Love, Gun, Cupid

After Lin Jiade briefly explained the situation, Mu Mian remained silent for several seconds before replying, "The combat personnel officially under the Empire cannot enter the Mirror Realm, but we civilians will eliminate the negative impact of this matter."

"Isn't this about saving lives?"

“We’re short-staffed here, I’m sorry. A higher priority task awaits me, I’m sorry,” Mu Mian said. “My only advice to you is to wait. Lin Jiade, don’t take any risks.”

A surge of anger rose in the young man's heart. He slapped himself, and the pain brought him back to his senses: Mu Mian and Teacher Yang were not related, and he had a mission. He shouldn't have developed a petty, resentful attitude just because the other party refused him.

He hung up the phone and asked, "Miss Dujuan, is the Mirror Realm dangerous?"

Du Juan replied, "The native inhabitants of the Mirror Realm are not dangerous. They are in a truce with the Empire, and they will not directly harm humans who have ties to the Mirror Realm."

If you only manage to save Teacher Yang, it's probably like playing the survival mode in Minecraft Bedrock Edition.

However, this does not mean there is no risk, because birds have flocked into the mirror, and you cannot guarantee that the birds will not fight with each other.

Therefore, your journey through the Mirror World could potentially turn into a survival mode in Minecraft after installing various mods.

"I'll go!" Lin Jiade said somewhat resentfully, "They don't care... but I will! Magic is meant to be used in situations like this. If I don't go, and if anything happens to Teacher Yang, I'll never forgive myself for the rest of my life!"

His hand was gripped tightly. Lin Jiade looked down and met Jasmine's gaze. Jasmine pursed her lips, remained silent, and shook her head slightly.

Du Juan snapped her fingers, and the Bolero began to play. Lin Jiade paused for a moment, remembering that there was an episode in Digimon where Tai returned to the real world and there was this melody.

Just as Tai broke free from Jia Er and returned to the Digital World without hesitation, Lin Jia De also wanted to break free from Jasmine and use his invisible courage to save acquaintances.

Embarrassingly, Taiyi left in a very cool way, but Lin Jiade couldn't resist Jasmine's strength. After pulling several times, he still couldn't pull her out.

He looked a little embarrassed, Jianlan turned her head away understandingly, while Dujuan wore an ambiguous smile.

“Jasmine, let your boyfriend be cool just this once. Let him be a hero, okay?” Lin Jiade asked.

"Heroes... are exhausted, and eventually they are covered in scars, even the Dark Knight. In the end, they will choose to retire."

“The Dark Knight has Robin, but I don’t.” Lindart placed one hand on Jasmine’s shoulder. “Pray for my victory, Jasmine.”

"Don't worry, with me here, even in the worst-case scenario, I can pull Lin Jiade out of the Mirror Realm, just like I've been doing right now," Du Juan said.

“I will also provide assistance to the best of my ability,” Jianlan said.

"Furthermore, the Mirror Realm is calling for me and Ms. Jianlan. Even if I don't go this time, I still have to go to this place for her sake and for my sake."

Jasmine finally released Lin Jiade reluctantly, like a wife who had just become interested but found out her husband was working overtime. Lin Jiade patted her head and looked at Du Juan, saying, "I'm ready."

Have a safe journey.

Du Juan waved her hand, and the chains disappeared from his body. The crack in the phone screen instantly absorbed him and Jianlan into the Mirror Realm.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Flying Birds I (Bonus Chapter)

Lin Jiade felt that only one second had passed, but when he took out his phone (Jasmine's), he realized that three minutes had already passed.

He looked up and muttered, "What kind of weird place have I ended up in?"

As its name suggests, the Mirror Realm is an alien world filled with mirrors. However, calling it a mirror might be a bit of an exaggeration, because what Lin Jiade sees as far as the eye can see are complex labyrinths formed by unknown substances that can function as mirrors.

Lin Jiade strolled through it, his own reflection appearing in all directions. The plants on the ground were crystalline and fragile, and when he inevitably stepped on them, they were crushed into powder like frost flowers.

In the optical field of vision, Lin Jiade lost his sense of position. He didn't know whether he was up, down, left, or right. He was just lost in a series of magic mirrors... It's a pity there's no match-3 game to play here.

Fortunately, he still had Gladiolus. The vision of the dead is different from that of the living. Gladiolus flew behind him and whispered in his ear: "These mirrors... are alive."

"?!"

