Love, Gun, Cupid

"What's wrong?" Jasmine asked.

He paused for a few seconds, then replied, "No, let's begin learning."

Jasmine nodded. It was best that Lin Jiade didn't want to do anything strange to her. Otherwise, she would be troubled about how to protect herself while also giving him appropriate punishment.

She possessed some common sense and knew that kissing, or anything more intense, was an intimate act between lovers. She and Lin Jiade were not yet a couple, so they couldn't do it.

Considering Du Juan's warning, Lin Jiade didn't dare teach Jasmine too much, lest he wake up with a headache the next day. Most of the time, they sat side by side by the window, looking at the vibrant campus and the nearby annex buildings known as the University City.

Lin Jiade pointed to the stadium: "That's where we play football. Our department's classes are close to there, so it's very convenient to grab a field after class."

Jasmine nodded, then pointed to the side and said, "Are those rows of buildings dormitories?"

"Yes, the girls' dormitory. The boys' dormitory is further away. On a nice day, those rows of buildings are full of blankets."

Next door is a supermarket, but it has limited selection and high prices. However, it's a good place to work. And the sushi, fried chicken, and hot dry noodles there are even better than what you get elsewhere—it's unbelievable.

Our major courses were in that pentagonal building, while the general courses were in another building. Behind it were the boys' dormitory area and the bathhouse, which even had a sauna. My classmate said that it felt pretty good to have a steam room after taking a shower.

Our school has two canteens, one of which is outsourced to a restaurant. You can only see the worst-tasting one from this window, but it's very cheap. The cheapest set meal, consisting of stew, steamed buns, and thin soup, costs only 3.5 yuan.

The other cafeteria has good reviews but is expensive. The most popular dishes there are curry rice and hot dry noodles, and the multigrain pancakes are also well-regarded. I'll take you there to try something new sometime.

That flat area was planted with all sorts of trees; I only recognized peach trees, cherry trees, and plum trees. Sometimes I could see doves, cuckoos, sparrows, and other birds whose names I didn't know.

To protect these little creatures, the students spontaneously organized themselves to chase away stray cats or take them to shelters. Oh, by the way, I heard there are other small animals up in the mountains, but I haven't seen them.

Lin Jiade enthusiastically introduced the school he attended. Jasmine spent half the time looking at the scenery according to his directions, and the other half watching the young man.

She still remembered the photos he showed her and the things he said. Looking at the scenery before her, those flat memories became exceptionally vivid.

"In my view, university is about severing ties with the past and starting anew. New classmates, new opportunities, new encounters, happy things, things you don't want to remember, and things you feel ashamed about."

Lin Jiade looked at Jasmine: "I think this kind of life suits you very well. Your past is a liability to you, so it's easier to cut it off sooner rather than later."

“It’s always easy to preach some things to others,” Jasmine replied.

"That's true, but I'm just that kind of clueless guy, so I'll keep staring at you until you're willing to crawl out of your past."

Is this also because of love?

Lin Jiade looked troubled, while Jasmine smiled. On September 16th, Jasmine smiled at him for the first time, and he smiled back.

“I was just joking,” Jasmine said.

"I know."

After finishing his sentence, Lin Jiade scratched his head and tentatively said, "Speaking of which, it's amazing how calm you are. For example, the dream that brought us together, I suddenly told you that I might like you, and then I became your tutor and invaded your life..."

"Once you've experienced the feeling of being near death, when you return to the world, you'll take many things less seriously."

Jasmine pointed to her head: "This might be a psychological symptom, or a side effect of the medication. I've been like this ever since I started taking the medication."

"?!"

“Don’t look at me with that pitying look,” Jasmine said, emphasizing her words slightly. “I don’t know how to respond to your pity?”

“It’s not sympathy, it’s empathy,” Lin Jiade replied.

At this moment, Jasmine's figure began to turn into bubbles. She looked down and said, "The time has come. The dream must eventually end."

"But our relationship isn't a dream; in reality, we see each other every day."

Jasmine remained noncommittal, her hand gently waving. Lin Jiade woke up, feeling exhausted. It seemed Du Juan was right; studying in dreams did indeed put a strain on the body.

