bookrebus Chapter 563 Zhao Hao
Chapter 563 Zhao Hao
He looked Zhao Hao up and down – level 35, all equipment durability below 20%, only one-third of his health remaining, almost no mana, and three debuffs: hunger, cold, and weakness.
In a place like this, it's already a miracle that a level 35 player can survive for two days.
Lin Tian didn't ask him why he wanted to enter that hidden dungeon, nor did he ask him why he didn't bring more life-saving items.
He simply raised his chin slightly, gesturing for Zhao Hao to stand up.
"Can you walk???"
Zhao Hao was stunned for a moment.
Then he nodded vigorously.
He stood up, bracing himself against the ice wall. His legs were visibly weak, and his knees wobbled a couple of times before he regained his balance.
His right boot slipped on a piece of broken ice, and he quickly grabbed the wall for support, digging his fingers into a crack in the ice, catching his breath.
"Yes," he said. "I...I can walk."
Lin Tian nodded and turned to walk out of the ice cave.
He took two steps and then stopped.
He glanced sideways at the shattered gem at Zhao Hao's waist, then at his ashen face, and said:
"Stay close, don't wander off."
Zhao Hao nodded vigorously, his eyes slightly red, but he didn't cry.
He took a deep breath and drew the short sword from his waist, gripping it in his hand—although he knew the sword couldn't even scratch the hide of a magical beast here, having something in his hand made him feel at ease.
He followed behind Lin Tian, limping out of the ice cave.
.............
The moment Zhao Hao stepped out of the ice cave, his pupils contracted sharply.
He saw the ground littered with the corpses of monsters.
Ice-armored rhinoceroses—those enormous creatures, three meters long and covered in ice armor, lay sprawled on the ice. Some had their heads pierced, some were frozen into ice sculptures, and others had their entire bodies completely charred, leaving only their blackened skeletons.
The Frostclaw Beast—an agile magical beast whose speed was so fast that he couldn't even see its movements at level 35—was now lying in the ice pit like a dead dog, its limbs twisted at unnatural angles.
The ground was scorched by vast areas of starlight, and the ice layer was eroded several meters deep, exposing the underlying rock. The air was filled with the smells of burnt metal and ozone, which mixed together to create a pungent odor.
Zhao Hao's eyes widened in surprise.
He crouched down beside the carcass of an armored rhinoceros and reached out to touch the wound that ran through its head.
The edges of the wound were charred black, smooth as glass, with no signs of blood or flesh showing – the result of being burned through by an extremely high-temperature energy beam in an instant.
"These...you killed all of these?" He looked up, his voice trembling.
Lin Tian did not answer.
He walked ahead at a moderate pace, his boots making rhythmic sounds as they pounded on the ice.
The little white creature perched on his shoulder, its icy blue scales standing out vividly against the greyish-white light of the sky.
Celia appeared and disappeared from the shadows, the hem of her black robe occasionally fluttering in the wind.
Zhao Hao stared at that retreating figure, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.
He had heard of Lin Tian.
This name has appeared in many places—in heated discussions on the world chat, in dungeon clearing records, and in announcements of world boss kills.
He knew Lin Tian was very strong, but the concept of "very strong" was always very abstract until he saw the corpses of these level 75 elite monsters with his own eyes.
There is a 40-level gap between level 35 and level 75.
To him, an ice-armored rhinoceros was an insurmountable mountain.
But Lin Tian alone—no, along with a dragon and a succubus—cleared out the entire area.
Zhao Hao took a deep breath and quickened his pace.
He trudged along behind Lin Tian, stepping on broken ice and scorch marks, nearly slipping several times but managing to regain his balance each time. He didn't want to fall flat on his face in front of Lin Tian.
Lin Tian stopped next to an icicle.
Zhao Hao also stopped.
He noticed that Lin Tian stopped, and Xiao Bai and Celia stopped at the same time.
The succubus didn't even need any commands; she simply formed a perfect guard position beside Lin Tian.
Zhao Hao secretly envied them—this kind of tacit understanding couldn't be built up by level or equipment.
Lin Tian turned around.
He looked at Zhao Hao with a calm gaze, without any sense of oppression, but Zhao Hao felt as if he were being scanned from head to toe by an X-ray machine.
"Zhao Hao," Lin Tian suddenly said.
Zhao Hao was stunned for a moment.
It wasn't the kind of shock of being recognized—he was already prepared to be recognized, after all, the Undead Scourge incident had caused such a huge uproar that there were hardly any players on the entire server who didn't know his name.
He was stunned because of the tone Lin Tian used when he said those two words.
It's too peaceful.
It was as calm as if he were reciting the name of a stranger.
"Mm," Zhao Hao responded, without denying it.
Lin Tian looked at him and casually asked, "The one about the Undead Scourge?"
The tone was casual, as if asking, "Have you eaten today?"
Zhao Hao gave a wry smile.
He had seen this reaction far too many times.
Some were angry, some mocking, some curious, and some contemptuous.
But this was the first time he had ever encountered someone like Lin Tian, who asked such a casual question as if it were as insignificant as the weather today.
"Yes," Zhao Hao said.
Just one word.
He offered no explanation, no defense, no claim that it wasn't intentional, no mention of any problem with the task prompts, and no statement that the system hadn't issued a warning.
Because he knew that no matter how much he said, it was useless. Those who believed didn't need to listen, and those who didn't believe wouldn't believe even if they did.
Lin Tian nodded and didn't ask any further questions.
That nod was as light as a gentle breeze, as if saying, "Okay, let's move on to the next topic."
Zhao Hao opened his mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed it back.
He was prepared to be questioned, ridiculed, or even attacked.
He had seen too many people change their expressions upon hearing his name, turning from "you, this person" to "you, this sinner."
But Lin Tian did nothing and said nothing; he simply nodded and then looked away from him.
That feeling was strange.
He wasn't forgiven—because Lin Tian never showed any stance of "forgiveness." He was neither a victim nor a judge.
It's more like... this matter isn't worth spending time discussing in Lin Tian's eyes at all.
Zhao Hao took a deep breath.
He suppressed the complex emotions that welled up inside him.
"How did you get here?" Lin Tian asked.
The topic shifted so naturally, as if the previous two sentences had never happened.
Zhao Hao breathed a sigh of relief.
He pointed to the space between his eyebrows, where an extremely faint pale golden light was flickering, almost invisible unless you looked closely.
"My talent, [Barrier Disintegration]," Zhao Hao said. "SS-rank. Its effect is to ignore the energy defense of most barriers and penetrate them directly."