Love, Gun, Cupid

"She went out, saying she wanted to see if there was any person of the opposite sex in the city with whom you had a connection... I still don't understand, is love really that important to humans?"

Although the celestial observers could hardly understand, and Lin Jiade could not represent all of humanity, he still solemnly replied: "For someone who has never loved, love is something indifferent, but for someone who has loved, love becomes a necessity, an addictive drug. I can no longer imagine what my life would be like after losing love."

Chapter Fifteen: The Cuckoo's Past

“Addictive drugs… your fanaticism is like that of an addict, but you can’t be blamed for it. It’s the instinct to reproduce that gives rise to desire, and your emotions embellish your desires as love,” said Wei Ying.

Lin Jiade countered: "If it's just for reproduction, love is not necessary. Many mammals do not have love, but that doesn't prevent them from reproducing and thriving."

Therefore, I believe that love is born from desire, but it is not just another name for desire. It should be like a mirror, with desire as the foundation and love as the coating that allows us to see things. Although it is thin, the coating elevates the mirror. "Lin Jiade said.

The young man's clumsy words only earned him a puzzled look from the reed warbler. However, he couldn't offer any more insightful opinions on love, so he turned to ask, "How does the celestial realm expand its population?"

"We are all carriers of energy. With mutual consent, a celestial couple will each separate a part of their bodies and merge into a new individual. The creation of this individual is the process of sculpting celestial energy into life, which usually takes many forms—"

Initially, the mainstream method of conception was direct birth to the earth, followed by socialized upbringing in professional institutions. However, after our great enemy contaminated five hundred newborns at once, the celestial realm abandoned public upbringing.

Then, the mainstream practice that continues to this day is viviparous birth. This was a trend brought back from observing the hominids; everyone thought that planting life within one's own abdomen was...strange. But after trying it, they found that compared to other methods, viviparous parents valued their offspring more and were safer, without worrying about contamination from predators.

"What is the greatest enemy?" Lin Jiade asked.

The warbler covered its mouth, looking troubled: "..."

Lin Jiade smiled and said, "Hmm, I haven't heard of anything like that. Was your family also a family where children were born naturally?"

“Our family is oviparous because my parents really liked a bird called the great tit, so they imitated birds to have my sister and me. There were several other brothers and sisters between my sister and me, but for various reasons, they all failed to survive.”

I think my parents' neglect was the reason my older siblings died young. They were husband and wife in name only, but in addition to pursuing pleasure within the family, they also pursued pleasure outside the family. For their careers, for their interests, and for their pleasure, they had sex with men and women they didn't know.

As a result, my older sister took on the responsibility of taking care of me. She was the first person I saw. She was a little child, but she looked at me with a calmness that was beyond common sense. Her maturity made me respect and fascinate.

She cares about the friends I make, the education I receive, my image, and my love life... She cares about me, so why shouldn't I care about her? I even want to have a child with her.

So, now you understand how important my sister is to me.

The fact that the woman gave birth shocked Lin Jiade, yet he wasn't entirely shocked. Considering that the inhabitants of the Celestial Realm were a group of energy beings enveloped in unique personalities, whose bodies could be shaped at will, like a cuckoo turning into a jasmine, their reproduction breaking through the barriers of gender seemed like an understandable premise.

I understand, but I can't accept it.

Taking advantage of the rare good mood between him and Wei Ying, Lin Jiade asked, "Miss Du Juan, you must be very popular in the Heavenly Realm."

"Thanks to her eccentric temperament, she has just as many people who love her as those who hate her. Unfortunately, people love her superficially; fortunately, people hate her deeply. So she hasn't really had any romantic relationships with anyone yet..."

I said, "You actually have feelings for my sister, don't you?"

The warbler narrowed her eyes slightly, her gaze like that of an eagle spotting its prey. Lin Jiade calmly accepted her scrutiny and replied in a deep voice, "Yes."

“Celestial observers and Homo sapiens cannot interbreed, just as humans cannot interbreed with dolphins. But there are always exceptions. Some people like dolphins, and celestial observers may also like humans…” said the reed warbler.

“I know I like Miss Dujuan. How could I not have feelings for someone so beautiful by my side? Besides, she’s captured my heart.” Lin Jiade shook his head. “But I can’t like her. As you said, she’s a celestial observer, and I’m just one of the observed Homo sapiens.”

Although I don't know what you've imagined, with Miss Dujuan's help, I happily formed a family with one, two, or three beautiful girls, and she turned our happiness into her graduation project, achieving a win-win situation, and then left this planet. That's our ending.

"It's good that you have this mindset." Wei Ying breathed a sigh of relief. "I can trust you for now, so I will do my best to help with the Kapok matter. Let me reintroduce myself, my name is Wei Ying."

"Lin Jiade".

