Chapter 30 Distracted

Chapter 30 Distracted
The heavy iron chains rattled against the wooden doors.
​Ye Chen sat in the center of the dark loading bay. He rested his broken iron hilt on his knees. Thick freezing fog kept rolling under the gap of the main warehouse entrance.
The high weeping sound kept echoing from the dark alley outside.
​Ye Chen narrowed his eyes. He tracked a dark shadow moving past the frosted high windows. It looked like the silhouette of a disheveled woman pacing back and forth.
​He waited for the heavy wood to splinter. He allowed the volatile Demonic Qi in his Dantian to rise to the surface of his skin. The dark energy kept his senses sharp and his blood warm against the unnatural cold.
​Hours bled away in the silent warehouse.
​The shadow paced relentlessly outside the glass. The wet hollow sobs drifted through the brick walls. But the entity never attempted to breach the chained doors.
​The weeping finally faded. The first gray light of dawn pierced the dirty skylight above him.
​Ye Chen stood up from the wooden crate. The freezing fog evaporated from the stone floor. He realized the pacing shadow was a distraction.
​He turned his back on the main doors. He sprinted down the dark hallway toward the reinforced cellar.
​He shoved the heavy steel door open.
​Bai Yun was tearing through a pile of dirty blankets in the corner. The Azure Cloud dropout looked frantic. His eyes darted around the confined stone room.
​Zhang Ling sat huddled against the far wall. The young girl trembled and coughed wetly into her hands.
​"She is gone," Bai Yun gasped.
​Ye Chen saw the breach immediately. A small ventilation window sat high on the back wall of the cellar. Thick iron bars had protected the narrow opening.
​The iron bars were shattered outward.
​Ye Chen crossed the room and inspected the damage. Thick black frost coated the jagged metal edges. The solid iron was frozen brittle and snapped like dry twigs.
​An elderly mortal woman was missing from the group. She was dragged through the narrow opening into the slum alleys.
​She did not make a single sound during the abduction. The monster bypassed his frontline defense and harvested its prey in total silence.
​The remaining mortals snapped.
​An aggressive man with a scarred cheek grabbed his canvas sack. He stood up and pointed a trembling finger at Ye Chen.
​"Your protection is a death sentence," the man screamed. He pointed at the shattered iron bars. "You lied to us. Rogue assassins do not freeze solid iron. You cannot fight ghosts."
​The panic infected the rest of the survivors. They grabbed their meager belongings. They moved toward the stairwell leading up to the main loading bay.
​They preferred the Enforcer blockades over the invisible monsters hunting them in the dark.
​"Stop right there," Bai Yun ordered. He stepped in front of the stairwell and raised his hands.
​"Get out of our way," the aggressive man snarled.
​"The Enforcers will execute you in the street," Bai Yun warned the crowd. "Elder Wang is burning the slums to hide these creatures. You will not survive the morning."
​"I will take my chances with men who bleed," the scarred man shouted.
​He shoved Bai Yun hard into the brick wall. The dropout stumbled and dropped his short sword.
​The aggressive man reached for the heavy steel deadbolt on the cellar door. He intended to lead the survivors out into the burning city.
​Ye Chen watched the mutiny unfold.
​If those doors opened the Enforcers would flood the warehouse. The safehouse would fall. His only foothold in the Capital would become a slaughterhouse.
​He remembered the cold philosophy from his mountain cave. He did not negotiate with panic. He had to become the apex predator in the room.
​Ye Chen activated Phantom Shadow Step.
​He bypassed the space between them in a fraction of a second. He appeared directly behind the aggressive man.
​He channeled the uninitiated Nine Hells Devouring Art. Pitch black smoke wrapped tightly around his bare right hand.
​Ye Chen drove his fist straight through the man's back.
​His knuckles shattered the spine. His hand burst out of the man's chest in a shower of gore.
​The freezing Yin energy flooded the victim's chest cavity. The man's heart stopped beating. The vital organ turned into solid black ice in Ye Chen's palm.
​Ye Chen ripped his arm free. The dead man dropped heavily onto the cold stone floor.
​Black freezing blood splattered across Ye Chen's face.
​The mortal survivors screamed in raw terror. They scrambled backward away from the fresh corpse. They pressed themselves against the damp brick walls.
​Ye Chen glared at the huddled crowd. The black smoke trailed from his bloody fingers.
​"The Enforcers will kill you," Ye Chen stated with cold malice. "The ghouls will eat your souls."
​He pointed a bloody finger at the heavy steel door.
​"But if you touch that handle I will slaughter you first."
​The mortals submitted instantly. They dropped their canvas bags. They retreated back to their dirty mattresses and wept in silence.
​Bai Yun pressed his back against the wall. The dropout stared at Ye Chen in horror. He realized the boy he followed was just as monstrous as the things hunting them in the dark.
​Ye Chen ignored the stare. He wiped the black blood from his cheek.
​He walked back over to the shattered ventilation window. He reached up and touched the jagged iron bars.
​The black frost stung his calloused fingertips.
​He closed his eyes and analyzed the lingering energy signature. He recognized the volatile cold. He knew the exact origin of the freezing magic.
​It was the exact same Demonic Yin Qi he harbored in his own Dantian.
​The ghouls were not just random mutated beasts. They were wielding the corrupted energy of the Nine Hells Devouring Art. Elder Wang had unlocked something ancient and lethal in the forest.
“System” Ye Chen called “Display attributes”
\[Strength 72 Base 12 + 20 Allocated + 10 Chaos Fist + 30 Max Mountain Crushing Palm\]
\[Agility: 78 (Base 8 + 30 Allocated + 30 Max Swift Wind Steps + 10 Phantom Shadow Step Lv.1)\]
\[Defense: 50 (Base 10 + 20 Iron Bone Vajra Lv.1 + 20 Max Iron Skin Mantra)\]
\[Spirit 45 (Expanded via Devoured Lightning Qi & Raw Spirit Stones)\]
\[Perception: 25 (Base 15 + 5 Environmental Adaptation + 5 Demonic Tracking)\]
Ye Chen confirmed his theory. Upgrading skills directly increase his attributes.
But still, it is not enough.