# Chapter 15: Drunk
After going through a series of procedures and retrieving Melody's personal belongings, Su Xiao walked out of the prison. Melody followed at a distance, her expression suggesting she was ready to flee at any moment.
"I'll give you ten minutes to escape. Starting... now."
Su Xiao took out a pocket watch and began timing.
"What happens if I'm caught after ten minutes?"
Melody was quite clever; she didn't flee immediately. Ransoming a white witch with a fraud record required paying a large sum of gold coins.
"I'll skin you alive."
"Haha, that's the funniest thing I've heard recently..."
Melody's laughter gradually faded. Whether it was an illusion or not, she felt this person might actually do it!
"What do you want? My body? Don't even think about it. I'm a stubborn person. If you're interested in corpses, feel free to try possessing me."
Melody's expression turned serious. She knew this was an opportunity—a dangerous one. She was desperately short on money, and Su Xiao seemed quite wealthy.
"Are you done?"
"Uh... probably."
"Follow me."
Su Xiao walked toward a tavern. Bubu Wang was already waiting inside. It was nine in the morning, and the tavern was nearly empty.
Five minutes later.
Hiss~
A beer mug as thick as a fist was filled to overflowing. The bartender picked up a wooden ruler, scraped off the white foam at the rim, then tapped the table lightly with the ruler, sending the foam flying. The whole set of movements was very practiced.
A large mug of beer was placed in front of Su Xiao. The transparent glass showed amber liquid with bubbles rapidly rising, making a pleasant hissing sound.
In the quiet tavern, Su Xiao and Melody sat across from each other at a wooden table in the corner. Only a few drunkards were scattered throughout the tavern; practical commoners wouldn't drink at this hour.
"Drink."
Su Xiao picked up the beer mug in front of him and placed it before Melody. Melody furrowed her delicate brows. As an elegant lady, chugging beer was clearly out of the question.
A clink sounded as a gold coin landed on the wooden table. The drunkards and the bartender all turned to look. Some eyes even showed greed, but after seeing Amu, who stood three meters tall, they withdrew their covetous gazes.
"One cup, one coin."
"Heh."
Melody let out a slightly "contemptuous" chuckle. She pulled off her black gloves, tossed them onto the table, and her fair hand gripped the mug handle...
Gulp, gulp, gulp...
Maintaining her elegance, Melody finished the beer in about a dozen sips. She reached out and pressed her hand on the gold coin on the table.
"This is mine."
"Correct."
As Su Xiao spoke, he spread his palm, and over a dozen gold coins fell onto the table.
"Don't even think about it."
Melody set down the empty mug, barely suppressing the urge to burp. She understood what Su Xiao meant—one coin per cup.
"First cup, one coin," Su Xiao said, picking up two coins between his fingers. "Second cup, two coins. Third cup, three coins."
"Are you... a demon?"
Melody didn't hesitate to grab the only remaining beer on the table.
"Bartender, keep the drinks coming."
"Yes, sir."
Ten minutes later, the wooden table in front of Su Xiao was covered with beer mugs. White foam slowly slid down the walls of the glasses, pooling at the bottom.
"I'm still fine, no problem. I'm a witch~"
Melody lay sprawled across the sea of beer mugs, her pretty face slightly flushed. Occasionally, she would let out a silly laugh. She was laughing from the heart because she had obtained many gold coins.
"Witch, don't fall asleep."
Su Xiao patted Melody's head.
"Huh?" Melody looked at Su Xiao blankly. "Who are you?"
"Who I am isn't important, but I want to know some information about the Land of Death."
"The Land of Death? That godforsaken place, who would bother learning about it? Some perverted old woman set up 'Frost Dust Temptation' in the south. Anyone who dares reveal specific information about the Land of Death will trigger that damn thing. Hey, are you trying to trick me into revealing information about the Land of Death? I'm Melody, Melody the Witch of Trickery. I'm very strong~"
Clearly, Melody was drunk. This was exactly the effect Su Xiao wanted. Although he hadn't known Melody long, he had discovered one of her weaknesses: she valued money as much as her life. Or rather, she had something she absolutely needed to accomplish, something that required a large sum of money. For that reason, she had even impersonated a VIP to enter the city.