After waking up, he said to Du Juan, "From now on, I won't go on blind dates with Jasmine in my dreams anymore."

"why?"

“In my dream, I saw her after your magic corrected her, but her problems manifest in reality. So I need to confront her reality to touch her heart.”

"That will be very hard work."

"No, I'm happy when I see her smile, and I want to kiss her when her lips are luscious... um."

Lin Jiade blushed first, and he stammered, "I'm not a lolicon, I didn't imagine anything further, I definitely didn't want to hold her in my arms and stroke her hair or anything like that."

Du Juan looked at Lin Jiade's expression as if she were Kazuma looking at Aqua. Even though, theoretically, she was the one who should be corresponding to Aqua.

“Lin Jiade, have you noticed that your XP range is quite wide?” Du Juan said. “I have a feeling that you will run towards the future surrounded by everyone.”

Lin Jiade paused for a few seconds before getting the joke, and replied, "I didn't swallow two of Sukuna's fingers!"

Du Juan laughed, and Lin Jiade's heart raced once more. His gaze towards her was no longer one of friendship. He knew very well that Du Juan's figure and her eyes were incredibly alluring to him.

Perhaps I'm a promiscuous person? he wondered.

The young man took a day off to adjust himself. On Monday, he returned to school and, after three days of immersion in magic, he received the compliment of his classmates that he looked "more energetic."

"Are you alright?" someone asked.

He claimed he was sick and then said he had taken a part-time job, so he wouldn't be able to keep him company on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights.

His close friends exchanged glances, and the one closest to him asked, "Are you short of money?"

Lin Jiade answered while scrolling through his phone, "I'm a little nervous."

"Keep a girlfriend?"

"Why is it that you animals only have such vivid imaginations at times like this?"

"It seems that's the case."

"Don't spread rumors about me!"

"You don't usually have any hobbies involving spending money, so if you suddenly have financial pressure, what else could it be but getting a girlfriend?"

Lin Jiade said seriously, "Then let me tell you the truth: I spend money because I have a hobby of spending money, and I am currently taking money from a female high school student."

The group members chose Arsenal as their favorite team, and Arsenal lost 0-3 to Liverpool, so there was no extra update.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Points and Oracles

He was telling the truth, but unfortunately, everyone thought he was joking. The topic quickly changed.

University boys, especially those without girlfriends, always seem to know everything about astronomy, geography, history, politics, humanities, and biology. Their topics are broad but lack depth, and they could talk for three days and three nights straight without ever running out of things to say.

Lin Jiade played around with them, but at the same time he was thinking about the package of materials for making potions that had been delivered to his door today. He needed to use detection magic on Jasmine as soon as possible to determine whether she was human or a non-human girl.

Will race affect Lin Jiade's feelings for Jasmine?

—Yes, because part of Lin Jiade's affection for Jasmine comes from her appearance. If Jasmine suddenly turned into a tentacle monster with many eyeballs or something, he would probably make himself get out of Jasmine's life as soon as possible.

Professional courses, soccer, checking materials, mixing potions... these things filled Lin Jiade's days on the 17th and 18th (Monday and Tuesday) to the brim, and the final result was a bottle of blue, diluted potion, placed in an empty eye drop bottle.

To ensure the effect, Lin Jiade applied the potion to his eyelids, felt his eyelids heat up, and then stared at Du Juan after the potion began to take effect.

Du Juan maintained her human form, but in the vision of the detection spell, she transformed back into her true form with pink hair and eyes, and white wings extending from her back. The holy light magic emanating from her caused the young man to shed tears.

Detection spells can detect the true form of a target, and the energy intensity emitted by the target is converted into light that can be seen with the naked eye. The stronger the light of the target, the greater the energy intensity it emits.

Therefore, in his eyes, the cuckoo, having lost half its energy, appeared as a light pink, like the image of a young girl, while the holy light magic protecting her was particularly dazzling.

"However, this is, after all, a detection spell under the fourth-grade C magic system, and its detection results may not be entirely reliable."

While fiddling with her phone, Du Juan said, "My connections are investigating Jasmine's parents. I know a matchmaker in Swan Sea."

The feedback I've received so far is that Jasmine did indeed live there, and she lived a normal life. Would you like to see a picture of her?

