It wasn't long before Levi and Bilbo emerged from the Sackville house.
No one pursued the matter of him forcing his way into a private residence. Forget the Shire's guard force, there wasn't anyone in all of Middle-earth who would dare to intervene.
However, Levi hadn't actually done anything to those two hobbits.
Although what the Sackville-Baggins family had done was excessive, it was still just property disputes and some moral issues. From what he could see currently, their actions didn't amount to great evil. At most they were somewhat greedy by nature and rather annoying.
Levi had only frightened them, demanded an apology, and made them swear to never again harbor improper thoughts about Bag End before leaving.
That was sufficient.
"After all, I'm not some great villain."
Hearing Levi's words, Bilbo wanted to speak but hesitated, not knowing whether to nod or shake his head. But to be fair, venting this anger had indeed felt quite satisfying.
It could be predicted that the Sackville family wouldn't dare to harass Bilbo again for a very, very long time.
Bilbo had two swords at home: one was Sting, and the other was the dwarven steel sword Levi had given him. One long, one short, both quite sharp. These served as both mementos and guarantees of his safety.
After staying one night at Bilbo's house, Levi left at dawn under the hobbit's watchful gaze.
Before leaving, Levi deliberately passed by the Sackville house, clearly sensing two fearful gazes from within. This feeling didn't disappear until he had walked quite far away.
This family wasn't actually beyond salvation.
Their ending wasn't particularly good. In later times, the Sackville heir Lotho, due to his own greed, made deals with Saruman and ultimately met a miserable end. And after realizing that their family's actions had brought chaos to the Shire and harmed many people, the sole remaining member of the Sackville family, Lobelia, left all the family's wealth to Frodo to help others, then departed Hobbiton with nothing.
These hobbits... After all, they were hobbits.
While thinking this, before he knew it, Levi had already walked beyond the Shire's borders.
He continued over the Old Forest and across the snowy ground. Suddenly, his mind stirred as he looked south. He saw a tree stump with a very smooth cut jutting from the ground, with a pile of familiar abandoned campfire remains nearby that looked quite old.
Indeed quite old. The last time he'd passed this way must have been two years ago.
This was exactly where Levi had first encountered barrow-wights when he began adventuring, the boundary where the Barrow-downs met the Great Road.
Whoosh...
Faint wailing sounds echoed from the woods, reminding passersby that it was best not to linger here. It also reminded Levi of their location.
Back then, I took down a barrow-wight with just a stone sword and no armor. Now you still think you can scare me?
How could he tolerate such an insult?
Levi frowned, feeling these barrow-wights were somewhat too arrogant, making eerie sounds to frighten people when it wasn't even completely dark yet.
The campfire blazed to life again as Levi sat down on the spot and roasted some meat to eat. But this time, nothing came to disturb him.
Only when starlight replaced the sun's afterglow did Levi stand up and actively walk toward the Barrow-downs. He strode into a rather sinister area.
Standing on high ground and looking around, Levi saw scattered building ruins and tall standing stones distributed throughout the area, with burial mounds always near these special features.
While observing, Levi suddenly looked up, sensing something unusual. The sky appeared somewhat blurred at this moment, and the starlight gradually dimmed. It wasn't snow, nor clouds. Fog was rising.
"Aowww!"
A piercing shriek rang in his ears. Levi's whole body felt heavy, as if cursed, his steps becoming sluggish. These barrow-wights were indeed formidable, constantly applying debilitating effects to people.
But then again.
"These things are far inferior to Nazgul."
Levi casually slashed behind him. With a rumble, flames immediately erupted. The barrow-wight that had come to ambush him let out a sharp cry and tried to phase its body to escape, but Levi gave it no chance. He pursued it with several strikes, directly depleting its health. It immediately turned to ash.
However, this was ultimately the Barrow-downs, with burial mounds everywhere, meaning this was the barrow-wights' stronghold.
In the suddenly spreading thick fog, Levi saw many tall, dark, thin figures. They slowly gathered, either moving their withered bodies or becoming phantasmic, ghostly forms approaching him. A rough count showed at least twenty-some.
