Fifty-One Frames

"All right, all right." Yan Qingsui laughed along. Qiao Ranran's face was so red that if he kept teasing her, she might actually explode on the spot. "Oh, right. What should we do with those Demon Beast carcasses?"

"Keep them with you for now. We'll divide them up when we get back." She had been worrying about how to take along what Pei Ling called their "emergency rations." Her Storage Bracelet had limited space, but Yan Qingsui had kept his capabilities hidden and solved the problem with ease.

"One more thing." Yan Qingsui followed eagerly behind Qiao Ranran. The little face she made as Pei Ling led her forward by the hand, plainly against her will, nearly made him laugh. "I told them the commotion came from a Formation Disk I'd obtained by chance. I said it was extremely rare and valuable, so I took the Demon Beasts as spoils. That means I also got the credit for saving those people. Their faces were all twisted up, but I think this is a good opportunity. Daoist Pei really did save them, and he was injured doing it."

Qiao Ranran murmured agreement. "There's no need to hide something like that. If they want to reward you, take it!"

"Heh." Yan Qingsui waggled his eyebrows. "We'll divide it up when we get back!"

"Good." Qiao Ranran paused in thought, then hit upon a crucial question. "I have a troubling theory."

Yan Qingsui's expression turned serious.

"For such a vast horde of Demon Beasts to attack together, there must be more to that group of survivors than meets the eye."

Yan Qingsui drew in a sharp breath. He had thought it strange before, but had assumed those people were simply unlucky and that the disturbance had snowballed. He had never considered another cause.