Forty-Five Frames

Pei Ling raised an eyebrow and looked into Qiao Ranran's expectant eyes. "It won't help much."

He had tried an Azure Nether Fruit in his previous life. It had indeed worked against the toxicity to some extent, and for a moment, he had even thought it was his cure. But once its effects wore off, the toxicity struck back and forced him to face the truth: making it disappear was nothing more than a vain hope.

Qiao Ranran refused to believe it. "You've tried it? It didn't help at all? You said it wouldn't help much, which means it does help, just not as much as you'd hoped. But when you tried it before, you didn't have me! Once we get out, I'll raise my cultivation a little more. How about letting me try? I'm sure I can do it!"

Pei Ling's smile deepened, the wide grin showing just how good a mood he was in. "If you say you'll try, then try. What if you fail?"

"Gah?" Qiao Ranran said. He couldn't turn on me like that!

Pei Ling held her fingers and flashed a toothy grin. "If you fail, should I feed you to Guai Guai?"

Before discussing failure, Qiao Ranran had a question. "Who's Guai Guai?"

Pei Ling burst out laughing. His hearty laughter, as though it had swept away every trace of gloom, left Qiao Ranran stunned. She had always felt that even when he smiled, he carried something terribly heavy. She had never seen him smile so freely.

So he could laugh like this. It gave him a little more of a young man's carefree spirit and made him all the more dazzling.

Qiao Ranran pressed a hand to her chest. Her heart seemed to be beating at a rather embarrassing pace.

"Qiao Ranran, go