Only after the wight's remains were buried did everyone return to the yurt to continue sleeping.
"Hmm, what's wrong? What happened?" The corpulent Bombur groggily emerged from his sleeping bag, looking at the entering group with confusion.
Everyone immediately fell silent, exchanging glances.
The situation had been urgent earlier, and everyone thought they had all woken up, but they hadn't realized one person was still missing.
Gandalf and Luke both watched the scene with smiles.
Thorin looked at his simple-minded companion, took a deep breath, and said exasperatedly, "Nothing, go back to sleep."
"Ah? Oh!" And then Bombur really did shrink back into his sleeping bag, and soon after, earth-shattering snores emanated from him.
Everyone was speechless again, but still, with various emotions, they all burrowed into their respective sleeping bags.
It was already very late, and they had to set off early tomorrow.
The next morning, everyone gradually awoke from their dreams.
Watching Luke wave his hand and transform the enormous yurt back into a carriage, with the carpets and sleeping bags also disappearing, everyone felt as if they had just experienced a dream.
Before setting off, there was one more thing everyone had to do.
That was to share the spoils.
Hundreds of wights had left behind a large bag of jewelry and accessories last night, not to mention dozens of relatively intact ancient swords.
Regarding these spoils, Gandalf suggested that everyone share them equally.
However, Thorin directly refused, believing that the Dwarves had not contributed to last night's battle, as all the wights were dealt with by Gandalf and Luke, so there was no reason to share the spoils.
The other Dwarves also agreed with Thorin; although they loved jewels dearly, their pride did not allow them to accept charity.
Facing the stubborn Dwarves, Gandalf no longer insisted, but he himself had no great need for treasure, so he only picked out the most intact ancient sword as a weapon, and then left the remaining spoils to Luke.
Luke looked at the spoils, all belonging to him, and suddenly suggested to everyone, "Yesterday, the Witch-king of Angmar was severely wounded by me, and his wight minions also lost their power. Why don't we seize this opportunity to go straight to the dragon's lair and take the wight treasures from within the barrows?"
At this suggestion, the Dwarves' eyes lit up, and even Thorin, who only wanted to reach the Lonely Mountain as soon as possible, did not object.
They refused to share Luke and Gandalf's spoils, but that didn't mean they didn't covet treasure.
Especially since the Dwarves were not wealthy now; Thorin Oakenshield even had to make a living as a blacksmith to support the Durin folk, exchanging resources with nearby humans. He even had to offer the Lonely Mountain treasure as compensation to gain the cooperation of Luke and others in the expedition.
Although Gandalf had no interest in the wight treasure, he also supported Luke's suggestion.
So, instead of continuing forward, everyone changed direction and headed deeper into the Barrow-downs.
The sky over the Barrow-downs was always so gloomy, with mists perpetually shrouding the mountains, an expanse of silence and desolation.
However, compared to his last visit to the Barrow-downs, Luke noticed that much of the mist in the mountains had dissipated, and the dark clouds in the sky had thinned somewhat.
Everyone proceeded without encountering any obstacles, smoothly reaching the Guzhong Group.
Perhaps because the Witch-king of Angmar was severely wounded and the wights had lost the support of the Witch-king's power, there was no sign of wight activity on the Barrow-downs, making it very quiet.
Gandalf tapped the ground with his staff, continuously using Magic to detect, and after receiving a sensation, he reminded everyone, "The wights are asleep and will not awaken for a short time, but still be careful not to disturb them."
Upon receiving the information from Gandalf, the Dwarves immediately became excited; with no threat from the wights, the jewels buried in the barrows were all theirs!
So the Dwarves began their tomb-robbing work.
Dwarves are naturally skilled at excavating mines and tunnels, so digging a tunnel to the burial chamber was no problem for them at all.
The Barrow-downs primarily buried the princes and nobles of the Dúnedain, and the burial goods were naturally invaluable treasures; under the Dwarves' patronage, the burial goods in the tombs were completely plundered.
As for the wights sleeping in the tombs, if encountered, they were basically dealt with by Luke and Gandalf, preventing any possibility of their revival.
After staying in the Barrow-downs for three days, the Dwarves visited over a hundred burial chambers, finally reluctantly giving up their tomb-robbing work only because their food was running out.
And the final haul also made everyone very satisfied; except for Gandalf, who gave up his share, everyone else's pockets were bulging with gold, silver, and jewels, even Bilbo's.
The Dwarves were all beaming with joy, and even the most serious Thorin's face had softened considerably.
Carrying their abundant gains, everyone left the Barrow-downs.
And before leaving, Gandalf even gave the Barrow-downs a great purification gift package, purifying and suppressing the evil power that the Witch-king of Angmar had imposed on the Barrow-downs to its lowest level.
In any case, the wights sleeping in the Barrow-downs had no chance of revival in the short term.
As for why the evil power of the Witch-king of Angmar was not simply dispelled, according to Gandalf, unless the Witch-king of Angmar could be eliminated, the power he imposed on the Barrow-downs would never disappear.
Returning to the main road,
Everyone continued their journey, finally arriving at Bree at noon.
Bree is a small town inhabited by humans, located in the center of the Eriador wilderness, where the East-West Road and North-South Road main arteries intersect, providing excellent transportation, and many traveling merchants, rangers, and others would stop here.
Occasionally, even Elves would pass through here, traveling along the East-West Road to the Grey Havens in Lindon to the west, and then crossing the sea by ship.
Everyone arrived at The Prancing Pony in Bree for a brief rest and to replenish some supplies.
With money in their pockets, the Dwarves were very eager to enjoy themselves, directly waving their hands, "Innkeeper, bring out all the wine! Today we'll drink our fill!"
Besides their love for money, Dwarves also greatly enjoyed drinking, especially strong, spicy spirits.
The innkeeper became very enthusiastic upon hearing the Dwarves; Dwarves not only loved to drink but also had a great capacity for it, consuming wine by the barrel, not by the cup.
So no innkeeper would refuse such guests, and he immediately instructed the Hobbit servants in the inn to bring out barrels of fine wine from the cellar and place them before the Dwarves, letting them drink their fill.
At the same time, Luke's Hogwarts Sign-in System also reacted.
[Hogwarts Sign-in System: Location Bree - The Prancing Pony, do you wish to sign in?]
Luke remained calm and silently thought, "Sign in."
[Sign-in successful, congratulations on obtaining the Floo Powder manufacturing method and Floo Network application!]
A surge of memories flooded his mind, and Luke's eyes immediately widened.
Floo Powder? This sign-in was actually this item.