Love, Gun, Cupid

"Yes, it has lost its magic and is just three ordinary feathers."

"It's really beautiful. It's more beautiful than the most beautiful handicrafts I've ever seen. It's such a waste to throw it away..."

Lin Jiade hesitated before saying, "If you don't mind, could you give it to me?"

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Chapter Twenty-Eight: Wrong Choices

Cupid looked at her strangely and said, "We are of different races and have different customs. Can you understand this setting?"

"understand."

She pouted and looked at Lin Jiade unhappily: "Although the Celestial Realm encourages monogamy, there are quite a few families where the gender and number of partners are freely matched. Asking a Cupid girl who has already come of age for the feathers at the base of her head means that you want to include her in your family."

The higher the status of a family member, the fewer feathers they are asked to take. Asking me for three feathers is practically saying, "Hey, be my third concubine!"

Lin Jiade hurriedly apologized: "I'm sorry, it was all your fault for understanding my culture and customs and cooperating with me, but I didn't understand your culture and we didn't show mutual respect. I will make time to learn about Cupid's customs in the future."

Du Juan raised her voice: "Yes, it's really offensive that I can only rank third!"

“Indeed, this is not a position befitting you. You should be ranked… no, you shouldn’t feel offended by this!”

Cupid's serious expression crumbled, and she put on a smile, saying, "Just kidding. The prophecy says you're safe tonight, but I'm worried you might get nervous and mess things up, so I'm letting you relax."

Lin Jiade breathed a sigh of relief: "Don't scare me."

"I'm giving you the feather; remember to keep it safe."

"Thank you."

Lin Jiade took the feather back to his room and tucked it into a book. As he came out, stuffed the potion into his pocket, and prepared to leave with his textbooks and thermos, he heard Dujuan say behind him—

"What I just said to you wasn't all a joke."

He turned around in surprise and saw Du Juan smiling at him, her eyes sparkling with a captivating charm that made his heart stop.

He said with a wry smile, "It's a joke, isn't it?"

Du Juan didn't speak. She smiled and waved goodbye, then put her hands behind her back. Lin Jiade felt his cheeks burning and fled from home.

After he left, the cuckoo stretched out its forked purple tongue to catch the pheromones in the air and said to the air, "He was so cute, wasn't he?"

Lin Jiade felt his cheeks burning as he arrived at Jasmine's door. Jasmine opened the door, and after three days, she had discarded her crutches and was walking unsteadily against the wall, her expression pained, her face pale, and beads of sweat rolling down her forehead.

Lin Jiade had seen this scene before; it was the pain inflicted on oneself by ignoring objective laws and forcibly increasing the intensity of rehabilitation. He was all too familiar with it because he had experienced such pain himself.

His empathy with Jasmine reached a new level, and he hurriedly put down his things to help her, but Jasmine waved his hand away and said, "I'm not that delicate."

"Even if you do rehabilitation, there's no need to rush."

"I went to see the person I hate the most on Monday for a follow-up appointment. He said that if I wanted to catch up with the college entrance exam, I had to suffer a bit."

"You actually..."

Jasmine glanced at Lin Jiade: "You said that getting into a good university would allow me to escape my current life. Are you lying to me?"

"No, no, I'm just touched. I thought it would take a long time before you listened to me."

"Is that how I am in your heart?" Jasmine asked.

"No, it's just that we haven't built trust yet. We've only known each other for a week, and I feel that I can't, and shouldn't, exert too much influence over you."

Jasmine glanced at him: "Are you afraid of me?"

“No, it’s because I care about you that I care about your feelings,” Lin Jiade replied.

"I'm starting to wonder, am I worth this from you?"

Lin Jiade nodded: "It's worth it, just like football."

"Like a football, you want to kick me?"

He made a pleading gesture: "After you call the police, I'll have to pay you tens of thousands of yuan before I'll stop. Please spare this poor student."

A hint of a smile appeared in Jasmine's eyes, but when Lin Jiade lowered his head, her smile was replaced by worry.

