Love, Gun, Cupid

Lin Jiade let out a painful groan in his dream, and Jasmine whispered, "No, you can't keep thinking about this! Lin Jiade used the Submission Magic... something that, from his perspective, should be called the Submission Oracle, to strengthen the connection between you."

Your nothingness will corrode Lin Jiade through the will link. Do you want him, who has fought for you all this time, to suffer even more?!

“Yes, we can’t let Lin Jiade suffer any more…” Jianlan said softly, “As long as we end our relationship…”

“You couldn’t do it, because you didn’t turn Lin Jiade into a death trap; you were just the beneficiary. And based on my personal feelings, I didn’t want you to leave my life. So when he shot you, I didn’t stop him.”

Jianlan was somewhat surprised: "Why? You're his girlfriend. Aren't you angry to see me and him getting closer, and him taking the absolute initiative?"

Jasmine looked her straight in the eye and said, "...Of course I'd be angry. When I saw Lin Jiade staring at you, I wanted to use lightning magic to send you to the afterlife—"

"You're a threat. If you live with us, whether intentionally or unintentionally, you'll definitely steal some of Lin Jiade's attention from me."

Chapter Seventy: Gothic Novels

"You tolerated it because attacking me would hurt your boyfriend?" Jianlan asked.

"Yes, I made some excuses to accept your presence, but I couldn't sleep that night. I was so angry that I wanted to punch the wall, but it was a load-bearing wall, and I didn't want Lin Jiade to see me in such a state, so I held back."

“That was truly… a remarkable sacrifice,” Jianlan said.

Jasmine looked at Jianlan: "My murderous intent towards you stemmed from my fear of a stranger intruding into my once peaceful life, but gradually, I came to realize that you are not a bad person, but rather beneficial to my and Lin Jiade's life."

Because of your existence, you filled the emotional need that Lin Jiade and I both had, which was the love from our elders.

Lin Jiade's parents both work for the power system in another city. Since the New Year, Lin Jiade has only seen them five times, and each time they could only spend a short time together. He didn't say it, but he was very afraid of being lonely, and Du Juan and I couldn't play that role.

“I know something about his situation, but what about you?” Jianlan said. “The gaze of the Red Dragon’s offspring is so intense. I can feel your burning gaze sweeping over me every day, and the emotions you project are also changing.”

Jasmine replied, "As for me, I lost both my parents when I was twelve. I have always longed for my parents, constantly idealizing them in my memory and imagining what kind of life we ​​would have lived if they were still here."

The temperament you exude matches my ideal of an elder, which is one of the reasons why I don't object to you staying in our lives.

Later, I used learning to cook as an excuse to work with you in the kitchen, just to confirm this feeling. I confirmed it: living with you feels warm and comforting; you bring the flavor of life to this home…

This is the scene I long for, but because of Lin Jiade, I've always been somewhat wary of my feelings for you. Occasionally, I'll have wild thoughts about what you and Lin Jiade might be doing when I can't see them.

Gladiolus looked slightly embarrassed: "But I don't have a physical form. Even if I really had those kinds of thoughts, I couldn't possibly let Lin Jiade face thin air..."

Jasmine whispered, "Later, when I realized that it would be difficult for you to recover completely and rebuild your body, I felt a despicable joy—you will never get his seed, and his 'current account' will belong to me."

“If we switched places, I might have had the same thought,” Jianlan said.

"So, stay here, stay in our lives, and let's all live happily together."

Gladiolus was momentarily moved, but quickly covered her face: "But what you love is actually the mixture of Gladiolus's knowledge and Korobochka's personality. What am I, anyway, a Frankenstein's monster of blue and gray?"

Jasmine shook her head: "That doesn't matter, madam. To us, you are the Gladiolus we love, not the Gladiolus the magic researcher, not the sorcerer Korobochka, but our Gladiolus."

Gladiolus is just a name; others can use it, and so can you. We don't care if you replace someone else. I just want you to stay in our lives.

If Lin Jiade were here, he would probably say, "Don't think about a word the enemy says, don't believe a word they say. You are Jianlan, and anyone who dares to deny it will be beaten until they admit it." Only in this way can he have a clear mind.

Jianlan smiled weakly: "I advised him not to act so recklessly, or he would suffer the consequences."

“I think your situation requires his brutality.”

As Jianlan listened to Jasmine's narration, she filled in the blanks in her mind and felt a little better. The image of that young man constantly defending himself and his enemies became a strong net preventing her from completely falling into nothingness and destruction.

"Jasmine, Jasmine, in your eyes, your boyfriend is just a muscle-bound, simple-minded, and stubborn guy."

Lin Jiade's weak voice came from the bedroom. Jasmine stood up in surprise and watched as Du Juan helped him up, saying, "It's nothing. He's just been drained of energy and is in a weak state. He just needs some energy input."

