Chapter 317: The golden fruit 28.

Bai Li stopped.

Yan Cijin looked ahead.

A construction site blocked the side road.

A group of men had built a barricade from scaffolding and concrete blocks. Behind it, several people were trying to hold back a mass of zombies pouring through a broken gate.

"Again?" Yan Cijin said.

Bai Li sighed.

"We are having a busy evening."

A man on the barricade saw the motorcycle.

"Help!"

Bai Li did not answer.

The man shouted again.

"Please!"

Yan Cijin looked at her.

Bai Li looked at the gate.

"Three minutes."

Yan Cijin nodded.

They moved.

The motorcycle stopped near the barricade.

Yan Cijin jumped down and ran forward.

Bai Li stayed with the motorcycle.

"Get your people behind the trucks," Yan Cijin told the guards.

A guard stared at her.

"There are too many!"

"You have three minutes to move."

The man looked at the horde.

"You cannot hold that alone."

Yan Cijin smiled.

"Watch me."

The first wave arrived.

She cut through it.

Bai Li stood at the side of the road, watching the flow of zombies.

One slipped past Yan Cijin.

Bai Li raised one finger.

The zombie slammed into the ground.

Another came from behind.

Bai Li did the same.

Yan Cijin began moving faster.

Every strike was deliberate.

She did not waste motion.

The zombies came in waves, climbing over the bodies of those ahead of them.

Yan Cijin stepped onto the hood of a truck.

She jumped.

Her blade cut down through the center of the largest creature.

The body split.

She landed and immediately kicked another away.

"Two minutes!" she shouted.

The survivors rushed toward the trucks.

A woman stumbled.

A child screamed.

A man turned back for her.

A zombie reached them.

Bai Li flicked her wrist.

The zombie flew aside.

The woman stared.

Bai Li said, "Run."

The woman ran.

Another minute.

The last survivors crossed the barricade.

Yan Cijin stepped backward.

Bai Li finally moved toward her.

The two women stood together.

Yan Cijin looked at the horde.

"Ready?"

Bai Li raised an eyebrow.

"For what?"

"To finish."

Bai Li smiled.

"Sure."

Yan Cijin rushed forward.

Bai Li followed.

The zombies had no idea what was happening.

One moment they had an entire street filled with prey.

The next, two women were walking through them like the horde had become nothing more than tall grass.

Yan Cijin’s blade flashed over and over.

Bai Li’s spiritual force pushed through the center.

A wave of power knocked down twenty zombies.

Yan Cijin cut the ones that rose.

Bai Li stepped through the gaps.

She never once looked hurried.

A huge mutant crashed down from the top of a crane.

Yan Cijin looked up.

"Well."

Bai Li looked too.

"That one is bigger."

The mutant roared.

Yan Cijin smiled.

"Mine."

She jumped.

Bai Li laughed.

"You are learning."

Yan Cijin reached the creature’s chest.

The mutant swung both arms.

Yan Cijin twisted around the blow.

Her blade struck one arm.

It bounced off the crystal.

Yan Cijin’s eyes sharpened.

"Hard."

The mutant swung again.

She dodged.

Again.

Again.

The creature became frustrated.

Yan Cijin waited.

Then she saw the opening.

A narrow seam beneath the collarbone.

She drove the blade into it.

The crystal fractured.

The mutant froze.

Yan Cijin pulled the blade free.

The creature exploded into fragments.

She landed lightly.

Bai Li was waiting below.

"That was decent."

Yan Cijin looked offended.

"Decent?"

"You survived."

"I killed it."

"You also survived."

Yan Cijin narrowed her eyes.

"One day I am going to beat you."

Bai Li smiled.

"You can try."

The survivors from the construction site stood at a safe distance.

The guard captain approached.

He was exhausted and bleeding from one arm.

"You saved us."

Bai Li nodded toward Yan Cijin.

"She did most of it."

Yan Cijin immediately said, "She did more."

The captain looked between them.

"You two always do that?"

"Do what?" Yan Cijin asked.

"Argue about who did more."

Bai Li answered, "We are not arguing."

The captain smiled.

"Looks like it."

Yan Cijin looked away.

Bai Li returned to the motorcycle.

The captain followed.

"You are heading toward the mall, right?"

"Yes."

He hesitated.

"Then you should know something."

Bai Li stopped.

"What?"

"There are people there."

Yan Cijin looked at him.

"Inside the mall?"

The captain nodded.

"Not many, but we saw lights in the upper floors two nights ago."

Bai Li’s expression did not change.

"What kind of people?"

"We do not know."

"Armed?"

"Probably."

Yan Cijin looked at Bai Li.

Bai Li said, "Thank you."

The captain shook his head.

"No. Thank you."

The motorcycle started.

As they left, Yan Cijin said, "Do you think he was telling the truth?"

"Probably."

"Then someone is inside."

"Yes."

"Does that change anything?"

"No."

Yan Cijin smiled.

"I knew you would say that."

They reached the end of the construction district.

The road became wide again.

A traffic light hung from a bent pole, stuck permanently on red.

Bai Li stopped out of habit.

Yan Cijin noticed.

"There are no cars."

"I know."

"Then why stop?"

"Because it is red."

Yan Cijin laughed.

"That is absurd."

"Rules are rules."

"You just threw a three-meter zombie through a building."

"That was different."

"How?"

"It was not driving."

Yan Cijin laughed harder.

Bai Li waited until the imaginary signal changed.

Then she crossed.

The next block was almost empty.

A lone pharmacy sign flickered.

A small dog appeared from a doorway.

Yan Cijin looked at it.

The dog looked at them.

It wagged its tail once.

Bai Li slowed.

The dog came closer.

It had no visible injuries.

Yan Cijin reached down.

The dog sniffed her hand.

"It is alive."

"Yes."

Bai Li looked around.

"No owner nearby."

Yan Cijin crouched.

The dog sat.

Bai Li sighed.

"No."

Yan Cijin looked up.

"I did not say anything."

"You were thinking it."

"I was."

"We are not taking a dog."

The dog barked.

Yan Cijin looked at it.

"I think it disagrees."

Bai Li stared at the dog.

.

.

.

TO BE CONTINUED.