She sat down, rested for a while, and then ate, eating with a rigid or rather precise manner, just like the protagonist in "Around the World in Eighty Days," finishing two dishes, a soup, half a portion of staple food, and half a portion of fruit.

"The menu has changed, and the flavors have changed slightly," she said.

"Based on your tastes, I have optimized the menu while ensuring a healthy diet for rehabilitation patients."

Jasmine tilted her head slightly: "I haven't revealed my preferences to you."

“But the frequency of your mouth movements is different when you eat food you like and food you don’t like,” Lin Jiade said.

"You've been watching me?"

"Sorry, this was to find out your taste, I'm not..."

“Thank you,” Jasmine interrupted him. “I don’t accept your apology. I can still tell right from wrong, good from bad.”

“I’ve said it before, you’re paying me too much. I need to take action to convince myself to accept this salary.”

Jasmine shook her head: "I know you wouldn't go this far if it were just for money."

She got up and poured Lin Jiade a glass of water. Seeing her slowly approaching, Lin Jiade was flattered and took the glass. He took a sip and saw Jasmine grab the lunchbox from the thermos.

"I'll just take it home and wash it," he said.

"It's ok."

Jasmine was focused on cleaning the dishes at the kitchen sink, never turning her head for a moment. The crisp sound of the water hitting the sink made Jasmine automatically block out the sounds coming from the living room.

This was a good opportunity to use magic. Lin Jiade took out the eye drop bottle in his hand. He hesitated for a moment, then made up his mind after a few seconds. He put the potion on his index finger and then applied it to his eyelids.

Five seconds later, his eyelids felt hot; the potion had taken effect. To ascertain Jasmine's identity, and to put his mind at ease, he looked at her.

The detection spell was activated, and in the completely new field of vision, Lin Jiade only saw the girl's petite back. There was no alien structure, no light radiating energy; she was still herself.

Jasmine... is just a human girl who once succumbed to misfortune but is now striving again for new hope.

The moment Lin Jiade reached this conclusion, he breathed a sigh of relief. Compared to dating a woman from another race whose values ​​and habits he didn't know, dating a human was definitely more reassuring. At least, the knowledge he had gained wouldn't be overturned.

He took out a handkerchief to wipe the potion off his eyelids. If the potion remained on his eyelids for too long, it would cause a burning pain.

Therefore, he did not see Jasmine stop washing the dishes for even a moment.

Beside the sink, the girl's fingers sharpened into hooks, and on the water's surface, her eyes gleamed with gold and red. The power she released caused water droplets on the floor to rise and linger in mid-air.

She carefully put down the thermos, wiped her hands clean with a towel, rolled down her sleeves, and opened the kitchen door. Her reflection began to distort in the glass beside her.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Jasmine's Memories

Since Jasmine moved to Fuxing City, she has been plagued by the same nightmare: in the far west, her hometown from birth to age twelve, where she had a happy childhood with her loving family.

Then, it all came to an end overnight.

Fallen leaves drifted down, turning into sparks as they fell; the burning homeland was filled with the nauseating stench of blood and acrid burning.

Amidst the interplay of sorcery and magic, her family members either perished in flames or died in battle. She, carried by her loyal servant, fled this killing field, witnessing the end of her childhood and her happiness.

This was destined to be a nightmare for her entire life.

Jasmine weakly opened her eyes. She threw back the covers and saw that the electronic alarm clock on the bedside table showed 16:07 PM. She had slept for eight hours, but still felt groggy.

The girl lay languidly in bed, preparing to do something to pass the time: order takeout, study for a while, wander around the house all night for rehabilitation, and then fall asleep when the moon was out and dawn broke. This was her monotonous life.

What drove her to live a nocturnal lifestyle was undoubtedly fear, first at the age of twelve in Swan Sea, and then at the age of seventeen in Fuxing City, when Jasmine finally lost all her family.

Alone in her empty house, she dared not sleep in the dark. The moment she closed her eyes, she felt an enemy standing before her bed, raising a weapon, aiming it at her body and swinging it down...

She awoke from her delusional fears, staring wide-eyed into the darkness. Her emotions slowly calmed, and she finally closed her eyes again, waiting for the fear to build up and awaken her once more.

