Love, Gun, Cupid

"Emperor Lin".

Lin Jiade squeezed his hand, and the ice cave gripped it tightly, as if drawing strength from it. A short while later, she took off the blanket and said, "I feel much better, let's go."

With Korobochka's help, the medical examination at the ice cave was carried out swiftly. After the project was completed, the ice cave lay down on a bench for a short rest. Lin Jiade first went to see Teacher Yang, chatted with Kapok for a few minutes, and then came back to wait for the results.

As dawn broke after the lingering shadows of the night, Lin Jiade received her test results. The doctor told her that the golden pillar of light in the ice cave was involved in the functioning of her heart and lungs.

Even if the medical expertise of the superhumans were capable of performing such a surgery, replacing the light beam and filling it with nanomechanics and simulated skin, there would be a problem: the surgery and post-operative care costs would be exorbitant, and the Ice Cave simply could not afford them.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Punishment

Since there were no other patients at the time, the doctor patiently explained things to Lin Jiade to make sure he understood.

Lin Jiade understood, which made him even more troubled. He went back with the examination report in his hand and saw that the ice cave had wrapped itself up like a rice dumpling, its sleeping face peaceful and serene.

He went to Kapok again and found her dozing on the bench. Looking at her melancholy face even in her sleep, his hatred for her lessened a bit.

You know she hates being a woman, so you turned her into a woman and then deliberately avoided touching her, leaving her to suffer from thirst. You're the one who caused her this, so what right do you have to pity her?

You should laugh, laugh at how miserable she can be, so she can understand the darkest moment in your life... Why don't you laugh?

Lin Jiade discovered that he could not derive pleasure from harming the kapok tree; on the contrary, the kapok tree's suffering was also his suffering.

He was agitated, his breathing became erratic, and Mu Mian opened her eyes alertly. When she saw Lin Jiade, she relaxed and casually said, "Aren't you going to take care of the ice cave?"

"She's catching up on her sleep. I came over here to check on her since everything's fine over there."

"Ms. Yang is fine for now. She will have a full-body check-up this afternoon."

Lin Jiade sat down, and Mu Mian sniffed him, saying, "You smell like that woman."

"She had an emotional breakdown, and I comforted her."

"By carrying?"

"Yes."

Mumian muttered, "She looks like a magical girl, but she's as skilled at seducing men as a succubus."

"Things aren't what you think."

"Even if something happens between you and Hehuan, I wouldn't be too surprised. After all, you've known each other for half a year. And what about her? Or are you an incurable lolicon?"

"Enough! There are so many more important things to do, why are we discussing this!"

You're the one who turned me into this!

Kapok grabbed Lin Chia-te's hand and pressed it against her chest. Through its amazing elasticity, Lin Chia-te could feel the rhythm of her heartbeat.

"I've become a woman, and I've started to pay extra attention to your relationships with other women. I get incredibly jealous when I see you being intimate with each other."

Smelling your scent, touching your body, or saying a word to you makes me incredibly happy, and I even get aroused. I need to think of your name every two days to fall asleep.

You made me so jealous, so thirsty, and then you despise me for it. How can I bear it? There's a beast of desire inside me, rampaging wildly. What good is it if I do it myself? I want you, but you ignore me and go to please a woman you've never met before. I really want to kill her!

If you think I'm ugly like this, then please change me back... um.

Lin Jiade kissed Mu Mian, wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulled her towards him, as if trying to make them one. In his kiss, Mu Mian's pleasure, pain, and submission were etched into her being one after another, and the restlessness within her was partially relieved.

When Lin Jiade and she parted, she looked at him with lingering affection, her hand sliding on her thigh, her eyes filled with desire.

Lin Jiade knew what Mu Mian wanted. Mu Mian had a body with curves that were tempting to commit crimes. He had a hundred reasons to sleep with her, but he remembered his vow—his first time belonged to Jasmine. So he forced himself to leave this tempting and readily available body.