Lin Jiade held Wei Ying's hand. Unlike Du Juan's, Wei Ying's hand was firm and warm. At that moment, Du Juan opened the door, saw their hands clasped together, and paused for a moment.

Lin Jiade and Wei Ying both looked at Du Juan and quickly let go of her. They hadn't done anything, but they felt guilty.

Du Juan smiled without saying a word; her silence carried more weight than words. Lin Jiade awkwardly asked, "Where did you go?"

“They helped us with three tickets and even provided viewing equipment and match materials, so I have to thank them.” Du Juan crossed her arms. “And what about you?”

"I've convinced Senior Kapok to join forces with me to help her secure a top-three finish in the knockout stage. Then, Miss Reed Warbler and I made a small deal, which is why we shook hands just now."

Lin Jiade gave Wei Ying a wink. Wei Ying was even less adept at lying than he was, and her response was rather awkward. Lin Jiade knew they had reached the crucial point. He said, "Miss Dujuan, can you help with this?"

Du Juan held up two fingers: "Okay, but I have two conditions: First, you have to find a way to let me draw more energy from your love to offset the energy I lost in this matter."

Lin Jiade nodded. That was easy to say. The deeper and more passionate his relationship with his lovers was, the more energy Du Juan would absorb. And he just needed to spend more time with Jasmine and Gladiolus... especially Jasmine, who had been neglected. In the process of being affectionate with her lover, Du Juan's request would be fulfilled. It was a win-win situation.

"Secondly, let's pick a time when we can spend a day together like a real couple. You have to treat me with the same sincerity you would a girlfriend, and I will treat you the same way you would a girlfriend."

In human terms, this is called dating, right?

Chapter Sixteen: Cognitive Differences (Bonus Chapter)

Normally, Lin Jiade would have agreed without hesitation. After all, he and Du Juan had been living together for over two months, so what was a little outing? But right now, he had just told Wei Ying that he couldn't like Du Juan.

"Riding a tiger is hard to dismount"—that's how Lin Jiade summed up his situation. Du Juan looked at him with gentle and expectant eyes, while Wei Ying looked at him with wavering and doubtful eyes. Two immortals whose fighting power was many times that of a tiger squeezed him, a mere mortal, in the middle, putting him under great pressure.

Du Juan demanded that he treat her like a girlfriend, and Wei Ying probably wouldn't allow him to go out on dates with Du Juan alone. Under these conditions, Lin Jiade looked up and said, "Then, let's go out together as a trio."

"?"

“Miss Dujuan, you said you want to treat you like a girlfriend. So when I was in a relationship with Jasmine, I was under your constant watchful eye. So, if I were to treat you as a girlfriend, it would be reasonable to have someone play the role you once played, wouldn’t it?”

Wei Ying was stunned for a moment, then nodded hastily. This way, she could keep her sister's situation under control. Du Juan looked at Lin Jiade for a while, until his scalp tingled, before she smiled and said, "You've passed. I didn't expect you to be able to handle it like this."

"As expected, the second condition is just deliberately making things difficult for me!" Lin Jiade thought.

After overcoming the last obstacle, Lin Jiade breathed a sigh of relief. In preparation for the plan that would begin tomorrow, he went to bed early. Meanwhile, the celestial creatures, who did not need to hibernate, were playing games in another room. The cuckoo was fully engrossed, while the reed warbler was distracted.

"What's wrong?" Dujuan asked.

"Dating...is something lovers do, right?" Wei Ying asked.

"Correct."

Are you possessive of him?

"Have."

Do you have feelings for him?

"Have."

Are you addicted to him like you are to drugs?

"Have."

"...So, do you love him?"

Du Juan shook her head: "No, I don't love it."

The warbler asked, puzzled, "So, you don't love him, right?"

"Correct."

"Then why are you addicted to drugs because of him?"

"because of love."

"?! Then why are you so passionate about him?"

"Because of love...that can answer all questions."

Wei Ying was a little angry: "Sister... are you trying to fool me?"

"Love doesn't have a clear definition. It encompasses more species than the dolphin family. My understanding of love is different from his. I understand love as a cycle of joy, pain, submission, and resistance, an energy fluctuation of extreme emotional release. But his understanding of love is something completely different."

“I don’t understand…” Wei Ying sat back down sullenly. “I can’t understand what weak humans are saying, and I can’t understand what my sister is saying either… In the end, why do you all have to love each other? You might as well draw cards instead of being in a relationship.”

"You weren't like this when you faced things you couldn't understand in the past. Why are you so anxious about love? Are you afraid that your sister will be taken away by a stranger and never appear in your life again?" Du Juan asked.

Reed Warbler nodded reluctantly, but then stubbornly said, "I don't think that person is a threat... I'm just annoyed."

