Chapter 1: The Haunted Yōlin (Part 1)

  After hearing the names of these two monsters, a rustling voice came from Guage's end, but because it seemed to be covered with his hand on the receiver, Ding Lingxiu didn't hear what was being said. After a while, Guage continued:

  "Xiao Ding, this matter is a bit suspicious. After you arrive, first collect the bounties for the Human-Faced Tree and the Corpse-Eating Ghost, which total ten taels of gold. As for the other two demons, we need to do some investigation here."

  Ten taels of gold? Ding Lingxiu was overjoyed, these ten taels of gold would be worth nearly 100,000 yuan when exchanged for renminbi. He never thought that his first bucket of gold in life would be so rich. It seems that the profession of demon hunter is not only risky but also has a very high return.

  "Okay, thank you, Gua Ge."

  "See you again."

  Gua Ge hung up the phone, and Ding Lingxiu was overjoyed.

  Even if Ding Ling's mental maturity was exceptional, he was still just an eighteen or nineteen year old young man. When he heard that the reward for his capture was far greater than he had anticipated, he couldn't help but feel excited and thrilled.

  He lit a cigarette and calmed himself down.

  He smoked while pacing back and forth, his excited mood gradually calming down. Suddenly, he found that the yellow cow essence in front of him was on its last breath, and the demonic energy was about to disappear.

  "Ah, I've actually forgotten about it." He finally came to his senses, hastily extinguished the cigarette, and once again picked up the Hyakki Yagyo, using his middle finger to take some of Kaito's blood.

  The blood of the peony fairy came into contact with the spiritual energy on his fingers and became crystal clear, slowly rotating in the lines of his middle finger.

  Ding Lingxiu didn't know if it was because his body was too weak at the moment, or if the wound from being pierced by the feather was too painful. His arm began to tremble slightly, and his shaky fingers pointed to the center of Huang Niu's forehead. The demonic energy that had been scattered like ants earlier suddenly gathered together, and in the faint glow, Huang Niu's expression changed from pain to relaxation, and his tightly clenched teeth also loosened.

  Ding Lingxiu saw that Huang Niu's demonic energy had condensed, and with his hands clasped together, he was just about to recite the incantation.

  Suddenly, a voice startled him, and the Hyakki Yagyo picture floating in mid-air also fell to the ground.

  "It hurts so much...... Where is this......"

  The voice was very weak and came from a place not far behind Ding Ling's residence.

  Ding Lingshu suddenly turned his head and found that Guo Mohan was covering his forehead, with a dazed expression, looking around in all directions.

  It just so happened that at this moment, Ding Lingxiu woke up and hated himself for not being able to slap himself in the face. If only he had woken up a few minutes earlier, Huang Niu Jing would have already been included in the Bai Gui Tu. But at this critical moment, Guo Mohan suddenly woke up, wanting to continue his conquest, which was now an impossible task.

  Then, Ding Lingshu quickly put away the Hundred Ghosts Diagram and hastily ran to Guo Mohan's side, gently lifting her up and anxiously asking:

  "You're finally awake?"

  Guo Mohan's expression was strange, he rubbed his sleepy eyes and blinked with big eyes, staring at Ding Lingxiu with an unusual gaze.

  "Hey handsome guy, where is this place? It's so dark."

  "Handsome brother?" Ding Ling Xiu's voice rose in surprise, thinking to herself that she hadn't misheard. This ice mountain beauty was actually calling her "handsome brother"? And the tone of her voice had also changed somewhat, becoming softer and more gentle, although Guo Mo Han's voice had always been pleasant to listen to, it wasn't this kind of tone and intonation.

  What's wrong with her? Did that big gulp of Huang Niu Jing shock her nerves into confusion, or did it trigger her latent Lolita personality?

  At this time, Guo Mohan adjusted his clothes with a shy expression and said:

  "Ouch! Handsome brother, did you just knock down that weird cow that bullied me earlier?"

  Ding Lingxiu nodded and pointed to the yellow cow spirit lying on the ground over there:

  "No... I've already taken care of it, don't worry, we're safe now."

  "But handsome brother, you've lost so much blood. Are you not almost dead from protecting me?" Guo Mo Han's delicate and pitiful face actually showed a sincere expression of concern, as he carefully took out a handkerchief to wipe away the blood from Ding Ling Xiu's wound.

  Ding Lingxiu felt a warm current flowing into his heart, although Guo Mohan's sudden transformation of personality made Ding Lingxiu feel puzzled, but Guo Mohan, such a beauty, suddenly became affectionate and clingy, would still make any normal man dizzy.

