Escaping into the Open, the Hobbit Rejoins the Party

Just as Gollum was about to get closer, Bilbo pressed his short sword against Gollum's throat.

"Step back, step back."

I'm warning you, don't come any closer.

Gollum retreated repeatedly, muttering to himself, "He has an elven sword, but he is not an elf."

He's not an elf, then what is he, my darling?

"I am Bilbo Bagins, Hobbit from the Shire."

"Oh!" Gollum exclaimed with delight. "We like orcs, bats, and fish, but have we never tried Hobbit? Aren't they plump and juicy?"

Bilbo, seeing Gollum slowly approaching, immediately drew his sword and swung it wildly, driving him away.

Gollum was wary of the sword in his hand and had to keep his distance.

"I don't want to cause trouble. Just tell me how to get out, and I'll be fine."

Gollum knew to leave the safe route, but his mental state was abnormal; he would talk to himself from time to time and constantly switch between good and evil.

Finally, the two decided to play a guessing game.

If Bilbo wins, Gollum will tell him how to get out; if he loses, Gollum will eat him.

Neither of them expected to lose, or rather, even if they did lose, they wouldn't follow the rules of the game.

On the other side, the Orc King sang triumphantly as his Orc minions pushed over the Bone Crusher and Meat Grinder, preparing to throw the dwarfs in.

Seeing this, Aaron knew he couldn't wait any longer. He aimed at the Orc Queen, took a deep breath, and leaped down from above.

A loud bang suddenly came from the throne, attracting everyone's attention.

As the smoke cleared, the Orc King lay on the floor with his eyes rolled back, while Aaron held a knife to his neck.

"Surprised? Unexpected?"

I think you might not have noticed that the team's Golden Snitch is missing.

The dwarves erupted in a thunderous cheer, while the orcs who had been beating them were completely bewildered.

"You're human?" the Orc King asked in astonishment. "What brings you to my Orc City?"

"Save a few dwarves." Aaron lowered his knife by half an inch, speaking in a half-threatening tone, "You should know what I mean."

"Of course." The Orc King blinked gently. "What are you all standing there for? Release our esteemed dwarf guests!"

The orcs looked at each other in bewilderment, but they dared not disobey the king's orders, and helplessly dispersed like the tide.

The dwarves immediately adjusted their stance, picked up their captured weapons, and confronted the surrounding orcs.

Thorin drew his Orcrist and turned to look coldly at the Orc King.

He remembered the humiliation he suffered before, and now it was time to avenge it.

"This sword..." The Orc King swallowed hard as he looked at the unsheathed Orcrist, his massive body trembling. "It's the Beastbite Sword that has slain the necks of over a thousand Orcs."

"Good eye, you'll be the next one."

"No, don't do it!" Aaron immediately stopped Thorin. "If he dies, we will all die with him."

"That's right." The Orc King, as if grasping at a straw, laughed loudly, "That's absolutely right. You can't kill me. Even if you kill me, you won't be able to leave Orc City."

With a flash of sword light, Aaron sliced off a chunk of flesh from the Orc King's chin, the red flesh falling to the ground as the Orc King let out a painful scream.

"You, how dare you!" The Orc King stared at Aaron in horror. "Don't you know how serious the consequences would be if I died?"

"Aren't you still alive?" Aaron said with a playful smile, but it sent a chill down the orc king's spine.

Aaron understood what he meant: as long as he wasn't dead, the orcs would be wary of him.

However, the possibility of him 'not dying' is very high. If he's lucky, he can be unharmed; if he's unlucky, he can be half-dead.

"Is it clear?"

As a prisoner, you should act like one. Don't be so arrogant; it won't do you any good.

Thorin realized what was happening and looked at the Orc King with a sneer, "Losing an arm or a leg shouldn't be a big deal, right?"

"No, Thorin Oakenshield, you can't do that," the Orc King cried out in panic.

"Absolutely not." Aaron poured cold water on Thorin's resolve. "A crippled orc king isn't even a king. Do you think they'll be wary of us by giving him hostages?"

Thorin glanced at the swarming orcs around him, then patted the orc king's face with his Orcrist, "Consider yourself lucky."

The Orc King was both nervous and angry, but dared not say anything more, for fear of losing even more flesh.

"What do we do now?" Dwalin asked.

"Let him lead the way and get us out," Thorin said. "Kili, Fili, you two help Aaron hold him back."

The two dwarf brothers exchanged a glance, then drew their swords and approached the orc king.

The Orc King carefully stood up, with Fili and Kili standing on his left and right sides, their swords pressed against his waist. If he made the slightest movement, they would stab him without hesitation.

