bookbashuk Chapter 135 Entrusted Custody
Chapter 135 Entrusted Custody
Chapter 135 Entrusted Custody
This was the first time Bilbo had worn the Ring in front of everyone.
When he removed the Ring and revealed himself, everyone realized that he had been sitting in his seat the whole time.
Gandalf looked at Bilbo with some concern.
Dui asked with concern, "Bilbo, are you alright?"
Their main concern was that Bilbo would be influenced by the Ring.
Bilbo shook his head with clear eyes, pointed to his forehead and said, "The ring did tempt me just now, making me wear it to escape and hide, but a cool sensation on my forehead immediately calmed me down."
Duy and Gandalf exchanged a glance upon hearing this, and they breathed a sigh of relief, guessing that it must have been Lady Galadriel's blessed kiss on the forehead that had worked.
However, the two silently decided to keep Bilbo away from the Ring from now on.
Galadriel's blessing can temporarily stop the One Ring's corruption, but it is not effective indefinitely.
So Gandalf said to Tom, "Tom, you see, none of us can escape the power of the Ring."
So we've come here to entrust this ring to you for safekeeping. Would you be willing?
Upon hearing Gandalf's request, Tom happily patted his chest and said, "How could I refuse a friend's request! Old Tom promises to keep the rings safe for you!"
"Wait, Tom," Dui suddenly spoke up, still somewhat worried, "Tom, won't accepting the Ring have any effect on Lady Goldberry?"
The others also became concerned upon hearing this, as they did not want Goldenberry to get hurt.
Goldenberry smiled brightly and gently shook her head, indicating that there was no need to worry.
Tom confidently patted his chest and declared, "In Tom's territory, nothing can harm my Goldenberry!"
He then picked up the magic ring and held it out to the group, saying, "Here, try it out!"
Dui, Gandalf, and Legolas were taken aback by this sudden action.
The three instinctively leaned back, fearing the ring.
Gandalf almost tipped over with his chair.
Tom grinned triumphantly, as if he had just pulled off a prank, and shook the ring in his hand.
"Come on, don't be afraid, try it on!"
Seeing the Ring approaching them, the three dared not get close. The Ring's power was terrifying; if they touched it, they would easily be corrupted and become its puppets.
No one dared to take that risk.
However, seeing Tom's encouraging look, Dui chose to believe him, took a deep breath, and reached out to take the Ring.
Gandalf and Legolas both looked worried.
With the ring in his hand, Dui finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He looked at the ring, feeling the cold temperature in his palm, his heart still pounding.
To his astonishment, this dangerous magic ring now looked like an ordinary gold ring in his hand, emanating no seductive or corrupting power.
"Try it on!" Tom's eyes lit up as he continued to film.
Dui's hand trembled, almost startled by Tom.
But under Tom's intense gaze, she still gritted her teeth and put the ring on her finger.
Hmm? Dui looked at the ring on his finger; it seemed unchanged.
Looking around at the people watching him, Dui instantly realized what was happening.
He didn't become invisible like Bilbo!
Dui looked at Tom in disbelief. Tom did this?
Receiving a shocked look from Dui, Tom puffed out his chest smugly, as if he had successfully performed a little trick in front of a child.
Gandalf, Legolas, and Bilbo stared wide-eyed, their faces filled with shock.
Gandalf and Legolas then carefully received the Ring.
Without exception, the Ring in their hands became like an ordinary object, lifeless and silent, showing no power whatsoever.
The group was in turmoil, as this was the first time they had ever touched the One Ring in person.
They had never imagined they would have such an opportunity before.
"Tom, can you destroy the One Ring?" Duy asked.
In his view, since Tom could make the One Ring lose its power, could he just destroy it?
But Tom shook his head.
"I can only prevent its power from affecting me, but that doesn't mean I have the power to destroy it."
Duy, Gandalf, and the others were not disappointed by this answer. After all, being able to strip the One Ring of its power was already a very impressive feat, and they did not expect to achieve it all at once.
After witnessing Tom's abilities, everyone felt reassured and entrusted the Ring to him for safekeeping.
Tom put the ring directly on his little finger.
As for the box containing the ring, it belonged to Bilbo.
However, to prevent the careless Tom from losing the Ring, Duy and Gandalf entrusted it to the more meticulous Goldenberry for safekeeping.
Jinmei smiled and agreed.
After obtaining Tom and Goldenberry's consent, Dui also connected their fireplace to the Floo Web and then gifted them a large bottle of Floo Powder.
They are welcome to visit Fengyun Peak anytime via Filo powder.
They stayed at Tom's house for one night, and the next day, they formally said goodbye.
This time, however, Gandalf did not travel with them.
"Gandalf, aren't you coming to the Shire with us?" Bilbo asked.
Gandalf patted Bilbo on the shoulder. "No, Bilbo, Duir and Legolas will take you the rest of the way. I trust they can get you home safely."
