Love, Gun, Cupid

Then, in the moment when you're not paying attention, he might wake up at any time and kill all of you, who are exhausted.

I don't know how his life-saving method works, so to be on the safe side, I can only ensure he can't be resurrected in a reliable way.

Lin Jiade certainly wanted to kill Ragnar, but he didn't approve of torture, especially in front of Jasmine. He looked at Jasmine, and Korobochka followed his gaze, saying, "Ah, so you do care about Jasmine's feelings."

"No, Lin Jiade, you are my husband. I won't allow you to love other women like this. You must give me all your love, pour it into my body, so that our love can bear fruit."

“As far as I know, liches cannot get pregnant,” Kapok said sarcastically.

Korobochka glanced at Kapok, and her slight emotional fluctuation caused the ice spear to materialize, its surface covered with a layer of golden light. Kapok drew her sword, but the moment it struck the ice spear, the spear pierced through her weapon and her body.

The kapok tree swayed and fell into the deep pit behind it.

"Kapok!"

Lin Jiade glared at Korobochka with resentment. The celestial weapon was already in his hand. The woman pulled him into her arms, plunging him into a heavy yet soft darkness.

“You can’t kill me when we’re embracing like lovers,” she said.

Lin Jiade didn't think so. He released the Celestial Weapon, used his energy and will to pull it back, and then thrust it forward. Korobochka stretched out a hand, and a semi-transparent ice wall rose up, only to be destroyed by the Celestial Weapon.

Enraged, Lin Jiade embraced Korobochka tightly around the waist, but Korobochka responded to his roughness with delight. The celestial weapon, guided by Lin Jiade, destroyed Korobochka's interception spell, pierced through her own shield, and stopped just before stabbing into her palm.

"You want to die with me in your suicide attack? That's not allowed, Lin Jiade. Even if you die, I'll pull you up and let you live on as the dead."

"So, you are Korobochka?"

Jasmine's voice came along with her shaped sword, and Korobochka stopped her with his other hand, saying, "In this use of talent, you are exactly like your father."

"You knew all along..."

“When I became the master of this body, I knew you were a descendant of the White Dragon. At that time, Ragnar and I used each other while also being wary of each other. Having you in my hands reduced the probability of being ambushed by him, although I was still ambushed by him.”

Ragnar knew that simply destroying the lich's physical body wouldn't completely destroy me, so he hung me on a pillar in the temple, trapping me inside the body, waiting for him to digest the knowledge within the authority before finally destroying me completely.

Athena is a virgin goddess, and as a man, he is inherently incompatible with the authority of a virgin goddess. Then, you fought a fierce battle with him, causing Athena to break free of his body and return to the temple, where I will take over.

Jasmine wiped away her tears, took a deep breath, and tried to answer in a calm voice, "So, the Ice Cave was right, you were a traitor from the very beginning?"

"No, after all, I came here for the Holy Land, Lin Jiade. My little husband's excessive bravery has made me put the plan on hold for now. Most of the time, I'm on your side, sincerely helping you."

Lin Jiade is my husband, and Jasmine, I treat you like a daughter. I like you very much.

Korobochka said, "If you're willing to give up being my girlfriend and instead be Lin Jiade's sister and daughter, I'd be happy to let you into my life."

As for ice caves or kapok trees, they don't deserve to be in my life.

“Give Lin Jiade back to me,” Jasmine said.

Korobochka smothered Lin Jiade with his body and said gently, "You haven't grasped the situation yet, Jasmine."

"Give Lin Jiade back to me!"

The ice cave charged in, and Jasmine, pulling on its reins, mounted it, dragging one arm along as she charged alongside her sculpted sword. Korobochka smiled, took Lin Jiade's arm, and conjured an ice pillar beneath their feet, sending them soaring into the sky.

Jasmine soared through the ice cave, relentlessly pursuing Korobochka with flame-shaped swords, only to be thwarted by him.

