Chapter 336: The golden fruit 47.

Bai Li moved.

She caught two of its limbs before they reached her shoulders.

The monster twisted with shocking force. Its other limbs stabbed toward her back.

Yan Cijin kicked it away.

The creature spun through the air and landed on the wall.

It immediately ran sideways.

Bai Li smiled.

"Fast."

"Too fast for this hallway."

Yan Cijin disappeared.

The creature looked left.

Then right.

Yan Cijin appeared directly above it.

Her heel came down.

The monster crashed into the floor.

Before it could move again, Bai Li pinned it with one hand.

The creature screamed.

The sound was high and unpleasant.

Bai Li looked at it for a moment.

Then she struck the center of its chest.

The body went limp.

"That one was smarter than the others," Yan Cijin said.

"Not smart enough."

They continued.

The service level connected to a large freight elevator shaft. The elevator itself was gone, leaving a dark vertical opening that disappeared into the floors above and below. Cables hung down like giant ropes.

A handwritten sign had been taped beside the shaft.

DO NOT USE.

Bai Li looked at it.

Yan Cijin looked at her.

"You are thinking about it."

"I am thinking about why someone bothered to write that."

"Probably because someone ignored the previous sign."

Bai Li leaned over the railing.

Far below, there was nothing but darkness.

Far above, a faint golden glow pulsed through the shaft.

It was barely visible.

But it was there.

The fruit was sending out something like a signal.

Not an actual light.

Something Bai Li could feel in her bones.

Yan Cijin stood beside her.

"It is stronger now."

"Yes."

"Does it bother you?"

Bai Li thought about it.

"No."

"Really?"

"I want it."

Yan Cijin looked at her.

"That quickly?"

Bai Li smiled.

"Not because I crave it. Because something that can attract this many monsters must be worth understanding."

Yan Cijin nodded.

"That is what I thought."

Bai Li glanced at her.

"What about you?"

Yan Cijin was quiet for a moment.

"I want to see what happens when you finally get what you are after."

Bai Li blinked.

Then she laughed.

"That sounds dangerous."

"It probably is."

They moved away from the elevator shaft.

The service hallway eventually opened onto another commercial level.

This floor had once been filled with electronics stores.

Broken television screens covered the walls.

Some still had power.

Not enough to show an actual picture, but enough for static to crawl across them.

The static made the place feel strangely alive.

Bai Li walked past one screen.

Her reflection appeared for half a second.

Then the image changed.

A dark shape stood behind her reflection.

Bai Li stopped.

Yan Cijin turned.

"What?"

Bai Li looked at the television.

Nothing.

The screen showed only static.

"Thought I saw something."

Yan Cijin stepped closer.

The television flickered.

For one frame, something appeared.

A face.

Then static again.

Yan Cijin’s expression changed.

"That was not you."

"No."

They turned together.

The entire electronics floor was filled with mannequins.

Hundreds of them.

At first they seemed ordinary.

Then one of them moved.

A second followed.

Then a third.

The mannequins began turning their heads.

Bai Li stared.

"Interesting."

Yan Cijin sighed.

"Do not encourage them."

The first mannequin sprinted forward.

Its porcelain face cracked open.

Teeth grew from the split.

Bai Li punched it through a glass display.

Another jumped from the side.

Yan Cijin caught it and spun.

She threw it through three rows of shelves.

The creatures kept coming.

They moved with unnatural coordination, using the aisles to attack from different directions.

Some climbed the walls.

Some crawled across the ceiling.

Others pretended to stand still among the normal mannequins.

Bai Li walked through them.

She did not rush.

One attacked from the front.

She tilted her head.

Its claws missed by inches.

She grabbed its wrist and swung it into another.

A third came from behind.

Yan Cijin stepped in and caught its neck.

She tossed it over her shoulder.

Bai Li followed with a kick.

The creature flew through a display window and disappeared into a store.

The remaining mannequins hesitated.

Bai Li looked around.

"They learn."

Yan Cijin nodded.

"Then we should teach faster."

The next wave came all at once.

Bai Li moved through the center.

Yan Cijin covered the rear.

Their movements became almost effortless.

Bai Li would step left, and Yan Cijin would already be moving to the right.

Yan Cijin would strike one creature upward, and Bai Li would send it crashing into two more.

They never collided.

They never had to call out positions.

They simply knew.

One mannequin jumped over Bai Li.

Yan Cijin caught it from the air.

Another rushed Yan Cijin.

Bai Li appeared beside her and knocked it away.

For a few seconds, it looked less like two people fighting and more like a single rhythm moving through the room.

Then the last creature attacked.

It came through the ceiling.

The tiles exploded.

Its body was much larger than the others.

The porcelain shell around its head had cracked away, revealing a skull-like structure underneath.

It roared.

Bai Li looked up.

"Finally."

Yan Cijin laughed.

"You really like that word."

The creature charged.

Bai Li met it head-on.

The floor cracked beneath their feet.

The monster’s claws scraped against her arms.

It pushed.

Bai Li did not move.

She looked almost bored.

"You are stronger."

The creature roared.

"But not strong enough."

Bai Li twisted.

The monster went over her shoulder.

Yan Cijin struck it in the stomach as it fell.

The creature flew across the room and crashed through a wall.

Bai Li walked toward the hole.

Yan Cijin followed.

The monster was still moving.

It had survived both attacks.

Bai Li stopped beside it.

"That is actually impressive."

Yan Cijin crossed her arms.

"Do you want to keep it?"

"No."

Bai Li ended it with one strike.

The floor became quiet again.

They left the electronics level through a broken staircase.

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TO BE CONTINUED.