Chapter 358: The golden fruit 69.

It might be the tree itself. It might be another mutation attracted by the scent. It might even be nothing. The uncertainty was what made the situation dangerous.

Bai Li looked back toward the rooftop door they had entered through. The steel door was still partly open. Beyond it, the upper stairwell vanished into darkness. No new creatures had come through. That meant the golden tree was doing more than attracting enemies. It was also holding their attention.

Everything had come here.

Everything was still here.

Bai Li had the sudden feeling that the rooftop was the calm center of a storm and that the moment the fruit changed, every strong creature within several kilometers would know.

Yan Cijin seemed to understand the same thing.

"You think more are coming?"

"They might."

"Before the fruit ripens?"

"Probably."

Yan Cijin sighed. "Of course."

Bai Li smiled faintly. "At least they will come to us."

The fruit pulsed.

The seam widened another fraction.

Golden light slipped through.

The scent filled the entire rooftop.

Yan Cijin’s eyes narrowed as she fought the pull of it.

Bai Li deliberately looked away from the fruit for a moment.

"Don’t stare too long."

"I noticed."

"Good."

They waited.

One breath.

Then another.

Then the barrier contracted again.

The last glowing line around the tree was now so thin that it looked like a circle drawn with a thread of light.

Bai Li stepped closer, but not into it.

Yan Cijin followed.

They were finally close enough to see the tiny imperfections in the fruit’s skin.

The golden pomelo looked almost unreal at this distance.

It was not simply shining.

It seemed to contain its own dawn.

Bai Li could feel its power in her teeth.

Yan Cijin whispered, "Beautiful."

Bai Li nodded.

"Yeah."

For once, neither woman made a joke.

They simply looked.

The tree stood motionless.

The golden fruit swayed once.

Very slightly.

No wind moved the branches.

Then the invisible perimeter flashed.

It retreated another few inches.

Bai Li lowered Whisperfang.

Yan Cijin loosened her grip on the crossbow.

The fight was over.

The danger was not.

And they both knew it.

The fruit gave one final, soft pulse.

The golden radiance gathered around the tree’s trunk.

The barrier became almost transparent.

Bai Li could see straight through it now.

She could see the roots.

She could see the base of the trunk.

She could see the soft glow traveling upward through the branches.

The fruit was ready.

Or nearly ready.

Bai Li took a measured breath.

Yan Cijin stood beside her.

Neither crossed the last line.

Not yet.

They had reached the edge of the golden tree’s perimeter, and for the first time since entering the mall, there was nothing left between them and the miracle they had come for except a few inches of invisible light.

Bai Li could hear Yan Cijin breathing beside her. The sound was steady again, controlled, but both women knew how much effort that calm required. The fragrance of the golden pomelo was still pressing against their senses, tempting them with every breath. Bai Li tightened her fingers around Whisperfang and reminded herself that wanting the fruit was not the same as being entitled to it. Yan Cijin quietly shifted her stance until their shoulders almost touched. Neither woman commented on it. The rooftop beneath them gave another low groan, the golden tree gave another quiet pulse, and the last thin ring of invisible energy around the roots shimmered like a thread of sunlight. Bai Li watched it carefully. They were close enough now that she could step over it whenever she chose, but she did not. One wrong move around a power like this could ruin everything. She waited, calm and patient, while Yan Cijin kept her crossbow ready, and together they stood at the very edge of the tree’s perimeter.

The golden tree stood ahead, surrounded by its invisible barrier.

Bai Li reached the place where the dead creatures had fallen.

She stopped.

Only a few meters remained before the outer edge of the barrier.

Yan Cijin came to stand beside her.

The fruit shone above them.

The rooftop had not truly become quiet. It only sounded quiet because the four creatures had stopped making obvious noise. Their bodies still held energy, and Bai Li could sense it as a faint pressure beneath the concrete. Level 3 zombies were troublesome in ways lower level zombies were not. Killing the body was only the first step. The evolutionary force packed inside them could keep a corpse moving after the heart, brain, and spine had been destroyed. Bai Li had learned that on the first exchange. She did not intend to make the same mistake twice.

Yan Cijin noticed her looking toward the corpses. "They are not really dead, are they?"

"Not completely."

"That is a very annoying answer."

Bai Li crouched beside the first zombie and pressed two fingers against the torn throat. The tissue was already cooling, but a faint line of black energy remained under the skin. It moved slowly toward the chest. She watched it for a moment and then stood. "The core is repairing the body."

"So we break the core first."

"Exactly."

The corpse jerked before she finished speaking. Yan Cijin’s revolver was already up, but Bai Li held out one hand. "Wait."

The zombie’s fingers curled into the concrete. Its shoulders rose. Its severed neck sealed with a wet cracking sound. The head dragged itself toward the body as though an invisible thread had been tied through both halves. When the head clicked back into place, one clouded eye opened.

Yan Cijin muttered, "I take it back. I hate this place."

Bai Li smiled. "You said that already."

"And it is still true."

The zombie launched itself forward.

This time Bai Li did not attack the head. She moved sideways and cut the first arm at the elbow. The limb flew away. The zombie immediately brought the second arm around.

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TO BE CONTINUED,