Chapter 345: The golden fruit 56.

Yan Cijin crouched.

She touched one.

"Old blood."

Bai Li looked around.

"Very old."

A sound came from behind them.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

They turned.

Nothing.

Another sound came from the opposite direction.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Yan Cijin frowned.

"Something is copying us."

Bai Li nodded.

"Or listening."

They moved forward slowly.

The tapping followed.

Every time they stopped, it stopped.

Every time they moved, it resumed.

Eventually, Yan Cijin turned suddenly and threw a blade down the corridor.

It struck a wall.

Something moved.

Bai Li was already there.

Her hand closed around a thin creature emerging from a doorway.

Its body was almost human in shape, but its skin was pale and stretched tight over its bones. Its mouth was tiny. Its eyes were too large.

It did not attack.

It only watched them.

Yan Cijin stepped closer.

"What is it doing?"

Bai Li studied it.

The creature looked past them.

Toward the stairs.

Then it pointed upward.

Yan Cijin frowned.

"It wants us to go up?"

Bai Li released it.

The creature disappeared instantly.

Neither woman spoke for several seconds.

Then Yan Cijin said, "I do not know whether that was helpful or terrifying."

"Both."

They continued.

At the far end of the floor, they found a stairwell.

The door was open.

There were fresh claw marks around it.

Bai Li touched the metal.

It was warm.

Yan Cijin looked up.

"Something passed through recently."

"Yes."

"Big?"

"Very."

They stepped inside.

The moment they began climbing, the stairwell behind them slammed shut.

The lights went out.

Yan Cijin immediately moved closer to Bai Li.

"Did you do that?"

"No."

A deep growl came from below.

The sound was not coming from the stairs.

It was coming from the walls.

Bai Li raised one hand.

They stopped.

The growl moved upward.

Fast.

Yan Cijin looked down.

Two red eyes appeared between the stair railings.

Then four.

Then six.

Several creatures were climbing the walls beneath them.

Bai Li smiled.

"Now we fight."

The first creature sprang.

Yan Cijin met it halfway.

Her strike sent it back down the stairwell.

Another came from the opposite wall.

Bai Li caught it.

She turned and slammed it against the railing.

The metal bent.

A third lunged at Yan Cijin.

She blocked with her forearm.

The impact cracked the wall behind her.

Bai Li struck the creature from the side.

It fell through the railings.

The next one came before it landed.

The fight continued upward.

They never stopped climbing.

Every few steps another creature attacked.

Some moved along the walls.

Some crawled beneath the stairs.

One dropped from the ceiling and nearly caught Yan Cijin by the shoulder, but Bai Li caught its neck and threw it downward.

The stairwell filled with echoes.

Roars.

Impacts.

Breaking concrete.

Then silence.

They reached the eleventh floor.

Yan Cijin stepped through the door and immediately stopped.

The entire floor was covered in feathers.

Black feathers.

Thousands of them.

They covered the floor, furniture, counters, and even the ceiling.

Bai Li looked around.

"Birds."

Yan Cijin nodded.

"I know."

"That was not the interesting part."

Yan Cijin followed her gaze.

At the far end of the mall stood a massive nest.

It had been built from cables, cloth, wires, bones, and pieces of metal.

Something large was sleeping inside it.

Only the outline was visible.

It was larger than a car.

Its wings were folded around its body.

Bai Li whispered, "Level two."

Yan Cijin nodded.

"Probably."

They began moving around it.

Slowly.

Carefully.

The creature’s eye opened.

Both women stopped.

The eye was golden.

It looked directly at them.

A long silence followed.

Then Yan Cijin whispered, "I think it knows."

Bai Li nodded.

The creature unfolded its wings.

Dust exploded outward.

The nest shook.

The monster rose.

It was enormous.

Its body resembled a giant bird, but its head was covered in dark scales, and four additional limbs grew beneath its wings. Its beak was lined with small teeth.

The moment it opened its mouth, the entire floor filled with a piercing screech.

Yan Cijin covered one ear.

Bai Li did not react.

The creature launched itself forward.

Bai Li stepped aside.

Yan Cijin jumped over one wing.

The monster crashed through a restaurant and disappeared into a cloud of dust.

Bai Li looked at Yan Cijin.

"You all right?"

"Fine."

"Good."

They attacked together.

Bai Li went for the wing.

Yan Cijin went for the rear leg.

The creature twisted unexpectedly.

Its tail struck Yan Cijin and sent her across the floor.

Bai Li immediately changed direction.

She intercepted the follow-up strike.

The force of the impact pushed her backward several meters.

Yan Cijin recovered.

"I owe you one."

"You can repay me later."

Yan Cijin stared at her for half a second.

Then smiled.

"Deal."

They fought harder.

The creature was stronger than the others.

Its armor resisted ordinary attacks.

It could change direction in the air.

It could use its wings to create powerful shockwaves.

The floor itself began cracking under the repeated impacts.

Bai Li noticed something.

"Its left wing."

Yan Cijin understood.

They changed positions.

Bai Li drew the monster toward her.

Yan Cijin attacked the left wing joint.

The creature screamed.

Its balance broke.

Bai Li struck upward.

The monster rose into the air.

Yan Cijin jumped onto its back.

For one second, she was directly above its skull.

Then she brought her weapon down.

The attack pierced the armor.

The creature crashed.

The entire eleventh floor shook.

Yan Cijin rolled away.

Bai Li finished it.

When the monster stopped moving, the feathers slowly settled.

Yan Cijin stood and brushed dust from her jacket.

"That one was actually fun."

Bai Li looked at her.

"You are strange."

"You knew that already."

They collected its core.

The golden thread inside was brighter than the earlier ones.

Bai Li stored it carefully.

Then both women looked toward the next stairwell.

There was something different about it.

The door was covered in golden vines.

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TO BE CONTINUED.