Chapter 354: The golden fruit 65.

"Left!"

Bai Li shifted.

A claw missed her shoulder.

"Lower!"

She ducked.

Another claw passed overhead.

"Now!"

Yan Cijin fired.

The revolver cracked.

The bullet struck the zombie’s wrist.

It jerked instinctively.

Bai Li used the tiny opening.

Whisperfang slid between its ribs.

But the zombie twisted before she could finish the cut.

The blade only sliced along its side.

Dark blood sprayed.

The creature roared.

Bai Li landed.

Yan Cijin fired again.

The second revolver bullet struck the zombie’s knee.

The creature staggered.

Bai Li smiled.

"Nice."

Yan Cijin raised her brows.

"You’re welcome."

The zombie lunged again.

Bai Li met it head-on.

Their bodies collided.

The rooftop shook.

The zombie’s hand closed around Bai Li’s forearm.

Its fingers tightened.

Bai Li’s expression remained calm.

She looked at the hand.

Then at the zombie.

"You should let go."

It pulled.

Bai Li stepped in instead of resisting.

She drove her forehead into its face.

Bone cracked.

The zombie recoiled.

Bai Li rotated her wrist, escaped its grip, and buried Whisperfang into the side of its neck.

The blade sank deep.

The zombie grabbed the weapon with both hands.

It tried to tear it away.

Bai Li let it.

Then she released the weapon entirely.

The zombie stared at her in confusion.

Bai Li raised one hand.

A silver revolver appeared between her fingers.

Yan Cijin’s eyes widened slightly.

Whisperfang remained lodged in the zombie’s throat.

Bai Li fired.

The bullet entered beneath the creature’s jaw.

A second shot followed.

Then a third.

The third blew out the back of its skull.

The zombie staggered.

Its grip loosened.

Bai Li stepped forward and pulled Whisperfang free.

The body collapsed.

She looked at the gun in her hand.

"Third."

Yan Cijin exhaled.

"You really like dramatic entrances."

Bai Li spun the revolver once and let it vanish.

"You’re the one who watched."

"That was a good view."

The monster moved.

It was faster than either expected.

One instant it was beside the body.

The next, it was halfway across the roof.

Its mouth opened.

A strange sound came from its throat.

Yan Cijin raised her crossbow.

"Bai Li!"

Bai Li turned.

The monster lunged.

She blocked with Whisperfang.

The impact forced her down onto one knee.

The creature’s claws scraped across the blade.

Its shoulder eyes opened.

All of them at once.

Bai Li felt a pulse of mental pressure hit her.

She frowned.

The monster was not merely attacking physically.

It was trying to disturb her senses.

Her vision blurred.

For half a second the rooftop became the street outside.

Then a hospital corridor.

Then the ruined mall entrance.

Then the golden fruit.

Bai Li knew it was fake.

She closed her eyes.

The hallucination broke.

"Annoying."

Yan Cijin fired.

The crossbow bolt struck one of the monster’s shoulder eyes.

The creature screamed.

Bai Li shoved it away.

The monster rolled.

Yan Cijin fired another bolt.

The second hit its front leg.

The monster snapped toward her.

Bai Li disappeared from its vision.

A moment later Whisperfang sliced through its tail.

The creature whipped around.

Bai Li stepped back.

The monster’s mouth stretched impossibly wide.

"Come on," Bai Li said.

It lunged.

She waited.

One step.

Two.

Three.

At the last instant, she moved sideways.

The monster overshot.

Bai Li fired the revolver from the hip.

One bullet.

Two.

Three.

The bullets struck different eyes.

The monster slammed into the ground.

Yan Cijin moved closer.

"More?"

"Three."

"Okay."

She raised the crossbow.

The monster rolled.

Bai Li jumped over it.

Yan Cijin’s bolt went straight through its open mouth.

The creature shrieked.

Bai Li landed behind it.

Whisperfang drew a clean arc.

The blade cut deep across the back of its neck.

The monster tried to turn.

Bai Li cut again.

And again.

The creature collapsed.

The rooftop went quiet.

Bai Li stood over the body.

Yan Cijin lowered her weapon.

For several seconds neither woman said anything.

Then Yan Cijin whispered, "We did it."

Bai Li looked toward the tree.

The fruit continued to glow.

The invisible barrier remained.

The golden fragrance had become stronger now that the creatures were dead.

Bai Li could feel the desire inside herself again.

It was stronger this time.

She breathed slowly.

Yan Cijin did the same.

The two women stood side by side, watching the tree.

Around them lay the bodies of the creatures that had once seemed like monsters from another world.

Bai Li wiped the edge of Whisperfang with a piece of cloth.

"Stay here."

Yan Cijin looked at her.

"You’re going closer."

"Not yet."

"Why not?"

Bai Li pointed toward the fruit.

"It hasn’t ripened."

As if responding to her words, the golden fruit pulsed once.

A soft wave of light moved through the branches.

The smell became even richer.

Yan Cijin’s fingers tightened around her revolver.

Bai Li noticed.

"So do you."

Yan Cijin gave her a sideways look.

"Of course I do."

Bai Li smiled faintly.

They started walking.

Slowly.

Carefully.

The first thing that changed was the light.

The golden radiance stopped spreading outward and began flowing inward instead, all of it being pulled toward the fruit. The effect was subtle at first. The leaves dimmed one by one from their outer edges toward the center. The trunk seemed to straighten. Even the shadows cast by the branches became sharper.

Bai Li watched carefully.

Yan Cijin noticed the same thing. "Is that normal?"

"I have no idea."

"That is somehow reassuring."

Bai Li crouched beside the nearest corpse and looked at the black blood pooling beneath it. The liquid was moving. Not much, but enough. It was creeping toward the invisible boundary.

She touched the ground with two fingers.

A faint vibration passed through her hand.

"The tree is pulling energy from everything around it."

Yan Cijin looked at the dead creatures. "Even them?"

"Especially them."

Bai Li stood.

The nearest body suddenly jerked.

Yan Cijin brought up the crossbow.

Bai Li did not stop her this time.

.

.

.

TO BE CONTINUED.