Lin Jiade nodded: "Right now I feel as good as if I drank an ice-cold sugar-free Coke after playing football."

"Sugar-free Coke? Your taste is weird." Du Juan shrugged. "Coke without sugar, is it even still Coke?"

People have all sorts of tastes, and Lin Jiade had no intention of arguing. He looked at Du Juan and said, "Thank you this time. I will repay you."

Du Juan poked his lower abdomen with her finger: "A perfunctory verbal thank you doesn't count as repaying a debt of gratitude. If you want to repay me, let me draw more energy from your love."

"That's wonderful. Jasmine and I love each other, just like 1+1=5, it's a very basic and eternal fact."

"Lin Jiade, 1+1=2," Jasmine said sternly. "Who else do you have outside?"

Just as Lin Jiade was about to speak, he felt a gaze upon him. He looked over, and Jianlan, unable to dodge in time, smiled at him. She lowered her head, hiding behind Jasmine, and said, "I'm sorry, I... I acted so uselessly and passed this terrible feeling on to you."

I'm an adult... or maybe I'm not... how should I define myself?

Seeing that Gladiolus was about to fall into a vicious cycle of self-doubt again, Lin Jiade said, "Then, just as Jasmine said, you are our Gladiolus."

Gladiolus looked at Azalea. In the shower room of the martial arts classroom, Azalea's deliberate manipulation made her believe that she was Korobochka's intelligence, which led to her breakdown when facing the pale woman today.

The price that Du Juan demanded based on the intelligence proved that Cupid had foreseen from the beginning that she would encounter a situation of self-doubt, and at this time he took advantage of the situation to bind her to Lin Jiade's side forever.

Submitting to the oracle made Lin Jiade her de facto master, but the spellcasting tools, energy, and rituals were all lent to her by Cupid, meaning that the cuckoo also possessed the ability to directly interfere with her.

Jianlan glared at Dujuan with resentment. Dujuan put her finger to her lips, making a silencing gesture. Jianlan's chest pattern glowed, and instantly her will yielded. All her anger was locked inside her mouth.

"..."

Gladiolus was unable to reveal the truth, and her impotent rage was of no use. She could only calm herself down. Fortunately, the dead are easier to calm down than the living. At this moment, the light from the pattern on her chest also dimmed.

Tragically, the truth could not be revealed, but the terms of the exchange she had agreed to had to be fulfilled. Gladiolus, or perhaps no one at all, denied herself, but Lin Jiade still longed for her to live, so she could only stay by his side and live for him.

“It’s just like the development of worthless Gothic novels,” she muttered.

Chapter 71 Possibilities (Bonus Chapter)

Lin Jiade heard this. Although he didn't understand what a Gothic novel was (he misheard), he knew that the sword orchid would not disappear before his eyes.

"My promise remains unchanged, Ms. Jianlan. I will definitely help you regain your memories and send you back to your family."

As Lin Jiade spoke, he let out a big yawn. Yawns are contagious, and Jasmine, who felt her eyes were a little drowsy, leaned against him.

Jianlan said, "Never mind, we have plenty of time. You should rest first."

"Ah."

Lin Jiade yawned again and said as the gray phantom reached the door, "No matter what you think, madam, even if you hate me, I think it's great that you can continue to be a part of my life."

Jianlan turned around, looked at him with a complicated expression, and said, "How could I possibly hate you?"

She prepared to use her energy to close the door for her weary lover, but remembering that Lin Jiade didn't have much energy, she lowered her hand, and Du Juan did the work for her. She muffled her voice and said, "I can feel it; all your hatred is directed at me."

“I hate you, and I hate my own stupidity. Lin Jiade followed your teachings again and achieved the victory he needed in a reckless way.”

Both you and I gave him guidance. He was initially confused, unsure of who was right between us. However, after comparing my disheveled state and failure with your composure and victory, he subconsciously rejected my guidance.

No, after he considered my teachings to be wrong, he felt even more guilty towards you, which further solidified the correctness of your teachings in his mind. I became a pawn in your scheme of praising first and then suppressing later.

How laughable! I naively believed I had a chance to wrest him back from you and guide him onto the right path. Now, bound by the oracle of submission, I have utterly lost my competition with you.

I can't say a word that would be detrimental to you. Once you continue exploring the mysteries of Lin Jiade, I can no longer stop you.

"Your words make it sound like I'm a scheming, wicked woman who's weaving a web to ensnare you," Du Juan laughed. "Everything requires evidence. Do you have any evidence to prove me wrong?"

“I didn’t, but if you put yourself in my shoes and push things forward with your own subjective will, then many of the things that puzzled me can be explained.”

"I ask you, on October 4th at West Ham Hospital, due to a fatal mistake, the easiest to control, weakest, and least dangerous of the three Gladiolus within Gladiolus's body, I, and Lin Jiade, made contact and signed a contract. How do you explain this?"

