Chapter 171 - She Couldn’t Remember

The person who caught her was able to see a little even in the darkness. He did a double take, though.

"Hong Bao?!" He sat her down on the ground and looked her over once again. Indeed, it was really her.

Hong Bao who was completely blind in the night started fumbling around. Her hands found the man's chest and patted up and down, somehow landing at his face after a while. She tried finding out who the person before her was but only came up with a blank.

What to do in such a case when the other one knew you but you didn't know who it was? Of course, you needed to feign recognition!

"Oh, it's you!" She smiled sweetly and somehow managed to find that person's sleeve. She grabbed onto it, not intending to let go anytime soon.

The man was a little taken aback. They didn't know each other that well. Why was she so happy to see him? It couldn't be … Had she actually fallen in love with him even though their time together had been that short? He shook his head. This wasn't the time to get all sentimental!

"Hong Bao, what are you doing here? It's late at night. You shouldn't be running around here. Especially not alone!"

Hong Bao pursed her lips. It really was hard to pretend to recognize someone. How was she supposed to answer now? "Uh … It couldn't be helped. I was waiting for someone."

"Waiting? This late at night?" The man was taken aback. If it was any other woman, he might have thought this was the confession of a tryst but since it was Hong Bao … "Why did you wait for that person?"

"To help my sister out! You see …" Hong Bao suddenly shut up. "Oh, I can't tell you. I had to promise her not to tell anyone. Nobody. She stressed that!"

"Alright. You don't have to. Then, where is your sister now?"

"I guess she's with my brother-in-law."

"Mn. And where is your brother-in-law?" The man demonstrated a commendable amount of patience.

Hong Bao lowered her head. "I don't know. She didn't tell me. It's not her fault, though! I was supposed to go with the person I was waiting for but who knew that he would never show up? Now I'll have to go home alone."

The man in front of her sighed. "Where do you live? I'll bring you there."

Hong Bao's face lit up. "Really? It's …" She lifted her hand and wanted to point in a direction but in the end, she didn't know where to point. Where was she?

"Wait." The man procured a talisman, imbued it with some energy and the paper lit up, showering their surroundings in a soft glow.

Hong Bao looked up and was instantly stunned. The man in front of her was really good-looking. He seemed mature and a little wild. In any case, really strong like nothing could happen to him!

Hong Bao was instantly fascinated. She gave him a once-over and still felt like this man was pretty good. It couldn't be … After sister finally found her true love, it's now my turn?! Her eyes started to sparkle at that thought and she grabbed his sleeve a little harder.

There was one problem with this man, though: She really didn't know him. She was quite sure of that because she certainly would have remembered such a face. Could it be that this guy was the one who was supposed to take her to heaven? She felt that it was entirely impossible! After all, he did look this good. Maybe all immortals and gods looked like this?

Hong Bao contemplated and finally decided that it was alright for him to let her wait for so long. Someone this handsome had probably a high status, so he should have a lot of things to do in heaven. She couldn't fault him.

Hong Bao grabbed his other arm, too, and smiled. "It's alright", she conveyed her conclusion. "Forget what I said before. You can take me to heaven now!" She held onto him tightly and closed her eyes. After all, it would probably get really stormy when you flew to heaven, wouldn't it?

The man blinked. "Heaven? Why would I take you to heaven?"

Hong Bao cracked her eyes open. "Haven't you come to take me to heaven? You know, because of defeating the demons and everything."

"Defeating the demons?" The man's eyebrows rose. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you're saying."

Hong Bao opened her eyes completely and let go of his sleeves. "You're not the envoy from heaven?"

"No. Why are you even asking? We know each other."

Hong Bao shook her head. "No. I've never seen you before."

The man was stunned. Hadn't she just reacted as if she had finally seen a long-lost friend again? "Then what was with that greeting just now?"

"Uh …" Hong Bao who had slipped up already could only continue her small lie. "I … mistook you. I thought you were somebody else. It was dark, after all."

"Mn. But you really don't remember me?" It might have just been a short time but hadn't it been intense? "I'm Liu Cheng, the demon hunter. We met each other in the capital when you had found that demon."

Hong Bao tilted her head. Demon hunter? Demons? Capital? She frowned. "But I've never even been to the capital!" That was definitely the most important point! What demons and demon hunters? She had lived her whole life in the village!

Liu Cheng frowned just as much. That couldn't be. He definitely hadn't mistaken her. She was Hong Bao. She looked like her, she spoke like her … Everything was the same.

That could only mean one thing: The demon that had managed to subdue him and then kidnapped and interrogated him before bringing him back to the capital had done something to her, too! And it seemed the consequences for her were even graver. She couldn't remember her time in the capital at all!

Liu Cheng looked at her with a pitying gaze. That poor girl, maybe her memories would be lost forever. No, he had to do something! "Hong Bao, since it's a little brighter now let's go to the place you live."

Hong Bao squirmed a bit. There was actually such a handsome man asking her to take him home! Maybe she had somehow helped her sister unknowingly with banishing those demons? She couldn't have that much luck without reason, could she? Ah, the goddess of love was really smiling at her from above!

She gripped Liu Cheng's sleeve again and the two of them went into the direction where Hong Bao thought to find her village. Unfortunately, she was disappointed soon enough. Even though they walked for nearly an hour she just couldn't find it. Even worse, her surroundings weren't the least bit familiar anymore. Slowly, panic arose from within her heart.

Of course, it was only natural that she couldn't find it. After all, the village Hong Bao grew up in had already ceased to exist. It wasn't really a surprise since she had lived in the nine heavens for quite a bit of time and one day there equaled a year in the mortal world. It had just been too long for a small village such as theirs to survive until then.

But unfortunately, Hong Bao's memories had been erased upon her banishment. Thus, she couldn't remember how long she had been away. She couldn't even remember that she had been away at all. For her, it was as if it was still the same day where she had taken her sister's place to go to the nine heavens.