Chapter 328: The golden fruit 39.

Bai Li blocked each one.

Yan Cijin watched for a weakness.

There.

The creature’s chest opened slightly whenever it attacked with both arms.

"Bai Li."

"I see it."

Yan Cijin moved behind the monster.

Bai Li baited another strike.

Yan Cijin drove her weapon through the opening in its chest.

The creature convulsed.

Bai Li struck its head.

It fell.

Yan Cijin exhaled.

"That one was much stronger."

"Yes."

"This is definitely the right building."

Bai Li looked upward.

"Definitely."

More monsters woke.

The corridor filled with movement.

Some came from the rooms.

Some climbed along the walls.

One burst through the ceiling and landed directly behind Yan Cijin.

Bai Li kicked it away.

Another came from the floor.

Yan Cijin twisted aside and cut it down.

The two women kept advancing.

They did not try to fight every creature.

When the corridor became too crowded, they moved through side rooms. When a room became blocked, they broke through the wall. When monsters followed, Bai Li used the building itself against them, collapsing shelves and metal partitions into narrow chokepoints.

It was not simply strength anymore.

It was strategy.

The mall had become a vertical dungeon, and every meter of progress had to be earned.

At one point Yan Cijin noticed a ventilation shaft wide enough for a human to crawl through.

"Shortcut."

Bai Li examined it.

"Probably."

"You do not like it."

"It is too quiet."

Yan Cijin smiled.

"You and your quiet."

She kicked the grate loose.

Something screamed inside.

They both froze.

Yan Cijin slowly looked at Bai Li.

"That answers that."

"Yes."

They walked away.

The ninth floor began with a bridge across the central atrium.

The bridge had once connected two luxury sections of the mall. Now half its floor was missing, and the remaining section hung over the darkness below.

A swarm of flying creatures circled the open space.

They resembled bats, but each had a human-like face and long hooked claws.

Yan Cijin looked up.

"Those are unpleasant."

Bai Li nodded.

"They are territorial."

"Can we just pass?"

"No."

The first creature dived.

Yan Cijin cut it.

The rest attacked.

They came in waves.

Bai Li and Yan Cijin fought back-to-back on the narrow bridge.

Yan Cijin handled the lower attacks while Bai Li watched the air.

One flew directly toward Yan Cijin’s blind side.

Bai Li intercepted it.

Another tried to grab Bai Li from behind.

Yan Cijin turned and cut its wing.

The creature fell through the broken section of the bridge.

The swarm screamed.

More came.

Yan Cijin laughed.

"They really do not learn."

"Good for us."

Bai Li jumped onto the railing.

She used it as a platform and launched herself upward.

Three creatures surrounded her.

She spun once and struck all three.

Yan Cijin watched her land.

"Show-off."

Bai Li glanced at her.

"You liked it."

Yan Cijin looked away.

"Maybe."

Bai Li smiled.

The fight continued for another minute.

When the swarm finally scattered, the bridge was covered in dead creatures.

They crossed.

At the other end was a locked steel door.

Bai Li examined it.

"Someone installed this recently."

Yan Cijin noticed the fresh bolts.

"Humans."

"Yes."

A faint light came from beneath the door.

They could hear voices.

Not enough to understand the words.

But enough to know people were on the other side.

Bai Li did not open it.

Yan Cijin looked at her.

"Not yet?"

"There are too many people."

"How many?"

"At least ten."

"Armed?"

"Most likely."

"So we found them."

Bai Li nodded.

"Yes."

She looked upward.

The golden scent had become overwhelming.

The fruit was close.

Very close.

But before they could reach it, there were still floors between them and the rooftop.

And somewhere behind the steel door, the humans waiting above had clearly been expecting someone.

Bai Li turned away.

"We take another route."

Yan Cijin followed.

They entered a maintenance corridor instead.

For another hour, perhaps longer, they climbed through the mall’s hidden passages, breaking through walls, crossing service platforms and fighting every creature that blocked their way. The ninth and tenth floors became a blur of steel, dust and blood.

They found an old emergency stairway that had been sealed from the inside.

They broke the seal.

They found a room filled with empty medicine boxes.

They found a kitchen where someone had recently cooked.

They found footprints leading upward.

They found a dead man holding a piece of paper with one sentence written on it.

DO NOT LET THEM TAKE IT.

Yan Cijin stared at the note.

"They really think someone owns the fruit."

Bai Li folded the paper and placed it on the dead man’s chest.

"People will own anything if they are afraid enough."

They climbed again.

The eleventh floor was quiet.

Too quiet.

No monsters attacked.

No zombies wandered.

No people spoke.

The golden veins covered every wall.

The floor was warm.

Yan Cijin looked down.

"Bai Li."

"I know."

"The building is breathing."

Bai Li listened.

A slow pulse moved beneath their feet.

Once.

Twice.

Then again.

The golden light brightened.

Both women stood still.

Far above them, something roared.

This roar was so powerful that dust fell from the ceiling.

Yan Cijin looked upward.

"That is not level one."

"No."

"Level two?"

Bai Li nodded.

"Probably."

Yan Cijin smiled.

"Then we are finally getting somewhere."

They continued toward the upper stairs.

At the end of the corridor, they saw a sign.

ROOFTOP ACCESS.

The arrow pointed upward.

A second sign had been nailed beneath it.

NO ENTRY.

A third had been written over that one in red paint.

TURN BACK.

Bai Li looked at the signs.

Then she looked at Yan Cijin.

Yan Cijin smiled.

"Should we?"

Bai Li walked past them.

"No."

Yan Cijin followed.

Behind them, several doors opened at once.

Neither woman turned around.

The human presence they had sensed was finally moving.

But they had not encountered the gang yet.

That would happen on the next floor.

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TO BE CONTINUED.