"call..."
"finally reached..."
"So spectacular..."
"Is this the lonely mountain?"
"This is indeed a lonely mountain, but it's still a little far away..."
"Let's go, we have already reached Gushan, do we still have this little distance to go..."
After stepping off the ferry, everyone in the expedition team looked up at the towering mountains ahead and sighed.
"It's already morning. We have to find the secret door into the mountain before sunset today."
"Let's go!"
Thorin Oakenshield said.
Everyone moved on.
Thousands of meters of majestic mountains.
There are white snow scattered everywhere on the mountain road.
The weather is getting colder.
Fortunately, everyone was wearing exquisite and thick equipment given by the mayor of Changhu Town.
Otherwise, it would be the same clothes as before.
Everyone will suffer.
This is the first time for most members of the expedition team to visit Gushan.
But they are no strangers to Thorin Oakenshield, Whitebeard Balin and Dwalin.
Bahrain leads the way.
Everyone walked up the path at the foot of Gushan Mountain.
Time passed slowly.
It was approaching noon.
The expedition team finally climbed from the foot of the mountain to close to the middle of the lonely mountain.
The further you go up, the colder the weather becomes.
The road also started to become much smoother.
Just opposite the foot of the mountain, you can still see a lot of weeds and thorns that are still tenaciously swaying their soft bodies in late autumn.
At this time, when we reached the middle part, we could only see various strange rocks and rubble on the ground, as well as some black wood that had been weathered and long dead.
“It’s so quiet here...”
Bilbo looked at everything in front of him, suddenly stopped and said.
"Yes, I can't hear a single bird chirping..."
"I can't see any living creatures..."
"There's something wrong with this mountain..."
"Is it because of the snow?"
"of course not..."
After hearing Bilbo's words, other dwarves behind him also spoke.
"It wasn't like this before."
At this time, Balin, the white-bearded dwarf, walked up to Bilbo, put his hands on his waist and smiled.
"There, and there, there used to be trees and forests."
Balin said, pointing to the distance and continuing to Bilbo: "At that time, the forest was full of all kinds of animals, and flocks of various birds were flying on the branches..."
"But everything changed when the dragon Smaug came."
Balin sighed and spoke, his tone full of nostalgia.
"Look, what's over there?"
At this time, Fili, who was standing in front, stood on a boulder and pointed in the distance and shouted loudly to the people behind him.
Upon hearing Fili's voice, a group of expedition team members immediately rushed forward.
Morgan walked over quickly as well.
Then they saw a huge valley in front of them. In the valley in the distance, a huge city appeared in front of everyone.
City walls, bell towers, tall buildings, squares, and continuous housing complexes.
The city in sight is far larger than the Changhu Town that everyone has seen and stayed in before.
Although many of the buildings in the city were in a collapsed and abandoned state, there was not even a trace of human habitation.
"What is that place?"
Kili jumped on the boulder where Fili was and looked at the huge abandoned city in the distance and asked.
"That's Riverdale Town, the former Riverdale Town..."
"It's a pity that now there are only ruins left."
Balin stepped forward and said with emotion: "It was only after the evil dragon Smaug wreaked havoc that it became what we see now."
Balin shook his head and said.
Morgan looked at the majestic city ruins in his sight, but what he thought about was that everyone was not far from the lonely mountain.
River Valley Town is very close to Lonely Mountain.
Since you can see River Valley Town from here, it is naturally not far from the Kingdom under the Mountain.
"Let's go, we must find the secret door before sunset."
"Come this way, follow me!"
Thorin Oakenshield withdrew his gaze, said something to everyone, and then quickly turned around and walked down.
Yes, it's downhill now.
The way down the mountain is much easier.
The autumn sun gradually sets in the sky.
Noon passed quickly and it was almost afternoon.
The expedition team passed through the ruins of River Valley Town and arrived at the location of the Lonely Mountain Secret Door marked on the map.
This is a valley surrounded by mountains on three sides.