“You’re very lucky,” Du Juan said.

“You were with Lin Jiade at the time, so it’s impossible that you were unresponsive to a spell targeting your contractor’s soul… So, I was chosen, right? Of the three Gladiolus, you chose me, the easiest to control.”

Du Juan tilted her head: "Is this a story? You assume I did everything, and then try to pin everything on me. That's going too far, ma'am."

Dujuan spoke words of sorrow, but a cruel smile lingered in her eyes. Jianlan really wanted to slap her, but she couldn't possibly hit Dujuan; Dujuan, on the other hand, had many ways to humiliate her.

Jianlan held back and continued, "However, there is one thing I am very clear about: my self-awareness has always been a landmine. Even if you don't lie to me, when I meet that magic researcher Jianlan, she will expose me, and my self-awareness will be in crisis."

Gladiolus looked up: "But I won't forgive you for that. What you did was like seeing a landmine in my path and then planting more mines in that area."

"I will kneel before you as long as you still have the strength to surpass me," Gladiolus added in her heart.

Du Juan gave Jianlan an approving look. Although the latter was angry, she still saw the situation clearly, restrained her anger, and made the right choice by being flexible and adaptable.

Lin Jiade and Jasmine are both impulsive, needing someone to act as the brakes in their lives… Gladiolus, with such qualities, is undoubtedly the best candidate. Even without the self-awareness landmine, Azalea would have thought of other ways to keep Gladiolus in Lin Jiade and Jasmine's lives.

If Gladiolus had acted at this moment, Azalea's plan could have been implemented immediately, but Gladiolus did not, so Azalea regretfully withdrew the means she had originally prepared for "self-defense".

"So, what are your plans for the future?" Du Juan asked.

"I don't know, I don't even know how to define myself."

Du Juan said, "Then let me sort it out for you. There are currently three Gladiolus: you, the Gladiolus itself, and Korobochka."

The contract you signed directly with Lin Jiade maintains the existence of the other two Gladiolus. The Gladiolus in its true form possesses a false secret and is planning to cause trouble; Korobochka's soul is still in a fragmented state and is being collected by personnel belonging to the Empire.

First question: Do you think Korobochka could be reforged by the Empire?

Jianlan pondered for a moment: "To reforge Korobochka, we need to find the core fragment that records her personality—I am not. I only partially possess fragments of her personality, and at least 80% of the fragments related to memories and sorcery knowledge, in order to reforge a Korobochka whose memories are incomplete but who is used by the Empire."

Given the Empire's gathering capabilities, I think it's possible.

"Second question: Do you think Korobochka could be reforged by Gladiolus?" Dujuan asked.

"What's the problem?" Jianlan frowned. "Theoretically, it's possible. Ignoring the possibility of a sound personality, if we only want to create a tool, we just need to find the core fragment of Korobochka and the fragments that record knowledge of witchcraft... wait!"

Du Juan smiled and said, "Jianlan seized the wrong secret for some purpose and betrayed the empire. Why do you think she wouldn't dare to reforge a tool called Korobochka to increase her chances of winning?"

A master of top-tier sorcery could wipe out the six teams the Empire sent to the Mirror Realm in just a few minutes. If the Empire reacts, they'll send experts to hunt her down, but what do you think she'll do during that time?"

"To achieve her personal goals?"

Du Juan shrugged: "I think so, but it's just a guess."

The most ingenious part is that you can't reveal this to the Empire, because the Empire could very well cast a curse spell on you, jump into the body of the sword-wielding warrior, and kill him, eliminating the threat in the most cost-effective way.

Lin Jiade cherishes you like a treasure; he wouldn't bear to see you die.

“Actually, we could just pretend we don’t know.” Du Juan shook her finger. “Get Lin Jiade out of this mess, and you can all go back to your peaceful lives. Coincidentally, there are people I want to get rid of in those six squads.”

There are a total of 71 chapters owed, of which 25 have been paid, leaving 46 chapters to be paid.

Chapter Seventy-Two: The Worm X

Gladiolus tried to say, "Kapok?"

"You guessed right. Kapok's greed for Lin Jiade is no less than mine. People with the same attributes will always repel each other when they get together. I said, do you want me to help you get rid of Gladiolus and Korobochka? That way you will be the only Gladiolus and will never have to worry about who you are again."

"Can a Celestial Observer...do that?"

“Of course not,” Du Juan said, a dangerous glint in her eyes. “But there are always more solutions than problems, aren’t there? You see, you still have choices for your future.”

"Let me think about it some more," Jianlan said.

Du Juan shrugged, turned off the light, and disappeared from the living room, leaving Jianlan alone in the darkness. Since regaining consciousness, Jianlan was experiencing the most intense loneliness, a loneliness that turned into a chill, making even the dead feel cold.