Bilbo was a little reluctant to leave; he had planned to treat everyone well when he got home.
Dui was surprised that Gandalf would be leaving so soon and felt a little reluctant to part with him.
"Gandalf, where are you going?"
"I'm going south," said Gandalf. "I'm worried about Mordor and I'm going to see the Regent of Gondor."
Make him wary.
"I also plan to go to Eisengard to check on my old friend."
Gandalf's expression turned somewhat somber when he spoke of this.
Dui frowned upon hearing this and looked at Gandalf: "You're planning to go see Saruman alone? Isn't that a bit reckless?"
Let's hope that Saruman won't ban us before the time comes.
Seeing Dui's disapproving look, Gandalf chuckled and shook his head.
"Don't worry about me. Now that I know he has turned to the dark side, I won't act rashly. I just want to find out the situation and make more preparations."
"Alright, then be careful." Dui could only hope that Gandalf had a safe journey.
After parting ways with Gandalf, Gandalf rode his broom and flew south.
As for Dui's own flying broom, he handed it over to Legolas to fly with Bilbo.
He then transformed into an owl and flew along with it.
While passing through the old forest, Dui broke off some branches of the Hoon tree and put them into his spatial bag, intending to make some wands in his spare time in the future.
After flying over the old forest, we reached the nearby Stag Country.
Without stopping, the group flew westward.
Finally, in the afternoon, we arrived at Hobbiton.
Dui, who had transformed into an owl, was the first to land in front of Bag Bottom, and then transformed back into human form upon landing.
Legolas and Bilbo followed closely behind.
The nearby hobbit neighbors all witnessed this scene.
They were immediately stunned and speechless.
"Finally back!" Bilbo looked at his familiar home, feeling as if he had been through another world, and was quite excited.
After being away from home for a year, the garden became overgrown with weeds due to neglect.
The mailbox was also overflowing with all sorts of letters.
"It's a letter from my cousin Zogo Baggins. He says he's going to marry the young lady from the Brandy Deer family." Bilbo opened the first letter and was somewhat surprised by its contents.
"It's a pity I didn't know this good news beforehand, otherwise I could have stopped to congratulate him when I passed by Bucks Land earlier."
"But it's not too late now. We need to prepare a proper wedding gift and send it over," Bilbo said thoughtfully.
Dui was surprised to hear the news and immediately said, "Let me know when you send the gift, so I can prepare a gift to send with you."
He has a good relationship with Drowsy Baggins, and since she got married, he naturally wanted to show his appreciation.
In addition, the bride, Brandy Deer, also needs to send a gift.
After all, the Bailandi Deer family had helped him a lot back then.
"Huh? An auction notice?" Bilbo paused for a moment when he saw the second letter, then opened it and was even more astonished. "Auctioning Bag End? Why are they auctioning off my house?"
"What's going on?" Dui and Legolas also curiously leaned over.
Then they discovered it was a letter about auctioning Bag End and the items inside, and somehow it ended up in Bilbo's mailbox.
"Mr. Fat Boy, Mr. Fat Boy!" Bilbo called out urgently to the hobbits peeking out from the nearby yard.
The short, stout hobbit man whose name was called looked at him with surprise and suspicion: "Mr. Bilbo?"
After a long adventure, Bilbo's demeanor had changed, making his neighbor, Fat Uncle, almost unrecognizable to him.
“It’s me, Mr. Fat,” Bilbo said. “Can you tell me what’s going on here? Why is my house being auctioned off?”
The fat man glanced at his neighbor, whom he hadn't seen in a long time and whose demeanor had become "strange," then looked at the two people behind him: an incredibly handsome elf and a mysterious wizard he had met before. He said somewhat guiltily:
"Because you've been away from home for many years and there's been no news of you, everyone thought you were dead—"
"So you're going to divide up my property and even auction off my house?" Bilbo suddenly realized what was going on and his ears turned red with anger.
And what does it mean to be away from home for many years? He's only been gone for a year, and these people are already in a hurry to divide up his property and house?
Fatty was clearly one of them, and he said even more guiltily:
"This is not our fault. It was your cousin's wife, Robillia Sackville-Baggins, who said you were dead and that her son was the first heir to your estate, so she organized a public auction."
Robbie Sackville-Baggins? Bilbo was even more annoyed.
This woman was his distant cousin from the north, and she had always coveted his house, especially since he had no heirs. She had been trying to make her son his heir.
"Wait a minute," Bilbo suddenly realized, "If you're going to auction off my house, why hasn't anything happened yet?"
At this point, the fat man's eyes showed lingering fear, and then he gave Du Yi a wary look.
"Because there's something strange about your house, everyone who tries to force their way in grows long hair, and shaving it all off doesn't help!"
"So no one dared to go near Bag End anymore, and the auction was canceled."