Love, Gun, Cupid

I understand the logic, but what's with that fog and ice-blue color? Have I ever been targeted by some alien race?

Lin Jiade's words were already on the tip of his tongue, but just as they were about to spill out, he forgot them. So he awkwardly scratched his head and said, "Huh, what was I going to say?"

While invading Lin Jiade's senses, Du Juan also appeared in Jian Lan's senses, but Lin Jiade and Jian Lan could only see Du Juan talking to them and could not perceive that the other was talking to Du Juan.

“I know nothing about the Celestial Realm, but I suspect you released a divine oracle, causing those unrelated to you to ignore your existence,” Jianlan said. “Your sudden appearance here suggests you have something to say to me.”

“No, you must have something to say to me, otherwise you wouldn’t be thinking of my name in your heart, even when you’re not dealing with Lin Jiade,” Du Juan replied.

"?!"

"You're thinking of oracles? Oracles are such convenient things. They don't require studying the principles like magic, nor do they require understanding the practices like witchcraft. Oracles are simply statements, and the violent energy of the sun will transform them into facts."

"Your oracle is mind reading?" Jianlan asked.

Du Juan pointed to her head: "You don't need to worry about that. It's not mind reading. It's just that when you think of me and have some strong feelings, I can automatically understand why you think of me."

"...As expected of a celestial observer, so what is your answer?"

"First of all, I didn't kill you, nor did I send anyone to kill you so that I could find Lin Jiade a teacher, mother, and wife all at the same time."

"If I really wanted to do that, I'd just go up to you and shoot you, deliver a divine oracle of submission. Right now, you're happily discussing with Lin Jiade whether you want a boy or a girl, and what to name your first child."

Cupid made a shooting gesture, and petals made of energy bloomed from her fingertips, spinning and flying to Gladiolus's chest, then being bounced away, finally falling to Albizia's chest and disappearing silently.

Jianlan glanced at Hehuan and said, "Please forgive my rude assumption about you. However, the marks you left on Lin Jiade... frighten me."

"afraid of what?"

"I'm afraid of your controlling nature and your desire to change me."

"That's strange. You're the one interfering in Lin Jiade's life, so why are you afraid of me trying to change him?" Du Juan asked.

Gladiolus was speechless for a moment. She knew why. Azalea pointed out the correct answer: "Because of possessiveness. What percentage of your possessiveness does each of these four emotions—the lich's for the casket, the mother's for the child, the dead's for the living, and the woman's for the man—take?

“It is naturally friendship with our partners,” Gladiolus replied.

Du Juan didn't dwell on the matter. Gladiolus could deceive herself, but she couldn't deceive the truth. Cupid said, "In fact, I only occupy a prominent, not a primary, position in Lin Jiade's life."

Now, I am dedicated to unraveling the mysteries surrounding him: who turned him into this state, why that power lies dormant within him, and why it remained indifferent even when his life was hanging by a thread.

I hate having marks on my things that I don't recognize... By the way, Jasmine knows this too; given how badly we don't get along, she wouldn't challenge my authority in this regard.

Azalea's aura suddenly became aggressive. Gladiolus took a step back and replied calmly, "As long as it doesn't affect my survival, I will keep this secret and won't bother you."

"Aren't you interested in Lin Jiade's secret?"

"Lin Jiade and I are maintaining our friendship for now, but it won't last forever. One day, we will return to our own lives."

Therefore, I want to develop a controlled friendship with him. I can't know too many of his secrets; if I know too many, we can't be friends anymore, and you won't let me off the hook either.

Chapter 48 Risk (Bonus Chapter)

Du Juan sighed, "Sigh, you're much harder to deal with than Jasmine. Generally speaking, magic researchers would take the bait in a situation like Lin Jiade's, right?"

"The question 'Who am I?' has haunted me throughout my entire awakening, and Miss Cuckoo seems to know something about it," said Gladiolus.

Du Juan nodded: "I know."

Please tell me.

Du Juan held up two fingers: "First, you have to offer something of equal value in exchange; second, this is intelligence that poses a risk to you."

Sword Orchid shook her head and said, "This is the real bait. So what if there are risks? I have to swallow it."

“Then, let me state my conditions first: Lady Jianlan, even if you give up on yourself and intend to perish, if Lin Jiade desires to keep you, then you must prioritize his will.”

Jianlan smiled and said, "So, the question of whether I perish or not no longer depends on me, but on Lin Jiade? I don't think I have anything to object to. This is an insurance policy for me to continue living as a ghost... But why would you assume that I intend to self-destruct?"

