By the time Arthur and his companions returned to David's farm, Thorin and the others had already packed their belongings and were ready to depart.
On the dew-kissed grass of the farmhouse, bathed in the morning light, the dwarves ambled leisurely, their shadows stretching long in the dawn's faint glow.
A sense of idleness hung in the air, mingling with the fresh scent of green grass.
The dwarves either scratched the lazy sheep in the sheep pen or poked at the white-feathered chickens craning their necks for food in the chicken coop.
They yawned or burped, and amidst the dwarves' brief conversations, Thorin gazed in the direction where Gandalf and his companions had departed last night.
Of course, the only one actually burping was the chubby dwarf, Bombur.
His burps were like wisps of smoke suddenly rising from a small hill, unique and carrying a hint of satisfaction.
This was because Thorin had asked David to prepare breakfast for Arthur and his group that morning, but even after the food had grown cold, Arthur and his companions had still not appeared.
Adhering to the principle of not wasting a single grain of food, Bombur decided to selflessly sacrifice his stomach, and to the astonishment of the other dwarves, he consumed all six portions of breakfast intended for Arthur and his group.
"Sometimes I'm afraid your stomach will suddenly explode, Bombur," Bofur said, glancing at his brother's round belly.
Bombur, who had eaten too much, was sitting on the ground, rubbing his swollen belly, and he let out a simple, honest laugh upon hearing Bofur's words.
Thorin heard the conversation between the two dwarves and smiled silently.
Then he looked up at the sun hanging high in the sky, his expression returning to that of a dignified dwarf leader, and he declared loudly, "We'll wait for another half an hour. If Arthur and his companions still haven't appeared, we will depart first and wait for them in the village ahead."
Just then, the sharp-eyed Dwalin spotted the faint, indistinct figures of Arthur and his companions approaching and shouted to Thorin, "I see someone coming, Thorin! I wonder if it's Arthur and Fili."
Balin squinted, a smile on his face: "My eyes tell me it's Fili, Kili, and your friend coming, Thorin."
Thorin nodded, and indeed, before long, Arthur and his companions appeared in everyone's sight, leading the horses that had been abducted by the Trolls.
As Arthur and his group approached, Fili and Kili excitedly rushed forward to greet them.
The two dwarf brothers, their arms laden with jars of gold coins taken from the Troll's cave, reported their spoils to Thorin, speaking over each other.
Thorin's heart, which had been anxious, finally settled when he saw that Fili and Kili were completely unharmed.
He listened silently to Fili and Kili's thrilling accounts of their battle with the Trolls, and only spoke after they had paused: "But you can't carry these jars of gold coins with you all the time."
Kili weighed his arms and said, "That's simple. Fili and I plan to dig a pit nearby, bury these jars in it, and retrieve them when we pass by here again on our way back from the Lonely Mountain."
Fili also nodded; they had both already considered the issue of carrying the gold coin jars on the road.
Thorin said, "It's good that you've considered it, but remember that these gold coin jars were found by all six of you. When you come back to dig them up, you can only take your own share."
Kili nodded vigorously: "Of course we know that. Fili and I will only take what we are owed."
Thorin patted them both on the shoulders: "Go inside and check if anything has been left behind. It's time to depart."
While Thorin was conversing with Fili and Kili, Gandalf looked in surprise at Farmer David, who was also ready to depart.
Oin, Gloin, Nori, Dori, and Ori, the five dwarves in the chicken coop, nimbly helped David catch the white-feathered chickens and place them on the cart.
David himself herded the docile sheep out of the pen, and upon hearing Gandalf's words, he said, "I plan to leave with you, Gandalf."
He looked in the direction from which Gandalf and his companions had come, or rather, the direction in which the Trolls had disappeared, and said, "I've lived here for so many years, every winter. But this year is different. The appearance of those Trolls makes me feel very unsafe. I'm afraid that after you leave, what if new 'Trolls' come? I plan to go to the village where my wife and children are and live there for a while."
Gandalf listened to David's words and nodded with a smile: "Hmm, there's no problem with you doing that. Luckily, we have plenty of people, so we can help you look after these livestock on the way."
David looked at the surrounding dwarves and said thankfully, "Although these dwarves are a bit rough and uninhibited, they certainly helped a lot when herding these livestock. If I were alone, I would probably only dare to hide in the house and pray that those Trolls wouldn't come in."
Amidst the songs and stories of the dwarves, the Lonely Mountain Expedition set off once more.
Less than a day after Arthur and Thorin's party departed David's farm, two robust wargs sprang from the deep valley.
Riding on the backs of the wargs were the two orcs from outside Bree. One of them directly controlled its warg to leap over the farmhouse fence, seeing the petrified Troll corpses inside the farmhouse and the messy traces on the ground.
Its warg, sniffing, lifted its head and let out an eerie howl.
"Awooo—!"
In reality, it was communicating with the orc riding on its back using the warg language.
This orc leapt from the warg's back, took a few quick steps, and arrived at the farmhouse door.
A chain hung on the door, but it drew a razor-sharp cleaver from its waist and swung it at the wooden door.
Under the orc's violent hacking, the wooden door quickly splintered. The orc then kicked open the door, entered, and emerged with several red hairs and a piece of muddy rags in its hand, revealing a hideous grin.
It casually threw the dwarf remnants it held back into the house, looked at its companion, and uttered in the language of dark creatures: "Zidgar dorgil, Rhozd-buzh i gimanim! [Tell the master, the dwarf scum has been found!]"
The village David spoke of was a three-day journey from his farm, and there were no other incidents along the way. Arthur and his companions arrived smoothly at the village where David's wife and children resided.
The villagers, upon seeing such a formidable group, cast wary and curious glances.
