Love, Gun, Cupid

Jasmine took his hand, climbed onto his knees, and embraced him from above, stroking his head with both hands. Lin Jiade drew some life from her body heat, and said in a hoarse voice, "Jasmine, I'm sorry, you can order takeout for dinner tonight. I'm going to take a nap."

"Okay, you should get some rest. If you're having any troubles, talk to me. I'll always be there for you."

Jasmine gently led Lin Jiade into the bedroom. She carefully closed the door, and Du Juan's voice sounded behind her: "The expression you're wearing right now isn't suitable for Lin Jiade."

Jasmine glanced back at Azalea: "Aren't you laughing too? I hate Kapok because she stole my boyfriend and betrayed her promise, which I didn't follow through on."

The reason you hate Kapok is because Kapok partially replaced the sense of security you provided to Lin Jiade through force. So you brought in your silly sister to compete with Kapok. After realizing that there were hidden problems in the relationship between Kapok and Lin Jiade, you fueled the flames and stopped interfering with their relationship, waiting for the moment to explode.

Without your tacit approval, the sisters of Kapok wouldn't dare enter this place, to observe Lin Jiade and make contact, hoping to sow discord between him and Kapok.

“Your delusions have improved,” Du Juan smiled. “However, do you have any concrete evidence to prove that I did it? Of course, I don’t mind if Lin Jiade hates me.”

“Lin Jiade won’t hate you because his relationship with Jianlan was exposed, and during the time you were in a cold war, you used your words to block the possibility of us attacking you with uncertain evidence. You retreated to advance, making Lin Jiade think that attacking you was a sacrifice and concession you made voluntarily.”

Jasmine shook her head: "Do you think you can always control everything? No, Cuckoo, you will fail in the end."

“I don’t see that possibility. Be grateful for my mercy. If I wanted to, I could kick you out of Lin Jiade’s life.”

Jasmine stopped talking. She changed her clothes and went to buy two meals, one for herself and one for Lin Jiade's favorite dishes. Du Juan returned to her territory. Wei Ying was a little uneasy: "Sister, did I mess things up?"

"What have you done now?"

“I told Lin Jiade that Mu Jin was telling the truth… I didn’t know the human heart was so fragile. If I hadn’t mentioned this, Lin Jiade might have thought it was a tactic by the enemy to sow discord between him and Mu Mian, and just laughed it off?”

"No, this has nothing to do with fragility. Whenever the beautiful memories that humans possess are deconstructed, exposed, denied, destroyed, or mocked, their collapse often happens in an instant."

This is tragedy; it may not be horrific, but it is always sharp, reaching deep into the soul, leaving a painful wound.

“He’s in enough pain, what are we doing?” Wei Ying asked.

“I’ll take over the situation. Just as Kapok said before she left, Lin Jiade and her interests are too intertwined. Even without feelings, this interest-driven alliance must be maintained. And you, help Lin Jiade in your own way.”

"Ah, why should I help him?" Wei Ying said shyly. "I'm nobody to him."

"If Lin Jiade doesn't pull himself together, no one will play games with him anymore."

Wei Ying's expression immediately turned serious: "Then it seems that getting him back on his feet is indeed my top priority right now."

The warbler was playful, and the cuckoo's instructions provided a perfect excuse. Without a second thought, she took out her celestial weapon, waved it casually, and a grass-green vortex appeared on the wall, quickly solidifying into a doorway.

She passed through the door, and on the other side of the door was Lin Jiade's dream. In Wei Ying's eyes, Lin Jiade's dream became his neighborhood, where he, an adult, sat in the pavilion, playing soccer, lost in thought.

"Hi?"

The warbler's call drew Lin Jiade's attention. He stood up, looked around, and said, "A dream?"

"Ah."

"Miss Dujuan is really something..."

"No, this is your own dream."

Lin Jiade's expression froze. Wei Ying continued, "It seems that you still have feelings for Kapok."

I don't want to discuss this.

"I think you've regained your rational thinking ability after you broke her contract."

"Sorry, I'm really not in the mood to argue with you..."

“There’s no need to endure it, Lin Jiade. In the past, when I encountered unhappy things, I would vent my violent emotions to feel refreshed.”

The reed warbler broke off two branches, which turned into two identical swords. She handed one of them to Lin Jiade and said, "Anger is the power of a warrior. Come, Lin Jiade, let me witness your anger!"

Lin Jiade suddenly stood up. He grabbed the sword that Wei Ying had given him. Just as she had said, he needed an outlet to vent his negative emotions.

With that thought, he gathered strength in his feet, propelling himself forward like a cannonball, and in mid-air, he raised his arm to slash at the warbler's face.

With one hand behind her back, Wei Ying raised her arm to block Lin Jiade's powerful strike, which was made possible by his downward momentum. In the instant of the pause, a magic circle appeared around Lin Jiade's waist. He used the spell given to him by Jianlan to create a thrust from behind, adding a force to his struggle with Wei Ying.