Jianlan explained, "The alien races you've encountered all have humanoid forms, so you think all alien races are like that."

However, alien races similar to humans are ultimately a minority. Even your red dragon companion's human form is only a choice made out of necessity.

I don't know her past, but I imagine that a dragon being confined to a small human body must cause her a lot of distress. You should spend more time with her.

Lin Jiade nodded, and when he looked at the mirrors around him, he felt a chill run down his spine, as if he were being watched from all directions, and all his secrets were about to be revealed.

“Miss Du Juan said that the Mirror Realm will not harm humans because of the ceasefire agreement,” Lin Jiade convinced himself to raise his head. “Madam, are these mirrors communicable?”

"Theoretically, it's possible, but I don't know how these mirrors would view us, these flocking birds."

Lin Jiade touched his pocket. The cool touch of the .45 caliber revolver that Du Juan had lent him was reassuring. It was loaded with bullets that Senior Mu Mian had provided for him.

He touched his shirt pocket, where the talisman Jasmine had given him was within reach, containing a longsword sealed inside, ready to be used with just a shameful declaration.

Gladiolus accompanied him, and the Lich Lady's composure soothed his anxious heart. Most importantly, Cuckoo promised that she would forcefully bring him back in the most critical moment.

The worst outcome would be that he returns empty-handed, so he can confidently attempt to save people.

"How should I communicate with these mirrors?" Lin Jiade asked.

“By touching them, you don’t know how they will respond,” Gladiolus replied.

Lin Jiade couldn't tell which mirror creature looked the most friendly, so after searching for a while, he touched the mirror that most resembled a soccer ball. The moment he touched it, ripples spread across the surface of that mirror creature.

"Wow!"

Startled, he let go. Seeing that the mirror creature had no intention of attacking him, he cautiously reached out and touched it again, gently stroking it. The ripples on the surface of the mirror creature trembled even more intensely and heated up with his friction.

"Stop your savage and rude actions, you descendants of upright apes."

A loud female voice came from the mirror, “You should show respect to older women. I was already here when you were still upright apes.”

???

Regardless of whether this thing actually lived that long, the fact that she spoke to Lin Jiade in the Imperial Common Language was enough to shock him.

"How come you speak our language?" he asked.

“I learned it not long ago from another descendant of an upright ape,” the mirror creature asked. “Did Gulliver ask you to come?”

"Gulliver?"

"A rather interesting upright ape who said he traveled through various worlds, recording those novel and interesting things."

“Ah, it’s Gulliver!” Lin Jiade remembered. “His Gulliver’s Travels is very interesting. I’ve read some of it before, but it doesn’t seem to be about this place.”

The Mirror Creature scoffed: "Your ruling class of upright apes has blocked the existence of power and other worlds from the ignorant masses. Even if such a thing were written, it would never pass the censorship of the media bureau."

"Fine, that's just a game for you upright apes. I just want to ask if he's still alive?"

“He has been dead for three hundred years,” Lin Jiade replied. “What is your relationship to that gentleman?”

The mirror creature was silent for a moment, then said, "A lover, or rather, one of my lovers."

? !

Lin Jiade felt that being a dragon knight was abnormal enough, but compared to Gulliver, who was bound to the mirror, he was like laundry detergent compared to real chemical weapons.

“Even to upright apes, our union seems very strange,” the mirror creature said. “Incredibly, we did fall in love.”

At that time, there were not many of my kind here, and the place was more like a forest than a labyrinth. Gulliver held me and told me about his homeland and his travels in the shimmering forest.

Sometimes, I reflect the image of the racehorse girl he admires; sometimes, his soul is reflected in my body.

Our lifespans are worlds apart. I didn't know that, but Gulliver did. But he said that it's enough to have loved; sometimes love doesn't have to last.

But I regret it. I should have persuaded Gulliver to stay and become a mirror, so that we could always be together in this shimmering world, watching forests turn into labyrinths, labyrinths into mountains, and mountains fill the whole world, overflowing outwards… without having to endure separation.”

Perhaps it was age, or perhaps it was loneliness, but the Mirror Creature rambled on about her past with Gulliver, even including details that were only between husband and wife.

Surprisingly, Gulliver and the mirror creatures did not have a Platonic love affair, but they were truly united... although only Gulliver experienced physical pleasure, while the seeds were nothing but stinking garbage to the mirror creatures.

Although there was an element of curiosity, the love that transcended race, life and death, and even organic and organic, moved the audience—Lin Jiade and Jianlan.

