Love, Gun, Cupid

He nodded, held up three fingers to represent his three teammates, then turned them into seven to represent the floor they were on before he fell.

Kapok continued typing: "It's not wise to waste time outside the woods with the King of the Forest. I sent them a message, but the communication has been cut off by the mist released by the King of the Forest."

Hopefully they can hide well. After dawn, the King of the Woods will probably retreat. We need to get to the woodlands and finish this match before the 13th.

Now, get some sleep. A tougher battle awaits us tomorrow.

The words remained silent, but Lin Jiade automatically imagined Kapok's voice. He closed his eyes, and his lips were pressed against even softer lips. He opened his eyes, and Kapok moved slightly away.

"sorry."

After saying this, Kapok fell silent again. Lin Jiade closed his eyes and soon drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 110 The Final Round (11)

At dawn, Lin Jiade was awakened by Kapok. He carefully left the place that had sheltered him for the night and looked around. The hotel had been turned into a giant honeycomb briquette. There were signs of battle everywhere.

Lin Jiade wondered how he could have slept so soundly. He recalled the kiss in the darkness, looked at Mu Mian, and Mu Mian confessed, "It was me."

Lin Jiade changed the subject: "It seems the King of the Forest won't appear during the day."

“Let’s go,” Kapok said. “We need to get to the woods.”

"And what about them?"

Mu Mian looked at Lin Jiade for a while, then turned her back to him and asked, "Are you close to them?"

For the spectators, ever since the King of the Forest launched his attack, their perspective has been fixed on the King of the Forest's viewpoint as he hunts down the contestants trapped in the darkness.

At first, the audience found this perspective novel and interesting. They had seen too many grudges and feuds among the contestants, but this was the first time they had ever put themselves in the shoes of an NPC to hunt down the contestants. When they saw these future pillars of the empire being chased and made a fool of themselves by "themselves," the audience immediately felt the joy of beating up a kid.

However, this satisfying storyline only lasted a short while. The plot of Lin Jiade connecting the contestants and working together to get rid of the King of the Forest drew a lot of boos from them. From their perspective, repeatedly failing to hook the enemy and even when they did, it was useless. After a whole night of effort, they had not eliminated a single contestant, which brought them a strong sense of frustration.

Because the perspective was limited to the King of the Forest, the audience missed most of the interactions between the contestants, so when they saw the conversation between Kapok and Lin Jiade, they only half understood it.

"She wouldn't still want to sleep with Lin Jiade, would she?" Wei Ying couldn't understand. "Their relationship has been ruined. Lin Jiade hates her. How could he possibly let her have her way?"

Gladiolus shook her head slightly: "This is the complexity of human emotions. Hate and love are opposites, but they can overlap in the same person."

"Just like Lin Jiade is both your partner and your son, you have the overlapping of maternal love and marital love?" Wei Ying asked. "When he nursed you, was he as a son or as a husband?"

Jianlan glanced at Jasmine, and seeing that she didn't react much, she nodded and said, "He ate but didn't produce milk. Besides, that's how I see Jasmine too. So I'm both pleased with her relationship with Lin Jiade and can't help but be jealous of her."

“Lin Jiade will retaliate against Mu Mian, but he won’t allow anyone else to harm her. That’s between them,” Jasmine said firmly.

Wei Ying, ever the snob, asked, "Your boyfriend is entangled with another woman again, why are you so calm?"

Jasmine sneered, "You have to thank your good sister for this."

"Without my sister, you two would never have met. You might have died somewhere, while Lin Jiade would have lived to be seventy or eighty and passed away peacefully... Seventy or eighty years old, humans really have too short a lifespan."

The reed warbler was lost in its own melancholy. Celestial creatures could live for over a thousand years, while human life seemed to vanish in the blink of an eye.

In the television footage, after the King of the Forest's white mist dissipated, Lin Jiade and her team quickly found the other contestants. After constantly dealing with the King of the Forest, they finally adopted a method similar to that of Kapok to avoid him.

All four had been weakened by the night's battle, and Kapok, having consumed the least amount of energy, became the target of the others' vigilance. They cautiously set off from the north gate, carefully bypassing the area controlled by Diana's Virgin Barracks.

Two hours later, the road abruptly ended, and the woodland appeared before them. It was deep, dark, and cool, and combined with the presence of the king of the forest, it inspired awe.

Listening to the wind, he muttered, "This place is troublesome enough during the day, but what if it gets even worse after the moon rises at night..."

Di Tao smiled and said, "Don't forget, tomorrow is August 13th here."

