Chapter 356: The golden fruit 67.

The golden light became almost white.

A low vibration ran through the tree.

The leaves lifted.

The branches spread.

The barrier began to contract faster.

Bai Li shifted her stance.

Yan Cijin readied the crossbow.

"Something happening?"

"Yes."

"Good or bad?"

"Both."

The fruit released a pulse.

Every remaining corpse on the rooftop vanished into dust.

The dust flew toward the tree.

The tree absorbed it.

The glow surged.

Bai Li’s hair lifted in the energy wave.

Yan Cijin had to take one step back.

The barrier shrank again.

Now the roots were only a meter away.

Bai Li stared at the golden pomelo.

The smell was almost unbearable.

Her body wanted to move.

She forced herself to stay still.

Yan Cijin swallowed.

"Bai Li."

"Hmm?"

"I think it is almost ready."

"I know."

A final crack appeared along the fruit.

Not an opening.

A seam.

Something inside the fruit was shining through.

The golden tree seemed to inhale.

The branches drew inward.

Then all at once they opened.

The fruit’s radiance exploded outward.

Bai Li threw an arm over her eyes.

Yan Cijin did the same.

The light lasted only a few seconds.

When it faded, the invisible barrier had shrunk to a small circle directly around the trunk.

The path was open.

Bai Li lowered her arm.

She looked at Yan Cijin.

Neither woman moved immediately.

They had reached the edge.

The last step was there.

Waiting.

Yan Cijin gave a small laugh.

"After all that, it almost feels too easy."

Bai Li shook her head.

"It never is."

The fruit glowed above them.

The tree was silent.

The air was warm.

Bai Li raised Whisperfang slightly.

Not to attack.

To be ready.

Yan Cijin adjusted her grip on the crossbow.

Together they stepped forward until they were just outside the remaining golden perimeter.

Bai Li stopped.

She looked at the glowing line around the roots.

One foot away.

Less than one foot.

The fruit waited above.

Its scent filled the rooftop.

The desire inside both women was stronger than it had ever been.

Yet neither of them crossed.

Not until Bai Li understood exactly what the tree wanted from them.

They stood together, silent and alert, with the golden light touching their faces and the invisible perimeter only a step ahead.

The bodies behind them were still warm.

The rooftop was silent.

Bai Li did not cross immediately.

There was a reason.

The golden fruit was powerful enough to attract every evolved creature in the upper floors, powerful enough that several human groups had risked an entire mall just to find a way upward, and powerful enough that the scent could interfere with judgment. The barrier had been keeping everything away for some unknown period of time. If it was finally relaxing, that did not mean it had become harmless.

Bai Li studied the ground around the tree.

There were no roots breaking through the concrete. No insects were crawling over the trunk. No dust had settled on the leaves. Even the air seemed cleaner within a certain distance of the tree.

Yan Cijin noticed the same thing.

"Everything near it is untouched."

Bai Li nodded.

"It is protecting itself."

"Or feeding itself."

"That too."

A tiny sound came from above.

Drip.

Both women looked up.

Another drop of golden sap formed beneath the fruit.

It stretched slowly.

Then it fell.

This time the barrier did not stop it.

The drop reached the ground.

The instant it touched the concrete, a faint ring of golden light spread outward.

Bai Li moved back.

Yan Cijin did too.

The light stopped just short of their boots.

For several seconds nothing happened.

Then a small plant pushed through a crack in the concrete.

It grew rapidly.

A green stem rose.

Two leaves opened.

Then the stem turned gold.

It withered.

Yan Cijin stared.

"Fast growth."

"Too fast."

The little plant collapsed into dust.

Bai Li understood.

The sap carried life force, but the energy was too concentrated for ordinary matter to handle.

"That fruit is dangerous even when it is not being eaten."

Yan Cijin nodded.

"So we are definitely not licking the tree."

Bai Li gave her a look.

"I was never going to."

"You looked curious."

"I was observing."

"Sure."

Bai Li almost replied, but another tremor interrupted them.

The roof dipped slightly.

A crack opened near the old elevator housing.

The sound echoed down the empty building.

They both looked toward the broken structure.

Nothing emerged.

Still, the reminder was enough.

They did not have unlimited time.

Bai Li turned back to the tree.

The remaining perimeter was now only a few feet across.

The golden light was calmer.

The fruit itself had become nearly silent.

No pulse.

No crack.

No movement.

Just a soft radiance.

Bai Li slowly reached toward it.

Her fingers stopped before the boundary.

A faint pressure brushed against her skin.

Not hostile.

Not welcoming either.

It felt like being examined.

Her soul energy moved instinctively.

The barrier responded.

Golden lines appeared around her fingers.

Yan Cijin stepped closer.

"Bai Li?"

"I am fine."

The lines disappeared.

Bai Li lowered her hand.

"It is testing us."

"How?"

"I am not sure."

"You never say that."

"I just did."

Yan Cijin smiled.

Bai Li looked at the fruit again.

There was one thing she understood.

The barrier had not weakened because the fruit had become less valuable.

It had weakened because the fruit was nearly ripe.

The protection was no longer about keeping the creatures away.

It was about keeping the fruit inside until the proper moment.

The difference mattered.

Bai Li took another step.

This time the barrier moved.

The golden line retreated from her boot.

She took another.

Yan Cijin followed.

They were almost inside.

Then the fruit pulsed once.

Both women stopped.

A strange pressure settled over the rooftop.

Not the murderous pressure of the level 3 zombies.

Not the hunger of the level 2 monster.

This was different.

It felt almost like awareness.

.

.

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TO BE CONTINUED.