After the three of them had changed and returned to the living room, Omari had the nagging feeling that there was a hidden secret between them. Cheyenne red angrily at Layne, while thetter cast a cold nce at Iker. The standoff between the three of them was quite unusual.


    Omari nced at Cheyenne, then fixed his gaze on Iker, whoseplexion was different from usual. He adjusted the golden wire-framed sses on the bridge of his nose, sitting upright before speaking, “To confess is wise, well, speak up, what have you two… done?”


    Layne withdrew his gaze, his eyes feeling dry as he blinked and changed the topic, “Nothing much. By the way, I found what Master Iker is afflicted with. It’s not poison; it’s toxin produced by venomous snakes.”


    As Layne’s words fell, the room fell intoplete silence. After about half a minute, Tanner broke into a cold sweat and nervously said, “Is it… the kind of curse we’ve heard of, old Mr. Edwards? I can’t believe this… it’s too unbelievable.”


    There had long been rumors of poisonous magic, but it had remained mostly folklore, only discussed as a topic of conversation.


    No one had expected that such a magic truly existed in the world.


    Layne, stroking his gray beard, nodded andid out the information he had gathered in front of everyone. “It’s recorded that the magic as initially used to treat ulcers, but over time, it was utilized by unscrupulous men and became something evil and dreadful.”


    “The magic that has befallen Master Iker is one of the three renowned magics called Serpent Magic.”


    The way of creating Serpent Magic was exceedingly difficult. One had to capture a hundred venomous snakes every May 5th, ce them in a container, and let them devour each other. The venomous snake that survived would be called the Serpent.


    The Serpent was then burned to ashes, and its bone powder was mixed with sulfur, Datura flower leaves, and other poisonous substances, forming the Serpent Magic.


    While in a dormant state, the Serpent Magic appeared lifeless; however, once it entered a human body, it would graduallye to life, eventually growing into a small snake that survived by sucking the essence from the human body.


    After maturing, the Serpent Magic would cause a drastic change in the host’s appearance.


    After the Serpent Magic hadpletely devoured the human body, it would crawl out through one of the orifices, leading to the death of the host.


    Despite its power and treacherous nature, the Serpent Magic had a fatal w – it grew slowly.


    From reanimation as a dead body to bing a fully developed living snake, it would take at least ten years.


    He estimated that Iker had been cursed for about three years, and this was just the initial stage of the Serpent Magic’s revival. In other words, there were countless snake eggs attached to his blood, awaiting hatching. Once they hatched, Iker’s body would be a “nest,” and thousands of poisonous snakes would continuously feed on his essence, flesh, and blood, leaving only an empty husk.


    The mere thought was hair-raising, and Cheyenne hade across this ount in the past, but she had merely skimmed it during her youth and hadn’t paid it much attention.


    Iker was twenty-seven years old, in the prime of his life. It would be a tremendous waste if he were to meet such a gruesome end.


    “Grandpa, is there any way to dispel this magic?”


    Their Edwards family had limited knowledge of this kind of poisonous magic. Cheyenne could heal his leg, but she couldn’t rid his body of the curse. Even if Iker were to recover and stand up again, he wouldn’t live past seven years.


    It was cruel!


    Though Omari usually disliked the ever-arrogant Iker who constantly yed at being aloof, upon hearing that Iker had fallen victim to such an evil magic, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of sympathy.


    At a young age, he lost his mother, faced romantic setbacks, had his authority taken away, and now was indirectly told his days were numbered.N?velDrama.Org content.


    “Old Mr. Edwards, please save my master,” Tanner said as he dropped to his knees before Layne.


    On his fair, youthful face, a wide bruise appeared on his forehead, streaked with blood vessels, looking distressing.


    Compared to the shock and silence among the others, Iker remained surprisingly calm. After a while, he let out a softugh, and his stern expression softened slightly, losing some of its aloofness, making him appear much more approachable.


    His eyes sparkled, as clear as ake reflecting the sky. “Miss Lawrence, if… if the end of my dayses, please feed me sleeping pills, won’t you?”


    Seeing that he still had the mind to make jokes, Cheyenne was both irritated and displeased. She responded unkindly, “You think sleeping pillse for free? Live well, I believe that if someone can use that magic on you, someone can also remove it.”


    As for how to remove the magic, Layne looked troubled. “I only know how to lure the poisonous snakes out of the body. As for how topletely remove the magic, I’m afraid we’ll need to find someone for that.”


    “Who?”


    Hearing the tone in Grandpa’s voice, it was clear that he knew of someone who could remove the magic. After persistent questioning from Cheyenne, Layne finally revealed the truth.


    “That guy was my ssmate back in the day. But he’s quite entric, and he holds a grudge against me. He won’t easily lend a hand.”


    “Who is it?”


    “Leandro Zamora from the Onistead Moon Hall.”


    As the words fell, the younger folks in the room were puzzled. Layne twirled his gray beard, chuckled, and spoke with a touch of regret, his voice low.


    “Back then, Leandro, I, along with Madeleine, your deceased master, were top talents in the capital. We were on good terms. Later… Leandro misunderstood something between me and your Madeleine and we became enemies.”


    Layne spoke of this matter with a bitter and helpless expression. At the time, he and Leandro were ssmates and even shared a dormitory. Their rtionship was good.


    However, Madeleine secretly had a crush on Layne, but he was unaware of her feelings. He had already fallen for Cheyenne’s grandmother.


    After rejecting Madeleine a few times, she married someone else and tragically died.


    That old coot Leandro harbored a secret crush for four years without confessing, and he eventually med Layne for Madeleine’s death.


    Their friendship soured, and they went their separate ways after graduation.


    Afterward, Layne and Leandro crossed paths a few times but never greeted each other.


    Friendship can be a fragile boat, and no amount of exnation could change the past.