The group cautiously made their way forward amidst the orcs. The orc king, now surrounded by dwarves, had lost his former imposing presence.

Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, the ground beneath the Orc King's feet suddenly cracked open.

Before Fili and Kili could react, he fell to the next level.

"I was careless."

Aaron slapped his thigh in frustration. They had taken care of everything around them, from front to back, left to right, and even above, but they had forgotten that these orcs were also experts at digging tunnels.

"Hahaha!" The Orc King laughed wildly. "Everyone, charge! Kill them! Cut off the heads of the Oakenshield!"

That human is mine; I'll slowly torture him to death.

"Holy shit!" Aaron cursed, "A half-orc king, my foot! Can't you be a little more magnanimous?"

"Never mind that." Dwalin knocked away a charging orc with his Hammer. "Let's deal with the immediate situation first!"

The dwarves fought valiantly, but they were quickly overwhelmed again by the surging tide of orcs.

Aaron was in a slightly worse situation; it was the first time he had ever seen such a large-scale event, and he couldn't handle it.

However, due to the orders of the Orc King, he faced much less pressure than the dwarves.

Suddenly, a bright light shone.

The powerful shockwave sent countless orcs flying, and the dwarves were also crushed to the ground by the force.

Gandalf emerged slowly from the darkness, holding his staff in his left hand and his Foe-hammer in his right, appearing in everyone's sight.

Looking at the dwarves who were tightly surrounded and almost lost their will to fight, he said in a deep voice, "Pick up your weapons and fight."

"Fighting."

Gandalf roared, and the dwarves' morale instantly returned. They grabbed their weapons and swept away the surrounding orcs with unparalleled force.

"He's wielding a Foe-hammer that's as blinding as sunlight," the Orc King said, pointing at Gandalf.

Aaron followed the sound and looked at the Orc King. He considered taking him hostage again, but the scene was too chaotic and the other side was on guard. Even if he risked everything and used Phantom Apparition, he wouldn't be very confident.

"Damn humans!" the Orc King roared as he charged forward, raising his scepter and slamming it down on Aaron's head.

"Whom do you look down on?"

Aaron twirled his sword and slashed at the Orc King's scepter.

The blade and the scepter collided, and the orc king was thrown back several steps by the powerful force, falling off the wooden bridge.

Aaron's hands trembled slightly; the knife in his hand was just an ordinary elf's weapon and couldn't withstand much force.

"Come with me, hurry up," Gandalf said.

Everyone immediately followed him and ran towards a hole.

They fled and fought their way through the intricate underground lair. Dwalin Cleansweep a log left and right, Kili erected a ladder and charged forward, Bombur used his strength to destroy the bridge.

They used everything they could to carve out a bloody path.

They fled to a cliff, Gandalf raised his staff and knocked down an irregularly shaped, round Monolith. The group pushed it forward, crushing a group of orcs.

Behind them was a relentless horde of orcs, who dared not stop for a moment, fleeing madly forward.

Just as they reached the middle of a wooden bridge near the exit, the Orc King suddenly jumped up from below, blocking their path.

At the same time, more and more orcs surrounded them from all directions.

"You think you can escape me?" The Orc King swung his scepter, knocking Gandalf back twice. "You're out of options now, Warlock?"

Aaron drew his bow and shot an arrow that struck the Orc King in the eye.

"Agh!" The Orc King covered his eyes, glaring at Aaron with resentment. "It's you again?"

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Gandalf swung his Foe-hammer and slashed a huge gash in the Orc King's stomach, cutting off one-third of his body.

"Warlock," the Orc King knelt on the wooden bridge, "This trick seems to work too."

Without a word, Gandalf slashed his throat with his sword.

The Orc King's neck was cut in half, and he collapsed on the wooden bridge, completely dead.

"That's what they call a villain dying from talking too much," Aaron said dismissively. If the Orc King had been even slightly more serious, they wouldn't have been able to kill him so easily.

Click!

The wooden bridge suddenly wobbled, and both ends creaked at the same time.

An the Grim premonition arose in Aaron's heart. He looked down and gasped when he saw that it was a the Abyss abyss.

"Hehe! Next time you kill someone, be more mindful of the occasion." Aaron patted Gandalf on the shoulder, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace, and then hugged a sturdy log tightly. "Don't just stand there, hold on tight, we're going down this steep slope."

The dwarves were still somewhat confused, but Gandalf quickly realized what was going on and said, "Hurry up and hold on!"