Taking advantage of the brief moment when Korobochka was distracted by Jasmine, Lin Jiade transformed into a sword, slipped out of his opponent's embrace, and his magic was faster than Korobochka's pursuit, returning to Jasmine's hand in the blink of an eye. Jasmine did not linger in the fight, tugged at the reins of the ice cave, and turned to run.

“Korobochka isn’t good at pursuit, she’s not fast,” Lin Jiade said. “Let’s go back. As long as we get back alive and send the message back, that’s a victory!”

"Lin Jiade, Kapok, she..."

Lin Jiade tried to sense the cotton tree and commanded it to turn into a sword and return to his hand, but on the other side, the woman who always obeyed his commands had fallen silent.

Chapter 117 Wishing everyone a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival

Korobochka stood with his hands on his hips, shading his eyes with one hand, and calmly said, "I fought Ragnar to the death, using up 80% of my energy reserves and almost exhausting all my trump cards. In the end, he was caught out and killed, and I didn't have the strength to chase after him."

Lin Jiade, you always seem to find me when I'm at my weakest. Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned.

In her eyes, pink beaded curtains hung from the sky, arranged into an inescapable cage, with serpentine chains hidden within the semi-transparent curtains. But in Lin Jiade and Jasmine's eyes, it was like a net, surrounding them and leaving them nowhere to go.

Pink, chains, snakes, weaving... these elements reminded Lin Jiade of Du Juan, and when he looked up, he saw Du Juan standing on the head of the ice cave with one foot. The pink of her heart-shaped eyes was fading, and gold was filling the gap.

"So, the root of all this is you, all the betrayals started because of you, just because I stopped listening to you?" Lin Jiade asked.

Du Juan smiled and said, "Don't overestimate yourself. Although you don't listen to me and casually become someone else's divine protector, it does make me feel unhappy that my carefully cared-for cat or dog has run to someone else's house to fawn over them. But punishing you is just a secondary task within a secondary task."

When I came here and met you, I first thought it was a pure coincidence, then I thought it was the guidance of the moon goddess, and now I feel that you are the key to the moon goddess, the moon goddess is the key to the holy land, and the holy land holds the authority I have lost.

So, whether it was anonymously giving Ragnar Sigurdsson a push, knowing that Korobochka had regained her body yet joining forces with her, or giving Ice Cave and Hehuan some interesting advice in the hope that they would distract you and not get in your way, it was all for this moment.

"So, what you said is true, even though you said it in a joking tone: Jasmine is not jasmine, gladiolus is not gladiolus, kapok is not kapok, ice cave is not ice cave, Teacher Yang is not Teacher Yang, and you... are not you either."

Du Juan waved her hand: "Don't think of me as omnipotent. Right now, I've just lost my power and only have the meager power of Cupid that I've usurped."

Many things happen by chance, or are related to the moon goddess, and I simply take advantage of them and direct them to a result that benefits me.

As she spoke, her hair rose up, like chains or snakes, tightly binding Lin Jiade and his group, dragging them to the ground, and bringing them before Korobochka.

“I almost crashed,” Korobochka said, “but in the end, I managed to do my job.”

"Did you tell him about our deal?" Du Juan asked.

"No, I haven't had a chance to say yet."

Dujuan beckoned, summoning a black sword emanating an ominous aura from afar. Bingdong's divine sense stirred, and he was about to stand up, but seven out of ten of Dujuan's chains were aimed at her.

Du Juan merged the sword into her body. For a few dozen seconds, her hair was as black as ink, and her pupils were like black corundum. But slowly, her hair and pupils began to fade, and the gold and pink returned to their original colors.

“I cannot digest three authorities at once, otherwise this holy land will collapse immediately. I also need it to provide me with shelter, otherwise the god who has lost his authority may notice and come to reclaim his authority.”

Ares is the first because he is the weakest; though he bears the name of the god of war, he lacks the substance of one, instead symbolizing the series of calamities that arise from war.

Du Juan explained, "I think you should have some understanding of my identity."

“They call you Pallas Athena, the goddess of wisdom in mythology, the stern virgin goddess, the protector of heroes… but you’re nothing like that,” Lin Jiade said.

