Departure

At night, Bilbo was feeling restless.

"I'll tidy up the room so you can sleep. The empty room inside."

"I'll help too." Li Wei followed him in.

Bilbo did not refuse.

As he bent over to help clean up the room, Li Wei finally asked a question that had been circling in his mind for a long time:

"Come to think of it, what time is it now?"

"Now? Of course it's nighttime. Most people are asleep at this hour."

As he answered, Bilbo lifted a small box that was in the way. Li Wei took it from him and set it outside the door.

Neither of them stopped working.

Li Wei shook his head. "No, I mean, what year is it? What time period?"

"Oh, this year? It's 1340, and it's May."

1340.

Clang.

"Ow—"

Caught off guard, Li Wei smacked his head against the eaves. His health bar trembled, but no health was deducted.

Shire Calendar 1340, which meant the Third Age 2940.

When had the Company of Thorin Oakenshield begun their Journey to the Lonely Mountain?

It should have been late April of 1341.

In other words, the current timeline was one year before the Lonely Mountain expedition began.

At this point, Gandalf was still on his way, while Thorin was still wandering about and taking odd jobs.

Dwarves, Elves, Men, Orcs, Wargs.

The dragon, the Golden Mountain.

Sauron, Dol Guldur.

War.

The One Ring...

A string of words flashed through Li Wei's mind.

At the same time, a black figure seemed to grow within his pupils.

"Are you all right, Li Wei?"

Whoosh—

His eyes flickered, and Li Wei snapped out of his daze.

"Oh, I'm fine. I'm fine, really. I just bumped my head."

"I'd guess you'd be considered tall even among Men," Bilbo teased.

"Of course. I'm one meter eighty-five!"

Li Wei instinctively puffed out his chest.

Thump!

His health bar twitched.

He immediately bent back down at the waist.

"Pfft."

Seeing Li Wei baring his teeth in pain, Bilbo could not help laughing.

Li Wei rubbed his head and shook it.

What could he do in a year?

Peaceful days always passed quickly.

A few days later.

During some downtime after a late-night snack, Li Wei sat in a small chair in the garden with a blade of grass between his teeth, staring absentmindedly at an unusually bright and conspicuous star in the night sky.

If an ordinary person came to this world with nothing to rely on—even if they knew the historical course of The Lord of the Rings well—there was only so much they could accomplish in a year. They might not even be able to figure out where they were or how to survive.

But Li Wei was destined not to worry about such things.

Creak.

"Li Wei, it's late. Aren't you going to bed?"

Li Wei turned his head and saw Bilbo stepping out through the door.

"In a minute. I want to watch the stars for a while."

"All right. Remember to lock the door when you come in."

Bilbo went back inside first.

Li Wei yawned, glanced at his full health bar and overflowing hunger meter, then suddenly sprang from the chair. Turning around, he carefully looked over the cozy Hobbit hole.

Living peacefully like this was not so bad.

Of course, that was only if nothing came along to destroy such a life...

Early the next morning.

Before dawn had fully broken, rustling sounds came from outside the small Hobbit door.

Still groggy, Bilbo struggled to open his eyes, threw back the covers, got out of bed, and poked his head out through the bedroom door.

"Li Wei?"

Seeing Li Wei fully dressed at the entrance, Bilbo asked:

"Are you heading out?"

Li Wei paused and turned around.

"The road waits for no one. I'm leaving, Mr. Baggins."

As he spoke, Li Wei gave a slight bow and added, "Thank you for taking me in all this time. When we meet again, please let me repay you."

Bilbo blinked several times and instantly woke up.

"Won't you stay a few more days? There's still so much I haven't introduced you to..."

Li Wei smiled at him.

The words on Bilbo's lips caught in his throat. He understood that there was no way he could keep this man here today.

"Partings are common in this world, but I believe we'll meet again soon, Mr. Baggins," Li Wei said meaningfully.

"I'm setting off on my adventure."

An adventure...

Something deep in Bilbo's heart was faintly stirred, but it immediately fell quiet again. He merely shook his head.

"Then wait a moment, Li Wei."

After saying that, Baggins dashed into the inner room, then ran over to the storage shelves. Before long, he came back carrying a bundle and placed it in Li Wei's hands.

"Take this!"

"This is...?"

"Some food. I think you'll need it. Every journey needs provisions, right?"

Li Wei was briefly stunned.

He took the bundle, crouched down, gently patted Bilbo on the shoulder, and said sincerely, "Thank you, my friend."

Though they had only known each other for a few days at most, they had gotten along wonderfully. With Li Wei's system-level cooking and his endless supply of stories, the man and the Hobbit had become quite close.

"Li Wei, you have to come back!"

This Hobbit, who had never once left the Shire, was reluctant to see him go.

