Warhammer 40: The Wandering Merchant

Tie Hui stretched his body and touched the sword that King Elon had given him at his waist.

He sighed deeply and reluctantly followed the crowd.

The group chatted and laughed all the way, clearly having almost forgotten the hardships of the journey.

Only Tie Hui was miserably getting used to the dragon scale armor on his body.

Everyone threw all the luggage they had prepared, except for the essentials, at him.

Because Gandalf and Aragorn had already witnessed Ironhide's ability to manipulate objects from the void.

They all concluded that he possessed a magical artifact capable of storing items.

So naturally, some food storage was entrusted to him.

Tie Hui naturally didn't have many objections, since he had access to the dimensional space, so he simply put everything inside.

Therefore, the journey was greatly accelerated and became incredibly easy for everyone.

Only Pippin and Merri, those two idiots, would pester him from time to time during breaks, taking out an iron pot and food to cook.

Seeing the tomatoes and potatoes, Tie Hui's interest was piqued, and he prepared a Chinese dish.

Everyone raved about the food!

Even Gandalf and Legolas were full of praise for it!

Gandalf even remarked meaningfully, "This is clearly the kind of cuisine that only a great civilization with a prosperous history could create!"

Then he turned to Legolas and said, "Just like your elven history, didn't you also have many beautiful clothes and delicious food?"

Legolas ate what he was eating and nodded in agreement.

Tie Hui remained silent, simply continuing to eat the food in his hand.

But in his heart, he was already cursing, "That old Gandalf always manages to give you a taste of his own medicine!"

quack quack...

While everyone was still eating, the cawing of a flock of crows came from the distant sky.

Gandalf was the first to react. Holding his half-eaten plate, he rolled over and hid behind a nearby stone wall.

He also shouted, "Get hidden! This is Saruman's spy!"

The group hurriedly extinguished the flames, packed their belongings, and hid.

Although Tie Hui was doing as instructed, he was filled with unease.

It doesn't match the history he remembers!

Saruman's spies arrived so far ahead of schedule!

The flock of birds came to the place where they had just rested and circled in the sky for a long time.

Much later, the flock of crows dispersed and flew away in all directions!

However, a few still flew towards the distant mountains and landed in relatively hidden crevices in the rocks, watching everything that was happening here.

Seeing the crows fly away, Pippin tried to climb out from under the stone wall.

But Gandalf stopped him, for he had spotted several crows watching from a distance.

Gandalf gestured to Legolas, who nodded in response. Legolas then drew his bow and arrow, pulled back the string in an extremely contorted posture, and aimed at the hidden crows in the distance.

He gripped the five arrows in his hand, and with a whoosh, all five arrows fired simultaneously within a second, shooting towards the flock of crows in the distance.

Immediately afterwards, screams rang out!

Meanwhile, Saruman, inside the mage tower in Isengard, was manipulating the crows with a crystal ball when he suddenly sensed that the information connection between several crows had been broken.

He immediately used magic to locate the location and then sent the rest of the crows to scout ahead.

Sauron of Mordor also learned the whole story through Saruman's crystal ball.

Having fully recovered their strength, the Ringwraiths rode their hellhounds, howling as they flew at full speed towards the location of the Fellowship of the Ring.

The orcs riding wolves on the ground instantly transformed from their previously scattered search into a fierce force, charging madly toward the location given by Saruman.

At this moment, Gandalf saw Legolas shoot down the scout crows.

He was the first to climb out from under the rock wall, ignoring the dust covering his clothes, and shouted as he put on his hat, "Hurry! They've noticed us. We need to get out of here immediately. We have to speed up!"

He then gave Frodo a deep look, and after confirming that he was unharmed, he turned around and quickly cleared a path ahead.

Legolas, being light and agile, was the second to follow.

Next came the three humans, Ironhide and his companions, followed by the hobbits, and finally the dwarf Gimli.

His two calves moved quite quickly, and coupled with the complex terrain of the towering rocks, he was already panting heavily after only a short while, even though he was wearing armor and using both hands and feet.

Without luggage, everyone's speed increased significantly!

Only a dozen days later, the snow-capped mountains in the distance were already clearly visible.

The group dared not rest too much along the way, because Legolas could often detect flocks of crows flying by to scout ahead.

They wouldn't even dare to light a fire unless they encountered a cave or a rocky wall.

"We're about to cross the Calanlas Mountains. The peaks here are very high, and the temperature is below zero all year round. It will be very cold up there, so we need to prepare in advance!" Gandalf checked the tobacco in his pocket while also warning the others about the dangers of the mountains.

Tie Hui took out the various supplies that King Elon had prepared for them, especially the thick clothes.

"Let's get a good night's rest and try to cross the mountains as quickly as possible!" Aragorn said, building a makeshift barrier out of stones and trees to start a fire and cook food.

"This journey has been absolutely agonizing!" Jinli leaned his axe on the ground, practically hanging from it.

Merri and Pippin sat there, completely disregarding their image, just about to speak...

"what……"

A familiar yet mournful howl instantly reached everyone's ears.

Frodo was instantly stunned!

Everyone stared in horror at the direction from which the sound came from, except for Sam, who noticed that something was wrong with Frodo.

He suddenly grabbed his collar, shook him violently, and shouted to the crowd, "Something's wrong with him!"

Gandalf heard the sound and quickly came over. With just one glance, he determined that the Ringwraiths were using Frodo's wounds to induce a response.

"Hide quickly!" Gandalf, without saying a word, picked up Frodo and hid in a nearby haystack.

Gandalf also used magic to block the underworld information from Frodo, who was marked by the Ringwraiths.

Others quickly followed suit.

Legolas leaped up the tree in a few quick steps and hid in the dense thicket.

wow-

Immediately afterwards, the sounds of heavy objects hitting the ground and the flapping of wings reached everyone's ears.

Heavy breathing filled the air, and dust and leaves were blown up and swirled in the air.

The people who had been hiding held their breath!

The next second, the sound of iron boots stomping on the ground rang out!

The Ringwraiths drew their longswords and began searching the surrounding area.

Because their mounts had just sensed the presence of the underworld on Frodo.

……