They stopped outside the woods without prior arrangement, took out their rations to prepare their last meal—once inside the woods, they probably wouldn't have had time to eat.

In a daze, Lin Jiade recalled a group outing organized by the school in high school. The atmosphere back then was similar to that now, with close friends gathering in twos and threes to prepare the ingredients they brought and those they bought on the spot.

Lin Jiade remembers the joy of that time and the terrible food that made him want to throw it away. Potatoes that were put into the pot without being peeled and stewed with pork are probably a memory he will never forget.

"Then, once we're inside, it'll depend on luck and strength." Di Tao only looked at Mu Mian. "I hope we can meet again alive."

“I hope so too,” Kapok replied.

On the other side, Yi Lu Tingfeng earnestly asked Lin Jiade what kind of death she liked. She was small in stature, but her tone was incredibly arrogant. Lin Jiade retorted, hoping that the doll would find him a good owner next time.

At noon, the contestants entered the woodland, and a few minutes later their figures disappeared from Lin Jiade's sight. Because the dense bushes divided and intersected the space, Lin Jiade couldn't even be sure of what was happening three meters away. Whether it was grass half his height or behind tree trunks two times his width, there were suitable places to hide "surprises".

"What the hell? Is this the kind of environment the women who served Diana were used to? There were no traces of trampling on the grass, no marks left on the tree trunks... not even human remains were collected."

Lin Jiade found a skeleton in the grass. The armor on it was rusted, but it was still possible to vaguely identify that it came from a thousand years ago.

"The plate chain composite armor is green Roman," said Kapok.

This skeleton unveiled the prelude to an archaeological frenzy. Over the next four hours, Lin Jiade and Kapok discovered human remains from various eras, and these past kings of the forest and those who failed to challenge them broadened his horizons.

Attracted by the skeletons on the ground, they didn't notice the sky darkening slightly at four in the afternoon. As the whistling sound descended from the sky, Mu Mian hurriedly shoved Lin Jiade and rolled in the opposite direction, where a dense barrage of arrows struck the spot where they had just stood.

Lin Jiade looked up and finally understood where the Virgins came from—above the sky, bronze chariots flew by, and the Virgins of Diana drew their bows like full moons, as a silver and deadly rain fell in unison.

Each bronze chariot was decorated in a unique style, some with plants, some with hunting dogs, and some with exaggerated and bright colors. Flags were erected at the rear of each chariot, bearing writings that Lin Jiade could not understand.

Lin Jiade risked sticking his head out to take a picture, then used his phone's image recognition and automatic translation function. The translation software on the superhuman's phone was quite reliable, providing the answer in a few seconds—

Night dew brings death and suffering, while clamor is of the highest order.

Chapter 111 The Final Round (12)

Lin Jiade hadn't expected the Virgins of Diana to have such wild hearts, but now was not the time to lament, because an arrow imbued with silver/flow of air pierced through the tree trunk, its tip only centimeters from Lin Jiade's cheek.

The head of Diana's Virgin Arrow consisted of three interlocking claws. With a "beep," the claws opened, and a bionic spider-like robot crawled out, scanning Lin Jiade up and down with its onboard equipment.

Your tactics are quite old, but your weapons are quite advanced. Who exactly are you people?

Lin Jiade was a little bewildered by the high-tech, wildly racing Virgins. He pulled out his celestial weapon, destroyed the spider-like robot, and only felt relieved after cutting off the part of the arrow that was protruding from the tree trunk.

But more arrows rained down, forcing Lin Jiade to transform into a sword to dodge the barrage while simultaneously flying towards the direction of the Kapok tree by instinct... There was no other way; his sword form was essentially deaf and blind, only able to vaguely share her vision when held by the Kapok tree.

The bells of the bronze chariot rang out, and the virtuous women turned around in mid-air. Then, a multitude of arrows flew towards Lin Jiade's back, turning into nets that trapped him on the ground as they hit him.

Wait, they weren't planning to kill anyone?

Lin Jiade overturned his own conclusion a few seconds later, because he saw that they had used lethal methods on the kapok tree.

Lin Jiade transformed back into human form. In the past day, he had used form switching too many times, causing cognitive confusion. He was human, yet he wanted to fly like a sword.

At that moment, a wolf rushed out of the jungle, circled Lin Jiade, memorized his scent, and spoke in human language: "Lie down here, don't move, this is your only chance to survive."

"Why did you let me go?" Lin Jiade asked.

"Because you didn't kill anyone."

