Love, Gun, Cupid

Du Juan laughed and said, "Innocence, that's easy to fake. Lin Jiade isn't very popular with women. He used to hang out with guys all the time, so he's easy to fool."

Lin Jiade wanted to refute, but when he recalled his youth over the past nineteen years, he realized that every important moment in his life seemed to have been spent with boys, so Cupid's statement was not wrong.

"In short, I'll be participating in the Mirror Realm expedition soon, so you two need to get along peacefully," Lin Jiade said.

“That’s impossible,” Du Juan said.

“Keep dreaming,” Jasmine replied.

This was something they rarely agreed on. What else could Lin Jiade do? One was his savior and love mentor, and the other was his girlfriend who paid him a living. His family background was quite something.

He changed the subject: "Then just wear it at home for me to see."

Lin Jiade hugged Jasmine, and Du Juan, who hadn't forgotten to help him unlock his new skin, gave him a thumbs up. Du Juan didn't seem to care: "Do you need me to bring Gladiolus in? Whatever you want to do, using dreams is a very efficient method."

The dream was so real that Lin Jiade even felt Jasmine tighten her arms around him slightly because of Du Juan's words.

"What is Ms. Gladiolus doing?" Lin Jiade asked.

Du Juan's gaze pierced the barrier between dreams and reality as she smiled and said, "Write the recipe for the Thunder Spell outside."

"Ugh."

Lin Jiade felt distressed whenever he saw Jianlan. He recounted his second expedition to the Mirror Realm, especially his impulsive invitation to Jianlan, and then looked at Jasmine with unease. At the very least, he felt that this was a betrayal of Jasmine.

However, Jasmine said nothing, only looking at Lin Jiade with a complicated expression. Lin Jiade, not understanding women's hearts, tentatively asked, "What...what are your thoughts on this?"

“I don’t know,” Jasmine said softly. “Let me think about it.”

She disappeared from Lin Jiade's dream. Lin Jiade felt a little melancholy and turned back to ask, "Did I make her angry?"

"If she is, she's angry with herself."

"What are you angry about?"

"I'm angry about her opinion on Jianlan. I can only say that her thoughts on Jianlan are more complicated than you imagine."

"complex?"

“I can give you the answer, but that would be too boring,” Du Juan smiled. “It would only be meaningful if you got the answer from Jasmine herself. Alright, I won’t bother you anymore.”

Lin Jiade thought about it and agreed. Just as Du Juan was about to fly away from his dream, he suddenly grabbed her hand. Du Juan turned around in surprise, and he said, "There's one more thing."

Chapter 59 Unexpected Intervention

"what?"

"Why did Miss Du Juan appear in the shower room last night?" the young man asked.

Du Juan laughed and said, "Just because you're in the mood?"

"That's not how it is; you're not telling the truth."

Du Juan tilted her head: "That's strange. You know I'm a capricious person. Is there a reasonable explanation for everything?"

Lin Jiade tightened his grip on Du Juan's hand: "I used to believe that, but someone said some things to me... I'm sorry, Miss Du Juan, I also feel that there should be more sincerity between us, instead of just superficial 'it's a setup'."

"You really hold a grudge about that. Also, who was the person who taught you?"

"That's not important!"

Du Juan was on the verge of tears: "You yelled at me...it really hurts me, Lin Jiade. Why are you angry? Just listen to me and happiness will be within your grasp. What did I do wrong?"

Because you bound me with a contract, used magic to understand everything about me, yet you yourself are like a fog... I don't want to be unclear about this.

Lin Jiade kept these words in his heart, intending to keep them hidden for a lifetime, because if he said them aloud, the wise Cupid would surely understand his feelings—"I love you," but he could not love her.

The young man subconsciously exerted force, causing Du Juan to look down at her wrist, which was being tightly gripped.

Are you going to hurt me?

Her words made Lin Jiade notice the situation before him, and he quickly let go of her hand. Du Juan laughed and said, "I don't object to your roughness, but the roughness I like is part of the fun, and I can't find any fun with you now, only confusion and unease."

"Then answer my question, Miss Azalea. Why were you there?"

"Do you really need an answer, even if it's something I'm ashamed of?"

He hesitated for a moment, then remembered Jianlan's teachings, and answered, "...Yes!"

Du Juan's response was to lift her left foot, lean forward, rest her forehead on Lin Jiade's chest, and stretch out her arms to hug his waist.

"Miss Dujuan?"

The answer was: Because I'll be lonely.