"I cause you pain because I hate you. I make you happy because I love you. I know it's twisted and crazy, but I'm content with our relationship now... Kapok, you are mine, and always will be mine. Whether we love or hate, we will be together for life."

“I don’t want to leave you either… even though it’s not the way I want to be,” Kapok said. “I’m glad you told me something from the heart again.”

Lin Jiade left, carrying the scent of kapok back to the ice cave. The ice cave, which had just woken up, immediately became alert because of the rich fragrance.

"He looks honest, but he turns out to be a womanizing scumbag who dates multiple women?" she said with dissatisfaction.

"I remember someone saying before that you should be something for a philandering scumbag?"

"That was...that was me..."

Ice Cave gently kicked Lin Jiade, who said casually, "I have good news and bad news."

"good news."

"You can remove the golden pillar of light from your chest and transform back into a man."

Ice Cave was happy, yet not entirely happy. She pretended to be very happy and asked, "What's the bad news?"

“You can’t afford the surgery. The surgery requires a technological construct to fill the hole left after you removed the golden beam, but that thing is very expensive, and you’re not registered with the Magic Registry, so you can’t enjoy the medical benefits that superhumans can enjoy.”

"Since I can't be the guardian of the holy land anyway, I might as well register with the magic registry department."

Even if you get medical benefits, it's not a sum of money you can raise in the short term.

"So, I'll have to look like this for a long time?"

The ice cave was sad, but she was faking it. Now she was incredibly happy. Not having money for surgery meant she would live as she was now, no longer the ghost who only lived from midnight to four in the morning on the night of the full moon.

As long as someone acts as a bridge between her and society, she can live with her new identity. As for Mu Xiu, Mu Xiu...

The ice cave covered its face, astonished by its own terrifying and dark thoughts. The male "he" and the female "she" were both, in their own eyes, self-awareness, but now, the female "she" was attempting to monopolize the position and destroy the male "he".

Is this my true nature, or is it a punishment from the Holy Land?

The ice cave sank again, and Lin Jiade breathed a sigh of relief. It would be terrible if the other party were overjoyed. He asked, "But there are some problems. What will you do about university?"

"Take a leave of absence from school?"

What about your parents?

I told them I wouldn't be going back home for winter break because I was working.

Where is your girlfriend?

Ice Cave was silent for a moment before saying, "If she can wait, she can wait; if not, then we should break up. Now, we are both women, and I don't have any romantic feelings for her. I'm the one who wronged her..."

"Think about it carefully. Oh right, how are you going to live from now on? The social services that citizen Mu Xiu enjoys are no longer relevant to you."

The ice cave looked pitifully at Lin Jiade and whispered, "Could you take me in for a while? I'm willing to do something... in exchange."

“You said it yourself,” Lin Jiade said.

Ice Cave simply nodded, tucked her hair behind her ear, and sniffed herself to see if there was any strange smell. Although her period was initially intense and heavy, miraculously, it hadn't returned in the past few hours, so the smell had naturally faded.

Lin Jiade set off to find Kapok, with Ice Cave following behind, carrying a blanket, like a little quail following its mother. Kapok saw the pair and raised her eyebrows imperceptibly.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Heroes

"As you can see, she is on our side because her companions abandoned her. Now she is afraid to go home, is unwell, and needs our help."

Lin Jiade said, "Could you help her rent a place? I'll pay for it."

"Small things."

Kapok didn't react, and Lin Jiade breathed a sigh of relief. Just then, Jianlan called. He made an apologetic gesture and hurriedly ran to the side to answer the phone.

"What are your needs regarding renting a place?" Mu Mian asked.

"Ah, it would be good to be closer to Lin Jiade's house. I don't mean anything by it, I just hope that I can look after him."

Kapok nodded: "What about the apartment type and the price?"

"The apartment type doesn't matter, since I live alone anyway, but I hope the price is a bit cheaper. I don't want to owe Lin Jiade too much money, because I don't have the ability to repay it right now."

"understood."

