Thud. Thud. Thud.
Heavy footsteps echoed down the frozen corridor.
The sound of iron-soled boots crushing the thin layer of ice on the floor grew louder.
Jin lay curled on the ground, his body trembling violently.
It wasn't acting.
The heat exploding inside his dantian[1] was tearing through his frozen meridians like a flood of molten lava.
'It burns…!'
It felt as if he had swallowed a handful of burning coals.
The clash between the extreme cold of the prison and the extreme heat of the [Asura Breathing Technique] created a chaotic storm inside his small body.
But amidst the agony, Jin's mind remained chillingly cold.
'They are coming.'
The guards.
If they found him rolling on the floor in pain, they would be suspicious.
If they sensed even a chaotic wisp of internal energy from him, they would kill him on the spot.
In the Northern Sea Ice Palace, a servant learning martial arts was a capital offense.
'Hide it.'
Jin clenched his teeth so hard his gums bled.
The Mad Monk had said the technique feeds on pain.
'Eat it.'
Jin visualized the pain. He didn't fight the agony; he swallowed it.
He forced the rampaging heat to burrow deep into his bones, hiding beneath the layers of cold flesh.
Creak—!
The heavy iron door at the end of the hallway groaned open.
Torches illuminated the darkness, casting long, dancing shadows against the icy walls.
"Damn it, it's freezing."
"Why do we have to inspect the deep levels at this hour?"
Three guards appeared.
The one in the lead, a man with a jagged scar across his nose, kicked the iron bars of the cell next to Jin.
Clang!
"Hey! Old man! You still breathing?"
There was no answer from the Mad Monk.
The prisoner hung limply from his chains, swaying slightly in the draft.
The guard frowned and brought his torch closer.
The light revealed the Mad Monk's grey, lifeless face and the pool of black blood beneath him.
"Che. He finally kicked the bucket."
The scarred guard spat on the floor.
"Captain, what do we do?"
"What else? Unlock it. We need to drag the carcass out before it freezes to the floor."
The guard with the keys grumbled and stepped forward.
While he fumbled with the lock, the Captain's gaze shifted.
It landed on Jin.
Jin was crouching in the corner, holding his wooden bucket, his head bowed low.
"You."
"...."
"Did the old ghost say anything before he died?"
The Captain's voice was low and sharp.
Jin slowly raised his head.
His face was pale blue, his lips cracked and bleeding. His eyes were dull, filled with the resignation of a beaten dog.
"He… just coughed."
Jin's voice was a harsh rasp.
"He coughed a lot… and then stopped moving."
The Captain narrowed his eyes.
He strode over to Jin.
Grab!
A large hand seized Jin's collar and hoisted him up effortlessly.
Jin dangled in the air, his feet kicking helplessly.
"Is that all?"
The Captain's other hand reached out and pressed against Jin's chest.
He was checking for internal energy.
Jin's heart hammered against his ribs.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Deep inside his marrow, the Asura Qi was writhing, desperate to lash out.
But Jin used every ounce of his willpower to suppress it. He focused on the memory of the freezing cold he had endured for five years.
'I am ice. I am stone.'
The Captain frowned.
Under his palm, he felt nothing but bone-chilling cold and a weak, frantic heartbeat.
It was the body of a malnourished, terrified boy.
"Tsk."
The Captain threw Jin to the ground.
Thud!
"Useless trash. I thought the old monster might have left a secret manual or something."
"He was crazy, Captain. Probably forgot his own name years ago."
"True."
The cell door to the Mad Monk opened with a shriek of rusty metal.
The guards entered and began unhooking the chains from the corpse.
Thud.
The Mad Monk's body hit the floor heavily.
"Hey, kid."
The Captain kicked Jin's side lightly.
"Clean up this mess. Scrub the blood off the floor. If there's a single spot left when I come back, I'll feed your fingers to the frost rats."
"...Yes, sir."
"Let's go."
The guards grabbed the corpse by the ankles and dragged it out.
Scrape— Scrape—
The sound of the dead master's heels dragging against the stone faded into the distance.
Clang.
The iron door shut.
Silence returned to the Cold Hell.
Jin remained prostrate on the ground for a long time.
Only when he was absolutely sure they were gone did he push himself up.
"Haa… Haa…"
Hot white steam poured from his mouth.
His body was drenched in sweat, which was instantly beginning to freeze into frost on his skin.
He had survived.
He looked at his hands.
They were trembling, but not from fear.
They were trembling with power.
A tiny, violent stream of energy was circulating through his body, repairing the frostbite damage in real-time.
The pain was excruciating, like thousands of ants biting his insides, but to Jin, it felt like salvation.
He turned his gaze to the spot where the Mad Monk had died.
A pool of black, frozen blood remained.
Jin walked over to it. He picked up a rag from his bucket and began to scrub.
Scrub. Scrub.
He cleaned diligently, his face expressionless.
But inside, his mind was racing.
'The Asura Breathing Technique.'
The Mad Monk said it feeds on pain.
The Northern Sea Ice Palace was a place made of pain.
The cold that tried to kill him every second… was now fuel.
Jin stopped scrubbing.
He looked at the dark corridor where the guards had disappeared.
For the first time in five years, the darkness didn't look like a cage.
It looked like a hunting ground.
'I need to eat more.'
His stomach growled.
Not for food.
For the cold.
Jin sat cross-legged right there, on the spot where the Mad Monk had died.
He closed his eyes and did something insane.
He stopped resisting the cold of the dungeon.
Instead, he opened his pores and invited the freezing air in.
Whoosh—
The chill rushed into his body, seeking to freeze his heart.
And the Asura Qi inside him roared, rising up to devour the intruder.
[End of Chapter 2]