Seeing Monica sitting by the campfire, drenched like a soaked chicken, Leo couldn’t help but say, “Hurry up and take off your clothes to dry them, or you’ll catch a cold.”
Upon hearing Leo’s words, Monica just kept her head down, biting her lip without saying a word.
Monica rarely showed such a shy demeanor. Leo thought of something and tentatively asked, “Are you wearing anything underneath?”
Monica nodded and, after a moment’s hesitation, took off her jacket.
There was no other choice; wearing the damp jacket was very uncomfortable by the campfire.
Underneath, Monica was only wearing a white tank top. When dry, this type of tank top wasn’t see-through, but once wet, it became semi-transparent.
When this tight, wet tank top clung to her voluptuous figure, it was almost as if she wasn’t wearing anything at all from an observer’s perspective.
Monica’s curvaceous figure was fully revealed to Leo.
Even though Leo was a disciplined Cultivator, he couldn’t help but be momentarily stunned.
Noticing the look on Leo’s face, a blush spread across Monica’s cheeks.
Finally, Monica mustered the courage to say to Leo, “Dr. Bloomer, could you turn around? I want to take off my inner clothes to dry them too.”
Leo quickly cleared his mind of impure thoughts and stood up, saying, “I’ll go guard outside the cave to prevent any wild animals from coming in.”
“No, don’t go out. Just turn around,” Monica said hurriedly.
Having never been in such a situation before, she couldn’t overcome her nervousness and fear without seeing Leo.
“Alright, I won’t go out.” Leo turned around, his back facing her.
Monica found some branches to prop up her and Leo’s jackets between them and the campfire. Then she began to take off her inner clothes.
This simple barrier was more for psychological comfort because Leo was standing. If he turned around, he would see everything.
Trusting Leo, Monica even took off her pants.
To ease her tension and discomfort, Monica spoke to Leo while drying her clothes. “Dr. Bloomer, do you think we can find the virus host?”
“We’ll definitely find it. Don’t lose hope,” Leo replied, though he wasn’t very confident himself.
If they couldn’t find it, to save Willow, Leo would have to use the little white flower given by the archangel and hope it would work.
Just as Leo finished speaking, a cold wind blew into the cave.
Monica let out a scream.
Thinking something had happened to Monica, Leo quickly turned and asked, “What’s wrong?”
There was a brief silence before Monica screamed again, “Ah…!”
After the scream, Monica curled up and grabbed her drying pants to cover herself.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Leo quickly turned back around.
Monica’s first scream was because the wind had blown down the jacket she had propped up. The second scream was because Leo had seen her body.
To avoid further embarrassment, Monica put on her half-dried clothes and pants.
After dressing, Monica softly called out, “Dr. Bloomer!”
Thinking the wind had blown down the clothes again, Leo said without turning around, “Monica, pick up the clothes yourself.”
“No, Dr. Bloomer. Did you hear something coming from inside the cave?” Monica’s tone became tense.
Leo listened carefully but shook his head. “I didn’t hear anything.”
“I’ve put my clothes on. You can turn around now.”
Leo turned around at her words.
Monica took out a flashlight from her backpack and shone it behind her.
The flashlight’s beam couldn’t reach the end of the cave; it seemed there was more space inside.
“Dr. Bloomer, I heard strange noises coming from inside,” Monica said confidently.
Leo thought for a moment and said, “Wait here. I’ll go check it out.”
“No, I want to go with you,” Monica insisted.
“Alright, stay behind me. Let’s go.” Leo nodded and took out a flashlight from his bag, leading the way into the cave.
Monica found a sample bag in Leo’s backpack and followed closely behind him.
The deeper they went, the darker it became. With the flashlight’s beam, they could only see about three meters ahead.
A sudden crunch startled Monica.
Leo shone his flashlight at Monica’s feet and saw she had stepped on a bone.
A bone…
Leo quickly scanned their surroundings with his flashlight and found scattered white bones all around them.
These weren’t animal bones; they were human bones.
Monica also realized this and covered her mouth in fear to stifle a scream.
As a medical expert, Monica wasn’t afraid of human bones. But seeing so many scattered bones in this eerie cave, especially some with rotting flesh still attached, was terrifying.
Leo crouched down for a quick examination and determined that these bones belonged to at least five or six people who had died unnaturally.
Standing up, Leo said after a moment’s thought, “Let’s keep going. We might find something.”
Monica gritted her teeth and nodded.
As they walked further in, they were hit by the stench of decaying bodies.
Ahead of them lay four or five human corpses in various stages of decomposition. The expressions of terror and pain on their faces were horrifying in the flashlight’s beam.
Covering her nose, Monica asked, “Dr. Bloomer, did you find more bodies?”
Leo nodded and was about to warn Monica not to look when she stepped forward to see for herself by the flashlight’s beam.
Immediately after, the sound of vomiting echoed through the cave.
Monica wasn’t a forensic expert; such a gruesome scene was beyond anything she’d seen even in movies or TV shows. She couldn’t handle the visual shock and vomited up the undigested fish she had eaten earlier.
Leo patted Monica’s hand and transferred some spiritual energy into her body to make her feel better.
Finding a stick nearby, Leo took a deep breath and held it as he approached the corpses for inspection.