nycdaug Chapter 562 Survivors in the Ice Cave
Chapter 562 Survivors in the Ice Cave
Lin Tian withdrew the star power he had gathered in his palm, his gaze sweeping over the devastated ice plains.
The air still carried the smell of ozone from the [Starry Sky Storm], mixed with the strange, burnt aroma of charred ice crystals.
The edges of the ice pits scorched by starlight have been re-frozen with a thin layer of ice, reflecting the grayish-white light from inside the barrier.
He listened intently.
The sound of wind, the cracking of ice deep within the ice, the low growls of scattered magical beasts in the distance—beneath these sounds, there was an extremely faint heartbeat.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
It was slow, but very rhythmic.
It was as if some living being was struggling and stubbornly clinging to its last vestige of life.
Celia emerged halfway from the shadows, her silver eyes glancing in that direction.
"A living person," she said, her tone devoid of any emotion, simply stating a fact.
Little White flew up from Lin Tian's shoulder, its dragon body unfurling in the air, the icy blue luster on its scales standing out against the gray-white sky.
It let out a soft chirp and flicked its tail in that direction, as if pointing the way.
Lin Tian took a step.
The ice beneath my feet cracked crisply under my boots, leaving a shallow footprint with each step.
The edges of the footprints were quickly filled with tiny ice crystals, like a white dotted line extending behind them.
The ice cliff is getting closer and closer.
That was a natural terrain rise within the North Wind Barrier, where ice had accumulated for countless years, forming a near-vertical cliff.
The cliff face is covered with vertical icicles, some as thick as an arm, some as thin as chopsticks, arranged densely like rows of sharp teeth.
There is a crack at the base of the cliff.
The crack was about the height of a person and extended five or six meters inward, ending at a semi-enclosed ice cave. The entrance to the ice cave was covered with a layer of pale blue light membrane—the self-defense mechanism of the secondary barrier.
Lin Tian walked up to the light membrane.
The runes on the surface of the light film were slowly flowing, but the brightness was already very low, like an oil lamp about to burn out. Some runes had even faded completely, leaving only faint marks.
He took out the North Wind Pass.
The silvery-white light on the token resonated with the light membrane. A crack appeared in the center of the light membrane, first a thin line appeared, and then it slowly stretched to both sides, like an eye opening.
The entrance is open.
Lin Tian bent down and went inside.
The inside of the ice cave was a little warmer than the outside, but it only changed the condition from "frozen to death" to "frozen stiff." The ground was a rough layer of ice with a layer of fine ice chips on the surface, making a rustling sound when stepped on.
The air was filled with a complex odor—the bitterness of medicine residue, the plastic smell of dry food packaging, the salty smell of sweat, and a faint, almost imperceptible, smell of blood.
Deep inside the ice cave, a person huddled in a corner.
He leaned against the ice wall, hugging his knees, his body trembling slightly.
His armor was in terrible condition—there were three deep claw marks on his breastplate, almost tearing the metal plate apart; half of his shoulder armor was broken, revealing the grayish-white lining underneath; most of his cloak was torn off, and the remaining part looked like a tattered flag, covered with dried blood and ice shards.
He still held a scroll in his right hand, but the scroll had been used; the runes were completely faded, and the paper was charred and curled, like a burnt leaf.
As Lin Tian walked in, the man suddenly looked up.
He moved too fast and the back of his head hit the ice wall with a dull thud, but he seemed not to feel it, his eyes fixed on Lin Tian.
That face was filled with fear.
His pupils were dilated, the whites of his eyes were bloodshot, his lips were dry and cracked, and there were dried bloodstains at the corners of his mouth. His cheeks were sunken, and his cheekbones were high and prominent, clearly indicating that he had not eaten or rested properly for a long time.
But there was something else in those eyes besides fear—disbelief, wariness, and a faint, almost extinguished hope.
"Lin...Lin Tian?!"
His voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible, like a broken gong rubbed on sandpaper.
"You... what are you doing here?"
He didn't stand up, but his body visibly shrank back, his back pressed tightly against the ice wall, as if he wanted to embed himself into it.
He loosened his grip on the discarded scroll with his right hand and instinctively reached for the short sword at his waist, but his fingers trembled so badly that he couldn't hold the hilt even after it wobbled a few times at his waist.
Lin Tian stood at the entrance of the ice cave.
His figure appeared very tall in the pale blue light filtering through the light membrane, like a stone statue descending from the sky.
He didn't draw his sword, didn't gather the power of the stars, and didn't even release any oppressive aura. He simply stood there quietly, looking down at the young man huddled in the corner, looking as disheveled as a drowned rat.
"Who are you?" Lin Tian asked.
The tone was flat; it wasn't interrogation, nor was it concern. It was simply a request for information.
The man took a deep breath.
His chest heaved violently a few times, as if trying to suppress his fear. He wiped the sweat and dust from his face with his sleeve—the sleeve was covered in dust, and wiping it only made it dirtier—and then tried to steady his voice.
"My name is Zhao Hao."
The voice was still trembling, but it was a little better than before.
"I... I got in here using my special abilities. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's all true."
Lin Tian did not respond.
Zhao Hao took a second deep breath.
He looked into Lin Tian's eyes, making sure the other party had no intention of attacking, before slowly releasing his grip on the sword hilt. His fingers left several sweaty marks on the hilt.
"My talent is [Barrier Disintegration]," Zhao Hao said. "The effect is that it can ignore the energy defense of most barriers."
"I was farming a hidden dungeon in the Barren Hills, and the exit was blocked by an ancient barrier. I wanted to test if my talent could get through, so I activated my ability."
He paused, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.
"As it turns out... I did manage to penetrate the barrier, but in the wrong direction. Instead of exiting the instance, I was swept into a spatial turbulence. When I came to my senses, I was already in this godforsaken place."
He looked around the ice cave, gave a bitter smile—a smile that looked worse than a grimace.
"I don't know where this place is, but the monsters here... are at least forty levels higher than me. I have a lot of survival items on me—invisibility scrolls, invincibility potions, random teleportation scrolls—all of which I bought at a high price. I used them as I ran, and finally found this place protected by a light barrier, so I hid here."
"I've been hiding... for about two days." Zhao Hao's voice lowered. "I've used up all my survival items, and my food and water are almost gone. If no one comes soon... I might—"
He didn't finish speaking.
But the meaning is already very clear.
Lin Tian remained silent for two seconds.