Chapter 355: The golden fruit 66.

"Wait until it rises."

The zombie’s chest expanded.

A crack opened along its ribs.

Instead of flesh healing, a pale crystal structure emerged from the wound. It grew like roots, reaching toward the creature’s throat and spine.

Yan Cijin whispered, "That is disgusting."

"Very."

The zombie opened its eyes.

But it did not attack them.

It looked at the golden tree.

The creature staggered upright and walked toward the barrier.

Bai Li watched.

It reached the invisible line.

The barrier rejected it.

The zombie screamed.

The crystal growth in its chest shattered.

Bai Li understood immediately.

The tree was drawing the energy from its failed regeneration.

The zombie was trying to feed itself.

The tree was feeding on it instead.

Bai Li raised Whisperfang.

"One more."

The zombie turned.

This time the creature was weaker.

Bai Li approached calmly.

It swung.

She ducked.

Whisperfang cut through its arm.

The arm dropped.

The creature regenerated halfway.

Bai Li cut it again.

Again.

Again.

She did not allow the limb to finish healing.

Yan Cijin fired one bolt into the zombie’s knee.

The creature fell.

Bai Li stepped behind it.

The blade entered the base of its skull.

The core glowed.

She shattered it.

The corpse dissolved almost immediately.

Black dust rose.

The barrier absorbed it.

Yan Cijin stared.

"It is eating them."

"Energy."

"Right."

The tree pulsed.

The scent intensified.

Bai Li took a slow breath.

The fragrance was beginning to affect her concentration. It was not merely desire anymore. It made every thought feel softer around the edges.

Yan Cijin rubbed her temples.

"You feel that?"

"Yes."

"It is making me want to walk over there."

"Same."

"Good. I thought I was losing my mind."

"You probably are."

Yan Cijin looked at her.

Bai Li smiled.

"Partially."

The joke helped.

Only a little.

The next pulse was stronger.

Both women stepped back without realizing it.

A wave of golden light moved through the roof.

The cracks stopped spreading.

The damaged concrete settled.

For several seconds the entire rooftop seemed frozen.

Then the fruit gave off a soft crack.

Yan Cijin looked up immediately.

"There."

A thin line had appeared across the golden skin.

Bai Li’s eyes narrowed.

The fruit was changing.

The smell became almost impossible to ignore.

It carried a faint bitterness beneath the sweetness, something that reminded Bai Li of medicine and old forests. It made her think of every wound she had ever survived, every time she had been close to death, every scarce resource she had ever chased.

The fruit felt like an answer.

That was what made it dangerous.

It offered exactly what the desperate wanted.

Strength.

Recovery.

Possibility.

Maybe even a second chance.

Bai Li clenched her hand.

No matter how strong she was, she would not let an instinct choose for her.

Yan Cijin noticed.

"Still okay?"

Bai Li nodded.

"Ask me again in a minute."

Yan Cijin smiled.

"Fair."

The tree pulsed again.

The barrier narrowed.

Bai Li saw the line move inward.

Only a few meters now.

They waited.

The fruit grew brighter.

Then the rooftop shook.

A section of the old mall sign snapped loose from the building edge and crashed onto the far side of the roof.

The impact sent dust upward.

Bai Li turned instinctively.

Yan Cijin did too.

The golden barrier did not react.

That meant it was selective.

It could ignore ordinary physical matter.

That was useful information.

Bai Li picked up a chunk of concrete and threw it at the boundary.

The concrete stopped.

She threw another.

Same result.

She narrowed her eyes.

"Interesting."

Yan Cijin looked at her. "What?"

"It decides what crosses."

"You think we can trick it?"

"Maybe."

"How?"

Bai Li looked at Whisperfang.

Then at the barrier.

"By understanding what it considers a threat."

She extended the edge of the soul weapon toward the boundary without touching it.

The air shimmered.

Whisperfang did not pass through.

The blade stopped a finger’s width before the golden line.

Bai Li nodded.

"It is resisting soul energy."

Yan Cijin looked thoughtful.

"And the fruit?"

"Different."

The weapon hummed.

Bai Li withdrew it.

The barrier calmed.

Yan Cijin asked, "So what does that mean?"

"That it may let ordinary matter through after the fruit ripens."

"And us?"

Bai Li looked at her.

"That depends on whether it considers us prey, thieves, or candidates."

Yan Cijin sighed.

"I really wish it would just come with instructions."

Bai Li gave a quiet laugh.

"Then it would be less interesting."

The fruit pulsed again.

The line across its skin deepened.

Golden droplets of sap appeared beneath the stem.

A single drop fell.

It never reached the ground.

The invisible barrier caught it and held it in midair.

Bai Li stared.

Even the sap was protected.

The rooftop groaned again.

The building was losing structural integrity.

Yan Cijin looked toward the stairwell.

"We should probably be quick."

Bai Li nodded.

"We are."

She took one step forward.

The barrier moved.

It was almost as if the tree had noticed her.

Yan Cijin followed.

They stopped.

The golden light washed over them.

The smell became overpowering.

Bai Li felt her fingers twitch.

Yan Cijin’s eyes had become distant.

Bai Li snapped her fingers.

Yan Cijin blinked.

"Sorry."

"Stay awake."

"I am trying."

The next pulse hit.

For an instant Bai Li saw the courtyard of an old home.

Someone was laughing.

Someone was waiting for her.

The image disappeared before she could identify it.

She understood the fruit’s trick.

It did not simply trigger hunger.

It reached for desire.

It found whatever a person wanted most and wrapped the scent around that desire.

Bai Li looked at Yan Cijin.

The other woman was staring at the tree with a strange expression.

Bai Li did not ask what she had seen.

Yan Cijin did not ask what Bai Li had seen.

Some things were better left untouched.

The fruit cracked again.

This time the sound was clearer.

The skin was beginning to separate.

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TO BE CONTINUED.