"Didn't your Palantír break? Can you still see?" Balin asked suspiciously.
"Exactly, it'd be more reliable if we all split up and searched."
Luke ignored the Dwarves, holding the Palantír and concentrating on locating Bilbo.
This time, Bilbo's figure finally appeared on the Palantír.
"Bilbo, it's Bilbo! He's looking for an exit!"
The Dwarves excitedly gathered around, craning their heads to the Palantír, their eyes fixed on Bilbo in the image.
"It seems your Palantír is working again."
Luke glanced at the image and walked directly to the left. "Follow me, we'll meet up with Bilbo first, then leave this place."
Gandalf followed Luke closely, and the other Dwarves also followed suit.
Guided by the Palantír, the group wound their way through the tunnels and finally saw Bilbo in the distance, attempting to find an exit.
"Bilbo!" the Dwarf Bofur shouted loudly.
Bilbo in the distance heard the voice, quickly turned his head, revealing a look of surprise, and happily waved his hand: "I'm here!"
The two parties met, and the Dwarves all happily embraced Bilbo.
"You're a lucky fellow, falling from such a height and being unharmed! If Luke hadn't said you were alright, we would have been worried sick!" Balin said.
"How did you know I was here?" Bilbo asked, happy but curious.
"Have you forgotten? Luke has the Palantír in his hand. That thing can find people, so it naturally saw you here."
"But that thing is temperamental; for a period in the middle, it couldn't find your figure at all. I wonder what went wrong?"
Hearing this, Bilbo's expression became somewhat unnatural, and one hand unconsciously reached into his pocket to feel around, then he tentatively looked at Luke, meeting a pair of slightly profound eyes.
He instantly withdrew his gaze nervously, his eyes having nowhere to settle.
Gandalf also noticed Bilbo's abnormality and exchanged a look with Luke.
Unlike the Dwarves who suspected the Palantír was broken, Gandalf and Luke both knew that the Palantír was the hardest substance and could not possibly be damaged.
Therefore, the reason the Palantír couldn't see Bilbo before was not due to the Palantír itself, but because Bilbo had encountered something unusual that concealed him from the Palantír's sight.
Although Gandalf was somewhat curious, he had no intention of probing into Bilbo's adventure.
As for Luke, he had known about Bilbo's situation for a long time.
So, both of them tacitly refrained from asking.
This made Bilbo breathe a sigh of relief, while also feeling some shame and unease.
"Luke, I just encountered…" Bilbo hesitated.
However, before he could continue, Gandalf sharply looked towards the dark area opposite: "Who's there!"
"Shatter!" A magic spell shot out from Luke's hand, directly striking the shadow.
Under the dazzling light of the magic spell, a hunched, pale-skinned monster with protruding eyes was exposed to everyone's sight.
The magic spell directly hit the stone in front of it, and the stone instantly shattered, sending the monster flying out.
Is that Gollum? The one ring's previous owner? Luke reacted.
However, before he could make another move, Gollum looked at Luke with terror and fear, then glanced at Bilbo with unwilling eyes, immediately turned around, and fled into the chaotic rock cave.
"What in the world was that? It doesn't look like a Goblin." The Dwarves asked in surprise and confusion.
"Bilbo, have you seen that thing before?"
"Uh, yes, I have." Bilbo nodded hesitantly, "He said his name was Gollum, and he feeds on fallen Goblin corpses. He's a bit off in the head, often talks to himself. I used riddles with him to buy time, and finally found a chance to escape."
"Hmph, it's actually a talking monster. What a pity that magic didn't finish it off and let it escape." The Dwarves said regretfully.
"Alright, never mind that, we need to find an exit and leave this place." Gandalf interrupted, then looked at Luke.
"Luke, please lead the way for us."
Luke looked at the Palantír in his hand, nodded, "Let's go, let's leave here first."
Guided by the Palantír, the group successfully found an exit and arrived on the other side of the Misty Mountains.
"We're finally out!" The Dwarves cheered.
Luke put the Palantír back into his leather pouch, then took out a money bag and handed it to Bilbo.
"This is a magic money bag I enchanted. It has two cubic meters of space and is already filled with some of the treasure obtained from the Goblin cave. There's still some space left, you can put any extra luggage you have inside to make it easier."
Bilbo took the money bag, opened its mouth, and looked at the considerable space inside and the glittering gold, silver, and jewels, feeling very surprised and touched.
"Thank you, Luke!"
Then, after struggling and hesitating for a while, he glanced at the distance of the others and whispered to Luke: "Luke, actually, I picked up something at the bottom of the cave…"
Luke stopped him from speaking further, shaking his head slightly, the smile in his eyes deepening.
"I'm glad you're willing to tell me, but this is your opportunity, Bilbo, you don't need to tell me."
Bilbo didn't expect Luke to say that, and his last trace of hesitation vanished.
"I understand, Luke, and I'll only tell you."
"I picked up a ring at the bottom of the cave. That ring seems to have magic. When I put it on, it was like entering another world; no one could see me, as if I was invisible."
Luke nodded; he already knew all of this, but looking at his excited friend, he still warned him: "Bilbo, unless absolutely necessary, don't wear this thing often, otherwise it will bring you unpredictable consequences."
Although hobbits are naturally highly resistant to the one ring, they are not immune to its influence.
After the War of the one ring ended, Bilbo was invited to Valinor to spend his twilight years, not only because he was a former master of the one ring, but also because prolonged contact with the one ring had left indelible harm.
This harm was not physical but affected the mind and soul.
Therefore, only by going to Valinor could Bilbo possibly be healed and find peace in his later years.
To give Bilbo a clearer understanding, he also revealed: "Bilbo, you must be careful with that ring. You've already seen that Gollum, but you don't know he was originally a hobbit, but after possessing that ring, he gradually changed and became what he is now."
Bilbo was stunned by this news; he couldn't believe it: "Luke, you said Gollum was a hobbit? How is that possible?"
"But that's the truth."
Bilbo was restless; he wanted to disbelieve, but considering Gollum's similar stature to himself, and his language style and way of thinking being similar to hobbits, he had to believe it.
Not to mention that the ring also held a strong allure for him, making him feel a selfish desire to possess it exclusively, and sometimes even giving rise to dark thoughts, evil ideas of wanting to eliminate everyone who knew about the ring.
He himself was startled by such thoughts.
Thinking of this, he only felt the ring in his pocket become extremely hot, wishing he could throw it away immediately, yet he was deeply attracted to it and couldn't bear to part with it.
His consciousness was like two people, one rational, one obsessed, constantly arguing and tugging.
"Luke, what should I do?" Bilbo asked Luke, full of helplessness.
"Don't be nervous or worried, I'm only telling you this to keep you alert and prevent yourself from being tempted and consumed by it." Luke reassured him, "You just need to stay rational and not overuse it; it won't have much impact on you in the short term."
After their conversation, the group continued their journey.
But soon, a few wolf howls in the distance changed everyone's expressions.
"It's Wargs!"
In the distance, below the hillside, thousands of well-equipped Orcs on giant wolves were rapidly moving towards them.
"To arms!" Gandalf shouted loudly.