Du Juan's reply came from below, but it sounded like a whisper in her ear. Following her heart's desire, Lin Jiade slowly, slowly wrapped his arms around her back, gently placing them on her back, first just his fingertips, then his entire palm.

"The Celestial Observers are the archetypes of myths throughout the Empire, but we are not entirely identical to those myths. In some ways, we are no different from ordinary mortals... for example, loneliness."

The more girls you meet, the more influence they exert on you. Even if it's good for my job, I sometimes feel uneasy... What if my lover no longer needs me? What if he no longer listens to me?

When loneliness reaches its threshold, I will find you, feel the contract between us, and confirm the fact that you belong to me. This makes me feel at ease until the next time loneliness overflows.

That's why I sometimes surprise you. It's boring and mundane, and I don't want to show you this side of myself.

I'm not perfect; I have weaknesses too. Like any ordinary Homo sapiens girl, I sometimes do silly things for no reason… Are you satisfied with this answer? As proud as I am, will bowing my head and revealing my flaws to you make you happy?

Du Juan's reply was tinged with resentment. She hugged Lin Jiade tightly, and a few seconds later, when she tried to push him away, Lin Jiade grabbed her arm. Du Juan met his gaze, then looked away slightly, glanced at him quickly, and then lowered her head.

"Don't bully me, Lin Jiade," she whispered.

Du Juan exuded a delicate and pitiful aura, her eyes half-closed, her heart-shaped pupils filled with mist. Seeing her like this, Lin Jiade felt his heart clench, the pain making it hard to breathe.

In a moment of impulse, he hugged her and said, "It's okay. Even if Miss Dujuan has one or two flaws, I can accept them."

If my loneliness overflows again and I can't help but do something rash to you, can you forgive me?

"Of course, why would I hold a grudge against you?"

"Is this the truth, or just something to comfort me?"

Lin Jiade patted Du Juan's head: "Honestly, of course, you have to apologize afterwards."

“I will. And thank you for inviting me, Lin Jiade. With your permission, I can do something you did that was ‘reckless’ without any retaliation, as long as I apologize afterwards.”

Du Juan loosened the index finger of her left hand behind her back, and a chain loosened, the pain in Lin Jiade's chest disappeared. While he was still stunned, Du Juan rushed into his arms, wrapped her arms around his neck, and forced him to lower his head.

In his vision, Dujuan's face drew near, her lips touching his. A gunshot rang out, he flinched, and forcefully pushed Dujuan away.

Du Juan wiped her mouth, and the silver-white muzzle of the .44 caliber gun transformed back into her forked purple tongue. The woman pressed herself against him again, her body soft and boneless, melting in his embrace, becoming a closed eggshell that enveloped Lin Jiade, and his reason melted within it.

Inside the enclosed, egg-shaped space, pink spider silk bound Lin Jiade, and Cupid's voice whispered in the young man's ears: "Relax, Lin Jiade, this is just a dream. Once you wake up, nothing will have happened."

After her previous attempt to probe Lin Jiade's body failed, Du Juan cautiously observed him for a period of time. During this period, she subtly and gradually increased her influence on him through contact with him.

Last night's surprise attack on Lin Jiade in the shower was preparation for today's intrusion into her dream. For her divine oracle to be activated, Lin Jiade needs to extend an invitation to her, approve of her actions, and explain the price.

Today, taking advantage of Lin Jiade's insistence on her visit to the shower room yesterday, she first pretended to be humiliated and revealed her own flaws. Using the contrast between her appearance and her personality, she manipulated the chains that bound Lin Jiade's heart, making him feel full of sympathy and affection for her.

So she induced Lin Jiade to speak, fulfilling the conditions for her divine oracle to be activated. Now that everything was in place, with Lin Jiade as the host's consent and the divine oracle binding him, the mysterious power within him would no longer trouble her.

However, the proud Azalea was destined to suffer a setback in this regard. Just as she was about to infiltrate Lin Jiade's spirit and investigate the truth by merging the two of them, a gray aura suddenly broke in and forcibly separated the two of them.

"what?!"

Du Juan didn't know why Jian Lan did this, or how she managed to do it. She only knew that the recent plans to find Lin Jiade had all been wasted because of Jian Lan's intervention, and she would have to spend much more effort to start over.

Chapter 60: Sympathy (additional update)

When the cuckoo peeks at the sword orchid in reality in her dream, the sword orchid is unaware, as she is focused on writing a new recipe for thunder magic. It may not be the most powerful, but it will certainly be the most suitable for Lin Jiade.