The next moment, the wooden bridge broke, and the expedition team fell to the ground along with the bridge.

As the broken bridge fell, it crashed back and forth against the cliffs on both sides. During this process, the wooden planks of the bridge split apart like tofu dregs, and the dwarves screamed in panic.

When the broken bridge hit the ground, it was in a terrible state of destruction. The dwarves were buried in the wooden ruins, but fortunately, everyone was safe and sound.

Aaron released his hands, jumped off the broken bridge, and casually dusted himself off.

"A close call, but we landed safely."

Gandalf also crawled out, staggering a few steps before barely managing to stand.

"It's not too bad," Bofur.

The orc king's corpse suddenly fell, its enormous weight making the broken bridge even more unbearable, and greatly increasing the pressure on the dwarves, who suffered terribly.

"Nonsense, you must be joking!" Dwalin said angrily.

"This incident tells us not to be too happy too soon," Aaron said with a smile.

The dwarves had barely climbed out, and before they could even catch their breath, a series of booming roars came from above.

The orcs chased down the mountainside, their trail stretching as far as the eye could see.

"This is possible?" Aaron exclaimed, his eyes wide.

"They outnumber us and we are no match for them," Dwalin said.

"The only thing that can save us is the sunlight," Gandalf hastily. "Run!"

Gandalf led Aaron and the dwarves on a wild run along a path, and finally saw a light in the distance.

These orcs' strength decreases drastically in the sunlight, so they won't move around in the sky. Once they pass through the cave entrance ahead, they'll be safe.

After rushing out of the cave, the group did not stop, but continued running forward until they were far away from the orc's lair before stopping.

"One, two, three... six, seven, eight... Bifur, Bofur."

"Fili, Kili, twelve, plus Bombur, thirteen." Gandalf counted the number of people, only then noticing that Bilbo Bagins was not among them.

"Where is Bilbo?" Gandalf asked anxiously. "Where is our Hobbit?"

"The cursed Hobbit, now he's gone," Dwalin scoffed. "I thought he was with Dori."

"Don't blame me," Dori said, feeling wronged.

Where was the last place you saw him?

"He slipped away the first time he was caught," Nori said.

"And then what?"

"Let me tell you how to get back?" Thorin stepped forward and said, "Bagins takes every opportunity to slip away; once he's away from home, all he thinks about is soft beds and fireplaces."

"Um..." Aaron awkwardly raised his right hand, "The situation might not be what you think."

Bilbo did have thoughts of leaving the group, but that's only human nature, I think...

"Gaius," Gandalf interrupted Aaron, "Do you know where our Hobbit are?"

Aaron nodded slightly. "If nothing unexpected happens, he should be somewhere underground in our Orc City right now."

Also, I must correct something: he didn't just run away whenever he saw an opportunity.

"What is that?" Thorin asked Yu. "You knew Yu was coming to save us when we were captured, but we couldn't see him at all."

"Uh... he wanted to save you, but he wasn't capable enough."

When I was first captured, I killed the three orcs who were holding me.

My plan was to put Bilbo in a safe place first, but when I got back, I found him fighting an orc and we fell off the cliff together.

But don't worry, I've checked, he's not injured.

The first thing he did after waking up wasn't to run away, but to ask me if you were safe.

Gandalf took a deep breath. "We have to go and find him."

"No need, I left him something that's enough to keep him safe."

"I meant bringing him back." Gandalf tapped the ground a few times with his staff. "Does our group need Hobbit, Ming?"

"I understand completely," Aaron Zheng nodded, "That's why I gave him the choice."

Bilbo can come back anytime he wants.

Gandalf was silent for a few seconds, and just as he was about to say something, Bilbo jumped out from behind a tree.

"I really miss my soft bed and fireplace, but I don't want to leave the expedition yet."

"Bilbo Bagins," Gandalf stepped forward with satisfaction, "You are the happiest person I have ever seen in my life."

Bilbo shrugged, took the bundle off his back, and handed the dark blue blanket to Aaron. "It's better to return this to its owner."

Aaron took it and raised an eyebrow. "How did you get out?"

Bilbo chuckled and Silencio slipped the Golden Ring into his pocket.

How did I get out? It feels like a dream.

He played a guessing game with Gollum, and after several rounds they were evenly matched, so he asked Gollum to guess what he had hidden in his pocket.

Who knew that he was so mentally unstable, he pounced on him without warning, forcing him to flee in panic.

During his escape, he accidentally put on the ring, which gave him the ability to become invisible. He also ran into members of an expeditionary force who were fleeing from orcs, and that's how he escaped in such a daze.