“Athena is me, but I am not Athena. I am just a subset of the set of Athena. And... well, there’s no need to hide it. Even if I tell you the truth, according to the deal between me and Korobochka, she helped me open the Holy Land and reclaim my authority, and I made her the Oracle’s Protector and gave her the memory wiped clean, like a blank sheet of paper.”

“I enjoy playing simulation games,” Korobochka interjected. “It gives me a great sense of accomplishment to raise my partner from scratch.”

“Aren’t you afraid that Korobochka will embezzle the power you’ve been given to someone else?” Lin Jiade said sarcastically.

“Korobochka has the motive, but not the ability, because my authority can only be used by the living, while a lich, an undead being, merely stops time between death and extinction. Even if she obtains it, she cannot possess it all. That is why I chose her,” Dujuan said.

Unlike Ragnar, Dujuan absorbed power with astonishing speed. In the blink of an eye, she transformed back into the charming and beautiful goddess that Lin Jiade knew. However... when Lin Jiade looked at her, hatred overwhelmed love.

“Even if I were to become your subservient plaything, you would still give me to Korobochka when she asks you for me… I’m not that important to you at all,” Lin Jiade said.

“If this makes you feel any better, I can say this—” Du Juan pressed her hand to her chest, “I feel jealous because of your interactions with other women, which is a feat that ordinary mortals would find difficult to accomplish. You still hold a place in my heart.”

Otherwise, when you upset me, I wouldn't have to be so roundabout and careful in stopping you within your tolerance. Besides, I also stopped the reed warbler... That fool seems to be very good to you, but a human like you can't handle her almost violent passion.

“I don’t think having relationship problems is any kind of feat,” Lin Jiade shook his head. “Besides, you mentioned Wei Ying? If she’s not a natural actress, then you’re even lying to your own sister…and she’s your sister!”

“The reed warbler is my sister, but I am not entirely the reed warbler’s sister,” the cuckoo said. “You must be wondering why I am nothing like Athena in human mythology. This is because my body was destroyed in that terrible war, and as a way to survive, I have been constantly usurping the rights of other celestial observers to prolong my life.”

Do you remember what I said before? Ordinary celestial inhabitants can live for about 1700 years, but the cuckoo is the second celestial observer I usurped. My consciousness attached itself to her when she was still an egg, arranged in the nest with her other brothers and sisters.

Celestial observers need energy from their parents to receive the nourishment for growth. The more energy they receive, the more likely they are to inherit the best qualities of both parents after birth.

With the total energy remaining constant, nature dictates that for me, the fewer brothers and sisters, the better. Therefore, I, the cuckoo, began destroying the other eggs.

Chapter 118 The Holy Land is Complete (8)

"It's like a cuckoo taking over someone else's nest," Jasmine said.

"That's right, I stopped when only the reed warbler's eggs remained. After all, killing them all would make me seem too suspicious."

Nevertheless, I was still suspected by my parents, but they had no evidence to prove that the eggs destroyed by natural accidents were the result of human intervention. In addition, they couldn't tell whether it was me or the reed warbler who did it, so they simply ignored both of their children and only did the bare minimum of duty.

Before the reed warbler parents decided to lay their eggs, the celestial realm had just promulgated a law on reproduction. This was because the celestial observers were indulging in pleasure, immersed in the prosperity of the material world, and even transformed into various carbon-based organisms to mate with each other.

In this way, their sensory desires are satisfied, but if no energy exchange occurs, the celestial observers, as energy beings, can only engage in extremely unstable parthenogenesis, that is, self-division.

The law enacted by the heavens, making procreation an obligation, occurred against this backdrop. The parents of the reed warbler were originally a decadent generation indulging in pleasure. They were not prepared to be parents and were forced to become parents simply because of administrative orders.

Such parents are mostly unqualified. They lack affection for their children and treat them as mere indicators and obligations. Coupled with the bizarre destruction of the egg, they are even less likely to show affection to me and Weiying.

In order to maintain my connection with the celestial society, there must be a medium, and that medium is the reed warbler. Therefore, I raised her from a young age to be someone who is trusting, naive, and sentimental—especially sentimental towards me.

