Zombie Queen transmigration into a book-Chapter 147: I missed you

Caiden had just woken up from his restless sleep. He was still inside the cave with the three men.

Outside, a few rock monsters patrolled the area, still searching for them. They had moved deeper into the cave to hide their presence and wait for the monsters to give up. The hailstorm had stopped for days, leaving only the monsters.

"What should we do? I just checked, and those things are still outside." The man announced the bad news to everyone and moved over to warm himself by the fire.

Caiden glanced toward the cave entrance and hesitated over whether to fight his way out or wait.

"Is there an exit in this cave?" The man asked aloud, snapping him out of his daze, and he looked inward.

"There should be... the air flow seems to come from within," the blue-haired man muttered uncertainly, his words sparking an idea in Caiden’s mind.

He sent his beetle out. "Find an exit," he instructed, and the beetle beat its wings in response, flying deeper into the cave.

They saw what he did and instantly quieted down, watching the beetle fly off and hoping it would bring back good news.

Time passed, and before they could lose patience, the beetle returned, and instead of resting on Caiden’s shoulder, it tugged at his clothes as if trying to take him somewhere.

Caiden’s eyes lit up, and he rose to his feet. The others followed, their excitement growing at the thought that the cave might have an exit.

As they walked in, the walls grew narrow and dark. The fire user conjured a fireball and controlled it to hover above them, lighting their way.

No one spoke, but loud breaths echoed around them. Their bodies scraped against the jagged walls in the narrow passage, hissing in pain, as they wished they could reach their destination soon.

What felt like agonizing minutes went by, and they finally spotted a burst of light ahead.

"Finally!"

"I nearly lost hope!"

"I could have sent my beat earlier if I knew there was an entrance here!’’

They all exclaimed, their faces lighting up with happy smiles. Though Caiden didn’t voice his emotions, the relief on his face was clear.

They walked through the exit, closing their eyes at the sudden brightness, and upon opening them, a gasp rang out at the sight before them.

"Roar!"

The flying monster roared through the sky, dashing playfully into the air around the waterfalls that spanned every side, their waters already falling in a circular motion onto the forest below.

There was a natural water system, with water flowing through channels, and aquatic beasts swimming through them.

The scene before them looked like something out of a fairytale, and they stood high above, taking in the entire view.

"Umm, not to ruin the stunning view... but how the hell are we supposed to get down from here?" His words snapped them back to reality. They looked down from their high perch at the forest below, and a heavy silence fell.

⸙⸙⸙⸙

Fighting sounds rang out through the dungeon. Eva, her hair tied back, wielded the new short sword Aaron had given her, driving it straight through a monster’s skull.

She dodged the skeleton’s tail aimed at her back, using the dead monster for momentum; she flipped through the air, landing on the other monster and piercing its soft flesh.

"Haa..." She wiped the sweat from her brow, watching as the monster’s corpse turned into a burst of light and merged with her. In place of the corpse, its bones remained—strong enough to craft into weapons.

She controlled the water, cleaning the blood from her blade. ’I want garlic chicken dipped in spicy sauce...’ Eva listed the countless foods that came to mind, her stomach growling and her mouth watering at the thought.

"She had been training ever since she woke up. This was the fourth day, and she had been learning to control her water powers, determined to master them before they continued on their journey.

"Eva, we should head out. Training is finished for today," Aaron called out as he straightened up from where he had been watching her.

"Finally, I hope the chefs made my favorite. I’m starving!" Eva shouted in relief, picked up the bones, went to the dungeon exit, and was teleported out.

Eva waved at Ethan, who was waiting for them at the makeshift camp in the desert.

She jogged up to him, "When are we leaving this place? It’s so boring to keep seeing endless sand dunes. Plus, the hot sun and dust are torture." Eva complained, eager to leave.

She shielded her face with practiced ease as the wind blew dust at her, then shot Ethan a look, saying ’You see.’

Ethan helped her shield her face with the cloth wrap. "Maybe after a week... when you can control your water ability at will," He added after much thought—he didn’t like the idea of fighting that wave of ants again.

"My crow has flown across the desert, and it might take at least two days to leave here," Aaron told them as he patted his exhausted beast on the wings, before rewarding it with a monster corpse he stored in his ring.

Eva’s expression dimmed at the thought of staying here a little longer; she preferred forest and mountain areas over this and hoped their next stop would be one of those.

"Sigh... let’s go back to my space, I’m so hungry." Eva’s stomach growled right on cue as she grabbed their hands and pulled them in.

Aaron headed straight to the pool to wash up, unwilling to eat while covered in dust, with Ethan following behind. At the same time, Eva went to check on Julian.

She pushed the tent flap open and found Julian wide awake, his mind still foggy as he stared at her in a daze.

"Julian!" Eva yelled in surprise and dashed toward him, hugging him tightly before he felt his warm hand patting her back.

"How...long..." Julian asked weakly, his throat hoarse that it ached to speak.

Eva noticed his pained grimace and quickly rushed out to get water. "I’ll be back!" she shouted to let him know before disappearing from sight.

Julian stared blankly at the flab; he frowned at the throbbing pain that hammered through his head.

"Hmm." He groaned, clutching his head as images of an enormous monster flashed through his mind. The image was hazy, and he couldn’t get a clear view of the monster clearly, but a surge of unknown hatred welled up in his heart toward it.

He felt his heart was about to split open from pain, his mind was trying to focus him to remember, while the consequences of going back in time warred against it, trying to force him to forget.

Eva returned and found him covered in sweat, clutching his head with a pale face from pain.

"What’s wrong?" Eva hurried to the bed, quickly pouring out plain water and filling the cup with her water ability, hoping the healing properties would ease his pain.

"Here, drink this." Eva helped him up, supporting his neck as she carefully fed him water. Her worries eased a little when his furrowed brows relaxed, showing the water was working on him.

She fed him three cups before he patted her hand to signal her to stop. "How long have I been out?" Julian asked weakly, but clearly this time.

"Two weeks," Eva blurted out immediately, without hesitation, showing she had been subconsciously keeping track of the days.

"No wonder my legs feel weak," he muttered as he leaned upright against the pillow. Then he turned to Eva and asked with a soft smile.

"Eva, dear, did you miss me?"

Eva nodded without hesitation, not hiding it from him.

He weakly raised his arm to reach for her hair, but was too feeble to lift it high—Eva noticed, took his hand, and brought it to her hair.

"I missed you," she whispered, her eyes watering slightly with relief.