# Chapter 57: Melody's Secret
A minute later, with a dull thud, several massive rocks flew up as Su Xiao crawled out from the pile of rubble. He scanned his surroundings, but the witches were nowhere to be seen.
Carmen, Drunkard, and Witch Grave were digging through the rock pile, and faintly below, the roar of the Blood Bear could be heard.
Before long, Amu burst out of the rocks first, dragging the Blood Bear behind him.
The witches had been repelled. As the ambushing party, they had suffered over 60% casualties before fleeing. It was unclear how they would explain this upon their return.
Carmen, Drunkard, and Witch Grave had only minor injuries, while the Blood Bear was more seriously wounded. Surprisingly, Melody was still alive—at the critical moment, she had used her transformation ability to turn into an eagle, flying into the air to escape the disaster.
Inside the nearly rock-filled ravine, Su Xiao frowned deeply. During this battle, he had killed quite a few witches, gaining 8.2% of the Pioneer Source. As for treasure chests, if he chose the chest reward, he would need to blast open the ten-plus-meter-thick pile of rocks to retrieve them.
After some thought, Su Xiao decided to choose Curse Resistance. There was no time to clear these rocks now. Once he selected Curse Resistance, the chests would disappear. Though it meant losing a few chests, it was a necessary compromise.
[Curse Resistance selected. Total gained: 8.9% Curse Resistance. Current Curse Resistance: 73.9%.]
Seeing the notification from Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao was visibly stunned. He had expected that the higher the Curse Resistance, the harder it would be to improve further, but he hadn't anticipated the difficulty being this extreme.
Although Curse Resistance only took effect in the Crow World, upon returning to Reincarnation Paradise, it would convert into Abnormal Attribute Resistance—a permanent enhancement. In terms of practical combat value, Abnormal Attribute Resistance was no less valuable than chest rewards. The five elements, poison, debuffs, and so on—all of these were affected by Abnormal Attribute Resistance.
Having driven back the witches of Dawn Gate, no one looked pleased. The enemy's White Witch, who possessed prophetic abilities, was a significant hidden danger.
The group passed through the ravine, where they would now split up.
"I think... I can't hold on anymore."
The Blood Bear's face was deathly pale, covered in red patterns.
"You used..."
"Yeah, that's right, I used it. And I've reached my limit."
The Blood Bear pointed at his temple, where the red patterns had spread into a spiral shape.
"Do you want me to do it, or will you do it yourself?"
Carmen gripped his staff tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hand.
"Sigh. Kill too many people, and you always pay the price eventually. Sorry, I only made it this far."
The Blood Bear smiled. Beside him, Melody looked at him with confusion. At that moment, the Blood Bear aimed his shotgun under his chin.
Bang!
A spray of diamonds burst from the back of the Blood Bear's head, and he collapsed face-first to the ground with a thud.
Melody tilted her head back and closed her eyes, instinctively touching the warm bloodstains on her face, then glanced at the Blood Bear lying on the ground.
"Farewell."
The Drunkard poured a packet of white powder over the Blood Bear's corpse. With a whoosh, flames erupted.
"Are you people out of your minds?"
Melody seemed triggered by something. Carmen glanced at her and shook his head.
"What do you think a Witch Hunter represents?"
Carmen stepped forward toward the plains ahead. Witch Grave pulled out a crossbow bolt and planted it beside the Blood Bear's burning corpse.
Soon, Carmen and the other two walked off into the distance. Their destination was the Dust Mud Altar.
"Let's go."
Su Xiao glanced at the map in his hand. The current route formed a V-shape, with Dawn Gate as the starting point—the bottom of the V.
Melody stared at the Blood Bear's corpse for a while. After the initial shock, she felt a sense of respect for the old man. Not everyone could face death so freely.
After crossing the plains, Su Xiao entered a forest. The trees here were peculiar—the trunks, branches, and leaves were all white. Reaching this point meant Mist Fortress was not far away.
Mist Fortress was located inside the White Forest, but the White Forest was vast. There were no wild beasts here. Any living creature seen here had to be exterminated without mercy—they were all synthetic beasts cultivated by the witches.
Synthetic beasts were far superior to ordinary beasts in every ability, especially intelligence. Most synthetic beasts were bred not for combat, but as watchdogs for the witches.
Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, Amu, and Melody moved through the White Forest. The ground was barren of vegetation, and there was an eerie chill in the air.
"Stop."
Su Xiao suddenly halted, hiding behind a thick tree trunk. Bubu Wang immediately blended into the environment. Melody transformed into a rabbit in an instant. Amu looked around and finally hid behind a thigh-thick tree trunk.
Amu might have thought he was hidden, but over 80% of his body was exposed. Unless the enemy was blind, they would definitely see him.
Pfft.
After the distinctive gunshot of D·Assassination, a bipedal synthetic beast in the distance was shot in the head.
"Actually... I've always had a question."
After dealing with the synthetic beast, Melody reverted to her original form.
"Speak."
"Uh... My combat ability, you know. Bringing me to the dangerous southern region shouldn't just be because I know this place, right? As long as you have a map, finding Mist Fortress wouldn't be difficult for you."
Melody voiced her doubts. She understood clearly that she absolutely could not enter Mist Fortress with Su Xiao—otherwise, she would surely die.
"I thought you'd never ask until death. It seems that thing is nearby."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Melody's heart skipped a beat.
"What do you want to know? Spit it out. I'm really afraid of you."
"Where is Morisha's family heirloom?"
"I told you, I lost that thing. It's probably in the hands of Moi Nora now."
"Oh?"
Su Xiao looked at Melody with interest. Melody puffed out her chest, putting on a defiant posture.
Ten seconds. One minute. Two minutes. Su Xiao just kept staring at Melody, and her expression grew increasingly uncomfortable.
"You..."
Melody clenched her fists. After a long while, she stomped her foot in frustration.
"That thing really is lost, but..."
Melody reached into her ample cleavage and pulled out a metal pendant.
"I broke off a small piece and kept it with me."
Melody tossed the pendant with a pained expression. The dark blue gem on the pendant flickered on and off.
"The Death Ground you're looking for doesn't have a direct connection to this thing. But this thing has another use—keeping warm."
"Keeping warm?"
"That's right. When that dagger-shaped stone was intact, it had a strong warming effect."
"..."
Su Xiao suddenly lost interest in that family heirloom.
"If you want to go 'there,' you'd better bring the intact heirloom, or you'll definitely freeze to death. That's all I can say. I don't want to taste the Curse of Misfortune a second time."
"Freeze to death..."
Su Xiao looked at the pendant in his hand, deep in thought.
"This thing is heating up, isn't it? That means the heirloom is nearby. Very nearby."
Just as Melody finished speaking, a loud crash came from the distance.
"I told you, very close. That might be it over there. But let me be clear—if you get that heirloom, you have to help me remove the bomb from my body."
"Deal."
Su Xiao sprinted toward the source of the sound. If it weren't related to the Death Ground, he wouldn't waste time at this critical moment. Fortunately, the Sunset Red Squad still had some distance to go before reaching the Dust Mud Altar, and the terrain there was much harsher than the White Forest.
Besides, Morisha's family heirloom was actually the Moi family's heirloom. To be safe, it was best to get his hands on it. Bringing Melody to the southern region had been Su Xiao's goal all along.