"Not far off from what I expected."
Melody's words confirmed Su Xiao's earlier speculation.
"If I want to join the Holy Healing Church, what do I need to do? How can I become a witch hunter?"
"I don't know. I want to drink. I want gold coins. Go away."
Melody, lying across the sea of beer mugs, lifted her head and looked at Su Xiao with hazy eyes.
"Give me information, and you can have whatever you want."
"Oh? Then I'll tell you. Joining the Holy Healing Church... only requires... identification. But that's just small fry. To become a witch hunter... not someone trained by the Holy Healing Church... you need to at least... hunt... one witch. Not hunt me—a black witch! A black witch~"
"The Holy Healing Church..."
"Zzz~"
Before Su Xiao could finish speaking, Melody let out a faint snore.
"Amu, carry her."
Amu naturally obeyed Su Xiao's words without question. Bubu Wang grinned beside him, as if to say: "Master, you're having such a romantic task done by Amu?"
"..."
Su Xiao said nothing. Carrying Melody was far from romantic. In the early stages of drunkenness, people couldn't enter deep sleep.
"Ugh~"
Melody, on Amu's back, convulsed. Amu looked at this long-legged female creature with confusion. When it walked out of the tavern, Melody vomited all over its back with a loud "waa."
Bubu Wang's dog face twitched. It looked at Su Xiao with a meaningful expression: "Master, you really planned this in advance!"
"Ahem, just an accident. Amu, don't just stand there. Find an inn to settle this woman. We'll need her later."
Su Xiao first exchanged a few gold coins for silver coins or smaller denomination copper coins. He would be staying in Holy Healing City for quite some time, at least until he found clues about the character "Mo." Melody was also one of his sources of information.
Soon, Su Xiao opened a room at an inn called "Locke."
Holy Healing City had a developed economy. There was even a sewage system beneath the city. Don't underestimate these dirty sewers—they kept the city cleaner and greatly reduced the possibility of disease outbreaks.
In ancient Europe, feces and such were dumped onto streets or in alleys. One could imagine that scene. High heels were invented and popularized for this very reason. The main function of high heels initially was to avoid stepping in shit. Amazing, but it was indeed true.
On the second floor of Locke Inn, Su Xiao sat cross-legged on a wooden chair. On the bed in front of him lay Melody, fast asleep. He had no interest in this "Sleeping Beauty" who reeked of alcohol and vomited intermittently.
Time slowly passed. When the dusk sunset enveloped Holy Healing City, Melody on the bed slowly woke up. She was hugging the blanket, her eyes still drowsy.
"Water~"
Melody raised her arm. This was the first time in her life she had been so drunk that she forgot what happened before. In her memory, Su Xiao had ransomed her from prison and taken her to a tavern. For each extra mug of beer she drank, she got an equal number of gold coins. Her memory stopped there.
Recalling this, Melody's eyes widened. She carefully checked her body's condition, manually feeling herself over before confirming everything was fine. Her tense body relaxed, but as she sat up, her peripheral vision caught Su Xiao sitting cross-legged on the wooden chair.
The atmosphere was extremely awkward—so awkward that Melody wanted to jump out the window and escape.
"You... saw everything."
Melody's face twitched. Although she looked alluring, she was actually conservative to the point of stubbornness.
"If you mean, you just took off your..."
"Don't say it. Please, don't continue."
Melody straightened her clothes, her expression gradually returning to normal as she forced herself to forget that embarrassing moment.
Su Xiao tossed Melody a bottle of water. She caught it and took several gulps. This was how it was after drinking—alcohol caused some of the water inside cells to seep out, which was the main reason for thirst after getting drunk.
After replenishing fluids, Melody's spirits recovered somewhat.
"What exactly is your purpose in seeking me out? I can't tell you everything about the Land of Death. I've already said what I can. As for joining the Holy Healing Church, you can find that information anywhere."
Clearly, Melody remembered some things from when she was drunk.
"I want you to help me hunt black witches."
"What?!"
Melody's pupils contracted, her eyes full of disbelief.