Chapter 28: Ninth Fortress Part 1

“Fight?” Gu Xianqing’s eyebrow arched slightly. She slowly drew the sharp dagger from her waist, slid it free of its sheath, and slipped the blade point-down into her long boot. “Exactly.”

“Yay!” The little girl exuberantly slammed her baseball bat into the ground, sending a pebble flying. “I love a good fight. So, boss lady, who’s the target?”

“Not you. In a bit, you and Grandma Yan take the new member back. Stay out of the rest.” Gu Xianqing rose to her feet and looked down at the child before her, her tone icy. “Don’t meddle, or I’ll blow your brains out.”

The little girl’s grin vanished in an instant. She bared her sharp teeth and snarled hatefully at Gu Xianqing, then tossed her braid and stomped up the hillside in a huff.

Yan Qiong prodded Gu Xianqing’s waist with her gun barrel. “Little Bit’s new. Don’t be so harsh on a kid.”

“Harsh?” Gu Xianqing’s lips quirked in a half-smile, mocking. “She’s from the Lower City gangs in First Fortress. That’s how they talk.”

Yan Qiong chuckled warmly. “Still, be nice to her. After all, she dragged a whole gang out to work for you.”

Gu Xianqing fell silent, recalling the event. True enough, an entire gang’s survivors—twenty-one in total—had been “donated” to her by this Little Bit. Gu Xianqing’s voice remained flat. “Wasn’t that because she infected the whole damn gang? Those thugs had nowhere else to go.”

First Fortress was merciless to Bone Erosion patients. Second stage or third, if the Patrol Squad caught wind, they were seized, imprisoned without trial, then shot or burned and dumped beyond the fortress walls. Even their contacts faced brutal interrogations.

Gu Xianqing’s encounter with Little Bit had been pure chance.

After parting from An He, she’d been handling business on the outskirts of First Fortress when she stumbled upon this band of desperados fleeing the incineration policy. They were unlucky—barely dodging the Patrol Squad’s hail of bullets, only to be chased in circles by Tier Four Bone Eaters outside the walls.

When Gu Xianqing found them, Little Bit was a snot-nosed, tear-streaked mess huddled on the ground, screaming for her mom. Nothing like her swagger now.

Gu Xianqing had simply watched the show from the shadows back then. Only when their lives hung by a thread did she swoop in to save them.

And so, the woman who descended from the sky and subdued the Bone Eaters became their undisputed boss.

These weren’t good people. They scraped by in First Fortress’s Lower City like hyenas, experts at biting, robbing, and blowing heads open like it was just another meal.

Upper City drops were prime cuts—limited rations—and survival meant clawing for every scrap. That was First Fortress, top to bottom.

They were fiercely loyal among themselves, yet incapable of true unity.

Now, Gu Xianqing had given them purpose: no more infighting, just raiding others. Little Bit had been generous with her invitation: “I say we hit First Fortress convoys plenty!”

Her hatred boiled down to childish simplicity.

Perfect for Gu Xianqing’s plans.

Add in the patients Yan Qiong had scrounged from other fortresses these past days, and the Withered Forest crew numbered twenty-seven.

Gu Xianqing was pleased. Twenty-seven—a massive force.

Ninth Fortress had started with just five: escapees from First Fortress, including Ide’s grandmother, who was Little Bit’s age back then.

On this land, powers rose and fell. No one knew what empires a lone survivor might forge.

Humans flickered briefly; time endured forever.

History’s gale swept from ocean to continent, over skyscrapers and neon glows, across dunes of sand and bone, merciless and invincible, brushing this little hillside for a fleeting moment.

That was the true Immortal God.

Gu Xianqing stood amid it, knowing the wind would never halt.

She didn’t care about these people’s pasts or morals. Useful tools were weapons, good or evil.

But a crew of nothing but thugs wouldn’t cut it. Her camp wasn’t some villain syndicate; she needed balance—a fulcrum.

That’s why she waited here tonight.

The same hillside where she’d shot the Raven. She reached the crest and stood by her motorcycle.

Darkness churned in the distance, alive. Soon, two blacker shapes emerged from the mist—one tall, one short, cloaked head to toe in black. They strode from the far end of the vast wasteland.

Then joined the group on the hill.

Gu Xianqing met An He’s eyes. “Slipped out smooth? Impressive.”

She had no idea An He had schemed for ages, timing a sentry shift. Under Shatterblade Time’s slow, she’d rappelled from the Iron Wall watchpost, shielding Lady Heli all the way.

One misstep—a millisecond, a centimeter—and they’d be branded traitors.

Gu Xianqing neither knew nor cared. If her pick couldn’t handle that, she had no business infiltrating First Fortress.

An He glanced at her once, eyes lingering on the old woman and the girl. So Gu Xianqing had backup. She wasn’t alone.

An He felt a twinge of relief for coming. At least now she knew her enemy a bit better.

Knowing your foe mattered.

It was safe here—over twenty kilometers from Ninth Fortress, deep night. No sane human wandered after dark.

Except these fearless women.

Lady Heli buzzed with fervor, gazing devoutly at Gu Xianqing. A Red-Clothed Apostle in her dream had been miracle enough; now, in the flesh. She tamped down her emotions, lest she disturb God’s emissary.

Gu Xianqing smiled at her, spreading her arms theatrically. “From now on, you’re mine. You’ll stick with me on the wasteland a while. Survive the sickness long enough, and I’ll take you to the promised land.”

