Love, Gun, Cupid

Hehuan looked somewhat embarrassed: "This is indeed a bit of a double standard. Perhaps the more the perpetrator is, the more guilty they feel, afraid that they will copy and paste what others have done back to them."

“Yes, I understand. Lin Jiade also told me that,” Jasmine said.

"Also, although I don't want to spoil your fun, once you return to school, you'll need a guardian to help you ask for leave when you're on missions, a guardian's signature when you attend parent-teacher meetings, and a guardian to handle various communication matters..."

Now, how do I fill in the guardian information?

Lin Jiade and Jasmine exchanged a glance, and Lin Jiade said, "I'll do it."

"you?"

“I only want Lin Jiade,” Jasmine said.

Hehuan seemed to have a suggestion, but seeing how determined Jasmine was, she wisely kept quiet.

Just as Lin Jiade was about to say something, a gray shadow drifted past Hehuan from behind. He stood up and leaned towards Hehuan, startling her.

"What's wrong?" Hehuan asked.

"Senior Hehuan, didn't you... feel anything?"

Hehuan turned around and looked around, then thought for a moment and said, "Is there anything?"

"It seems I made a mistake."

Lin Jiade sat back in his chair, lowered his head, and bit down on the beverage tube. His face stiffened as a line of text written with water appeared on the table—

"The error has fallen into the mirror from outside; will you be the bird that corrects the error, or the worm that creates it?"

The young man rubbed his eyes, and the words disappeared. This was definitely not due to his obsession with women, nor was it a hallucination caused by inflammation.

Mysterious phenomena did indeed envelop him, and he naturally associated the gray female ghost with the words that appeared on the desktop in his dream.

But what is error? What is a mirror? And what are birds and worms?

Lin Jiade suppressed his doubts for the time being. With Du Juan around, he was not swayed by the unusual phenomena surrounding him.

He glanced at the clean tabletop, then at Jasmine chewing on bok choy, and then at Hehuan drinking soup, and casually remarked, "This table is really clean, there's nothing on it at all."

"Indeed, the cleaning lady is a very nice person and works very hard, wiping every table clean." Hehuan said, "Thanks to them, I was able to put aside my prejudice against the communal canteen and eat here."

The regular update is complete; there will be an extra update this afternoon.

Chapter Seven: The Price (Bonus Chapter)

In the afternoon, Hehuan acted as a tour guide, leading the two to visit the campus where the humanities departments were located, but they were caught and brought back halfway by a music department teacher.

"It seems that Senior Sister Hehuan isn't as tough as she claims to be," Lin Jiade joked.

“If she were that tough, she would have had an even smoother path as a magic researcher than Kapok,” Jasmine said.

"Wasn't it because she lacked the ability and felt there was no future in this path that she gave up?"

"That's the excuse she used to convince herself to give up. She repeated it so many times that she started to believe it herself." Jasmine said indifferently, "That's her life. She has the right to choose for herself, and I won't interfere."

Lin Jiade and Jasmine strolled around inside. Jasmine couldn't walk for too long, and seeing the bitter look on her face, Lin Jiade's emotional intelligence unusually kicked in.

He turned to Jasmine, bent down, supported her back with one hand, and lifted her up by the knees with the other, carrying her in a princess carry to a nearby bench to rest.

Jasmine initially looked surprised, but quickly her expression turned to one of relief. She closed her eyes and pressed her face against Lin Jiade's chest, listening to his heartbeat.

Lin Jiade held Jasmine in his arms, rested his chin on the top of her head, and looked up at the sky, where the white clouds and golden halo were reflected in his eyes.

The afternoon sun at two o'clock brought warmth and drowsiness. He and Jasmine did nothing but pass the time, sharing peace through physical contact.

Lin Jiade was somewhat nervous when a shadow appeared in his field of vision. He reached out and grabbed it, and when he saw that it was a gladiolus petal, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“What happened?” Jasmine asked.

"It's nothing, just a petal."

Jasmine reached out and cupped Lin Jiade's cheeks, the cool touch spreading as she forced his gaze to fall onto her face.