"Tsk, still Kapok's tactics."

With a slight exertion, Wei Ying sent Lin Jiade flying backward, like a ball hit by a tennis racket. The magic circle that was originally pushing him was redirected to his sides, helping him maintain his balance in mid-air.

He touched the stone pillar of the pavilion with his toes. Behind him, the cold light of the reed warbler was already approaching. He swung his sword backward to block the reed warbler's sword that was heading towards his back.

With a flick of her wrist, Wei Ying reversed her grip on the weapon and lunged towards Lin Jiade's ribs. Lin Jiade had already firmly planted himself on the stone pillar. He used the momentum to leap into the air and exchanged another sword strike with Wei Ying in mid-air. The moment they landed, Wei Ying turned and thrust her sword towards his heart, piercing him through.

Chapter Ninety-Two: Good Medicine

Although this was Lin Jiade's dream, the moment the celestial observer appeared, his dream had already transformed into the shape of a reed warbler.

So, obeying the will of the reed warbler, Lin Jiade appeared in the pavilion. He looked down at his chest, where there were no wounds, but the sword was still there.

“Continue!” said the reed warbler.

Lin Jiade recalled the training the Kapok tree had given him from September to November, with the face of the Reed Warbler superimposed on it. The flames of anger made him grab the sword that the Reed Warbler's branch had turned into. This time, energy surged in, and the flames on the blade swayed like a skirt.

With the force of wind and thunder, Lin Jiade's first sword strike was unleashed. His fury transformed into a terrifying shockwave that tore everything in its path apart. However, it was gently brushed away by Wei Ying and vanished without a trace in the dream.

The second sword strike was named Regret. Flames emanating from the sword coiled and enveloped the reed warbler like snakes. The reed warbler witnessed glimpses of Lin Jiade's interactions with Kapok.

Before they started dating, when Lin Jiade began pursuing Mu Mian, Mu Mian resisted him time and time again, and made hints again and again. But Lin Jiade thought he could let go, while Mu Mian thought she had been redeemed. This cognitive bias led to her regret today.

Lin Jiade never let go, just as his lost meniscus would never return; Kapok could not be redeemed, she had to witness her own hope being destroyed in order to atone for the sin of destroying Lin Jiade's hope.

If Lin Jiade had realized sooner and not gone too far with Mu Mian, he wouldn't be suffering so much pain today. It is precisely because he loved her that his pain is so intense.

The warbler sliced ​​through the flames, a cold glint flashing towards her eyes. She stretched out two fingers, trapping Lin Jiade's blade, and also his sorrow. When the symbols of happiness are deconstructed and reassembled, and people's reactions are filtered through layers of thought, what remains is sadness.

Neither sharp nor powerful, quiet and still, this sword strike had no killing power compared to rage and regret... No, it did wound its target, Lin Jiade's heart.

The warbler shattered Lin Jiade's sword, turning into a withered branch that fell to the ground, along with Lin Jiade's tears. He wiped away his tears, picked up the withered branch from the ground, and as he did so, it had already transformed into a sword.

“Again!” he said.

Wei Ying took a step back, and Lin Jiade's sword slashed past her afterimage... They fought many times until Lin Jiade felt exhausted. He collapsed on the pavilion, watching Wei Ying, whose expression remained unchanged, approach step by step.

“Your sword didn’t lie tonight; I like it very much.” The reed warbler stopped before him. “Every time it came before me, brushed past me, or clashed with my weapon, it spoke of your innermost feelings—”

Why the kapok tree of all people? I hate it! I want revenge, I want her to suffer the same pain I have!

'Did I really not anticipate that possibility? I was just deceiving myself by not thinking about it.'

'I feel so awful. Why did I have to suffer like this?'

What should I do? End this relationship completely? Forget her? Or find a new replacement?

If it were my sister instead of me here, she would probably be happy, because your thoughts could become her strength. But I only feel annoyed, because I cannot empathize with you.

"So, you're here to mock me?" Lin Jiade said.

“I won’t laugh at you for tonight only.” Wei Ying reached out and patted Lin Jiade’s head. “But if you’re still crying tomorrow, I will definitely laugh at you. So, tonight, let out all your weakness.”

Lin Jiade grabbed Wei Ying's slender arm, his head seeking support, so he pressed it against Wei Ying's belly, then slowly slid down to her lower abdomen.

Wei Ying felt the warmth of Lin Jiade's body heat on her lower abdomen. She used her other hand to lift her skirt and cover Lin Jiade's head. The man's tears and snot stained her undergarments, but she didn't mind at all. Instead, she stroked the bulge on her skirt.

The effect of the reed warbler's infiltration into the dream was visible to the naked eye. When Lin Jiade woke up the next day, he felt a splitting headache. At first, he thought he had a big battle with the reed warbler in the dream (actually, he was being harassed by the reed warbler). But he soon realized that he had been sleeping with two flat figures, Jasmine and the reed warbler, between him all night, and their hands were restlessly placed on his head.