Feeling a little uneasy under his gaze, she added, "I have no romantic feelings for him, only pure friendship. I have a girlfriend."

"Lesbian?"

"Oh no, never mind, just take it this way."

Ice Cave was unaware that his superfluous explanation only made things worse for Kapok. When Lin Jiade returned, he said, "The people in charge of cleaning up the mess have used memory erasure on Teacher Yang's parents. Now they have accepted the premise that their daughter is sick and hospitalized and cannot be seen by anyone."

"Ice Cave, your girlfriend can also enjoy the aftermath of memory erasure. Sword... Korobochka asked me to ask, what kind of settings are you planning to apply to your girlfriend?"

Ice Cave thought for a moment and said, "Let's make it a situation where we have a fight, separate for a while to calm down, and see if we can get back together later."

"Row."

Lin Jiade glanced at the cotton tree, then whispered in the ice cave's ear, "It's not easy to deal with things at the school. There are too many people, and memory erasure can easily cause memory confusion. Plus, it's time-consuming and laborious, so..."

"Then help me get a leave of absence from school," Ice Cave said sadly. "I've cut myself off from society now, and you're the only connection I have left. Thank you for not abandoning me."

"You didn't abandon me in the early hours of the morning, so I'm returning the favor now."

Lin Jiade and Mu Mian took turns watching over Teacher Yang, while Lin Jiade stayed with Teacher Yang and Mu Mian led the ice cave to find a house. Soon after, Teacher Yang woke up.

"How could I..."

She struggled to sit up, but Lin Jiade supported her back. She glanced at Lin Jiade but showed no surprise.

“I had a dream where I made a pact with an evil and unknown monster. The monster fought with you, fled, fought, and when I felt like I was about to be devoured by it, you jumped so high, came to me and hugged me... like a hero.”

"The nightmare is over, Teacher Yang," Lin Jiade comforted her.

However, this was only a consolation, because during the afternoon's examination, it was discovered that Ms. Yang's head, heart, and lungs were simultaneously invaded by a shadow that was constantly draining her energy, causing her body to slowly weaken.

Teacher Yang has two ways to get rid of the influence: First, she can have surgery to try to remove the influence of the parasitic force, but this surgery has only been put into practice in recent years and is very risky.

Secondly, they could directly kill the monster that had a contract with Teacher Yang, but that would mean that Teacher Yang was constantly supplying energy to the monster and being tormented by it until the monster was dealt with.

Lin Jiade had neither the stance nor the courage to gamble on a medical miracle, so he could only choose the second option. But after the monster was hurt and hid, would it reappear in front of him?

He suddenly understood the inhumane treatment the guardians of the holy land gave to ordinary people who made contracts with monsters. He had to admit that it was the least costly, most efficient, and safest method, like removing a tumor from human tissue.

"I should be able to encounter that monster again," Lin Jiade thought. "It has made a deal with Jasmine's enemies. When Jasmine faces her nemesis, I will also face that monster."

Jasmine's troubles, Teacher Yang's troubles. The power to break the deadlock is pure power. As long as we can kill the monster and the white dragon, we can solve the problem.

"Lin Jiade, your face looks a bit scary right now," Teacher Yang said worriedly. "Is my condition really that bad?"

"You can think of it as a tumor in your body. Doctors are currently monitoring its development, so at this stage, the treatment is mainly conservative."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have kept the monster a secret from you. It ended up hurting myself too."

"It's alright. If I were to speak from the perspective of an ordinary person, then advising me to stay away from that invisible monster that kills without a trace would be the normal line of thinking." Lin Jiade patted Teacher Yang's head. "I never expected Teacher Yang to react like a protagonist in a story. You did your best."

"Are you mocking me?"

Ms. Yang patted Lin Jiade with dissatisfaction. She was weak and powerless, so her gesture resembled a lover's caress as it landed on Lin Jiade's arm.

"That black cat once gave me a vague description of a world where supernatural powers exist... So, you're from that world?"