Chapter 370: The golden fruit 80.

The fight lasted less than thirty seconds.

Bai Li cut its front leg.

The monster stumbled.

Yan Cijin shot its throat.

Bai Li finished it with one clean strike.

The body crashed into the storefront.

Silence returned.

Yan Cijin lowered the crossbow.

"We’re almost out of bolts."

Bai Li looked at the remaining two.

"Save them."

"For what?"

"Something worse."

Yan Cijin sighed.

"I hate when you’re right."

They continued.

Several floors below, the mall became quieter.

The creatures were weaker.

The scent was less noticeable.

The farther they moved from the rooftop, the more normal the apocalypse seemed.

But neither woman felt normal.

The golden fruits were changing something.

Bai Li could feel a warm current moving through her soul.

Yan Cijin occasionally glanced at her.

"You’re glowing."

Bai Li looked down at her hands.

A faint golden thread really was moving along her fingers.

"Interesting."

"That’s your response?"

"What else should I say?"

"Maybe that you’re worried."

Bai Li thought about it.

"I’m a little worried."

Yan Cijin smiled.

"Good. At least you’re human."

Bai Li looked at her.

"I never said I wasn’t."

They walked together.

The silence between them became comfortable.

Not empty.

Not awkward.

Comfortable.

That was perhaps the strangest thing of all.

The apocalypse had taken so much from them.

Yet somewhere inside the ruins, they had found something neither of them had expected.

Trust.

It was not romance.

Not yet.

Neither woman had admitted what she felt.

Neither woman wanted to ruin what they had.

So they simply kept walking beside each other.

When Bai Li moved faster, Yan Cijin followed.

When Yan Cijin stopped, Bai Li waited.

When either woman was hurt, the other noticed immediately.

It was enough.

For now.

Eventually they reached the floor where sunlight could enter through huge broken windows.

The city outside was beginning to brighten.

Morning was coming.

Bai Li stopped.

Yan Cijin looked at her.

"We’re going to get out before sunrise?"

"Probably."

"That’s good."

Bai Li looked toward the outside world.

The sky was dark blue.

The horizon had a thin golden line.

For a moment, the color looked almost identical to the fruit.

Bai Li smiled.

"Funny."

Yan Cijin looked at the sky.

"What?"

"The fruit’s color."

Yan Cijin nodded.

"Yeah."

They stood together until the first ray of sunlight crossed the ruined buildings.

Then Bai Li turned.

"Come on."

Yan Cijin followed.

They descended one last flight.

The main floor was still dangerous, but they were tired enough that neither cared much.

A handful of zombies wandered through the old entrances.

Bai Li killed them without stopping.

Yan Cijin searched the abandoned stores for ammunition.

They found enough supplies to refill some of what they had used.

Nothing valuable.

Nothing miraculous.

But enough.

Then they reached the entrance hall.

The doors were still broken.

Outside, the city was waiting.

Yan Cijin looked back one last time.

"We actually did it."

Bai Li looked toward the rooftop.

"Yes."

"Five fruits."

"Five."

"And the tree is gone."

"Completely."

Yan Cijin smiled.

Bai Li looked at her.

For a moment neither said anything.

Then Bai Li walked out.

Yan Cijin followed.

The abandoned mall disappeared behind them.

The golden pomelo fruits remained hidden safely in Bai Li’s storage.

The city stretched ahead.

The apocalypse continued.

But now, for the first time, they carried something capable of changing everything.

Neither woman knew what the fruits would do.

Neither knew what the world would become once their existence spread further.

But they had them.

They had survived.

And they were still together.

Bai Li glanced sideways.

Yan Cijin noticed.

Their eyes met.

Then both looked forward again.

Neither smiled openly.

But both were secretly relieved.

The journey from the rooftop was over.

The next journey was about to begin.

The moment they stepped outside, the city seemed strangely ordinary.

It was not ordinary at all, of course. Buildings were broken. Vehicles were abandoned in the streets. Black stains covered the pavement. Far away, smoke rose from several districts, and a distant scream echoed between the towers. But compared with the rooftop, it felt calm.

Yan Cijin stopped beneath the broken entrance canopy and looked back at Bai Li.

"Did you notice something?"

"What?"

"The moment we left the mall, the pressure from the fruit almost disappeared."

Bai Li checked her storage again.

The five golden pomelos rested quietly inside.

The earlier pulse was gone.

"You’re right."

"So the building was amplifying them."

"Or the tree was."

Yan Cijin nodded slowly.

"Either way, we’re safer now."

Bai Li looked at the empty road.

"For a little while."

A low growl came from an alley.

Yan Cijin sighed.

"You had to say it."

Bai Li smiled.

"It’s not my fault."

..

..

The five golden fruits were finally theirs.

That thought stayed with Bai Li as the two women walked away from the mall.

The morning air was cool, and the city was slowly changing from the gray darkness of night into a dull blue morning. Behind them, the abandoned mall looked almost harmless from the street. There was no golden light anymore. No powerful pressure. No strange barrier around the rooftop. Nothing remained to show that a short while ago the upper floors had been a battlefield.

Bai Li glanced back once.

Then she looked ahead.

Yan Cijin walked beside her, one hand resting near the weapon at her waist while the other held the strap of her pack.

They did not talk for several steps.

Their bodies were tired.

Their clothes were dirty.

Both had small cuts and bruises from the fight.

But there was something different in their expressions now.

Relief.

Real relief.

They had gone to the mall for one rare fruit.

They had found five.

They had survived the strongest monsters around it.

They had defeated the golden tree.

And somehow, despite everything, they were still standing together.

Yan Cijin suddenly broke the silence.

"Bai Li."

"Hmm?"

"How far do you think we are from the apartment?"

Bai Li looked toward the skyline.

.

.

.

TO BE CONTINUED.