As soon as everyone arrived, they were immediately ordered by Thorin Oakenshield to spread out and search.
Morgan recalled the scene in the memory plot. He raised his head and tried his best to look at the tall mountains in front of him, but he couldn't find anything.
"Have you found anything?"
At this time, Thorin Oakenshield's voice came from the valley ahead.
"No, nothing!"
Grumpy Godwalin was the first to respond loudly.
"No, I didn't see it here either..."
"I didn't find it either..."
The voices of the dwarves came one after another.
Thorin Oakenshield frowned and had no choice but to open the map in his hand again and read it carefully.
Morgan stepped on the gravel mountain road under his feet and walked deeper into the front.
"This way!"
"Look here!"
At this moment, Bilbo's shout suddenly came from the other direction.
Morgan was surprised, remembering in his mind that Bilbo was the first to discover the secret door in the plot.
Is it still him now?
He turned around and looked over, and found that the mountain on Bilbo's side looked similar to the surrounding mountains from this side, and there seemed to be nothing unusual about it.
But since the other party shouted it out, he must have discovered something.
Morgan strode towards Bilbo like the other dwarves.
Morgan, who was just paying attention but still looking strange, walked quickly to Bilbo's side.
He saw it.
The mountain directly above his current location was carved into the shape of a giant dwarf holding a war hammer.
On the body of the dwarf stone statue, there is a stone staircase that snakes upward.
This is it.
Morgan looked at the stone statues in front of him that were sandwiched between the huge mountains on both sides, and sighed in his heart: "The memories and impressions in my mind are not as fast as those of Bilbo, who is the protagonist."
Thorin Oakenshield ran over and looked at the stone stairs above. The original heavy expression on his face quickly disappeared, replaced by unabashed joy.
"You have a good eye, Mr. Baggins."
Thorin Oakenshield patted Bilbo on the shoulder, panting and laughing.
Morgan suddenly realized this.
Thorin Oakenshield seems to have always called Bilbo politely, and also called Bilbo's surname "Baggins" in a very polite way.
"Walk!"
After finding the location of the secret door, Thorin Oakenshield said loudly, and he was the first to run quickly towards the stone stairs.
A group of dwarves followed closely behind with faces full of joy.
"Let's go."
Morgan reached out and patted Bilbo on the shoulder, then stepped forward.
Bilbo followed quickly.
When a group of members of the expedition team gasped and climbed up the steep stone wall stairs, they climbed to the small open space next to the giant dwarf stone statue at the end of the stairs.
The last ray of autumn sunshine was shining on this clearing.
Thorin Oakenshield quickly stepped forward and looked at the stone wall in the open space full of sunshine and was overjoyed: "The secret door must be here!"
After speaking, he turned his head and took out the huge key that Gandalf gave him. He looked at the members of the expedition team behind him and laughed: "Let those who have laughed at us remember this day forever!"
"Ha ha ha ha..."
"yeah..."
As soon as the words fell, all the dwarves cheered.
Bilbo laughed too.
Morgan also looked on with a smile on his face.
Although I know there will be some twists and turns in finding the keyhole.
But I have been able to go through all kinds of hardships from Hobbiton in the Shire to get here.
Every member of the expedition team is rare and amazing.
This naturally includes himself.
"Then it means there should be a keyhole in this stone wall."
The irritable Godwalin was the most impatient. He immediately dropped the package in his hand, walked quickly to the stone wall illuminated by the sunset, and shouted.
Seeing Dwalin step forward, the other dwarves including Thorin Oakenshield stepped aside.
Because I am afraid of blocking the sun.
Watching Dwalin's eyes widen as he groped with his hands and eyes on the stone wall.
Because he remembered the plot in his mind, Morgan became interested in looking at the keyhole that could only appear in the moonlight, so he put down the package in his hand and said, "I'll go and help find it too."
He strode to the stone wall full of sunset light.
Looking at the relatively flat stone wall, Morgan tried his best to recall the plot scenes in his memory, and used his hands and eyes to search on the stone wall.