Li Wei nodded with a smile. "I will."

Parting seemed to be commonplace in this land.

There was no excessive sentimentality. With nothing more than a simple wave, the two returned to their own paths.

Though he felt a little embarrassed about it, Li Wei shamelessly asked Bilbo to get him a map before he left.

As someone who had once watched the story from a god's-eye view, Li Wei was fairly familiar with Middle-earth's geography. But no matter how familiar he was, he had never truly traveled it himself, so a map was still the safer choice.

The Shire, where every story began.

To the north lay the ruins of the Kingdom of Arnor and the Angmar Plateau.

To the west lay Lindon and the Blue Mountains.

Eastward, across Brandywine Bridge, was Bree. Further east were the Lone-lands, where Rangers often wandered, watching the evil farther east and guarding this wilderness from the shadows.

South of the road between Brandywine Bridge and Bree lay two large regions:

The Old Forest and the Barrow-downs.

Both regions were uninhabited, and strange rumors always emerged from them. He needed to take care to avoid them.

Anyone who had played Minecraft knew that before players could develop, they first needed a base. Otherwise, all sorts of problems would hinder them at every turn.

Only with a fixed residence could one truly feel at ease.

After thinking it over, Li Wei fixed his gaze on one place.

A vast area east of Bree.

The region known as the Lone-lands.

It was vast, sparsely populated, and nearly empty of people—the perfect place to build a home and develop.

Of course, there were quite a few places that met those two conditions.

There was one crucial reason he chose to build his home here: in the future, both the Company of Thorin Oakenshield and the Ring-bearers would pass through that region.

Li Wei definitely intended to join in that excitement.

Having a base there would make things much more convenient.

No time like the present.

He put away the map and confirmed his direction.

From dawn until dusk, Li Wei raced along the main road, charging eastward without stopping for even a moment.

Li Wei had discovered several days ago that as long as he had enough food, his stamina was Infinity and he would not feel tired.

The price was that food was consumed at a tremendous rate.

Bilbo's provisions, enough to feed a normal Hobbit for a week, had been nearly half consumed by Li Wei in a single day.

That had been a week's worth of food for a Hobbit's appetite.

But accordingly, his efficiency was excellent.

In just one day, Li Wei crossed several Shire towns, passed over Brandywine Bridge, and arrived near the Old Forest and the Barrow-downs.

He was like a human thoroughbred—so long as he had enough food, he could keep running forever.

By then, the sky had completely darkened.

Yet the heavens were not dim.

By starlight, Li Wei found a dead tree by the roadside that was not particularly thick and took out his stone axe.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud...

Soon, a crisp cracking sound rang out. The entire dead tree snapped at its base and crashed to the ground.

Thud!

In the silent wilderness, the sound of the dead tree hitting the ground was especially distinct.

Li Wei paid it no mind. He continued chopping the fallen trunk with his stone axe, splitting the dry natural firewood into several short pieces to use as fuel.

A moment later, a campfire was lit.

Li Wei took out the large bundle of food Bilbo had given him from his backpack.

That entire bundle counted as a single item and occupied only one slot.

But if he took out the food inside, it would have to occupy another slot.

Li Wei guessed that things placed in the same inventory slot either had to be identical stackable items or be treated as "one whole."

As he thought idly, he skewered several sausages on sticks and set them beside the campfire to roast, while pondering various crafting recipes.

There were no shields or armor—nothing that could most directly protect him and increase his combat strength.

They were all missing one crucial thing:

Iron.

Seeing the campfire begin to weaken, Li Wei pulled several sticks out of thin air and tossed them in.

If someone happened to pass by at that moment, they would probably cry out and mistake Li Wei for a "wizard" with magical powers.

With nothing better to do, Li Wei took out the Stone Sword and examined it.

A line of information appeared:

[Stone Sword · Attack Damage +5]

This weapon, as if painstakingly carved by a master craftsman, had a surface as smooth as jade, razor-sharp edges, and a remarkably sturdy blade that was barely inferior to metal.

It was practically a perfect work of art.

As Li Wei examined it, he felt that no matter how many times he looked at it, it was worth marveling over.

Its workmanship was so exquisite that it could probably be auctioned directly as a collectible.

Creak.

The burning wood behind him suddenly crackled, and only then did Li Wei remember the sausages still roasting.

But when he turned around, he discovered that the fire had dimmed further.

Did these sticks burn that quickly?

Though puzzled, he could not let the fire go out. The sausages were not cooked yet.

Li Wei took out several sticks and threw them into the fire.

Yet the next moment, they seemed to strike something.

There was a loud clang.

His heart jolted, and Li Wei abruptly looked up.

A mummified head with one red-glowing eye and a layer of dry, gray scalp was poking out of the shadows, staring down at him from above.