Chapter 332: The golden fruit 43.

understood what Bai Li had meant when she said the fruit could attract instincts instead of thoughts. The farther they went, the harder it became to remember that the fruit was simply an object.

It felt like something they had been searching for their entire lives.

Bai Li noticed the change in her expression.

"Do not let it get into your head."

Yan Cijin blinked.

"It is stronger than I expected."

"That is why the monsters gather."

"And the humans."

"Yes."

A distant impact shook the stairwell.

Dust rained from above.

Then another impact.

Something had begun fighting on one of the higher floors.

Yan Cijin looked upward.

"They are already moving."

Bai Li nodded.

"Then we should move too."

They climbed faster.

The staircase ended at a steel door.

There was no handle on the outside.

Only a narrow gap beneath it and a faint golden glow beyond.

Bai Li placed her palm against the metal.

The door was warm.

Very warm.

Yan Cijin stood beside her.

"Ready?"

Bai Li looked at her.

"Always."

She pushed.

The door did not open.

Something on the other side was holding it.

Bai Li’s eyes narrowed.

Yan Cijin’s weapon came up.

From beyond the door came a deep, slow growl.

Neither woman spoke.

The growl came again.

The steel bent inward slightly.

Bai Li smiled.

Yan Cijin smiled too.

Whatever waited above was no longer hiding.

And somewhere below them, the wooden door they had passed earlier slammed open.

Human footsteps rushed into the stairwell.

The chase had finally begun.

Bai Li looked at Yan Cijin.

Yan Cijin looked back.

Then both women faced the steel door.

There were enemies below.

There was something powerful above.

And between them was the last stretch of the mall.

Bai Li tightened her grip.

Yan Cijin shifted her stance.

The steel door groaned.

Something massive on the other side pushed again.

The metal warped.

Bai Li took one step back.

"Now."

Yan Cijin nodded.

Together, they prepared to force their way through.

Behind them, the first human voice echoed up the stairwell.

"There!"

The sound of boots followed.

Bai Li did not turn.

Neither did Yan Cijin.

The next moment would decide which danger reached them first.

Bai Li did not turn around when the first human voice echoed through the stairwell.

"There!"

Boots struck concrete behind them. Several sets. Fast, careless, and loud enough to tell Bai Li that the people coming up had no idea what they were walking into.

The steel door ahead groaned again.

Something on the other side pushed against it with enough force to make the hinges complain.

Yan Cijin glanced at Bai Li.

"Looks like we have two problems."

"One of them has legs."

"The other has more legs."

Bai Li laughed quietly.

"Fair."

Another voice came from below.

"Stop right there!"

Bai Li finally looked back.

Six men came around the bend first, with three women behind them. Most carried improvised weapons. One had a steel pipe. Another held a cleaver. A third carried what looked like a modified nail gun. The woman in front had a hunting bow with a flashlight taped under it.

They saw Bai Li and Yan Cijin.

Then they saw the warped door.

For half a second, nobody moved.

The man with the steel pipe recovered first.

"You two. Step away from the door."

Bai Li looked at him.

"Why?"

He seemed irritated by the simple question.

"Because this floor belongs to us."

Yan Cijin raised an eyebrow.

"You bought it?"

The man frowned.

"We control it."

"That was not what she asked."

The woman with the bow smiled coldly.

"You are outsiders. You do not understand how things work here."

Bai Li glanced at Yan Cijin.

"Should I ask them?"

"No."

"Good."

The steel door slammed inward.

Everyone jumped.

A long black claw pushed through the gap between the door and its frame.

The gang immediately backed away.

Bai Li did not.

She stepped toward it.

Yan Cijin sighed and moved with her.

The claw scraped across the concrete.

Something growled beyond the door.

It was not a normal zombie growl. It was deep, wet, and irritated, like something large had been sleeping and the noise outside had ruined its sleep.

The man with the pipe swallowed.

"Do not open that."

Bai Li smiled.

"I was not planning to."

"Then move."

"Also no."

He lifted the pipe.

Bai Li looked almost disappointed.

"You really want to do this now?"

The man charged.

Bai Li stepped aside.

She barely moved.

The pipe passed in front of her face.

Her left hand caught his wrist.

Her right hand struck his shoulder.

The impact sent him spinning into the wall.

The pipe clattered across the floor.

He stared at her in shock.

Bai Li bent, picked up the weapon, and handed it back to him.

"You dropped this."

The man stared at the pipe in her hand.

Then he looked at his wrist.

Then at Bai Li.

He made the mistake of trying again.

Yan Cijin moved first this time.

She stepped between them and tapped his chest with two fingers.

He flew backward as if hit by a truck.

He crashed into three of his own people.

The stairwell erupted into panic.

"Shoot them!"

The woman with the bow pulled the string.

Yan Cijin tilted her head.

The arrow flew.

Bai Li caught it.

She looked at the arrowhead.

"Cheap metal."

She snapped it in half.

The archer’s face went pale.

"How..."

"Practice."

Bai Li threw the broken arrow aside.

The modified nail gun fired.

Yan Cijin lifted one hand.

The nail stopped in front of her palm.

The tiny metal projectile hung there, trembling.

Yan Cijin looked at it.

"That is cute."

She flicked it away.

It embedded itself in the wall behind the shooter.

The gang froze.

The creature behind the steel door slammed into it again.

The whole frame shook.

Dust fell from the ceiling.

Bai Li looked at the gang.

"Last chance."

Nobody answered.

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TO BE CONTINUED,