As for using the Dark Arts, none of them were people who rigidly adhered to a black-and-white philosophy.
Then, to the surprise of Luke and the others, Galadriel handed the crystal phial containing eärendil's light to Luke.
"Take it."
"The Dark Arts can corrupt one's heart and easily lead one astray. eärendil's light will help you stay in the light and not easily fall into darkness."
"Madam, this is truly too precious," Luke felt this gift was too significant and was a bit hesitant to accept it.
After all, he had personally witnessed Galadriel use it to defeat the Dark Lord Sauron.
Galadriel pressed the crystal phial into Luke's hand, her smile brooking no refusal.
"Consider it payment for the Potion you gave me just now."
"This—thank you, Madam!"
Luke still accepted the crystal phial containing eärendil's light and remembered this favor.
They did not linger long in Dol Guldur.
The Brown Wizard Radagast was returning to his forest home to continue his companionship with the plants and animals.
Elrond and Glorfindel, at Galadriel's invitation, were preparing to stay in Lórien for a period to discuss plans for dealing with Sauron.
Luke and Gandalf declined Galadriel's invitation to be her guests in Lórien, preparing instead to catch up with Thorin and his company.
This time, Gandalf was not imprisoned by Sauron in Dol Guldur as in the original fate, waiting until later for the White Council members to rescue him. So this time, they only spent a few days.
Judging by the speed and route of the expedition, Thorin and his company probably hadn't even left Mirkwood yet.
After parting ways, Luke and Gandalf hitched a ride on Radagast's rabbit-drawn sleigh.
Radagast truly lived up to his reputation as Middle-earth's speed demon, driving the rabbit-drawn sleigh through the forest at breakneck speed, narrowly avoiding trees each time, causing Luke and Gandalf to constantly exclaim in surprise.
He successfully delivered Luke and Gandalf to the old Mirkwood road before bidding them farewell and returning.
"Phew, that was truly exhilarating. My old heart can't take it."
Gandalf patted his chest with lingering fear, and after catching his breath, he said,
"Let's go. We need to speed up. I don't know where Bilbo and the others are now. I hope we can catch up."
Luke thought for a moment; he seemed to recall that Thorin's company first encountered giant spiders in Mirkwood, then ran into the Elves of the Woodland Realm, and were imprisoned in the dungeons by Thranduil?
If that were the case, they shouldn't have gone far.
Luke pulled out the Palantír, "We'll know where they are by using the Palantír."
Gandalf stopped him, shaking his head with a serious expression: "The Palantír is not omnipotent, Luke. This forest has a master."
"If you use the Palantír to spy on the forest, its master will see it as a provocation and cause unnecessary trouble!"
Upon hearing this, Luke also remembered the situation when Gandalf had detected him using the Palantír earlier.
He immediately put the Palantír away again.
The Elves in Mirkwood, from top to bottom, were not known for their good tempers.
If the Elf King noticed, it would truly be troublesome.
The two walked along the old Mirkwood road, also known as the Elf road.
Seeing the trees along the way looking as if they were sick, lifeless, and the air not fresh, carrying a smell of decay and corruption, both their expressions became somewhat solemn.
"Be careful not to inhale too much air. This place has been contaminated by Dark Arts. Too much inhalation will cause dizziness and hallucinations," Gandalf reminded, covering his nose with his sleeve.
Then he murmured worriedly, "I just hope the Dwarves haven't inhaled too much poisonous air and gone astray, otherwise it will be troublesome!"
Luke smelled the air and couldn't help but frown, waving his wand towards his face.
A transparent bubble enveloped his head, instantly isolating the contaminated air outside.
"Gandalf, do you need one?"
"I'd be delighted." Gandalf's eyes lit up when he saw the bubble on Luke's head.
Luke waved his wand and also added a bubble over Gandalf's head.
This was the Bubble-Head Charm Luke had learned from the Book of Spells, originally used for breathing underwater, but now it was perfectly suited for this purpose.
The two continued to hurry forward, each with a transparent bubble over their heads, until they arrived at a broken bridge.
Looking at the broken bridge before them, Gandalf immediately felt a bad premonition, his face filled with worry,
"It seems what I've been worrying about has come true!"
"They couldn't cross the bridge, so they must have chosen another way to cross the river."
His gaze constantly scanned the surroundings, and he soon found traces not far from the bridge; there were some vines that could be used to cross the river,
And on the vines, he found mud and signs of climbing.
While Gandalf was searching for clues about Bilbo and his company, Luke went to the riverbank, used Transfiguration to conjure several bottles, and carefully filled them with river water.
The water in this river was contaminated by Dark Arts, not only having a hallucinogenic effect but also causing immediate unconsciousness upon contact, making it easy to fall into the river and drown.
Its effect was comparable to the sleeping Potion Luke made.
Luke was very curious about this river water and planned to collect several bottles to take with him, for research or for hypnotizing enemies, both excellent choices.
"Luke, it's time to go. We need to find Bilbo and his company as soon as possible," Gandalf called out.
"Okay, coming!" Luke put the bottles of river water into his spatial pouch and then quickly walked towards Gandalf.
"Reparo!" Luke waved his wand at the broken bridge.
The broken bridge quickly repaired itself to its complete state.
The two crossed the stone bridge and quickened their pace.
However, for the rest of the journey, neither of them found any signs of recent passage.
This meant that after crossing the river, they had not returned to the old Mirkwood road but had gone elsewhere.
Seeing Gandalf's worry, Luke comforted him: "Don't worry too much, Gandalf. Perhaps they just didn't take the main road, and they might be ahead of us right now."
"And I also have a spell here that can try to locate them."
Upon hearing this, Gandalf's eyes lit up, looking at Luke with hope.
"Luke, what spell do you have? Try it quickly!"
"This is my first time using it, and I can't guarantee immediate success." Luke did not give a guarantee. Although he had seen this spell in the Book of Spells, he had never cast it before.
He cleared his throat, then, following the casting movements in the Book of Spells, he waved his wand, thinking of Bilbo, and chanted: "Point Me!"
A blue line of light shot from the tip of his wand, the other end disappearing into the unknown depths of Mirkwood.
Watching the light point towards the true north of Mirkwood, Gandalf and Luke exchanged glances.
While not completely off-course from the direction of the Lonely Mountain, it was still a significant deviation.
If the direction indicated was correct, then Thorin and his company were lost.
Gandalf sighed deeply: "Let's go, let's see where they've gotten lost to?"
The two then left the old road and entered Mirkwood along the direction indicated by the wand.
With the wand's guidance, the two had a clear objective and rushed towards Bilbo's location at the fastest possible speed.
The deeper they went, the denser the forest became. The sky was covered by thick leaves, making it almost impossible for any light to penetrate.
Not to mention the numerous spiderwebs, sealing many areas so tightly that no wind could pass through.
Hmm? Spiderwebs! Luke immediately realized and became alert.
"Luke, have you found something?" Gandalf noticed Luke's abnormality.
Luke pointed to the dense spiderwebs on the trees: "Gandalf, it seems we've arrived at the lair of the giant spiders, those descendants of Ungoliant that Radagast mentioned."
Before he could finish speaking, rustling sounds came from all around, like the heavy, sticky scraping of limbs across the ground or branches.
Countless giant spiders emerged from the trees and the ground, surrounding them from all directions, their numerous eyes glinting, eyeing them hungrily with desire.