Chapter 025: The Interior

After returning to the Lonely Mountain, Wang Bo went to Yaz's world again, found Xiao Bai and Xiao Qing, and told them he was going on a long journey, asking them to cultivate on their own for the next few days.

After finishing all this, Wang Bo returned to the Lonely Mountain, found the dwarf Sazi, and gave further instructions.

Gandalf followed Wang Bo, and after Wang Bo had dealt with the matters at hand, the two rode Smaug, left the Lonely Mountain, and flew to the Misty Mountains.

Under Gandalf's guidance, Smaug entered the Misty Mountains and landed before a low cliff, about several tens of feet high, with a broken and uneven top. Occasionally, a few sparse drops of water fell from above; from the scene before them, this place had once been a rather magnificent waterfall, which had carved out such a spectacular terrain.

Gandalf looked around and said with a sigh, "This place has really changed a lot, but I shouldn't have mistaken it. This is the remnant of the Stair Falls. If I remember correctly, there should be a staircase beside the waterfall, but the main path would wind up the slope."

"In ancient times, there was a valley beside the entrance to Moria, and the Sirannon River flowed down along the path. Let's go up quickly and see what it looks like now!"

So Gandalf continued to direct Smaug upward. When they reached the top, a deep, still lake appeared before them, its dark surface reflecting no scenery.

Wang Bo saw that the Sirannon River Gandalf had mentioned was blocked, filling the entire valley into a small lake. Beside this eerie lake, a very steep cliff looked down upon it.

At the same time, Wang Bo also understood why the waterfall earlier had dried up.

"This is the outer wall of Moria," said Gandalf, pointing to the opposite shore of the lake. "There used to be an entrance over there. It was the Elven entrance coming from Hollin along the path. Unfortunately, this road is now impassable."

Wang Bo smiled slightly and said, "Not necessarily."

It was just a wall; it couldn't stop Wang Bo. If he took action, he had dozens of ways to destroy it.

Gandalf seemed to know what Wang Bo was thinking and said, "You'd better not do that."

Wang Bo glanced at him but didn't ask why. He knew very well that he was an outsider. If he wanted to stay in this world, it was best not to have too strained a relationship with Gandalf.

So Wang Bo gave up the idea of taking action and let Gandalf handle it.

Seeing Wang Bo's behavior, Gandalf nodded almost imperceptibly. Along the way, Wang Bo had shown him respect and hadn't been too offensive, making Gandalf feel that Wang Bo was a decent person.

The initial vigilance had unconsciously diminished somewhat.

He felt this person was not bad.

And this was exactly what Wang Bo wanted.

So under Gandalf's direction, Smaug carried the two onward, finally landing on a dry flat area between the lake and the cliff. This area was very narrow, only a few meters in length and width, and the ground was covered with fallen rocks.

Walking south along the lake shore for about a thousand meters, they encountered a few holly trees.

Apart from the rotten and stinking waterlogged tree trunks, there seemed to have been a dense forest planted along the valley path.

The only suspicious sight before them was two tall holly trees growing vigorously against the cliff.

Their huge roots stretched from the cliff to the lake. Seen from the distant Stair Falls, compared to the towering cliffs, they looked like low shrubs.

But up close, they were tall and large, like two fearless sturdy guards on either side of the road.

"Huh, we've finally arrived," said Gandalf. "This is the end of the Elven road from Hollin. Holly is the symbol of the local people; they planted these two holly trees here to mark the end of their territory. The main purpose of this West Gate was to facilitate communication with the King of Moria."

"In more peaceful times, when the races still had close ties, Dwarves and Elves were quite familiar friends."

Wang Bo knew this too.

But now, because of the Lonely Mountain affair, the relationship between Dwarves and Elves had collapsed.

Moreover, having seen The Lord of the Rings, Wang Bo knew even more clearly that to enter this door, one must say the word 'friend' in Elvish. Only then would this hidden door open.

Unfortunately, Wang Bo's language comprehension only allowed others to understand what he said, so he wasn't sure if a door could understand him.

So Wang Bo gave a hint to Gandalf, who was pondering how to open the door.

Gandalf was also shrewd. After Wang Bo's hint, he quickly realized this and shouted 'friend' in the Elvish language.

Sure enough, the spell worked. A huge doorway began to slowly emerge; it gradually split in the middle and opened outward until both doors were fully open.

Wang Bo could see a staircase ascending inside, extending to the end of his sight.

Gandalf turned back to look at Wang Bo, but said nothing. Instead, he said, "The door is open. Let's go in."

Wang Bo followed suit, walking behind Gandalf.

As for Smaug, Wang Bo left him outside. After all, in this place, Smaug's large body couldn't move freely.

Gandalf walked at the front, raising his staff so that the faint light it emitted illuminated the way. The wide staircase seemed untouched by the ravages of time.

They climbed about two hundred steps before reaching the top. At the end of the staircase was another archway and a long corridor leading into darkness.

The two did not stop; they entered the corridor and continued forward. The corridor turned several times and then began to descend.

It sloped downward for a long time before finally leveling out again.

The air became hot and stuffy, but fortunately, there was no strange stench mixed in. Sometimes they could feel fresh air blowing from gaps in the walls, and there were many such gaps around.

Wang Bo couldn't help but marvel that the Dwarves of the past were truly remarkable, able to build such a complete city.

It seemed that besides their forging skills, the Dwarves were also excellent in architecture.

Wang Bo even wanted to have the Dwarves build a magnificent palace for himself.

The two continued forward, walking for several hours without rest. At this point, Gandalf suddenly stopped to carefully check the direction. Before him was a wide archway leading to three passages, all heading east; but the leftmost path went down, the rightmost went up, and the middle path continued straight ahead, flat but very narrow.

This confused Gandalf. "I don't remember this place at all," he said to Wang Bo.