If these barrow-wights were deployed on outside battlefields without proper weapons to counter them, they would be enough to kill an elite squad of over a hundred people.
There were many ways to restrain barrow-wights in this world, and elven-forged swords happened to be one of them. Though even without elven swords, Levi's self-made swords could deal real damage to them anyway.
"Die!"
Levi drew his long sword, first sending out several sword beams as appetizers, then immediately charged into the barrow-wight group, unleashing various sword techniques. For a moment, his body flashed with afterimages, as if he'd activated a special ability.
After a moment, having cut down several barrow-wights, he suddenly remembered something.
"Oh right, you were already dead to begin with."
"Disappear!"
Levi charged into the barrow-wight group again.
These barrow-wights did have some ability. Their aura could cause panic, their shrieks could slow one's steps, and their attacks carried cursed power that could gradually drain one's life force.
In the past, even wearing diamond armor, Levi wouldn't necessarily have wanted to wander around here. But now he wore a full set of enchanted netherite armor, and his backpack permanently contained a stack of golden apples plus various potions.
While these barrow-wights could break through his defenses, under the crushing power of resources, they could only dissipate with resentment.
The Barrow-downs were not peaceful that night. The burial goods on the barrow-wights were completely looted, and many burial chambers welcomed true peace for the first time.
When Levi walked toward the Barrow-downs' boundary, stepping on the ashes of burned barrow-wights, no more sounds dared emerge from those graveyards behind him. Even the mist ahead actively parted somewhat, as if guiding him toward the exit.
[Title Obtained: Barrow-wight Bane]
From now on, there was another group in this world that would avoid Levi.
Perhaps for quite a long time in the future, the remaining barrow-wights here wouldn't dare to go out and harm people again or perhaps wouldn't even dare emerge from their tombs. The road from the Shire to Bree would become quite safe at night. Even if travelers accidentally strayed from the main road, they wouldn't be attacked.
All this was because the undead, who usually brought fear to people, had personally experienced the taste of fear on this day.
However, it must be said that these barrow-wights, worthy of being elite monsters, had a much higher probability of dropping skill orbs than orcs or wargs. If barrow-wights weren't so few compared to orcs and particularly good at hiding, Levi really would have wanted to stay here for several days to see if he could max out his skills.
Unfortunately, they weren't very hospitable.
Several days later, the initial snowfall paused. Levi walked leisurely along the Great Road, passing Weathertop and heading straight for Roadside Fort.
But on this day, when he reached the fork leading to Roadside Fort, he saw a group of people standing there, gazing in the direction of his territory. Behind them were many transport carts that looked loaded with goods.
Levi's attention was immediately drawn to them.
The clothes these people wore didn't look like they were produced by nearby towns, and the guards beside the carts wore armor in a style he'd never seen before.
"Is there something you need?"
Levi approached and initiated conversation.
"Hello."
The leader of the group stepped forward and said to Levi very politely:
"Sir, please forgive us. We are traveling merchants from the distant eastern regions. The last time we passed through here was three years ago, and if my memory serves me correctly, this road didn't exist then."
"Oh, there indeed was no such road then."
Levi helpfully pointed the way:
"This road leads to a recently established settlement called Roadside Fort. If you indeed have good wares, perhaps the lord there would welcome you."
"Of course, we certainly have many fine goods."
The merchant leader patted the cargo cart behind him confidently.
"I swear by my family's grapes that every time we pass through here, our pockets overflow with silver coins while our goods are completely sold out."
"What's loaded here are absolutely the finest wines."
"You're wine merchants?"
"Yes, sir. Our wine would intoxicate even the king of the elves, whether in past ages or now."
"Oh?"
Levi suddenly became interested.
"I happen to be going to Roadside Fort. I can take you along. I believe the lord there should welcome you."
"But I still want to ask: when you say you come from the east, do you mean Dale or Lake-town?"
Hearing these two names, the merchant leader shook his head:
"No."
"We come from a place much more distant than that."
"Dorwinion."