Lin Jiade, can you sense a part of her naivety at times, on the night you exchanged energy, or when she clumsily imitated human emotions, either teaching you or toying with you?

Du Juan's words seemed to be audible to everyone, but she only allowed Lin Jiade to hear the private parts. When Lin Jiade's expression remained unchanged, she was troubled by it; when Lin Jiade's expression changed, pleasure rose in her senses.

Athena disdains toying with a man in this way, but Cupid, who manipulates the union and separation of lovers, is happy to do so. Before integrating her lost power, she is destined to be more like Cupid than Athena.

“If Wei Ying knew about this,” Lin Jiade said, “do you think she could still maintain her ‘good sister’ persona?”

"The reason I'm being honest with you is because I'll erase your memory later, and as for the others, they didn't hear anything important, and Korobochka will deal with them all."

I do feel a little sorry for the ice cave. She was actually very suitable to be my divine protector. Otherwise, the authority I stored here would not have instinctively injected a part of itself into her body after sensing my aura being activated, hoping to make contact with me through her.

But she chose you over the mission I entrusted to her, and the authority of the moon goddess over me, betraying me twice. I can no longer tolerate her, so I'm going to slightly alter her image.

Which design do you prefer: an upper body of a human and a lower body of a deer, or an upper body of a deer and a lower body of a human?

"I won't choose either of them, but I might consider it if it were you who transformed into me."

Lin Jiade could still put on a brave front, but he was already in despair. Du Juan was a goddess, and a goddess who had lost her authority was still a goddess. Moreover, she was already integrating the authority she had lost and that belonged to others.

The one capable of fighting a Celestial Observer must be another Celestial Observer. Among the Celestial Observers connected to Lin Jiade, Diana is mysterious and elusive; he has more questions about her than about the Cuckoo. The remaining one is the Reed Warbler…

At this moment, the cuckoo had already absorbed Ares's authority. She looked at the ice cave, then at Korobochka, and said, "I will teach you a spell. Use it to activate my authority."

Korobochka looked slightly surprised: "Why doesn't the adult just fuse with it directly?"

"Next, I will seize the authority left here by the Moon Goddess. To prevent any accidents, someone needs to activate it to amplify the Holy Land. I don't want to fail because of the intervention of external forces."

Azalea's finger touched the mark on Korobochka, and the mark of submission lit up. Although the mark symbolized the unequal relationship between Lingard and Gladiolus, Lingard's magic originated from Azalea, so Azalea could also use it.

Along with it, Professor Cuckoo's knowledge was also infused. Korobochka immediately took out the spear and shield, chanted incantations, and infused them with energy, making the light of the authority even more radiant.

Dujuan turned towards the ice cave, Lin Jiade stood in front of it, while Jasmine stood numbly in place. Having experienced the battles with her brothers, the battles with her father, witnessing her boyfriend kill her father, Korobochka's cruel actions and her betrayal, and Dujuan's final entry to reap the rewards, her heart was very tired. Her emotions were somewhere between "wanting to sleep and waking up the next day to find it was a nightmare" and "destroy it, hurry up."

She hated the cuckoo, but like Lin Jiade, she didn't think she had any chance of winning against the Celestial Observer.

The ice cave sensed the cuckoo's hunger directed at it, and the undisguised, pure malice made it tremble. So it called upon the authority of the moon goddess in its heart.

"Help me, give me the power!" she cried urgently. "That person is going to eat us all!"

At the critical moment of life and death, the Moon Goddess's authority still replied in that lively and nonchalant tone: "Oh dear, you seem to overestimate me. I am just an authority. How can I possibly fight against the real inhabitants of the heavens? Look at Ares's authority, it didn't even put up a fight before she swallowed it up."

If you can't beat them, join them. Anyway, she devoured me, so it's just that my power merged into her body. I still exist, but the authority of the moon goddess has changed to the authority of Athena.

"You too, since you can't beat her, you might as well obediently let her swallow you whole and live inside her in another way, like being transformed into a human-headed deer or something. Then we can continue our relationship."