understood what Bai Li had meant when she said the fruit could attract instincts instead of thoughts. The farther they went, the harder it became to remember that the fruit was simply an object.
It felt like something they had been searching for their entire lives.
Bai Li noticed the change in her expression.
"Do not let it get into your head."
Yan Cijin blinked.
"It is stronger than I expected."
"That is why the monsters gather."
"And the humans."
"Yes."
A distant impact shook the stairwell.
Dust rained from above.
Then another impact.
Something had begun fighting on one of the higher floors.
Yan Cijin looked upward.
"They are already moving."
Bai Li nodded.
"Then we should move too."
They climbed faster.
The staircase ended at a steel door.
There was no handle on the outside.
Only a narrow gap beneath it and a faint golden glow beyond.
Bai Li placed her palm against the metal.
The door was warm.
Very warm.
Yan Cijin stood beside her.
"Ready?"