To create a spell that suits Lin Jiade, Jianlan must constantly recall Lin Jiade as a person, his courage and sense of responsibility, his recklessness and impulsiveness, his simple kindness, and the awkward situation between him and Jasmine...

Unwittingly, Gladiolus manipulated a carbon pen to write down a joyful musical score, a manifestation of the song in her heart. And at the end of the recipe, her and Lin Jiade's chibi-style figures became the footnote to tonight's work.

"Huh, why did I draw this?"

Gladiolus was amazed by her achievement. She didn't want to show it to Lin Jiade, lest he misunderstand, so she manipulated energy to tear off that part, wanting to keep it as a treasure... But where could she put it?

Gladiolus's elation plummeted to the normal level of an undead. She had no form, no home, and nowhere to hide her treasures. So, she coldly destroyed the painting that held her joy, sending it as fragments into the trash can.

"Ugh."

Even the dead feel tired—this is another lesson Jianlan has learned from her current life. As her thoughts paused, her instinct to focus on the mortal box made her turn around, and she saw Lin Jiade's serene sleeping face.

Gladiolus knew that Lin Jiade's life was caught in multiple battlefronts. The expedition to the Mirror Realm was of paramount importance. In addition, he had complicated emotional entanglements with himself, the lich, Jasmine, Azalea, and Kapok.

Even adults may not be able to sort things out and bring life back to rationality and order when surrounded by people with strong desires and morbid personalities, and a nineteen-year-old student is bound to make even more mistakes.

If Jianlan were in Lin Jiade's situation, she would probably be troubled and unable to sleep, while the young man is fast asleep, his expression completely calm, without the slightest sign of distress.

This is the heroic behavior described by Alexandre Dumas in "The Count of Monte Cristo," but when Gladys turned around because she was tired and saw Lin Jiade's calm appearance, she only felt that she should worry more about the children.

"Is it because you're so naive that you can think so positively and romantically, wanting to keep me in your life?" she muttered.

At least at this moment, Gladys felt that maternal instincts dominated her feelings for Lin Jiade, and she loved Lin Jiade as her own child to fill the void left by her lost family members.

So she floated to Lin Jiade's side, using her energy to pull the blanket over his arms, and then tucked the blanket around him. Lin Jiade, perhaps having a dream, let out a happy humming sound.

Happiness is contagious. Looking at that unguarded face, Jianlan smiled. Her fingers moved closer, and an invisible energy combed through Lin Jiade's hair that was pressed under the pillow. This was a task that required patience and time, and Jianlan happened to have both of these qualities.

“Sweet dreams, my child,” she said.

Just as she was about to separate from Lin Jiade, the situation suddenly changed. Lin Jiade's expression became very philosophical, and following his will, pink energy surged into her body.

Maintaining the status quo of her will link with Lin Jiade is a red line set by Jianlan. As a lich, she must ensure the safety of her phylactery; as a mother, she must protect her child.

Despite being at a disadvantage in terms of strength and not even understanding what was happening, her magical knowledge allowed her to still effectively hinder the spiritual fusion between Dujuan and Lin Jiade.

Du Juan was stopped once again. Her body emerged from Lin Jiade's mouth at the place where she had given the divine message, and in a flash, she took control of Jianlan.

“I think there’s been some misunderstanding between us.” Du Juan suppressed her anger. “There’s a secret about Lin Jiade that I’m curious about. To explore it, you have to delve into his soul. This isn’t an action taken against you.”

“Lin Jiade is in great pain, and I can’t stand by and do nothing. Seeing him suffer is like hurting myself,” Jianlan replied earnestly.

"If we don't uncover that secret, Lin Jiade might suffer even more in the future."

"That is, you are really helping him. I can't trust you. I'm sorry, I'd rather maintain the status quo."

“Maintaining the status quo won’t change anything,” Du Juan said.

"It won't get better, nor will it get worse. I can see that Miss Dujuan is passionate and loves adventure, but you shouldn't force him to keep up with your pace. He... is just a mortal, content with the status quo, and only wants to live a good life with Miss Jasmine."

"It's ironic that a lady would say that."

"Yes, that's why I'm trying my best to make amends to him with a sense of atonement. Maintaining the status quo is the best way to atone. I want to take back his comfortable life. That's the goal I've set for myself."

"What a sacred feeling! Lin Jiade has found a saintly protector for him." Du Juan laughed sarcastically. "You ruined my plans, so please try to please me with yourself."