The sunlight blurred Jasmine's figure, giving her a sense of purity and beauty. Lin Jiade couldn't help but kiss his beloved's lips. Jasmine calmly accepted, but pushed him away three seconds later.

“You seem to have something on your mind,” Jasmine said.

Lin Jiade was somewhat surprised: "You figured it out?"

"You're not good at hiding your feelings, is there anything I can help you with?"

Lin Jiade shook his head.

"Then go find Du Juan. I'll allow you to keep secrets I don't know about."

"You...don't mind?"

Jasmine's voice was somewhat bitter: "It's my fault. If I could solve all your problems, I would never let you be controlled by that woman. But even I can't escape it."

“I think you might have some prejudice against Miss Du Juan.” Lin Jiade carefully chose his words. “She acts in her own interest, but she understands win-win: she wins twice, and her partner wins once. Moreover, our relationship was also brought about by her efforts.”

"If I had spoken to you sooner, would she have had any room to interfere?" Jasmine muttered.

"Hmm, what are you saying so early?"

"It's nothing, I'll just stick to my opinion, even if you see it as jealousy or prejudice. But Lin Jiade, after spending so many days with that woman, don't you really feel any discomfort at all?"

Lin Jiade shook his head and then said, "Do you have any evidence?"

“No,” Jasmine leaned weakly against Lin Jiade, “I can’t find this kind of thing.”

Lin Jiade desperately wanted to facilitate a reconciliation between Du Juan and Jasmine, otherwise his last peaceful haven would become Poland, caught in a pincer movement.

Just as he was about to do so, a new shadow fell over Lin Jiade's head. He reflexively reached out to push it away, but his wrist was grabbed.

Upon recognizing the newcomer, Lin Jiade stammered, "Senior Mumu Mian, what are you doing here?"

Jasmine, nestled in the young man's arms, could feel him relax first, then tremble. She looked up at the cotton tree, puzzled. The strange man in the tight-fitting suit didn't react to her attention; the dark glass of his helmet only reflected Lin Jiade's face.

Seemingly sensing Lin Jiade's thoughts, Mu Mian said in a low voice, "I'm not asking you to undergo ascetic practices, I just wanted something to give you. After seeing you and... your friend here, I came over as well."

Lin Jiade felt that Senior Mu Mian actually intended to say "you and your girlfriend" at first, but suddenly changed it to "friends." However, he was more curious about what Mu Mian had brought him.

Jasmine got up and sat down to one side, watching as Kapok unfastened the sword from her waist and tossed it to Lin Jiade. She recognized the sword, but Lin Jiade remembered it even more vividly—

That was the tuna's sword. The young man had activated the magic attached to the sword and cut off his left arm to save Jasmine.

“It’s yours now,” Kapok said.

Lin Jiade glanced around. This kind of thing wasn't allowed. Jasmine tugged at him, and he leaned towards her, listening to her whisper in his ear, "Kapok used a confusion spell. Ordinary people won't notice this place."

"Why would you give it to me?" Lin Jiade asked.

Kapok explained, "You and Jasmine killed the tuna together, so the items on the tuna's body are your spoils of war."

The most valuable thing about the tuna is a recipe for a medicine that can improve its physical condition, allowing it to maintain its fighting ability even in its sixties.

The prescription was given to Jasmine, who contributed the most, so this sword will be assigned to you afterwards.

"But when I was fighting the tuna, that old swordsman was already seriously injured. In terms of contribution, Senior Kapok should be ranked second."

“It is my shame to let him fight you,” said Kapok. “I should have finished him off much faster, but I made a near-fatal mistake because of my impatience.”

Lin Jiade was an amateur, so he felt that winning or losing was unimportant, as long as everyone survived. But Mu Mian was a professional and had a particularly high sense of pride in this regard. Half a month later, she still couldn't forget about it.

The young man reached out and weighed the weapon in his hand, then asked, "But I don't know any swordsmanship."

“I can teach.”

"But you said I'm past the age to learn swordsmanship."

