs.
Sadly, King Thror was killed by the orc chieftain Azog, and his prince, Thrain, disappeared in his grief and fury.
The king's grandson Thorin bravely charged forward to duel him.
During his fight with the orc chieftain, Thorin's shield was knocked away. At the critical moment, the king's grandson snatched up a piece of oak to use as a shield and struck off Azog's left hand, forcing him to flee back into Moria. Thorin then rallied the retreating Dwarves warriors and led a counterattack against the orc army.
In the end, the dwarves won, but their casualties were severe. Thorin, meanwhile, earned their respect.
From then on, they honored him as Thorin Oakenshield."
"After this battle, the once-mighty Durin's Dwarves fell into decline. Thorin, the royal family's sole remaining bloodline, was forced to work as a smith and laborer in the world of men.
And only here did the story of The Hobbit slowly begin."
"The Shire, in western Middle-earth.
This was the homeland of the hobbits, a tranquil and peaceful place. Our protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, was in the prime of his life.
He lived alone at Bag End, spending his days either smoking or reading. His life was exceedingly comfortable.
Then, one day, an uninvited guest arrived: Gandalf the Grey, one of the five legendary wizards of Middle-earth!"
"..."
"Why did you stop?!" everyone asked in confusion.
Li Xing replied awkwardly.
"I'm afraid someone will say I'm padding the word count..."
"..."
And so the tavern fell quiet once more!
He would certainly continue the tale; after all, nobody liked being left hanging.
When everyone heard that the adventure agreement promised a one-fourteenth share of the mountains of gold in the Lonely Mountain,
the sounds of people swallowing echoed throughout the tavern.
They speculated among themselves about how much one-fourteenth of the Dwarves royal family's mountains of gold might be.
Some guessed it would fill the entire tavern, while others guessed it would fill every house in Hunter Town.
In short, everyone before him was thoroughly captivated by his story and drawn into that world.
When they heard that Bilbo Baggins had refused the adventure, cries of regret rose throughout the tavern; when they heard that Bilbo had caught up with the Lonely Mountain Squad, they voiced their approval.
When they heard that the Lonely Mountain Squad had been trapped by trolls, they began to worry about the Fellowship of the Ring; when they heard that Gandalf the Grey and Bilbo had worked together to defeat the trolls, their eyes shone with curiosity and longing for magic.
When they heard that the Lonely Mountain Squad had discovered the treasure left behind by the trolls, the young hunters among the listeners could barely contain themselves; when they heard that the treasure included three elven swords from the First Age, the entire tavern fell silent.
The drinkers imagined the exquisite forms of those magnificent elven swords. Their ability to glow when enemies approached brought the men in the tavern to a unanimous conclusion: If I could have an elven sword all my own in this lifetime, I'd have no regrets!
And so, that night, the tavern hosted its first storytelling gathering.
Li Xing stopped after reaching the part where Bilbo obtained the One Ring. He returned to his little wooden cabin to rest.
It was late at night and time for the tavern to close, so the others hurried back to their own lodgings to rest, looking forward to the next sunrise.
But that night, those who returned from the tavern could not sleep.
Some were savoring the events of the story, some were curious about what came next, and others were imagining their own future adventures!
In short, that night,
no one questioned Li Xing's identity as a traveler. Only someone who had witnessed such a story unfold across a vast continent could have told it so vividly!
And so Li Xing ended his first day in this world.