The wolf looked up at the sky: "The Virgins and I are both servants of the Moon Goddess, but we are given different restrictions. So, when your group massacred the city, they were furious, but could only watch their relatives die."

However, upon reaching the sacred forest of the Moon Goddess, these restrictions were lifted, so they are now carrying out justifiable revenge, vowing to exterminate all the thugs who murdered their relatives.

Lin Jiade argued, "But we are also victims. It was the King of the Forest who instigated the townspeople to kill us."

"Can you say these things to people who have lost loved ones and are in deep grief? It's already a last shred of sanity that they've let you go. But you will also have to pay the price for the crimes of your companions later."

"What price?"

"To stay here, become the husband of a virgin, ensure pregnancy, divorce her, and then marry the next virgin... Start with the oldest virgin who is fertile, and after the entire cycle is over, if you are still alive, you will start the second round."

"Swearing on the court! What kind of torture is this?!"

"They have run out of offspring. In order for the next generation to take over their responsibilities, they must take on the responsibility of reproduction and raise you to kill the King of the Forest and complete their revenge."

Seeing Lin Jiade remain silent, the wolf advised, "There is a way to get rid of this problem: just find more men to replace you."

However, you will have to deal with the first year alone, because the men in the area have all been killed by your companions.

It's tragic, but at least you're still alive.

"I refuse," Lin Jiade replied.

The wolf tilted its head, puzzled. "Is it because of love?"

"No, it's resentment, so I won't let her be ended by any other being."

Lin Jiade rose and used the Lionheart spell, combined with celestial weapons, to shatter the net binding him. Then he transformed into a sword, rescued the cotton tree being tortured by the virgins, and desperately ran into the depths of the dense forest.

“I thought you wouldn’t save me.” Kapok’s voice echoed deep within his heart.

Why do you think that?

"Because you hate me."

"That's precisely why I can't let you die at someone else's hands."

"So, the opportunity still exists."

"what?"

"The Temple of Diana executed people by binding them to the temple entrance and exposing them to the scorching sun, allowing the sinners to die slowly from thirst."

I killed the virgins' families, and the virgins hate me to the core. They would never inflict any suffering on me, so I am most likely to be left at the temple gate to suffer the taste of thirst.

If I am quickly eliminated, you who remain in the game can still continue the game as part of me.

Therefore, we will split up for the next period of time. I will lead the pursuers towards the other contestants, while you go to pluck the golden branch. If I am still alive then, I will come to find you.

Lin Jiade couldn't help but say, "You're such a heartthrob."

"I don't want to lose, even if you hate me a little more, I will still do it. Only then will you have the right to take revenge on my sisters. Goodbye."

Kapok forcefully threw Lin Jiade forward, then turned on her phone and randomly played a song, "Sighing Serenade," which echoed through the forest.

When Lin Jiade finally stopped on a branch, he could no longer see the kapok tree, but the faint connection told him that she was still alive in the virtual space, which reassured him, but also annoyed him.

He shattered their tangible, visible contract, but the intangible one still bound them tightly together. The kapok tree in his memory was a falsehood made of malice, lies, and ignorance, while the kapok tree he had kissed and embraced had impersonated the beauty of his fantasy, becoming the source of his pain, causing his incompleteness, and the shattering of his dreams.

He knew, but why...

The intrusion of the unfamiliar presence startled Lin Jiade awake. He drew his sword, turned around, and parried. A crisp clanging sound reached his ears, and the impact caused him and the branch he was standing on to sway.

A crimson figure entered Lin Jiade's field of vision. Looking at the face that was exactly the same as Mu Mian's, Lin Jiade was momentarily dazed.

Di Tao withdrew his sword, turned around, and as he was about to deliver a whip kick, he leaped down from the branch.

Di Tao reached out, and crimson runes flowed in her hand. As the runes were completed, lightning surged between her and Lin Jiade, shattering her spell.

Di Tao praised, "Your swordsmanship is unorthodox, but your anti-magic ability is quite outstanding."

Lin Jiade pulled out his pistol and fired. Di Tao nimbly flew into the sky, dodging the bullets, and then swooped down, now holding a submachine gun, and fired a barrage of bullets at Lin Jiade's position.

Lin Jiade used a tactical roll to hide behind a tree. After spotting a dark shadow in the sky, he shouted, "Why are you chasing me?"

"Should I play along and say 'Irritable cough syrup'?" Di Tao laughed happily. "You belong to Mu Mian, and I hate her. What could be more humiliating than taking her things?"