Chapter 330: The golden fruit 41.

Food had been stored here recently.

There were water barrels, beds made from cardboard, and several crude maps pinned to the walls. A large arrow pointed toward the rooftop access.

Below it someone had written:

THE FRUIT IS REAL.

Below that:

DO NOT TRUST ANYONE.

Yan Cijin stared at the words.

"That is useful advice."

Bai Li looked at the maps.

"There are at least three routes to the roof."

"And?"

"Two are blocked."

"How do you know?"

"The people who made these maps marked them."

Yan Cijin pointed at the third route.

"That one?"

"Still open."

"Then we take it."

Bai Li nodded.

A sound came from the next room.

A human voice.

Both women immediately stopped.

"Did you hear that?" Yan Cijin whispered.

"Yes."

They moved closer.

The voice came again.

"Please."

There was fear in it.

Bai Li opened the door.

A man was trapped beneath a collapsed shelf.

He was bleeding badly.

A woman knelt beside him, trying to lift the metal.

She looked at Bai Li and Yan Cijin with panic.

"Help us."

Bai Li lifted the shelf with one hand.

Yan Cijin pulled the injured man free.

The woman stared.

"How did you..."

"Move," Bai Li said.

The woman obeyed.

They stabilized the man’s leg and gave them water.

The woman kept glancing toward the weapons.

"Are you going to the roof?"

Yan Cijin answered, "Yes."

The woman’s expression tightened.

"Then you need to be careful."

"Why?"

"People are waiting."

Bai Li knew immediately what she meant.

"How many?"

"I do not know. There are several groups. They have been fighting each other for days."

"And the monsters?"

The woman shook her head.

"The stronger ones have stopped coming down. They stay above. Something is keeping them there."

Bai Li glanced at Yan Cijin.

The fruit.

"They are waiting," Yan Cijin said.

The woman nodded.

"They think when it ripens, whoever gets it first will become unstoppable."

"Maybe," Bai Li said.

The woman looked at her.

"You really do not sound impressed."

"I have not seen it yet."

The woman almost laughed despite herself.

"You two are strange."

Yan Cijin smiled.

"We have been told that before."

Bai Li told them where the safer stairs were and left.

As they walked, Yan Cijin said, "You keep helping everyone."

"Not everyone."

"Most people."

"They were in danger."

"And?"

Bai Li looked at her.

"What kind of person would I be if I walked away?"

Yan Cijin looked forward again.

She did not answer.

The fourteenth floor was where the pressure became almost physical.

The air felt heavy.

Every breath brought the golden scent deeper into their lungs.

Their instincts became sharper without permission. Yan Cijin could hear movement in rooms that seemed empty. Bai Li could sense the slightest shifts in the building’s energy.

Something enormous moved somewhere above them.

The floor trembled.

A crack appeared along the ceiling.

Dust fell.

Yan Cijin looked up.

"That was close."

Bai Li shook her head.

"No."

"No?"

"It was farther away than it sounded."

Yan Cijin frowned.

"That does not make me feel better."

They reached an old department store.

The main doors had been welded shut from the inside.

Bai Li touched the metal.

"Someone is using this as a base."

"Human?"

"Yes."

They walked past without opening it.

Voices followed them from inside.

Whispers.

Several people were watching.

Yan Cijin looked at Bai Li.

"They know."

"Probably."

"They know we are heading up."

"Yes."

"And they are not attacking us."

"Not yet."

Yan Cijin’s eyes narrowed.

"That is more annoying than an attack."

Bai Li smiled.

"Then stay patient."

At the end of the fourteenth floor was another stairwell.

The door was covered in scratches.

Not from weapons.

Claws.

Hundreds of them.

Bai Li studied the marks.

"Something came through here repeatedly."

Yan Cijin touched one.

"Fresh."

The sound of breathing came from the other side.

They opened the door.

Nothing was there.

The stairwell was empty.

But the golden scent became overwhelming.

Yan Cijin stepped forward.

Bai Li looked upward.

"The fruit is getting close."

"And so are the things guarding it."

"Yes."

They began climbing again.

By the time they reached the next landing, the temperature had dropped dramatically.

Frost covered the railings.

A thin layer of ice coated the steps.

Yan Cijin exhaled.

Her breath became white.

"That is new."

Bai Li looked upward.

"Elemental mutation."

A low growl answered her.

The next creature was waiting.

It looked like a massive wolf formed from dark ice and rotting flesh. Its eyes burned blue. Frost poured from its mouth.

Yan Cijin looked at Bai Li.

"You take the first one?"

"There is only one."

"Then I will take the second one."

"There will not be a second one."

Bai Li stepped forward.

The wolf charged.

Its claws struck the ground and sent ice shards across the stairs.

Bai Li moved through them.

The wolf snapped at her.

She caught its lower jaw.

The creature snarled and pushed.

Yan Cijin attacked from the side.

The wolf twisted.

Bai Li drove her knee into its chest.

The ice armor cracked.

Yan Cijin struck the crack.

The monster shattered.

Its body dissolved into dark frost.

Yan Cijin looked at Bai Li.

"That was quick."

"It was tired."

"You say that about everything."

"Because everything is tired."

Yan Cijin laughed.

They climbed higher.

At the next landing, Bai Li stopped.

There was a sound below them.

Footsteps.

Human footsteps.

Several people.

Slow.

Careful.

Following.

Yan Cijin listened.

"They finally decided to move."

Bai Li nodded.

"Yes."

"Should we confront them?"

Bai Li looked toward the stairs above.

"Not yet."

"Why?"

"Because if they follow us, they will reveal themselves eventually."

Yan Cijin smiled.

"You really do enjoy making people nervous."

Bai Li continued upward.

The footsteps below followed.

For several floors, the pursuit continued.

Sometimes the strangers were close.

Sometimes they vanished.

Once, Bai Li saw a shadow disappear around a corner below.

Another time Yan Cijin heard someone whisper a warning.

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TO BE CONTINUED,