  "It doesn't matter, I've said it all, I'm a demon hunter of the Absolute Sect, these little monsters are naturally no match for me." Ding Lingxiu smiled and took over Guo Mohan's handkerchief, "I'll do it myself."

  Guo Mohan heard this and became somewhat perplexed, tilting his head to look at Ding Lingxiu, muttering to himself:

  "What's that supposed to mean? Handsome brother, you don't know what I'm talking about, do you? Weren't my sister and I just exploring here and ran into a monster, only to be saved by you?"

  What's going on? What is all this? Ding Lingxiu carefully examined the cute and delicate girl in front of him. Although her personality and temperament were completely different from Guo Mohan's, even polar opposites, her body was undoubtedly Guo Mohan's without a doubt. Moreover, there were no signs of being possessed by a demon. How could she suddenly become like someone who had traveled through time and space, saying so many inexplicable things? Had she lost her memory?

  Ding Lingxiu couldn't think of a reasonable explanation for the time being, but if the Guo Mohan in front of her had really forgotten her own identity as a demon hunter and Ding Lingxiu's, it would be a great opportunity for Ding Lingxiu. At this time, taking advantage of the situation to subdue Huang Niu Jing would be easy as turning over one's hand. It was possible that she could even obtain her Spirit Gathering Ball by chance.

  Then Ding Lingxiu asked tentatively:

  "Guo sister, have you forgotten that we came in together to catch the monster? It was the monster who stole my crystal ball, and we were going to look for it together."

  Guo Mohan puffed out his cheeks, raised an eyebrow, and scratched his temples with his hand, staring at Ding Lingxiu as if he were an alien. After a while, he finally spoke:

  "Brother, did I remember wrong? I recall that I was with Xiao Bao Bao playing at the Chessboard Mountain when we discovered this cave and came to explore. Then, we met you inside the cave. Monster? Was the monster that bullied me a monster?"

  Ding Lingxiu originally didn't believe it was true, but he found that Guo Mohan's words and actions were neither fake nor similar to the previous Guo Mohan. He was also stunned, could it be that Guo Mohan really became memory-muddled after being struck by Huang Niu Jing?

  Although she is confused at the moment, it can let Ding Lingxiu take advantage of the situation and use the Hundred Ghosts Diagram to subdue the Yellow Ox Spirit, but what about afterwards? He can't just abandon Guo Mohan who has lost her memory, can he?

  Ding Lingxiu thought for a moment, having such a lovely loli by his side wasn't necessarily a bad thing. The demeanor of an ojou-sama and the heart of a loli, this was probably something that any man would dream of having.

  Ding Ling cleared his throat and said seriously:

  "Ah, that's right! That strange cow was a monster in disguise. It was the one that hurt your little Bao Bao and stunned you. I happened to be exploring around here at the time, heard your cries for help, and rushed over to defeat it."

  "Wow, handsome brother is so amazing, thank you so much!" Guo Mohan's two small hands were clasped together, his face filled with admiration. Then he looked around and lowered his head, "Huh... where's Xiao Bao? Here... waaah... Xiao Bao... what's wrong?"

  Guo Mohan searched around for a while before finding his servant lying on the ground behind him.

  His face was a mess of bruises, and he lay on the ground with his face up, his body soft and limp. Although the demonic energy on him had dissipated, Ding Ling had seen it before - his primordial spirit had been stimulated and couldn't gather demonic energy for the time being, but there was no danger to his life.

  Guo Mohan picked up Jiao Nang, tears gushing out and flowing down her cheeks, along with the bloodstains on her mouth. She cried while pitifully asking Ding Lingxiu:

  "Waaah... handsome brother, what's wrong with little treasure? Nothing bad happened to it, did it?"

  Ding Lingxiu smiled and stroked her head, lovingly replied:

  "Don't worry, it's okay. Once we get out of the cave, we'll go find my friend and he'll definitely be able to wake up your Mengmeng baby."

  "Good... you must save it, wu wu..." Guo Mohan said, tears still streaming down his face.

  Ding Lingxiu couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion, it seemed that there was an unknown story between Guo Mohan and Jiao Nang, their feelings were so deep that even when they lost their memory and forgot their own identity, they still remembered having such an important partner.

  It's possible that everyone is like this, with some extremely important people in their lives whose memories are not stored in the brain but in every piece of skin and joint in the body.

  So when you want to get rid of these memories, it's only possible after dying once and being completely destroyed.

  Perhaps this memory is what people often refer to as love.

  Ding Lingxiu's eyes dimmed, and he muttered to himself:

  Qin Yu, when I lose my memory, will you still remember me?