“I can sense a fragment of energy behind you, the same aura as in the Mirror Realm, which is why you were drawn here.”

The mirror creature said, "Did you come here in search of these energies?"

"That's my goal, but before that, I need to find someone."

Lin Jiade took out Jasmine's phone, opened a newly added photo in the gallery, and said, "Have you seen this person before?"

The Mirror Creature was silent for a moment before replying, "I just contacted someone from my clan, and one of them said she's seen this person. I can introduce you to someone from my clan, but you'll have to do me a favor."

I owe 63 chapters in total, have paid 12, and still owe 51.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Flying Birds II

Lin Jiade understood that he needed to pay a price to obtain the next clue. If he could afford it, he would naturally be generous; if he couldn't afford it, he would consider using force to negotiate the price.

Surprisingly, the mirror creature offered a very low price. She said, "Bring me a copy of Gulliver's Travels. I want to experience the scenery he traveled through, and the things I don't yet know or have forgotten, in a different way."

“I will bring it,” Lin Jiade’s expression softened. “What is your name, madam? I think Mr. Gulliver must have given you a name that sets you apart from the other mirror creatures.”

“A Houyhnhnm,” the mirror creature said.

The Mirror Realm will only release people at 6 AM the following day, and Cupid's chains are above the rules of the Mirror Realm. Lin Jiade and Du Juan have a one-sided psychological connection. When he strongly felt the urge to return, he felt a blur before his eyes, and the next second, he was back in reality.

He rushed into the room, opened the bookshelves and searched through them. Jianlan pointed to the bookshelves and said to Jasmine, "Help him find 'Gulliver's Travels'."

Jasmine didn't understand why, but she happened to have a copy of Gulliver's Travels in her home on the 17th floor, so she left with her cane.

Lin Jiade searched the entire bookshelf but couldn't find the book. Frustrated, he scratched his head and decided to try his luck at a bookstore outside. Just then, the door opened, and Jasmine appeared in the doorway, holding a copy of "Gulliver's Travels."

The young man was overjoyed; Jasmine's charm once again surpassed that of the azalea in his heart, becoming number one.

He pressed his hands down Jasmine's shoulders, left a rough kiss on her lips, took the book and said, "When I get back, I'll tell you about what happened over there. It'll be a huge help!"

Dujuan removed the chains binding him, and the happy bird flew back into the Mirror Realm. Houyhnhnm had left him coordinates, so Gladiolus acted as his human navigator, guiding Lin Jiade to Houyhnhnm.

Keeping his promise, the Houyhnhnm sent the coordinates of another member of its kind to Lin Jiade. Lin Jiade took another step, putting all his strength into it. His left knee, which he had been carefully protecting, was aching slightly, but he couldn't care less about that. He just wanted to rescue his acquaintance as soon as possible.

The Houyhnhnm's kin, the Mirror Realm creature who had witnessed Teacher Yang's death, somewhat resembled the scepter held by the Holy Maiden. Lin Jiade disregarded politeness and grabbed the Mirror Realm creature.

Just as he was about to ask a question, ripples spread across the surface of the Mirror Realm creature, and Lin Jiade felt as if he had been struck by a holy light magic from a cuckoo. He staggered backward, and when he opened his eyes again, Teacher Yang was standing nearby.

He was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed, and ran to Teacher Yang, saying, "I've finally found you, I..."

Teacher Yang took a step forward, and the distance between them disappeared completely. She pressed herself against him, stood on tiptoe, and reached out to seal his lips with her hand, while pointing to the side with her other hand.

The mirrored wall became transparent. A few seconds later, a group of humanoid shadows passed by. As they closed in, the uninvited guests gradually became clearer. They were birds that, like Lin Jiade, had entered the Mirror Realm.

Lin Jiade saw them, but they couldn't see Lin Jiade. After they passed by, Teacher Yang said, "I've seen them several times. Who are they?"

"..."

Lin Jiade remained silent. According to regulations, after he brought Teacher Yang back to their world, he would proactively report to the local authorities so that professionals could dispel the general public's impressions of the other world or magic.

Therefore, explaining to Teacher Yang here would be a waste of time, so Lin Jiade simply stopped explaining. He looked around, but Jianlan was not by his side.

"It's really scary..." Ms. Yang murmured.

“Don’t worry, Teacher Yang, I’ll take you home,” Lin Jiade whispered.