Du Juan replied solemnly, "This is precisely the risk brought about by the intelligence I possess."

At that moment, Jianlan forgot that she was already dead. She held her breath. After Dujuan selectively told Jianlan the information she had heard at the Orchid Tower that day, she said, "It sounds like it, doesn't it?"

After thinking for a while, Jianlan replied, "In fact, according to Miss Dujuan's information, I am Korobochka, affiliated with the Imperial Special Transportation Bureau, and registered as Jianlan. All the information and all the guesses match up."

If this is the case, it does indeed imply a risk that the Empire is attempting to keep that flawed secret and figure out what happened that night by finding me, recasting me, and thus uncovering what happened.

"Then Lin Jiade..."

Du Juan smiled and said, "You don't need to worry about him. When necessary, I will have him betray you and act as an intermediary to mediate. While saving his life, I will exchange valuable intelligence for a promotion in the empire."

It's an uncomfortable statement, but Jianlan admits that of all the feasible actions Lin Jiade has taken, this is the one with the lowest risk.

Jianlan glanced at Lin Jiade: "Does he know about this?"

"He can only guess that the wrong secret the Empire is looking for might be related to you, but he doesn't know anything about Korobochka or what happened on October 4th."

"How long are you going to keep this from him?"

"Keep it from him until he needs to know. Lin Jiade's strength lies in his brute force. Once he sets his sights on a target, he charges forward like a raging bull. In his words, 'Miracle happens with brute force.'"

The less he knows, the more determined he becomes, and the more his brute strength can be brought into play.

You tell him these things, and he'll think about them, but he won't come to any conclusions. He'll just be tying his own hands and feet, unable to do anything. In the worst-case scenario, he might even be persuaded by the enemy's rhetoric.

Therefore, if you want Lin Jiade to find happiness, you should simplify the complex conditions as much as possible, guide him to make single-choice questions, and then watch him rush to the finish line. You can then stand there and give him a loving hug.

“It sounds…quite troublesome.” Jianlan hesitated for a moment. “Could I interpret this as Miss Dujuan explaining the necessity of controlling Lin Jiade?”

"I don't need to explain this, but this way you can understand the necessity of controlling him."

Du Juan suddenly moved closer to Jian Lan and whispered in her ear, "All powerful people have a common advantage and a common flaw, which is a morbid desire for control. They believe that controlling the situation is their right and obligation."

No one can escape this desire, nor should they try to suppress it. Constantly suppressing the urge to change someone, forcibly holding back one's boiling emotions, and remaining a bystander is incredibly exhausting.

Gladiolus clenched her fist and looked at Azalea. Her violet eyes were tinged with the pink of Azalea's eyes, and a heart shape was reflected in them.

“Didn’t you say that Lin Jiade is yours?” Jianlan asked.

"I like to possess, but I also like to compete. When a creature honestly expresses its desires, it is Cupid's most delicious meal... Any questions?"

Jianlan shook her head, watching Dujuan disappear into thin air. She glanced at Lin Jiade, then quickly looked away.

"I can't...sorry to Jasmine," she muttered.

The cuckoo disappeared, and Lin Jiade's vision returned to normal, allowing him to see Jasmine's concerned expression. In his arms, Jasmine shifted uncomfortably and whispered, "Don't stand here in front of me, you pervert."

Lin Jiade felt a pang of guilt. Jasmine turned to look at Hehuan, then pressed against the young man's chest and said in a muffled voice, "Is it because of her?"

Lin Jiade glanced at Hehuan, who awkwardly looked away. He remembered what he had done, and now, recalling the feeling of hugging Hehuan, the heavy yet soft pressure from above his head reappeared.

His body doesn't lie, Jasmine sensed it, so she pinched Lin Jiade. Fortunately, she was more concerned with business, so she asked, "Was the potion successful this time?"

Lin Jiade nodded and said, "Yes, after experiencing the illusion of being worse than dead, I returned to reality with the illusion of aging and was reborn in reality."

From life to death, and from death to life, I gained the ability to perceive life and death like Lady Gladiolus, specifically the ability to perceive the radiance of the soul.

Lin Jiade lowered his voice so that Mumian and Hehuan wouldn't hear him. Mumian asked, "Then what was the soul flame you saw in me?"

Lin Jiade shook his head.

"What about mimosa or jasmine?"

"One is a golden violin with feng shui symbols attached, and the other is an orange teardrop with an open ring."

