Chapter 327: The golden fruit 38.

Bai Li crouched and inspected it.

"Fresh."

Yan Cijin touched the floor near it.

The liquid gave off a faint warmth.

"Something ate from the fruit?"

"Or something touched it."

A sound came from above.

Scratching.

Slow.

Heavy.

Then something whispered from the darkness.

Not words.

Just a wet, breathing sound.

Yan Cijin raised her weapon.

Bai Li smiled slightly.

"Do not worry."

"I was not worried."

"You looked worried."

"I was thinking."

"Same thing."

The creature dropped.

It was enormous.

A spider-like monster with a bloated body crashed through the ceiling and landed directly in front of them. Its legs were long enough to reach across half the corridor, and its abdomen glowed faintly from inside.

Yan Cijin stepped left.

Bai Li stepped right.

The spider turned between them.

Its mouth opened.

A web shot toward Bai Li.

She cut through it.

The second web came toward Yan Cijin.

She ducked under it and ran directly toward the creature.

The spider slammed two legs downward.

Yan Cijin slid beneath them.

Bai Li jumped onto the monster’s back.

The spider screamed and tried to shake her loose.

Bai Li drove her weapon into its abdomen.

Golden liquid sprayed out.

Yan Cijin saw the creature’s body contract.

"Bai Li, move."

She did.

Yan Cijin struck the exposed abdomen with everything she had.

The creature collapsed.

Its legs continued twitching for several seconds.

Bai Li landed beside her.

"Good timing."

"You are welcome."

They searched the body.

Inside the abdomen were several crystal cores, along with pieces of bone and metal that the spider had apparently swallowed.

Bai Li collected the cores.

Yan Cijin studied the remains.

"The monsters are getting stronger, but the cores are better too."

"That is how this works."

"Meaning?"

"The stronger the thing, the more energy it gathers."

Yan Cijin looked at the golden veins.

"So the fruit is basically feeding the entire ecosystem."

"Yes."

"And every creature that eats enough of it gets stronger."

"Likely."

Yan Cijin sighed.

"That is almost unfair."

Bai Li looked at her.

"We are here to take the fruit."

Yan Cijin smiled.

"Exactly."

On the seventh floor they encountered a group of survivors before they encountered another major monster.

The survivors had built a barricade across a cosmetics corridor. They had no more than eight people. Most were injured. Their weapons were improvised, and the oldest among them was a thin man with a crossbow.

He immediately raised it at Bai Li.

Yan Cijin stopped.

Bai Li did not.

The man shouted, "Stay back."

Bai Li looked at the barricade.

"You do not have enough food."

The man stared.

"What?"

"Your camp has been here at least five days. You have three bottles of water and less than ten cans."

The man frowned.

"How do you know?"

"The trash."

Yan Cijin glanced at the pile behind them and smiled.

The man’s expression changed.

"Who are you?"

"Travelers."

"From outside?"

"Yes."

The group began whispering.

A young woman stepped forward.

"Are you going to the roof?"

Bai Li said nothing.

That was enough of an answer.

The young woman lowered her weapon.

"Then you should know there are people above us."

"How many?" Yan Cijin asked.

"We do not know. Some are like us. Some are not."

The thin man added, "There is something worse on the upper floors. We tried once. Four of us died."

Bai Li nodded.

"Then stay here."

The young woman looked frustrated.

"You do not understand. There is no way down anymore."

Bai Li looked toward the staircase.

"There is always a way down."

She turned to leave.

The woman called after her.

"Why are you going up?"

Bai Li stopped.

Yan Cijin looked at her.

Bai Li answered without turning around.

"Because we want something."

The people fell silent.

They did not ask what.

They already knew.

The rumors about the golden fruit had clearly spread farther than Bai Li expected.

The two women moved on.

Near the eighth floor stairwell, they stopped beside a large glass window.

From there they could see all the floors below.

The mall looked like a giant vertical maze.

Smoke drifted through the lower levels.

Small lights moved in the darkness.

Campfires.

Flashlights.

People.

Yan Cijin stared down.

"There are more survivors than I thought."

"Yes."

"And most of them know about the fruit."

"Yes."

"Then the upper floors are going to be crowded."

Bai Li looked upward.

"Not for long."

They stepped into the stairwell.

The eighth floor was where the mall changed completely.

There were no storefronts.

The entire level had been transformed into a maze of cracked offices, maintenance corridors and storage rooms. The golden veins covered nearly every wall now.

The air hummed.

It was almost possible to hear the energy inside the building.

Bai Li stopped at the first corridor.

Yan Cijin looked at her.

"What?"

"Listen."

Yan Cijin closed her eyes.

At first she heard nothing.

Then she noticed it.

A heartbeat.

Not one.

Hundreds.

They were faint and slow, coming from the walls, ceiling and floors.

"Monsters."

"A lot of them."

"How many?"

"Enough."

Yan Cijin opened her eyes.

"That is a terrible number."

Bai Li smiled.

"You wanted excitement."

"I did not say this much."

They entered the corridor.

The first monster appeared in a broken office.

It looked almost human.

Its skin was pale and smooth, without a single scar. Its eyes were closed, and it stood completely still beside a desk.

Yan Cijin slowed.

"It is pretending."

"Yes."

Bai Li threw a small metal object across the room.

It hit the wall.

The monster’s eyes opened.

Its mouth stretched wider than a human mouth could.

It moved.

Fast.

Yan Cijin blocked the first strike, but the force sent her backward several feet.

Bai Li caught her shoulder before she hit the wall.

"You okay?"

"Fine."

"Good."

Bai Li stepped forward.

The monster attacked.

This time Bai Li met it head on.

They collided in the center of the corridor.

The creature’s claws struck repeatedly.

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TO BE CONTINUED.