Du Juan calmly said, "You're just afraid of being alone. When you find a way to be happy without me, then you'll let me go. Little Reed Warbler, do you have someone you like at school?"

“No, I’m not interested in people who can’t beat me… Besides, after seeing that man’s parents, I feel even more that our parents are really terrible,” said the reed warbler. “Things that humans can abide by, we who consider ourselves superior cannot do.”

Du Juan held up one finger: "Then, I have a proposal. Why don't you recognize Lin Jiade's parents as your godparents? You like them, right? Wouldn't that give you the family love you crave?"

"Sister, are you possessed by Emperor Hui of Jin?!"

"To be honest, Wei Ying, you're the one I worry about most in this family, so I've always been thinking about finding you a home. Half of the people in the Heavenly Realm are ruthless, and the other half are indulging in pleasure. Someone like you, a born war maniac, but weak but addicted, with almost negative energy resistance, is better at management than fighting. You won't find a suitable home in the Heavenly Realm."

Wei Ying was almost driven mad: "Why are you dissing me with such a sincere and affectionate tone? At the very least, I'm the one who successfully blew up the school."

“The school is still too small,” Du Juan shook her head. “After thinking it over, I think the Empire is the most suitable for you. There are the struggles you like here, and there aren’t many things that can completely destroy you. Even if you can’t beat them, you can escape in time.”

"I've settled in the Empire? Sis, are you sure you're not some person impersonating my sister to fool me?"

The warbler reached out and tried to pull at the cuckoo's clothes, but the cuckoo waved her away. The warbler persisted until she found evidence that the cuckoo in front of her was the one she knew.

"Ah, you really did take the wrong medicine." Wei Ying said listlessly. "I don't think about the future that much. There will be a way when the time comes."

"She's still just a child." Du Juan smiled.

The next day, when they gathered to return, Wei Ying naturally greeted Lin Jiade. It seemed that his keeping his word had increased her favorability towards him. Half of her aloof facade had fallen away, revealing a liveliness and innocence befitting her psychological age.

“Wei Ying is sharp-tongued and aloof to outsiders. She seems proud and confident, but she’s actually insecure and nervous. And now, it means she’s starting to accept you. She’s actually quite talkative,” Du Juan whispered to him.

As always, Du Juan's voice was like magic, creating an ASMR-like itch and longing in his head even at a safe social distance. One could even say that, having grown accustomed to Ms. Du Juan's voice, ordinary ASMR no longer brought him pleasure.

On the train, they "coincidentally" met Kapok and Albizia. Looking at their numbers, Lin Jiade suddenly realized why there was a seat between each of the three tickets he bought. As a result, Kapok separated him from Azalea, while Reed Warbler and Albizia sat together.

Lin Jiade introduced the two sides and then relayed Wei Ying's request: to test both sides through combat. Mu Mian readily agreed, and her decisiveness earned Wei Ying's favor.

"How are you feeling right now?" Wei Ying asked.

"It has recovered to about 60%."

“Then I’ll wait another day, until you’re at least 80% fit before coming for our test.” Wei Ying turned to Lin Jiade. “Oh, I forgot to ask, do you mind if I bother you for a while?”

Of course I mind, our home is already cramped enough!

Lin Jiade did the math: Wei Ying didn't need to eat or drink, and sleeping in the room Du Juan was borrowing wouldn't take up extra space. If she came, there would be two Celestial Observers in the house, making it arguably the safest place in Fuxing City, and even in District 18. This would make Jasmine's enemies more hesitant to cause trouble.

So, despite the increasingly sharp gaze from the kapok tree beside him, he agreed to the task.

France 1-0 Germany, hence the extra update.

Chapter Seventeen Peeping into the Shadows

"Jasmine, look what I brought back for you!"

The sound of the door opening and Lin Jiade's excited voice reached Jasmine's ears at the same time. Jasmine stood up and first saw Lin Jiade carrying a backpack, and then she saw a strand of golden hair sticking out from Lin Jiade's arm.

"Did you become a human trafficker?" Jasmine asked in surprise. "Or did you buy a diamond elf? I remember the empire abolished slavery."

Wei Ying, who had inexplicably become a "slave," emerged from behind Lin Jiade and glared at Jasmine with displeasure. Jasmine glanced at her; Wei Ying had blonde hair, blue eyes, regular features, a petite stature, and a flat figure—a veritable collection of loli elements, making her a formidable opponent.

The saying "like repels like" can also be understood in the modern era as two people with similar attributes repelling each other. What's even worse is having the same height and similar build. Jasmine and Reed Warbler felt a sense of disgust towards each other at first sight.

Lin Jiade put his arm around Jasmine's shoulder and said, "Wei Ying should know my girlfriend Jasmine. Jasmine, this is Wei Ying, Du Juan's sister. You should get along well with her."