“What? Poisoned?” Everyone paled. It was no coincidence that three participants were poisoned on the day of the tournament.
“How could this happen? Who did it?” Ronald growled. “We don’t know yet. We’re still investigating.” The worker shook his head. “Bring me to them!” Ronald headed out hurriedly. Workers had closed all the exits at the temporary training grounds to stop everyone from leaving.
When Ronald and the others arrived, they saw three strong men lying unconscious in the center. Their breathing was faint, and their faces were ashen. But their lips had turned black.
“It’s an extremely potent venom!” Ronald was displeased.
The three men were martial artists on The Heavenly Immortals and were crucial to their tournament. What was he supposed to do now that they were poisoned?
“Hurry, get someone from Stoneray Order!” Ronald ordered.
“No need for such hassle. Dustin can take care of this,” Paul said.
Even Nicholas hadn’t been able to treat him back when he had been injured, yet Dustin had managed to save him.
“Do you practice medicine, Dustin?” Ronald was surprised.
“A little.” Dustin didn’t bother denying it.
“Then, please take a look at them.” Ronald stepped aside.
Nodding, Dustin walked over and crouched down to study the three men’s conditions.
Soon, his expression turned grave.
“They were poisoned with a slow-acting poison. It’s tough to get rid of it. Symptoms don’t appear until they do any vigorous exercise. But the moment they do, the infected will fall unconscious and might even die,” Dustin explained.
“Can you cure them?” Ronald asked worriedly.
These three men were important for the tournament. He couldn’t afford to lose them.
“I can save their lives, but they’ll be weak for the next week. I doubt they’ll be able to take part in today’s tournament.” Dustin shook his head.
Ronald and Paul both frowned when they heard this. Clearly, the person who poisoned these men was trying to make them lose this year’s tournament.
“Please save them, Dustin.” Ronald suppressed his anger.
“Alright.” Dustin nodded and quickly pulled out his silver needles to treat the men.
“Who do you think did this, Sir?” Ronald asked, pondering deeply.
“Who else could it be? It’s those bastards from Glenstead!” Paul snarled.
“They aren’t sure whether they’d win, so they used these underhanded tactics instead. How shameless!”
“Still, we don’t have any proof. We can do nothing about it.” Ronald frowned.
He also knew that the Glenstead martial arts alliance had something to do with this. The two alliances had been at odds for some time. He never expected them to resort to such dirty tactics.
“Why don’t we push the tournament back for a few days? We’ll resume things when they’ve recovered.” Patrick offered.
“Everyone is paying close attention to the tournament. There’s no way we can just change the date.
Ronald shook his head.
“I guess we’ll just have to find three substitutes.” Paul’s expression was grim.
Chase, Andy, and Shawn were powerful martial artists who were on The Heavenly Immortals. With their help, Balerno had a high chance of winning the tournament. But that would change if they had to switch participants.
“We still have time. I’ll go and look for decent substitutes.” Ronald left hurriedly. He had to try no matter how little time there was left!
Time flew by, and it was soon noon.
The sun shone brightly, and the brightness reflected off the lake’s surface.