He stared intently at the ceiling. A short while later, Jasmine got up, rubbed her eyes, and was shocked to see that the other half wasn't Gladiolus. She then shoved him hard.

"Why are you here?!" Jasmine asked.

"Ah, I fought Lin Jiade several times in my dream. When he was so tired that the dream collapsed, I wanted to go back...wait, did I get the wrong room?"

"You did this on purpose!"

Jasmine and Reed Warbler were wrestling, but Lin Jiade's mind was still preoccupied with the matter of the kapok tree. He originally wanted to say that it had nothing to do with him, but the battlefield where Jasmine and Reed Warbler were wrestling was on his side, and they didn't seem to intend to fight anywhere else.

"Lin Jiade, you absolutely have to eat something today. Let's face reality together and think this through..."

As Jianlan's figure drew closer, the moment she opened the door, she saw Jasmine and Weiying wrestling together, their clothes billowing, while Lin Jiade sat on the edge of the bed with an expression of utter despair, as if he had been violated twice. She couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle.

"Shall you continue?"

“No,” Lin Jiade said, “I’ll get up and eat something, and then we can think about it.”

"The food is ready, all your favorite dishes. If there's anything you'd like to talk to me about privately, I also have some wine."

“He no longer needs alcohol to numb his mind,” Wei Ying said, stroking her lower abdomen with a hint of pride. “All his negative emotions are left here.”

"Hey, what are you saying?!"

As expected, Jasmine and Gladiolus both misunderstood Reed Warbler's meaning. Gladiolus joked, "Then it seems I need to bring out the wine to celebrate Lin Jiade's lost first time."

Before Jasmine could make a move, Lin Jiade fled in his slippers. A few minutes later, he was eating in the quiet area when the strange atmosphere made him speak up: "You don't have to do this. I've vented most of my anger from yesterday, and I'm probably still a little upset."

However, it will be fine soon.

His remedy for his wounds was to keep himself busy; as long as he didn't think about it, sadness couldn't catch up with him. So he personally bought the other ingredients for the Lionheart Potion, attended classes diligently, played online games with his friends, tutored Jasmine, warmed Gladiolus's body, and then Jasmine warmed him as they chatted about the soon-to-be-coming New Year.

Jasmine's hand and Gladiolus's hand were clasped tightly together, and reed warblers often visited him in his dreams. Four days passed like this, and on a weekend evening, Lin Jiade brewed and drank the Lionheart Potion.

Chapter Ninety-Three: Cupid's Prediction (21→20)

The Lionheart Potion and the corresponding Lionheart Spell can comprehensively enhance Lin Jiade's physical attributes, and unlike previous potions, it does not cause him great pain.

After mastering the Lionheart spell, Lin Jiade couldn't wait to try it out. With a bit of curiosity, in the virtual space created by the Reed Warbler, Jasmine became Lin Jiade's opponent and was easily tackled to the ground by him without much resistance.

Jasmine commented, "Hmm, his physical attributes have become like those of a human lion. In terms of strength alone, he's at the level of a goalkeeper among intermediate-level superhumans."

Lin Jiade smiled slightly: "Very good."

"Let me remind you, the Lionheart spell can only be used once a day. Within fifteen minutes, Lin Jiade's physical attributes, including strength, speed, perception, energy recovery speed, and willpower, will be comprehensively improved. His physical attributes will be basically equivalent to the level of the gatekeeper among intermediate superhumans—the old hands who can neither rise nor fall."

Gladiolus held up one finger: "However, there is a price to pay for casting this spell."

“Well, you didn’t mention the cost before,” Lin Jiade said.

“Because that price might create psychological pressure for you and make you resist,” Gladiolus replied.

Lin Jiade joked, "Given my current mental state, my pressure can't get any greater."

"That's good. Its side effect is that within a natural day, you will become as short and as frequent as a lion. For example, if you cast a spell today, you will become a rapid-fire cannon before dawn the next day."

Lin Jiade froze, and so did Jasmine beneath him. Then, she grabbed his collar urgently and said, "Lin Jiade, I won't allow you to use this spell!"

Jasmine's eagerness is understandable. In a sense, 30 seconds might be more painful than being widowed, at least in the latter she wouldn't have any lingering thoughts, and without lingering thoughts, there would be no suffering.

"See? If I told you the price, Jasmine would be the first to stop you," Jianlan said nonchalantly. "Even if it's only for 30 seconds, I won't dislike you. I'll accept everything about you."

“I chose to abstain from sex that day,” Lin Jiade said.

Premature ejaculation and being cuckolded are two major killers of a man's self-esteem and sources of anxiety. Fortunately, Lin Jiade's debuff only took effect on the same day and naturally disappeared the next day.

"Thinking about it carefully, the only time I can use the Lionheart spell is at a critical moment. This means I will expend a lot of energy in battle. Even without the debuff, I probably wouldn't have any thoughts about the opposite sex when I'm exhausted."