Chapter 6: Get In Here, Quick

"You knew?" Master Jaynes snorted. "A snot-nosed brat, and you dare run your mouth like that?" "Master Jaynes isn't just a miracle doctor. He's an alchemist too. Even he can't see what's wrong with Uncle Cyrus, so what could you possibly know?" Zane Lafontaine drawled as he strolled in. Hearing Seth Santee's words, he couldn't help letting out a scornful chuckle. The others in the room wore the same mocking expressions. They clearly thought the same as Zane. "Did you really see something?" Only Bianca Balam's dim eyes brightened with a thread of hope. It was exactly what she wanted to ask Seth, to see if he could finally make sense of Cyrus Balam's condition. Seth nodded once. He ignored Master Jaynes and the rest, turning instead to Bianca. "Cyrus was poisoned. A severe toxin. Heart-Confusion Powder." "Heart-Confusion Powder?" No one present recognized the term. "Nonsense!" Master Jaynes scoffed. "I've never even heard of any Heart-Confusion Powder. You're barely out of diapers. You think your knowledge runs deeper than mine?" "Just because you don't know it doesn't mean it doesn't exist." Seth couldn't be bothered to waste breath on a man like that. In terms of true knowledge, who in the Skyreach Kingdom could compare to the Poison Emperor? "Heart-Confusion Powder first scrambles the five organs, then it twists the mind." Seth's voice stayed even, precise. "When it first takes hold, it's colorless and tasteless. But as the poison spreads through the body, an odd stench starts to seep from every part of you. Miss Balam, these past few months, did your father start by struggling to sleep, then lose his appetite, and lately even…" He didn't finish, but he didn't need to. "What Seth said was perfectly accurate." Bianca's eyes widened, shock washing over her. Seth really understood. Several faces in the room immediately darkened. Master Jaynes and Zane's earlier words landed like two hard slaps across their cheeks, leaving them burning with humiliation. Bianca lifted her gaze to Zane and the others. "Everyone from the City Lord's Manor, and Master Jaynes as well, please go to the main hall and rest for a while. To thank you for your concern for my father, food and wine will be prepared later. My brother will receive you." Zane's expression turned uglier by the second. How was that anything but a polite eviction? "No need." Zane kept his tone smooth. "The City Lord's Manor has pressing matters. When Uncle Cyrus recovers, I'll visit again." He wasn't stupid. They hadn't helped at all. What was the point of staying to enjoy hospitality? Bianca didn't try to keep them either. If they left on their own, all the better. Yet the instant Zane stepped out of the Balam family estate, the smile vanished from his face, replaced by a chill that looked like ice. "Young master, are we returning to the manor?" one of the experts asked. "I'll go back first." Zane's jaw tightened. "You lot have something to do for me." "Please give the order," they answered in unison, all of them sensing his foul mood. Zane didn't issue the command immediately. He turned to Master Jaynes instead. "Master Jaynes, is Cyrus Balam's condition serious? Will it affect his Martial Way Cultivation Level?" Master Jaynes nodded. "I couldn't determine the cause or the toxin, but his body is extremely weak. His combat strength will definitely drop sharply." "That's enough." Zane's eyes sharpened. "Spread the news that Cyrus Balam is gravely ill throughout Farwind City. Especially to the Showyer family and the Leemin family. When the time comes, the Balam family will have no choice but to come begging the City Lord's Manor for help. And Bianca Balam… that little slut won't escape my grasp." As he spoke, he clenched his fist, as if Bianca already belonged to him. "As for Seth Santee…" Zane's voice turned cold enough to cut. "He embarrassed me in front of Bianca. I'll make him learn what it feels like when living is worse than dying." In Farwind City, no one dared steal a woman from him. Evelyn Showyer was already out of reach. Bianca Balam, however, could never be allowed to slip beyond his control. At the same time, inside Cyrus Balam's bedroom- Seth had already taken up a brush and written a prescription, listing more than a dozen medicinal ingredients. Bianca scanned it once and shivered. She didn't know much about herbs, but she recognized a few on the list. They were violently toxic. "This… is really going to be okay?" Her voice wavered. Those ingredients looked poisonous enough to kill a herd of elephants. "It isn't meant to be eaten." Bianca finally let out the breath she'd been holding. "It'll be used to prepare a Medicinal Bath. He'll soak in it, and the… toxicity, no." Seth corrected himself mid-sentence. "The medicinal properties will seep into his body slowly." He added that one extra line, and Bianca's face froze. "Is there any other way?" she asked. Seth shook his head. "This is the only method I know to counter Heart-Confusion Powder, and I only use poison. But don't worry. If these ingredients are combined correctly, their toxins will cancel each other out. It'll also dissolve the poison from Heart-Confusion Powder. Cyrus will be fine." "So it's fighting poison with poison." Bianca's gaze lowered in thought. His calm certainty eased her, at least a little. Bringing Seth back had been a very wise decision. "Seth, have you prepared this Medicinal Bath before?" she asked, curiosity slipping in. In the past, she'd only known Seth as someone whose strength crushed his peers. Rumors of his skill with poison had only spread after his Cultivation Level was crippled. "No." Seth didn't hide it. Encountering the Poison Emperor's Inheritance had been pure coincidence, and it hadn't even been two days. He'd had no chance to prepare a Medicinal Bath. "Then…" Bianca looked toward her father on the bed, worry gathering in her eyes. "What if the proportions are off when we prepare it? If that happens… I'll test it myself." "You'll test it?" Seth blinked, genuinely surprised. Her devotion to her father was admirable. "My father's condition was never announced to the outside. I don't even know where Zane heard it from." Bianca's voice steadied, firming into resolve. "If we let outsiders test it, mistakes are bound to happen. I'll do it. To the Balam family, my father matters far more than I do." Seth didn't try to talk her out of it. Their relationship was more cooperation than friendship. Before long, the Balam family's people returned with the ingredients. Bianca had deliberately sent different people to purchase different herbs, then personally combined them, careful not to let anyone piece together what she was doing. If she had known Zane was already ordering men to spread the news, she would have been furious. "I'll wait outside," Seth said, standing at the door to Bianca's boudoir. "Mm." A faint blush rose on Bianca's pale cheeks. Even with only a door between them, it still felt… strange. But there was no helping it. The bath liquid was brewed from multiple ingredients, each laced with deadly poison. If anything went wrong and Seth wasn't there, who could save her? The door closed. Seth stood outside alone, the corridor empty and silent. A few moments later, he heard the sound of water. He jerked his head to the side and shook it hard, forcing his mind away. *It should be fine,* he told himself. After what he estimated to be about fifteen minutes, he was about to ask how things were going when a panicked voice burst from inside. "I think something's wrong. Get in here, quick!" Seth didn't hesitate. He shoved the door open and rushed in. The instant it swung wide, a body of breathtaking beauty filled his vision, and Seth's heart lurched, his mind going utterly still.