But no matter how hard he searched, he couldn't find the keyhole hidden in the dark gap in the memory plot.
In the gap that looks like a depression, there is no one on the stone wall in front of me.
The stone wall in front of you is only so big.
Morgan groped for a while, searching every inch of the stone wall in front of him, and realized that the keyhole in his memory did not exist on the stone wall in front of him.
Morgan consciously stepped aside and shook his head at Thorin Oakenshield and Balin, who were looking over.
The sun began to set slowly on the horizon.
Watching the sunlight begin to disappear, Grumpy Godwalin started to get a little irritable.
He was using his hands and feet at the same time and was still cursing something in his mouth.
Seeing the sunlight disappearing, Thorin Oakenshield began to look slightly anxious.
"Noli..."
Thorin Oakenshield just remembered Noli, the dwarf with the most tricks, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he realized that Noli was no longer there.
I don’t even notice it when the sun is in the sky.
Once you start going down the mountain, the speed of disappearing is like turning on the accelerator.
Looking at the sunset that has already set halfway down the horizon.
Thorin Oakenshield couldn't wait any longer and immediately strode to the stone wall. He first looked at the stone wall carefully with his eyes wide open.
Then, Thorin Oakenshield, who couldn't see anything, retreated to the side, looking eagerly at the sunset that was setting rapidly on the horizon in the distance, and shouted to the dwarves: "Quick, go up and kill it!"
A group of dwarves standing nearby immediately stepped forward waving their weapons and slashed at the stone wall.
It’s just about how hard the stone wall can be used to carve giant stone statues, let alone the mechanism hidden behind it.
There was a chaotic sound of ping ping ping ping, and sparks flew in all directions.
The stone wall did not change at all.
Balin shook his head when he saw it, and said solemnly: "The seal on the door has powerful magic power, which can never be opened with brute force."
After hearing Balin's words, the dwarves who were hacking had to stop.
Thorin Oakenshield watched helplessly as the setting sun continued to set in the distant horizon. He kept looking at the stone wall with a worried expression on his face, but there was nothing he could do.
Finally, the red sun in the sky completely fell into the horizon, and its last brilliance disappeared.
"No..."
Thorin Oakenshield rushed up to the stone wall as if he was out of his mind, banging his fists on it and shouting.
Everyone in the surrounding expedition team looked at Thorin Oakenshield who had lost his composure, and all of them looked ugly.
So does Morgan.
Of course, he was pretending.
After a while, Thorin Oakenshield turned around, took out the map on his body again, spread it out, looked at the words of the moon that had been deciphered on it, and read with a trembling voice: "The afterglow of the Turin Sun will shine. On the keyhole..."
"That's what it said..."
Thorin Oakenshield raised his head, looked at the people in front of him with extremely disappointed eyes and continued: "What did we miss?"
"What are we missing, Bahrain?"
Thorin Oakenshield said as he walked up to Balin the Whitebeard, the wisest among the dwarves, and asked tremblingly.
Bahrain looked painful and shook his head: "The daylight we missed."
"We missed our only chance..."
Balin looked at Thorin Oakenshield and spoke softly: "There is nothing we can do to save him."
After hearing this, Morgan was not going to remain silent any longer.
He took a few steps forward, picked up the map dropped by Thorin Oakenshield on the ground, and looked at it.
Soon, it was whispered out loud: "When the thrush, standing by the gray rock, began to tap..."
"I didn't see the thrush when the sun shone just now. Did you see it?"
When Morgan finished speaking, the surrounding dwarves who were very disappointed and ready to leave immediately stopped in their tracks.
Thorin Oakenshield suddenly looked at Morgan, and a hint of color seemed to rise in his extremely disappointed eyes.
"You didn't see it, did you?"
"I didn't see it, what about you..."
"I do not have either..."
"No, let alone the thrush, I didn't even see the bird poop."
"..."
A group of dwarves immediately spoke.