However, it was clear they all knew David, and their wariness quickly vanished from their eyes when they saw David among the group.
Some busybody villagers directly ran to the mud-brick house where David's wife and children lived, knocking on the door and informing the occupants of the news that David had brought a large group of dwarves, two armored knight lords, and a wizard to the village.
Evidently, the excellent armor worn by Arthur and Bernal had led the villagers to mistake them for some kind of nobility.
David's wife, upon hearing the news, was at first bewildered, but quickly recovered.
She told her two sons to clean the house, then she washed her face and hands before nervously running out to greet her husband.
"David, why are you suddenly back? Did something unexpected happen?" She saw that David had brought back both the sheep and chickens he raised, and noticed the number of sheep was off, so she asked, surprised and worried.
David slightly slowed the carriage, helped his wife up from the ground, glanced at the villagers watching from both sides of the road, and whispered, "There's a monster in the deep valley. I'll tell you the details when we get home."
His wife nodded, then asked, "Then, what about those dwarves and the Knight Lord?"
She didn't ask about Gandalf, as she had met Gandalf a few times as David's wife.
David briefly explained, "They are friends Gandalf brought. If it weren't for them, I might not have decided to come back."
The village wasn't large, only a few dozen households, so Arthur and Thorin quickly arrived at David's home in the village.
David's two teenage sons looked very much like him and happily shouted "Dad!" when they saw their father arrive.
David strode forward, and his two children ran over and threw themselves into his arms. He embraced them tightly, stroking their hair with his calloused hands.
"Come, children, lend a hand. Drive the sheep back into the yard. We have guests," David said gently to his two sons after releasing the embrace.
David's two sons were very obedient; they helped their father lead the docile sheep into the backyard of the house.
Meanwhile, the dwarves gestured to David's wife that she didn't need to help, and then also carried the chicken coops containing the white-feathered chickens to the backyard and set them down.
His wife whispered to David, "I've never seen so many dwarves in my life, and they seem very friendly to us."
David said, "It's probably because I let them stay for a night. Go prepare some good food. I'll go to the market later to buy a few barrels of wine. Don't be stingy, don't worry, the dwarves will pay."
His wife was originally a little resistant, but after hearing the last sentence David said, she beamed and went to the kitchen to prepare to light the fire and cook.
Only then did David have time to find Arthur, Gandalf, and Thorin. A kind-faced white-bearded dwarf was also sitting at the table, and the four of them were discussing the arrangements for later.
"This is your reward for helping me get rid of the Troll, and I will also provide you with food and water when you leave, as stated in the contract," David said, placing a black money pouch on the low table where the three were sitting.
Thorin made no move towards the money pouch, but instead looked at Arthur, because it was his and Bernal's reward.
"Thank you for your trustworthiness, David. I will help deliver Bernal's share."
Arthur didn't bother with formalities, but instead nodded to David, reached out his hand, and put the money pouch into his spatial backpack.
David's eyes widened slightly. The money pouch that suddenly vanished from Arthur's hand made him realize that Arthur's identity was not simple.
Could he be another wizard?
David recalled Gandalf and Arthur's familiar demeanor and could only assume that Arthur was also a wizard.
With this thought, David left his home and headed to the village market to buy a few barrels of ale.
After all, since last night, he had heard the dwarves talking about wanting to drink.
After Thorin saw David leave, he looked back at Gandalf and asked, "Where are you taking us, Gandalf? We are getting closer and closer to the Elves' territory."
Gandalf chuckled and said, "You are right, Thorin. I am taking you to Rivendell to seek help from Lord Elrond there."
Then he looked at Arthur and laughed, "And Lord Elrond is Arthur's friend. I think he will certainly not refuse our request for help."
Thorin's face darkened. He said in a low voice, "Elves? No, I would rather die than go to the Elves' territory, Gandalf. Let alone ask those damned Elves for help, I won't go one step near there!"
Gandalf showed a surprised expression. He hadn't expected Thorin to refuse him so adamantly.
Even Balin's normally kind expression seemed to waver slightly.
And Arthur, furthermore, recalled the commotion Fili and Kili caused when Elrond first came to his territory.
Gandalf asked in confusion, "Why not go there? The Elves can provide us with food, shelter, and advice."
Thorin refused without hesitation, "I don't need their advice. What right do Elves have to advise me?"
Gandalf could hardly believe Thorin's answer and continued to persuade him, "We have a map, the one I gave you, the one your father Thráin entrusted to me. It has the aura of some Glintstone Magic, concealing some text, and we haven't deciphered it yet. Lord Elrond can help us decipher the Glintstone Magic and interpret the text on the map."
"Help?" Thorin seemed to have a nerve touched by that word, and his voice began to fill with anger.
"When the Dragon attacked Erebor, what help did the Elves give us?"
"When the orcs plundered Moria and desecrated our holy halls, the Elves stood by and watched these things happen, taking no action."
Thorin clenched his fists, looking at Gandalf, restraining his anger: "Now, you want me to seek out those Elves who betrayed my grandfather and also betrayed my father?"
Gandalf showed a pained expression, then also became serious: "But you are not your grandfather or your father, Thorin. I gave you the map and the key not for you to cling to the past…"
Before Gandalf could finish, Thorin retorted with a sarcastic tone, "I didn't even know you were keeping the map and the key."
Gandalf's face showed a rare expression of anger and incomprehension. Arthur spoke up to smooth things over: "Thorin, Gandalf, both of you calm down. There's no need to quarrel over this."
Thorin's chest rose and fell a few times, then he finally nodded to Arthur: "You're right, Arthur, but I will not go to Rivendell. I will never seek help from the Elves."