Chapter 380: Retrurning 10.

Luo Ren stared at the floor.

"There was no mechanism under there."

"You are sure?" Yan Cijin asked.

"I built this place."

"Then what is it?"

"I don’t know."

The grinding grew louder.

Cracks appeared between the old paving stones.

The zombies began backing away.

Even they seemed unsettled.

The dragon’s head remained raised.

The white light inside its mouth expanded.

Bai Li felt a faint vibration through her boots.

Not soul power.

Not the strange energy from the golden fruits.

Something mechanical.

Old.

Buried.

The entire square trembled.

A section of the ground beside the dragon lifted.

Dust poured from the gap.

Luo Ren stumbled backward.

"What did they build underneath this place?"

Yan Cijin looked at him.

"You tell us."

"I don’t know!"

Another crack.

This one crossed the entire square.

The survivors watching from nearby buildings started shouting.

People moved away from windows.

Some ran down staircases.

The dragon remained still.

Its bells had stopped.

Only the deep grinding remained.

Bai Li stepped toward the edge of the platform.

Yan Cijin caught her sleeve.

"Wait."

Bai Li looked back.

"I’m just looking."

"That’s what you said before the tree attacked."

Bai Li smiled.

"I learned something from that."

"What?"

"Sometimes looking is enough."

She crouched.

Dust shifted beneath the platform.

There was a metal surface below.

A huge circular plate.

Luo Ren stared.

"I’ve never seen that."

Bai Li touched it.

It was cold.

Very cold.

Then something moved under her palm.

Three mechanical clicks.

One.

Two.

Three.

Yan Cijin tightened her grip on the crossbow.

The dragon’s head suddenly turned.

Not toward the city.

Toward the square.

Its painted eyes became white.

The light inside its mouth vanished.

Then the entire machine stopped.

Bai Li stood.

"That is not normal."

"No," Luo Ren whispered.

The brass bell hung in front of them.

Its rope moved again.

This time it did not swing randomly.

It pulled downward.

Slowly.

By itself.

The bell tilted.

Bai Li stepped forward.

"Luo Ren."

"Yes?"

"Can the bell be stopped?"

"I don’t know."

Yan Cijin looked at the dragon.

"Do we even want to stop it now?"

Bai Li looked down at the cracks.

"Probably."

The ground shook again.

A deep metallic pulse traveled beneath their feet.

The old festival lights flickered.

One by one.

Then all together.

Darkness.

The square disappeared.

For one second there was nothing.

Then the white light returned inside the dragon’s mouth.

It was much brighter.

A narrow beam shot upward.

It reached above the buildings.

The light was visible across the district.

Bai Li’s eyes narrowed.

"That’s going to draw everything here."

Luo Ren swallowed.

"It’s probably already doing that."

From the distant streets came a rising noise.

Zombies.

Lots of them.

Yan Cijin looked toward the roads.

The streets were filling.

"Then we need to move."

Bai Li nodded.

"Not yet."

Yan Cijin stared.

"What?"

Bai Li pointed.

The giant circular plate beneath the festival platform had begun turning.

Slowly.

The red dragon rose another few meters.

Its body stretched.

Its mechanical joints locked one after another.

The square was becoming a stage.

And the stage was becoming something else.

A giant circular pattern appeared beneath the dragon.

Old symbols lit up around the edge.

Luo Ren’s face went blank.

"I know this."

Bai Li looked at him.

"What?"

"This wasn’t part of the parade."

Yan Cijin’s expression hardened.

"Then what is it?"

Luo Ren shook his head.

"I don’t know."

The brass bell lifted higher.

The rope pulled down.

The bell began to swing.

Bai Li drew Whisperfang.

Yan Cijin raised her crossbow.

Luo Ren stepped behind them.

"Maybe we should leave."

Bai Li looked toward the motorcycle.

It was still where they had left it.

The road behind them was open.

For now.

She could leave.

She could take Yan Cijin and ride toward home.

The minor problem was not their responsibility.

The dragon was old machinery.

The festival square was none of their business.

And whatever was underneath it had nothing to do with them.

Bai Li knew all of that.

Then she heard another crack from below.

And she saw several people on a nearby rooftop trying to escape while zombies climbed after them.

Yan Cijin saw them too.

She looked at Bai Li.

Neither spoke.

Bai Li sighed.

"Five minutes."

Luo Ren looked confused.

"What?"

"We give this five minutes."

Yan Cijin smiled.

"I knew you would say that."

"Then stay close."

"I always do."

Bai Li looked up.

The dragon was almost fully upright.

Its long red body stretched across the square like a giant mechanical beast.

The brass bell rose above its head.

The white light inside its mouth became a perfect circle.

And beneath the festival stage,

the hidden mechanism finally opened.

A line of cold air rushed upward.

The sound that came from the darkness below was not a roar.

It was a bell.

A second bell.

Much deeper than the one above.

Bai Li’s expression changed.

Yan Cijin raised her weapon.

Luo Ren whispered.

"There was never supposed to be a second bell."

The first bell began to swing.

The second bell below answered.

Doom.

The entire square shook.

Doom.

The dragon’s white eyes flashed.

Doom.

The metal circle beneath the stage opened wider.

Something massive began rising.

Bai Li stepped forward.

Whisperfang darkened in her hand.

Yan Cijin moved beside her.

The motorcycle idled behind them.

The zombies filled the roads.

The survivors watched from the windows.

And the ancient festival dragon,

which had only been an old parade machine a few minutes earlier,

slowly opened its enormous mouth toward the sky.

Then something moved inside the light.

Bai Li raised Whisperfang.

"Get ready."

Yan Cijin loaded the final crossbow bolt.

"I’m ready."

The darkness beneath the square erupted.

And the dragon’s bell struck.

The dragon’s bell struck.

Doom.

The sound rolled through the square with such force that the broken

windows of the surrounding buildings trembled. Dust spilled from ledges.

Loose pieces of glass jumped

.

.

.

TO BE CONTINUED.