"This isn't a good idea."

Lin Jiade said that, but his eyes were fixed on Du Juan's phone screen. The phones in the celestial realm were similar in appearance to those here, but more advanced. A few seconds later, Jasmine's photo was projected into the air as a 3D model.

“This should be a photo of her when she was ten years old.” Du Juan looked at Lin Jiade. “What’s your opinion?”

"She looked just like a little princess, with adorable clothes, long, meticulously styled hair, innocent eyes, a happy smile, and knee-high socks and round-toed shoes."

Lin Jiade described 10-year-old Jasmine and said, "In my dream, I told her to cut off the past, but Jasmine might want to go back to the past, back to the time when she still had happiness and carefree days."

Du Juan waved her hand twice, and Jasmine's parents appeared on either side of her. Lin Jiade glanced at them and said in surprise, "No, they're not the same as the ones I saw at Jasmine's house the other day."

"Based on the current intelligence, these two are Jasmine's parents," Du Juan said.

"Then who are the couple who moved to Fuxing City with Jasmine?"

"You'll have to ask Jasmine. It's a pity you've only known each other for a week. You'll have to work harder to figure things out."

Lin Jiade waved his hand: "No, ever since that famous scene, whenever I hear 'give it your all,' I automatically picture that scene in my mind."

"Would you like me to prepare a flower of hope for you in advance?"

"That won't be necessary. Please continue to investigate Jasmine's parents' matter. I'll handle Jasmine herself."

“I don’t care, but what you’re doing is suspected of violating Jasmine’s right to privacy.”

"You once said that love is a war, so intelligence warfare is also a crucial part of it."

Lin Jiade's confidence was a good thing, but he forgot a crucial thing: he didn't consider the possibility that using detection spells on Jasmine, assuming she wasn't an ordinary person, would be discovered and trigger a series of chain reactions.

If Du Juan points it out to his face, she will inevitably have an unfriendly argument with Lin Jiade, which will reduce her points in his eyes. However, if she puts out the fire when he crashes, she will gain double the points.

Points are how she measures the closeness of her relationship with Lin Jiade. Whenever she does something for Lin Jiade, or Lin Jiade does something for her, her points will increase or decrease. When she reaches a certain value, she believes she can control Lin Jiade's actions.

As insurance, Du Juan gave Lin Jiade a spell... From Lin Jiade's perspective, this was a divine decree.

At Cupid's request, Lin Jiade, posing as a lover, asked his Cupid to divine whether his use of the detection magic on Jasmine would be fatal.

Dujuan granted the request. She transformed back to her original form, plucked three feathers from the base of her wings, and tears of pain streamed down her face. Lin Jiade remembered this scene; he kept a mental record of the favors Dujuan had bestowed upon him, constantly adding to or subtracting from it.

Right now, he and she owe him a sum of money, and he is unaware that Du Juan has similar thoughts.

Du Juan explained: "Cupid is regarded as the master of mystery because he is in charge of love. Mystery can extend into many specific concepts, which constitutes the many elective courses of Cupid's Academy."

The divination magic I learned at school—from the perspective of Homo sapiens—is oracle oracles. Activating it requires seventeen days of sleep to replenish my energy, but for reasons you can understand, I cannot use it for you frequently.

Lin Jiade nodded. If Cupid required her to pluck three feathers every time he gave her a divine message, she would eventually go bald.

Therefore, he was even more moved by Du Juan's thoughtfulness.

The three feathers were arranged into a triangle with their ends connected, and the six bullets were taken from Cupid's "arrow" and formed a six-pointed star outside the triangle.

Du Juan grasped Lin Jiade's hand; the cool, smooth, snake-like touch reminded him that his roommate was not human. But her hand was beautiful, so Lin Jiade's heart still raced.

She began to chant, and though the room was closed, a breeze arose. Vast energy surged forth from the ritual, and in a trance, the scenery in Lin Jiade's eyes transformed into a sky full of stars.

When he came to his senses, the ceremony was over. Du Juan had already returned to her disguised form, reloaded the bullets into the magazine, and thrown the used feathers into the trash can.

"Wait, are you going to throw it away?" Lin Jiade asked.