Chapter 329: The golden fruit 40.

For now, the only thing between Bai Li, Yan Cijin and the upper levels was an old stairwell filled with the distant sound of claws scraping across concrete.

Bai Li placed one foot on the first step.

Yan Cijin stepped beside her.

Above them, the golden light pulsed once.

Then something screamed from the darkness.

They climbed.

The stairwell seemed to go on forever.

The walls narrowed around them as they climbed, and the golden veins became thicker. They were no longer thin lines under the concrete. They had become roots, wide enough to wrap around pipes and steel supports. Every few seconds one of them pulsed with a soft golden light.

Yan Cijin touched one of the roots.

It was warm.

"It is reacting to us."

Bai Li stopped one step above her.

"Or something above us."

"Do you think the fruit knows we are coming?"

"I doubt it knows anything."

"Then why does it feel like the whole building is watching?"

Bai Li thought about that for a moment.

"Because something is watching."

The answer came from above.

A claw scraped across the concrete.

Both women looked up.

A shape moved between the railings.

It was too large to fit comfortably in the stairwell, yet it was moving down the stairs toward them. The sound of its breathing grew louder. Hot air rolled down the staircase.

Yan Cijin raised her weapon.

"This one smells different."

Bai Li nodded.

"Stronger."

The creature finally stepped into view.

It had the shape of a tall man, but the resemblance ended there. Its arms reached almost to the floor, and its body was covered in overlapping black plates. Two narrow orange lights glowed where its eyes should have been. A pair of horns curved backward from its head.

It looked down at them.

Then it smiled.

Yan Cijin’s expression became serious.

"That thing has never been human."

"No."

The creature attacked.

It moved with shocking speed.

Bai Li blocked the first strike.

The entire stairwell shook.

Yan Cijin stepped around the creature and attacked its knee.

The blade bounced off the armor.

"Hard."

"Try the joints."

They changed their approach.

Bai Li kept the monster occupied while Yan Cijin searched for weaknesses. Every time Bai Li drew a strike, Yan Cijin attacked somewhere else. It was not enough to hurt the creature badly, but it forced it to turn.

The monster roared and swept both arms across the staircase.

Bai Li grabbed the railing and leaned back.

Yan Cijin jumped over her.

The creature’s arm smashed through the railing.

Bai Li pulled herself up.

Yan Cijin landed behind it.

The monster turned.

That was the opening.

Bai Li drove her weapon into the side of its neck.

Yan Cijin struck the opposite side.

The creature staggered.

It did not die.

Instead, it slammed its back into the wall and sent both women flying.

Yan Cijin hit the steps hard.

Bai Li landed on one hand and immediately stood.

"You okay?"

"Yes."

"Good."

The creature charged again.

Bai Li waited until the last second.

Then she stepped aside.

The monster crashed into the wall.

Yan Cijin jumped onto its back.

Bai Li seized one horn and pulled its head backward.

Yan Cijin thrust her weapon downward.

Once.

Twice.

The third strike reached something vital.

The orange light in the monster’s eyes flickered.

Its body went rigid.

Then it fell.

The corpse blocked half the stairwell.

Yan Cijin looked at Bai Li.

"That was stronger."

"Yes."

"Level two?"

"Probably early level two."

Yan Cijin stared at the body.

"Early?"

Bai Li smiled.

"The real ones should be higher up."

"Wonderful."

They continued climbing.

The twelfth floor was strangely beautiful.

The mall had once been a luxury shopping level, filled with expensive furniture, jewelry and restaurants. Most of the glass had shattered, but enough remained to catch the golden light that came from the walls. The entire floor looked as if it were underwater.

For the first time since entering the mall, Yan Cijin stopped simply because she wanted to look.

"It is beautiful."

Bai Li nodded.

"It is."

"I wonder what this place looked like before."

"Probably expensive."

Yan Cijin laughed.

"That is all you have to say?"

"It probably was."

They walked through a jewelry store whose displays had been smashed long ago. There was nothing valuable left except pieces of metal and broken stones. Yet a small ring still sat beneath a fallen case.

Yan Cijin picked it up.

The stone was cracked.

"Someone missed this."

Bai Li glanced at it.

"Keep it."

Yan Cijin looked surprised.

"For what?"

"Later."

"You are not even asking what it is."

"It is a ring."

"What if it is cursed?"

Bai Li shrugged.

"Then it can curse you later."

Yan Cijin smiled and tucked it into a pocket.

They moved on.

The luxury floor had fewer ordinary zombies, but the ones that remained were stronger. One had become almost transparent. Another had a body made of dense black muscle. A third had grown a pair of wings from its shoulders.

The fights were faster now.

Bai Li and Yan Cijin had already adapted to the pace of the mall.

They no longer waited for attacks.

They controlled the battlefield.

When the winged zombie dove from above, Yan Cijin stepped onto a glass display and used it as a launch point. She met the creature in the air and struck its wing. The zombie spun helplessly. Bai Li caught it before it could recover and drove it into the floor.

When the transparent zombie tried to hide behind the golden veins, Bai Li simply closed her eyes and followed the sound of its breath.

One strike.

Done.

The black-muscled zombie charged through three walls.

Yan Cijin led it into a narrow corridor.

Bai Li waited behind the last corner.

The monster entered.

Bai Li kicked its ankle.

Its head struck the wall.

Yan Cijin finished it.

They did not even stop afterward.

The thirteenth floor had signs of organized human activity again.

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TO BE CONTINUED.