Jasmine glanced at the alarm clock and saw that it showed today was Wednesday, just like Thursday and Saturday, making them three special days of the week.

She took off her pajamas, took out a matching set of clothes from the closet and changed; she carefully washed herself at the sink, making herself neat and clean; the takeout box was sent to the trash can downstairs to destroy the evidence;

Her underwear, which had been scattered everywhere, was also put away because Jasmine didn't want visitors to see that her underwear was children's size.

She changed the water in the water dispenser, opened the window for ventilation, and while enjoying the sunset scenery, she did rehabilitation exercises while leaning against the wall.

Recently, she suddenly found it unbearable to look at her with pity from visitors, and the hope that person brought also made Jasmine determined to regain her mobility as soon as possible.

"It doesn't matter what happens, my life has been ruined."

These are the words she said to her attending physician. After being discharged from the hospital, she treated her rehabilitation plan and her life perfunctorily, spending each day in a negative and empty state.

She was nocturnal, occasionally venturing out at dusk for some fresh air, using her wheelchair to move around the neighborhood. An invisible wall of energy pushed others away from her; even in the elevator, neighbors would stand as far away as possible, wary of her as if she were a monster.

Although the process was flawed, the neighbors' conclusion was correct: she was indeed a monster.

Jasmine doesn't resent them. What intense emotions could someone who is gradually becoming numb to life possibly have?

The reason it is described as "gradual" rather than "complete" is because every time she goes out, she can briefly encounter the invisible sun, dispelling a small patch of gloom in her life.

Lin Jiade first forgot about Jasmine, and then thought that Jasmine didn't remember him either. But in fact, Jasmine had the deepest impression of him among the residents of the community, because every time she saw him, she could feel his vitality.

She sat in her wheelchair, watching Lin Jiade return, sometimes holding a soccer ball, sometimes carrying a shoulder bag, sometimes talking on the phone with friends, and sometimes chatting with neighbors.

He was tall and strong, with a swift and loud voice. He had a simple or even somewhat naive temperament and always seemed to be in a rush, like a rough-around-the-edges barbarian.

Lin Jiade's life is fulfilling, and he himself is full of energy; his life is on the rise. This is the conclusion Jasmine reached after observing him in the elevator for the 33rd time.

This might be partly due to the influence of university life, but after comparing him with other university students in the same building, Jasmine felt that it was Lin Jiade's own vitality that made his life so vibrant.

It's something to be envied and jealous of.

Looking at Lin Jiade, Jasmine felt a dark emotion welling up inside her. The empty and unhappy often look at the fulfilled and fortunate, and at first, they feel a sense of unease. Gradually, however, the jealousy faded, and she only felt envy for his vitality.

Especially after she learned that he was also single, looking at him gave Jasmine some encouragement. She realized that one could live such a sunny life even alone.

In their second year of high school, Lin Jiade gazed at Jasmine's back, planting a seed of affection in his heart. Now, it is Jasmine's turn to gaze at Lin Jiade's figure, leaving behind a mark of longing.

But both Lin Jiade and Jasmine missed their chance to grasp happiness because of their own reasons. Fortunately, Cupid's appearance changed everything.

Recently, Jasmine noticed that Lin Jiade had become tired, and then a so-called distant relative appeared. When the woman named Du Juan spoke to her, Jasmine instinctively felt disgusted.

Du Juan is beautiful and kind, and even women are captivated by her charm. However, when Du Juan greets Jasmine, Jasmine only senses Du Juan's hypocrisy; this likable woman is shrouded in lies.

So she treated Dujuan coldly, not saying a word to her. Dujuan, however, remained smiling despite her rebuff, as if nothing had happened.

However, Dujuan's emotional fluctuations still attracted energy fluctuations, which Jasmine noticed. Therefore, she was certain that Dujuan, like herself, was an alien disguised as a human.

Lin Jiade... could he have been scammed?

Du Juan's inhuman identity, hypocritical character, and Lin Jiade's exhaustion led Jasmine to have terrible ideas.