"You can't learn it anymore, but you can master swordsmanship, of course, only the outer sect techniques. If the inner sect techniques are recognized, it will easily attract inexplicable hatred."

Jasmine roughly understood what Kapok meant. She whispered to Lin Jiade, "Master magic is teaching your own knowledge to someone else's magic system."

This magic is extremely rare because few researchers are willing to share their findings. In human empires, among those magic researchers within the system, the strength of their magical abilities is a matter of status, while for those outside the system, the strength of their magical abilities is a matter of survival.

So, for Kapok to make such a request without asking for any compensation was a huge sacrifice. Lin Jiade felt that Kapok was not the kind of kind-hearted person, but the kindness she showed him made him question his life.

What exactly did Kapok see in him that made her so good to him?

“Then, what is the price?” Jasmine asked Lin Jiade.

Thank you so much, Brother Xinghai, for the golden treasure chest! I'm truly grateful, and I also want to thank all the readers who have supported me along the way.

It might sound strange for me to say this, and I don't mean to spoil the fun. Of course I'm happy to receive a tip; it's a form of recognition for me. But please do so within your means. Otherwise, I'll feel really uneasy and guilty, and I'll ask myself if I deserve this tip.

Money doesn't fall from the sky. I'm really satisfied if everyone subscribes within their means.

I owe 51 chapters, have already paid 4, and still owe 47.

Chapter Eight: A Single Cut, the Ruyi Divine Sword (Bonus Chapter)

"There was no real cost. This person has a good will and his physical abilities have been enhanced by magic, giving him the necessary aptitude to fight with a sword. It's just a pity he's too old, so he can only learn in another way," said Mu Mian.

Jasmine pressed further, "As far as I know, you haven't taught any of the other humans in the club, and Lin Jiade has only known you for a month."

"Because he is a friend that Hehuan cares about, and I have a very good relationship with Hehuan, so I wanted to help the person my friend cares about," said Kapok.

Lin Jiade always felt that there was a provocative meaning in Mu Mian's words. He didn't want to see Jasmine and Senior Mu Mian have a conflict: on the one hand, Jasmine was his girlfriend, and on the other hand, Senior Mu Mian was a friend who also liked "Sakura: Cinderella".

In his current social circle, only Mu Mian shares his love for anime. Therefore, although Mu Mian doesn't play soccer with him or play shooting games online, in his heart, Mu Mian is subtly developing into his good brother.

He even imagined a non-existent friendship with Senior Kapok, making Kapok seem like she was becoming his best friend.

The young man quickly changed the subject: "I would be happy to increase my combat strength so that I can better deal with emergencies, but how do I bring it back?"

I'm carrying a real sword down the street. Even if it's my legal right as a magic researcher, to others it seems like an illegal act.

"I'll help you."

Jasmine pulled a talisman from her sleeve, infused it with energy, and stuck it onto Lin Jiade's weapon. The sword turned into green light particles and disappeared into the talisman, outlining the sword's emblem.

She held the talisman in her hand and said to Lin Jiade, "Say something cool that you think is cool. About swords."

"A single stroke to cleave in two, the Ruyi Divine Sword?"

“Alright,” Jasmine nodded. “From now on, whenever you carry the talisman, just say this line aloud and your weapon will reappear from the talisman.”

Lin Jiade was somewhat taken aback: "No, I just felt that this sword looked a bit like the sword used by Daichi Haruka in 'Light ○ Messenger', so I said the ultimate move slogan."

Jasmine calmly replied, "You can say whatever you want. It's just like declaring a function before referencing it. Your slogan is just a 'declaration'."

"I imagined myself delivering these lines with a serious expression during a battle..." Lin Jiade covered his burning face: "Ugh, if you kill me, can't you just change it?"

Jasmine shook her head: "I don't have a complete grasp of the Taoist arts of Longhu Mountain. I've only learned the spells for binding weapons, but I don't know how to unbind them."

Lin Jiade looked at Mu Mian in despair. Mu Mian said, "My 'declaration' is 'Thunder Emperor Summoned,' but if you need my help, I can change it to 'Feng Hua Summoned.'"