After thinking for a moment, Mu Mian assessed, "Then its strength is that of a level three spell, roughly equivalent to a detection spell in the top-tier magic system. Congratulations, now you truly deserve the title of scout."

Lin Jiade was overjoyed. His useless detection spell had been upgraded to a whole level and was now fixed in his eyes. As long as he wanted to and had enough energy, he could activate it. This was much more convenient than applying eye drops.

"I don't think there will be any defects," Jasmine asked.

As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Jiade turned into a crying cat head. The upgraded 2.0 version of the detection spell has a flaw, namely the light pollution of different soul flames in his field of vision.

The more powerful a person is, the more severe the light pollution in their field of vision will be. Looking at it for a long time will also cause them to feel dizzy and even shed tears.

A total of 68 chapters were owed, 18 chapters have been repaid, and 50 chapters are still owed.

Chapter Forty-Nine: A Place to Stay

"It's a bit hot in here, I'll go out first."

Hehuan was the victim of Dujuan's double probing. Suddenly, she felt extremely hot, and a blush spread across Hehuan's face and neck.

She unbuttoned the top button of her shirt, fanned herself with her collar, her expression shy and flustered, her body slightly hunched, her arms protecting her chest. She even tripped over herself as she left the shower room, but luckily Mu Mian caught her.

"Senior Sister Hehuan?" Lin Jiade asked worriedly.

Hehuan trembled like a startled Amiya, and said in a panic, "It's okay, it's okay, goodbye!"

Lin Jiade watched the two disappear, puzzled. He guessed they might have needed to use the restroom or were menstruating, but neither possibility warranted further speculation. He turned back and saw Jasmine with a serious expression.

"Lin Jiade, don't make physical contact with other girls," Jasmine said.

"Ah, I'm so sorry about that. I couldn't control myself and just wanted to hug something. Senior Hehuan's height was too conspicuous. I'll apologize another day."

Lin Jiade scratched his head: "However, it was a bit unexpected. I didn't expect Senior Sister Hehuan to react so... intensely."

Gladiolus was wiping her eyes. Just now, when Lin Jiade was crying like a pissing beef ball because of Li Hua's experience, Cupid's intervention delayed the transmission of this sorrow to her until now.

Despite the delayed grief, the kapok tree seemed to be touched by the warm rain, and the scene evoked memories of her own death, her family whom she could no longer see, the lost time, and the ruthlessness of the empire (under the selective words of the cuckoo, she had already come to regard herself as Korobochka), and a touch of sadness arose within her.

“That’s exactly why Miss Jasmine is preventing you from interacting with other women,” Gladiolus said. “Your body can arouse the opposite sex.”

Lin Jiade was taken aback: "There's such a setting?"

To prevent Lin Jiade from overthinking, Jianlan had to cover for Dujuan by making up a lie: "When you drank the potion, your emotions collapsed, and your energy went out of control and spread outwards, I felt a similar fluctuation."

Because you immediately embraced Miss Hehuan, the close contact caused the energy you released to be transferred to her, resulting in her confusion.

"But if that's the case, then Jasmine..."

“Don’t underestimate me,” Jasmine replied. “I am a pure-blooded descendant of the red dragon, so I have some resistance.”

Jianlan chimed in, "Your swordsmanship teacher (Mumian) and I are fine, but unfortunately, your senior doesn't have that kind of resistance."

She's a magic researcher, and she's already made herself look so pathetic. Therefore, unless you're absolutely confident you can control your powers, contact with ordinary women could have even more serious consequences.

“That’s alright then,” Lin Jiade breathed a sigh of relief. “My daily life, whether it’s going to class or playing soccer, is all with boys, as long as I don’t seduce other men.”

Jasmine thought about it and realized it made sense. For the ordinary people in Lin Jiade's social circle, the standard for friends and acquaintances seemed to be whether they had played football together.

This football idiot looks down on women on the green field and often makes chauvinistic remarks, such as thinking that women's football is not entertaining at all, that it is like a completely different sport compared to men's football, and that women's football should be renamed a non-confrontational women's grass-based uniform ball sport, instead of tarnishing the name "football," etc.

Someone like that probably wouldn't have any female friends among ordinary people, Jasmine thought, and her expression relaxed.

Lin Jiade nudged Jasmine: "I always feel like you're talking badly about me behind my back."

"How did you know..." Jasmine covered her mouth. "I didn't, I just wanted to tell the truth!"