Chapter 316: The golden fruit 27.

Bai Li looked at the armor.

"You are not the one giving orders."

The figure went still.

Yan Cijin’s eyes narrowed.

"Then who is?"

Bai Li looked toward the mall.

"That is where our conversation is going."

The figure suddenly threw a small black sphere onto the ground.

A pulse of energy exploded outward.

Yan Cijin raised her arm.

The smoke cleared.

The armored figure was gone.

Bai Li stared at the empty street.

Yan Cijin walked over.

"Teleportation?"

"Something similar."

"You could have stopped him."

"I could."

"Why did you not?"

Bai Li looked at the mall.

"He wanted us to chase him."

"And we are not going to."

"No."

They returned to the motorcycle.

A broken convoy remained behind them.

Neither woman cared.

The rain began to weaken.

The city grew quieter.

The mall was close now.

The final five kilometers passed through a residential district.

This area had been hit harder than the central streets.

Apartments had collapsed into each other.

There were handwritten messages on walls.

HELP.

SAFE ZONE NORTH.

DON’T TRUST THE LIGHTS.

One message simply said, WE ARE STILL HERE.

Yan Cijin stared at it as they passed.

"You think they survived?"

Bai Li looked at the dark windows.

"Maybe."

They drove on.

At a small intersection, they found another family.

A mother and father were trapped inside a minivan.

Their teenage daughter stood outside holding a metal pipe.

A younger boy was crying in the back seat.

Zombies surrounded the vehicle.

Bai Li stopped the motorcycle.

Yan Cijin looked at her.

"You sensed them?"

"Yes."

"How many?"

"About thirty."

Yan Cijin stepped down.

"Thirty is manageable."

Bai Li looked toward the family.

"Thirty-seven."

Yan Cijin sighed.

"You always correct me."

"I like accuracy."

They walked forward.

The teenage girl saw them.

"Please!" she shouted.

Yan Cijin raised a hand.

"Stay behind the car."

The girl hesitated.

"Who are you?"

"People who are passing by."

The same answer.

The same absurd confidence.

A zombie lunged.

Yan Cijin cut it down.

Two more came.

Bai Li stepped forward.

A pressure wave shattered their legs.

They collapsed.

Yan Cijin moved through the opening.

She cut down four.

Bai Li pulled a fifth away from the minivan with a single gesture.

The creature flew through the air.

The father opened the door.

"Get inside!" he shouted at his daughter.

The girl refused.

"She saved us!"

"Inside!"

Yan Cijin shouted, "Listen to him!"

The girl finally climbed into the vehicle.

The last few zombies charged together.

Bai Li and Yan Cijin looked at each other.

"No need to be elegant," Bai Li said.

Yan Cijin nodded.

They both released their power.

The street became silent.

When the dust settled, there was not a single zombie standing.

The younger boy in the minivan looked out the window.

He was still crying.

Yan Cijin crouched so she was at his eye level.

"It is okay."

The boy sniffed.

"Are they gone?"

"Yes."

"Forever?"

"No."

The boy looked frightened again.

Yan Cijin smiled.

"But they will not bother you tonight."

The boy nodded.

His mother stepped out and thanked them repeatedly.

The father offered food.

Bai Li shook her head.

"Keep it."

The mother insisted.

"We have enough for two meals."

Bai Li considered it.

"Then keep the food."

She pointed toward the road.

"There is a shelter two streets south. Do not take the main avenue."

The father nodded.

They left the family behind.

Yan Cijin was quiet for a while.

Then she said, "You really do not want anything from the people we save."

Bai Li shrugged.

"They already lost enough."

Yan Cijin looked at her back.

There was something warm in her chest.

She did not know why.

She decided it was simply admiration.

Nothing more.

Bai Li, meanwhile, thought about how close Yan Cijin had stood to the crying boy.

She liked that.

She also decided it meant nothing.

Nothing at all.

The road rose slightly.

For a while, neither woman spoke.

The motorcycle moved through the rain-dark city with a steady engine note. Bai Li’s hands remained relaxed on the handlebars. Yan Cijin sat behind her, one hand resting against Bai Li’s waist while the other held the weapon she had returned to its sheath.

The silence between them was comfortable.

That alone was strange.

Neither of them was the type to enjoy unnecessary silence with other people. Bai Li usually preferred being alone, and Yan Cijin was used to reading situations, filling gaps, keeping conversations moving whenever things became awkward.

But with Bai Li, silence did not feel awkward.

It felt like a place they could both sit in.

A gust of wind swept across the road.

Yan Cijin tightened her arms around Bai Li for balance.

Bai Li glanced at the mirror.

"You are getting better at riding."

Yan Cijin blinked.

"I am not riding."

"I meant sitting behind me."

"That sounds important."

"It is."

"Why?"

"You stopped leaning against me every time the motorcycle turns."

Yan Cijin stared at the back of Bai Li’s head.

"I was not leaning against you."

"You were."

"I was keeping balance."

"Against me."

"That is what passengers do."

Bai Li nodded seriously.

"Then you can keep doing it."

Yan Cijin’s face warmed slightly.

She looked away.

"Fine."

Bai Li smiled where Yan Cijin could not see it.

The road turned toward a district filled with tall apartment buildings.

Most were dead.

A few windows showed faint candlelight.

Bai Li noticed them immediately.

Yan Cijin did too.

"People."

"Yes."

"Should we stop?"

Bai Li considered it.

She could sense perhaps thirty people inside the buildings. None were under immediate attack.

"No."

Yan Cijin nodded.

"We do not have to save everyone."

Bai Li looked at the dark buildings.

"If we stop every time we see a light, we will never reach the mall."

"You are worried about time?"

"I am worried about the fruit."

Yan Cijin smiled.

"Right."

They continued.

After another kilometer, they heard a loud banging sound.

Not zombies.

Metal against metal.

.

.

.

TO BE CONTINUED.