Morgan didn't care and read the moon text on the map again: "The setting sun will fall on the keyhole with the last ray of light from the Turin sun."
"I remember you said that Turin Day is the New Year of the Dwarves. It is the day when the last bright moon of autumn and the first rising sun of winter meet in the sky at the same time, right?"
After Morgan finished reading the secret words on the map, he looked up at Balin and asked.
Balin nodded and said, "You remember correctly."
Seeing that Morgan seemed to have discovered something, the hope in Thorin Oakenshield's eyes seemed to rise a little more.
Morgan looked at everyone and continued: "Since we can't find the keyhole under the sunlight, and we don't see the thrush, does it mean that the last ray of light in the secret language does not refer to sunlight?"
Morgan said and looked at Balin again.
This time, Bahrain pondered and nodded: "You can say that."
Morgan smiled: "Then let's wait for the moonlight. Maybe the moonlight can bring us surprises."
After hearing what Morgan said, the dwarves finally understood something.
Especially the "appearance of the thrush" in the secret language that Morgan emphasized immediately rekindled hope in the hearts of all the dwarves.
Thorin Oakenshield nodded repeatedly. After listening to Morgan's words, his eyes almost shone. He nodded quickly and said: "Then listen to Morgan, we will wait."
"call..."
He let out a long breath and smiled looking at the nervous expressions on the faces of the dwarves.
In fact, as long as you are careful enough, the details of the thrush can be discovered.
However, Thorin Oakenshield was too anxious to find the secret door.
So much so that he ignored the details.
But no one else is to blame.
You must know that in Rivendell, when the Elf Lord Eldron deciphered the map's secret text, the only five people present were Thorin Oakenshield, Balin, Gandalf, Bilbo and Morgan.
And now Gandalf is not here.
The map has been kept by Thorin Oakenshield himself, and no one can access it.
Just now, Thorin Oakenshield himself was the first to vent his disappointment.
Balin and Bilbo, who knew something about it, were naturally easily affected by his emotions.
As for the other dwarves, they knew nothing about the secret language.
This should be the reason why Thorin Oakenshield failed to notice the strangeness before.
Now that Morgan has pointed it out, Thorin himself has now reacted.
The Dwarves’ day in Turin is truly magical.
Not long after the sunset, the sky quickly darkened.
Everyone was not kept waiting for too long.
A crescent moon quietly appeared in the sky.
The moonlight shines quietly on the earth.
A hazy light naturally shines towards this mountain wall.
This made the members of the expedition team who were chewing the dried meat sent from Changhu Town immediately stood up excitedly.
At this time, a small thrush was not afraid of everyone, and flew straight to the side of the stone wall with a conch in its mouth and started knocking on it.
The dwarves who discovered this scene became even more excited. They were about to say something loudly, but Thorin Oakenshield glared at them and shouted in a low voice: "Don't disturb that bird."
At this time, Morgan, who had the fastest reaction, had already walked to the stone wall again.
Looking at the dim moonlight shining on the stone wall, a dark stone crack actually appeared on the stone wall.
And with the moonlight shining, the keyhole hidden in the dark stone cracks was finally revealed.
"Thorin!"
Morgan immediately growled.
Thorin Oakenshield immediately stepped forward with the key in hand, looked at the clear keyhole on the stone wall, and excitedly inserted the key.
Click, the key was successfully inserted into the cave.
Thorin Oakenshield slowly turned the key.
"Kakaka..."
A mechanical sound immediately came from behind the stone wall.
The faces of the dwarves behind him were full of joy.
Soon, the key was turned and the mechanical sound stopped.
Thorin Oakenshield turned around and glanced at the people behind him who were full of excitement and anticipation. He took a deep breath, put his hand on the stone wall in front of him, and pushed in with force.
"boom..."
There was a burst of flying dust and a muffled sound.
A dark secret door that has been sealed in dust for more than two hundred years.
Suddenly appeared in the eyes of everyone.
