Chapter 344: The golden fruit 55.

"They were not killed here."

Yan Cijin looked around.

"Dragged?"

"Yes."

Bai Li pointed toward the ceiling.

There were deep grooves running along the panels.

Something had pulled the victims upward.

Yan Cijin slowly raised her head.

A pair of pale eyes opened inside the darkness above them.

She immediately stepped back.

The ceiling exploded.

A huge creature dropped down.

It had six limbs and a body covered in patches of thick gray armor. Its mouth split wider than a human jaw should allow, and inside were several rows of short teeth. Two smaller limbs extended from its shoulders, ending in hooked claws.

Level two.

But clearly stronger than the ones below.

Bai Li barely moved as it attacked.

She waited until the last moment.

The creature swung.

She slipped past the claw and struck its side.

The impact bent one armored plate inward.

Yan Cijin attacked from the opposite direction.

Her weapon struck the joint between two plates.

The creature shrieked.

It turned rapidly.

Bai Li caught its rear limb.

Yan Cijin understood immediately.

She jumped.

Bai Li threw the creature upward.

Yan Cijin met it in the air.

Her strike drove it straight back into the ceiling.

The impact caused the entire floor to shake.

The creature fell.

Bai Li finished it before it could stand.

Yan Cijin landed beside her.

"That one was unpleasant."

"Yes."

"You know, one day I would like to fight something normal."

Bai Li looked at the corpse.

"This is normal now."

Yan Cijin sighed.

"That was not comforting."

They kept moving.

Halfway through the eighth floor, they found a temporary shelter.

Someone had clearly lived there for weeks.

There were empty cans, blankets, a small water purifier, and a collection of handwritten notes taped to the wall.

Yan Cijin picked one up.

Most of the writing was hurried.

The notes described the mall’s upper floors.

Floor nine had become a hunting ground.

Floor ten had almost no survivors.

Above that, people stopped recording what happened.

One sentence had been written much larger than the others.

DO NOT GO ABOVE THE ELEVENTH FLOOR UNLESS YOU CAN HEAR THE FRUIT.

Yan Cijin frowned.

"Hear it?"

Bai Li looked at her.

Then both women became still.

There it was.

A soft sound.

Almost like a heartbeat.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

It came from above.

Yan Cijin whispered.

"That is not a normal heartbeat."

"No."

"Then what is it?"

Bai Li listened.

The sound traveled through the walls.

It was steady.

Warm.

Alive.

"The fruit."

Yan Cijin stared at the ceiling.

"It is still ripening."

"Yes."

A faint golden pulse moved through the walls.

The vines outside the shelter trembled.

Somewhere far above, something answered with a roar.

Then another.

The floor shook.

Yan Cijin slowly smiled.

"They heard it too."

Bai Li stood.

"We should keep going."

They left the shelter behind.

The ninth floor was worse.

The moment they stepped out of the stairwell, the air became humid and hot.

The entire floor had been transformed into something resembling a jungle.

Thick vines covered the walls. Roots had pushed through the tiles. Leaves the size of shields hung from broken balconies. The plants glowed with faint gold veins.

At first, there was no sign of life.

Then a leaf moved.

Yan Cijin raised her weapon.

"Left."

Bai Li moved right.

A creature leaped from the plants.

It looked almost like a giant wolf, except its front legs had become unusually long and its skull was covered in overlapping bone plates.

Bai Li struck it before it reached them.

The beast rolled away.

It immediately stood again.

A second beast attacked.

Then a third.

The jungle erupted.

Bai Li and Yan Cijin fought back to back.

The creatures were faster than the zombies below.

They were also smarter.

They attacked in pairs.

One distracted while another went for the throat.

Bai Li blocked a bite, twisted the creature’s neck, and threw it into another.

Yan Cijin cut through both before they landed.

A third came from behind.

Bai Li caught its wrist.

Yan Cijin kicked its chest.

The creature crashed through three layers of vegetation.

More emerged.

Five.

Eight.

Twelve.

Yan Cijin looked at the growing group.

"There are a lot."

Bai Li smiled.

"Good."

Yan Cijin stared at her.

"Good?"

"We were getting bored."

Yan Cijin laughed despite herself.

The next minute was chaos.

Claws tore through vines.

Golden leaves scattered through the air.

Bai Li moved between the creatures with effortless precision. She never wasted a movement. Every strike had a purpose. She stepped around bites, redirected momentum, used walls as leverage, and struck joints rather than armor whenever possible.

Yan Cijin fought differently.

She was more aggressive.

She closed distance quickly and forced enemies into narrow spaces where they could not surround her. She used broken counters and support columns as obstacles, turning the jungle’s clutter into an advantage.

At one point, a creature leaped toward her from above.

She raised one hand.

Bai Li understood.

She struck the creature from the side.

It changed direction in midair.

Yan Cijin finished it.

Their timing had become almost ridiculous.

They did not need words anymore.

They simply knew.

When the last beast fell, Yan Cijin leaned against a wall for a moment.

"You know, we are getting good at this."

Bai Li looked at her.

"We have been good at it."

"That sounded arrogant."

"It was accurate."

Yan Cijin shook her head.

"You really are impossible."

Bai Li smiled.

They searched the floor quickly.

The monsters had stronger cores, but more importantly, they had left behind something else.

A narrow passage.

The vines parted around it naturally.

The golden glow was stronger there.

Bai Li looked inside.

"That is the path."

They entered.

The tenth floor was nearly empty.

That should have made it easier.

Instead, it made them nervous.

The entire floor had been stripped bare.

No furniture.

No signs.

No bodies.

No plants.

Only long corridors and smooth walls.

There were dark stains on the floor every few meters.

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TO BE CONTINUED,