Chapter 250: The Duel Begins

To avoid letting her worries show and stirring unnecessary concern, Bian Suwen composed herself the moment she stepped into the villa’s living room. But as her eyes swept across the space, she realized she had been overthinking things.

Fifth Sister Liu Yue, Sixth Sister Ji Shuiyao, and Seventh Sister Qiu Qianwei were each hunched over their phones, their fingers tapping away with giddy concentration. They giggled occasionally, eyes sparkling with joy, completely absorbed in their own little worlds.

The sight caught Bian Suwen off guard. In her memory, Liu Yue always used her free time to study the stock market, Ji Shuiyao would have her nose buried in a medical journal, and Qiu Qianwei could usually be found in the music room practicing piano. Yet now, the three of them were chatting on their phones like starry-eyed girls in love.

It only took her a moment to recall their conversation from the previous night: Liu Yue had a boyfriend she met online, Ji Shuiyao had someone she secretly liked, and Qiu Qianwei was in the midst of a budding relationship. It all made sense now.

They were acting this way because of men.

Though Bian Suwen understood—as someone who’d once been swept up in such emotions herself—she couldn’t quite approve. She resolved inwardly to have a proper talk with her sisters later. Better to douse these flames early, before they got burned.

Still, with the trouble from the Poison Sect and Shao Wanwan weighing on her mind, now wasn’t the time to lecture anyone about love.

She simply said, “Fifth Sister, Sixth Sister, Seventh Sister—if you notice anyone around you showing signs of poisoning in the near future, notify me immediately.”

But her voice was completely ignored.

The three continued staring at their screens, not even glancing up. They were so deeply immersed in their virtual sweet talk that even the usually authoritative Third Sister had become background noise.

Irritated, Bian Suwen stormed over, snatched up their phones, and repeated herself in a sharper tone.

“Got it.”

“Understood.”

“Okay.”

The three of them gave perfunctory replies, then scrambled to reclaim their confiscated devices and returned to texting as though nothing had happened.

Bian Suwen shook her head with a sigh and retreated to her own room.

That night, she tossed and turned, sleep eluding her until well past three or four in the morning.

By the time she woke up, sunlight had already flooded the room. A glance at the clock showed it was ten in the morning.

Bzzz. Bzzz.

Her phone vibrated. It was a call from Qiu Qianwei.

Bian Suwen answered, and Qianwei’s urgent voice came through the line. “Third Sister, a few students in my class suddenly collapsed just now—their faces turned dark and they passed out in the middle of lecture. The ambulance just took them to the hospital. Can you come take a look?”

A jolt of anxiety surged through Bian Suwen, and a heavy sense of dread settled over her heart.

Based on past experience, whenever the Poison Sect initiated a duel against the Valley of the Immortal Doctor, they always chose targets within reach—people connected to their rival sect. That was why she had warned her sisters the night before.

But she hadn’t expected Shao Wanwan to move so fast. The duel had barely been declared, and the poison was already at work.

Did she truly believe she could win so easily?

Thoughts raced through Bian Suwen’s mind, but she quickly regained composure and said, “Send me the address. I’ll be there immediately.”

After a brief exchange, she packed up and left in a rush.

It wasn’t long before she arrived at the hospital. After a quick check-in, she learned the general situation: three students from the Qingling Conservatory’s music department—two male and one female—had suddenly collapsed from poisoning.

The hospital had already diagnosed them as poisoned, but they couldn’t identify the specific toxin. To avoid worsening their condition, they had suspended treatment until further notice.

A panel of doctors had convened to discuss next steps.

Bian Suwen went straight to the meeting room, introduced herself, and requested to take over the case personally.

Her name still carried weight. The hospital staff, recognizing her status, readily agreed.

Once she secured control of the situation, Bian Suwen felt a bit of pressure ease from her chest. With calmer breath, she moved on to examine the patients.

Frankly, she wasn’t overly worried about their survival. These students were merely unfortunate pawns—random victims chosen by the Poison Sect as part of their “test subjects.”

In past duels between their sects, such victims were common. But regardless of who won, the patients rarely died.

If the Yixian Valley succeeded in neutralizing the poison, they would live.

If the Poison Sect won, they would supply the antidote to prove the poison was curable—thus placing the blame on the Valley’s inferior skills.

That wasn’t compassion. It was fairness.

After all, some poisons acted so fast that patients could die before help arrived. So both sects had long agreed that duels could only use poisons that gave sufficient time for treatment. And the winning side had to prove the poison was solvable by administering the antidote.

In the intensive care unit, Bian Suwen carefully examined the three students. Her frown deepened the longer she observed them.

Despite all her study of the Poison Sect’s methods, she had never seen a poison like this.

Its toxicity was severe, yet curiously balanced—held in a delicate equilibrium that could be shattered by the slightest interference. Any external force, especially medication, might accelerate the symptoms drastically or even cause immediate death.

In short, unless the nature of the poison was fully understood, no treatment could be safely applied.

Bian Suwen understood the Poison Sect well. For them to deploy a poison she couldn’t identify meant one of two things: either it was a newly developed toxin refined over many years and recently perfected, or it was an ancient poison long hidden and now brought back into play.

Either possibility pointed to deep history—and Bian Suwen was young. Her knowledge of the Poison Sect’s older methods was limited.

There was, however, one person in Qingling who might know more.

Someone from her own sect.

Someone of senior rank, though he called her “Senior Sister” due to formal hierarchy.

He was vastly older than she was and deeply familiar with the Poison Sect’s past.

That man was none other than Divine Doctor Xue.

Bian Suwen had originally come to Qingling to resolve

his

crisis. She did not expect the Poison Sect to show up at the same time—or to throw down a formal challenge.

Judging from the poison’s effect, the patients would survive so long as no one meddled. They had at least two days of relative stability.

That was just enough time.

She needed to rescue Divine Doctor Xue—now.