Chapter 153: Tricolored Snake Venom

When Luo Lin hurried to the academy infirmary and entered the ward, he found Malle, Gebaz, and Teacher Monroe all looking deeply troubled. Victoria, sitting nearby, had cried until her eyes were swollen and red.

“Boss Malle, what happened to Bill?” Luo Lin asked anxiously as he looked at Bill lying motionless on the bed. He had a terrible feeling. Normally, if a patient’s condition was severe and he had yet to regain consciousness, doctors would not allow anyone into the ward to disturb him. Yet all of them had gathered here.

When Malle and the others saw Simone bringing Luo Lin over, their eyes lit up. Before Malle could say anything, however, Victoria grabbed Luo Lin by the arm and sobbed softly, “Luo Lin, Bill suddenly collapsed in the stands earlier. After we brought him here, not only did the academy’s doctors examine him, but doctors from Chuen Cathedral in the imperial capital came as well. But—but all they could determine was that my brother had been poisoned. They had no way to treat him.”

“They said it was an extremely strange poison, one they had never encountered before. They tried several methods, but none had the slightest effect. In the end, they told me that my brother, he…”

Victoria choked up before she could finish. Her small hands, still clutching Luo Lin’s arm, began to tremble.

Seeing her haggard face, Luo Lin felt a sharp ache in his heart. He knew that her love for her younger brother was no less than his own feelings for Little Hawk. Luo Lin was not good at expressing his emotions, so he merely patted Victoria gently on the shoulder in comfort. Malle and the others also stepped forward to console her.

At that moment, Teacher Monroe came over and said softly, “Luo Lin, do you remember? When we were being tested by the Alchemy Guild, you refined a five-star, high-grade antidote. Do you think it might work on Bill?”

Her reminder brought the matter back to everyone’s minds: Luo Lin was an exceptionally skilled alchemist. Victoria immediately stopped crying and pulled him to Bill’s bedside.

“Yes, Luo Lin. Back in the Maya Mountains, I was poisoned by a man-faced white fox. The antidote you used then cured me. Now that you have even more powerful potions, perhaps you can save my brother!”

In her panic, Victoria completely lost her composure and inadvertently revealed the secret that she and Luo Lin had agreed to keep regarding their time in the Maya Mountains. A flicker of surprise passed through Malle and the others’ eyes, followed by understanding. Yet at such a critical moment, they said nothing and simply watched to see whether Luo Lin could find a way to save Bill.

The two of them had originally agreed to keep the matter in the Maya Mountains strictly secret. Hearing Victoria reveal it so suddenly, Luo Lin could not help feeling awkward. But when he saw Bill lying motionless on the bed, all such distractions vanished from his mind.

As he looked at Bill, he noticed, with some surprise, faint streaks of red, blue, and green hovering across the young man’s face. A familiar sensation suddenly flashed through Luo Lin’s mind, but after thinking for a while, he could not recall what it was.

“Luo Lin, hurry and try the antidote! See whether it works!” Victoria urged him again. Given her usually detached nature, the fact that she had repeatedly behaved so impetuously was enough to show how deeply she cared for Bill.

Seeing how anxious she was, Luo Lin stopped thinking about it. With a flash of light, a delicate crystal bottle appeared in his palm. It was the bottle of antidote he had refined that day.

The antidote could be taken orally or applied externally. Since Bill had no wounds on his body, the poison had most likely entered through the inside, so the potion would have to be administered by mouth. Fortunately, even if the antidote was not specifically suited to the poison, it would not cause any harmful side effects.

Malle and Gebaz supported Bill while Luo Lin diluted more than a dozen drops of the antidote in a small bowl of water. He then poured it into Bill’s mouth.

Everyone watched nervously for a reaction. Not long after Bill swallowed the potion, a gurgling sound came from his stomach. Then the red, blue, and green streaks on his face seemed to be stirred by something. They slowly began to move, and as they shifted, their colors gradually faded.

Everyone present brightened with joy. Bill’s reaction showed that the antidote had taken effect. Seeing her brother’s condition improve, Victoria’s pretty face flushed faintly with excitement.

But then the others watched in astonishment as the three-colored streaks suddenly accelerated. They darted across Bill’s face like tiny colored snakes. In an instant, the colors that had just begun to fade gradually returned—and became even more vivid than before.

The people around the bed exchanged bewildered looks. Victoria’s heart, which had just begun to settle, suddenly leaped back into her throat. She turned to Luo Lin with a pleading gaze.

Seeing Bill’s condition, Luo Lin did not hesitate. He nearly doubled the dosage of the antidote, mixed it with water according to a precise ratio, and administered it to Bill once more.

This time, the potion seemed even less effective than before. The moment it entered Bill’s stomach, the three-colored streaks on his face began racing about, their colors showing almost no change at all.

Everyone could now see that the antidote had little effect on the streaks. It had merely caught them off guard at the beginning, producing a slight effect for a brief moment.

“Luo Lin, try the antidote you used in the Maya Mountains again. And do you have any other antidotes? Take them all out and try them! Perhaps—perhaps one of them will work!” Victoria pleaded, staring at her brother’s increasingly ashen face. Her heart felt as though it were being cut with a knife.

Seeing her like this, Luo Lin felt as though a heavy stone had been placed on his chest. He knew those potions were unlikely to have any effect, but faced with Victoria’s desperation, he could only try.

He then took out four or five different antidotes and tested them on Bill one after another. As expected, none of them had the slightest effect.

“Luo Lin, try increasing the dosage and give them to him a few more times!” Victoria was nearly in tears. She spoke again, unwilling to give up.

Luo Lin let out a long sigh. “Victoria, I understand how you feel. Although these antidotes have no harmful side effects, Bill’s body will not be able to withstand too much medicine all at once. If any of them were truly effective, the poison would be neutralized with only a small amount.”

Victoria knew that perfectly well. But she could not accept that her brother had suddenly been reduced to this state, and she had nearly lost all reason. Now, hearing Luo Lin’s words, she silently sat down beside Bill as tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.

Malle and the others did not know what to do either. For a time, the ward fell into complete silence.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door. A remarkably handsome young man strode into the room. He went straight to Bill’s bedside, and when he saw the three-colored streaks covering Bill’s face, he cried out in surprise.

“Three-Colored Snake Venom!”

His words immediately drew everyone’s attention. To their astonishment, the person who had entered was none other than Anthony—the impossibly handsome Anthony.

Hearing him name the poison at once, Victoria sprang to her feet and looked at him expectantly.

“If you know the name of the poison, then surely you know how to treat it, don’t you?”

Under her intense gaze, a trace of barely perceptible smugness flashed through Anthony’s eyes, only to vanish in an instant.

“Victoria, don’t panic. Since I recognized it, naturally I know how to treat it. All that is needed is a certain potion. Unfortunately, the ingredients for that potion are not currently available.”

Seeing Victoria’s expression change, he hurriedly continued, “However, I already know where to find the ingredients. One of them is among the ten rare materials offered as the grand prize for the champion of this Alchemy Tournament. Your brother should be fine for the next two days. In any case, there is nothing more you can do by staying here. Why not come outside with me? I can explain the Three-Colored Snake Venom to you in detail.”