Lady Heli beamed, clasping Gu Xianqing’s hand reverently. It felt cool, soft—reassuring.

An He flipped back her hood, her eye twitching faintly.

Gu Xianqing’s peripheral caught it all. What’re you thinking, An He? Cursing me for duping the faithful? Amusing.

“Where are you taking her?” An He asked.

“Tell you, and I’d expose my base.” Gu Xianqing nodded to Yan Qiong to take Lady Heli. “That chit-chat won’t work on me.”

An He frowned, wariness hardening to anger in her eyes. “Betray our deal, and I’ll…” Mindful of Lady Heli, she mouthed the rest: kill you.

Gu Xianqing didn’t flinch. But Little Bit exploded forward, jabbing her bat’s spiked end at An He’s eye.

“Watch your tone with the boss!” Little Bit snarled.

An He looked down at the girl.

In two days, she’d seen two utterly different children.

The one with the colored ore: polite, clear-eyed, serene. She’d passed the fragile early years, thriving under adult care.

By fifteen, she might awaken, join Thorn Lamp’s steadfast faithful, a lamp ever-burning in her heart.

This one: vicious, brutal, brash. She’d clawed from the corpse-pits, a tiny figure atop the carnage, never to climb down.

Hatred and violence drowned her, fed her, knit her flesh.

An He lowered her gaze. In this world, who lasts longer? An absurd comparison.

She didn’t dodge. Gu Xianqing didn’t intervene. Lady Heli, fearing for An He, lunged first, yanking Little Bit’s arm. “So rude! Didn’t your family teach you manners?”

“None of your business!” Little Bit bristled at the hated words, writhing to break free. Lady Heli’s calluses chafed her rash painfully.

But the sick woman’s strength surprised—years of labor had forged her. Little Bit stumbled, dragged close. Enraged, she swung the bat at Lady Heli’s head with her free hand.

Lady Heli caught that arm too.

“Grandma Yan!” Pinned despite the size gap, Little Bit called for help. Grandma Yan chuckled. “We’re family now. No fighting.”

No one moved. Three Nestsouls watched two normals tussle, the little hyena trapped by the elephant.

Lady Heli studied Little Bit’s face and paused. “How old are you?”

“None of your business!” The tiny human flailed.

Gu Xianqing smiled kindly, lines fed: “Eleven.”

“Eleven,” Lady Heli murmured.

Ninth Fortress lacked gear—not every born child survived the irradiated air. Her own lost infant would be this age now. She zoned out, eyes on Gu Xianqing mixing confusion and sorrow. Then the Red-Clothed Apostle smiled tenderly, eyes brimming mercy.

Mercy—yes, the Apostle knew all. Lady Heli surrendered utterly, releasing one hand.

Little Bit’s jaws parted to bite—then a large hand patted her head softly. Sweeter than a slap, it froze her like a spell, mouth agape.

“I’ll teach you manners,” Lady Heli said sternly, feigning severity.

“You teach me shit—!” Little Bit started, but Lady Heli clamped her mouth. She shook her head. “Gonna take time.”

Gu Xianqing nodded approval, glaring down at watchful An He. “Grandma Yan, you and Little Bit take Heli back.”

“Huh? What about you?” Yan Qiong blinked.

“My business isn’t done.”

…

Just two remained on the hill.

Gu Xianqing sidled up to An He. “I know what you want.”

“Do you.” Behind An He’s mask, dark currents swirled in her eyes.

Gu Xianqing smiled. Of course. She’d toyed with An He in dreams so long—teasing, tempting. With An He’s eye-for-an-eye nature, what were the odds she’d pass up payback in the flesh? Real-world meetings were rare.

Here, An He could move more than mouth and eyes.

Gu Xianqing had learned that last time.

She was game.

Her gaze flicked down: a glint flashed under An He’s coat. She’d ditched the sheath—no prelude. The silent war-drum beat.

An He gripped reverse, her iron blade singing as it cleaved air at horrifying speed—straight for Gu Xianqing’s eye!

The cold flash arrowed like it thirsted for bone and blood. Gu Xianqing jerked back; a loose strand of hair grazed the edge, sliced clean, tumbling from the blade on inertia.

Feint. An He’s real strike: palm lunging for Gu Xianqing’s left hand.

Mycelium writhed wildly in her palm, tendrils eagerly spearing toward Gu Xianqing—like celebrating the brain-burrow to come.

Fierce, unyielding—like An He’s resolve to take her.

Two centimeters to contact. An He wouldn’t relent. Parasite on Gu Xianqing—test it!

An He knew her weapon: dagger sheath still at waist. But no hand dipped there.

Not fighting back? No—An He’s peripheral caught it: Gu Xianqing’s waist held only sheath too!

In a flash, Gu Xianqing bent, drew steel, and whipped her left arm up.

Hidden rhythm seized the beat; the storm broke.

Gu Xianqing gripped her dagger in a reverse hold as well. A streak of ferocious cold light flashed right in front of An He’s eyeball, the dagger even sharper and more agile than a machete as it skimmed along An He’s eyelashes like plucking a guitar string. In that instant, An He’s vision nearly blurred out of focus.

But she didn’t even blink, didn’t dodge—instead, she pressed forward, reaching out with her hand.

They were locked in a deadly game, testing who valued their life more, who would shift from offense to defense first. The one who went defensive would undoubtedly lose the upper hand.