Forbidden Command

Fatty seemed to be struck by a sudden realization and instantly sprang to his feet. The ten of hearts in his hand began to glow, and a massive image of a tortoise appeared before him.

"Void Resonance!"

With his command, a surge of overwhelming force blasted away all of Zhang Yisheng’s scalpels, sending both Sumu and him crashing into the distant woods. I was caught in the shockwave as well and lost consciousness almost immediately.

When I finally came to, I realized that Chen Hao had slung me over his shoulder, and Lin Wan was standing in front of Qian Duoduo, offering a few words of comfort to the portly man. Then, Lin Wan called out to Zhang Yisheng and Sumu.

"Are you two alright? This is a team battle, you know!"

But the only response Lin Wan received was a gleaming scalpel. Instantly, Lin Wan’s "Acceleration" ability from the ancient black spade ruler activated, allowing him to dodge Zhang Yisheng’s attack with ease. He chuckled and said, "Zhang Yisheng, are you trying to show you’re not interested in negotiating?"

Zhang Yisheng leapt forward, closing the gap in a few strides. With a sweeping gesture, a dense storm of scalpels howled toward Lin Wan, forming a deadly web. Lin Wan sidestepped in a single, fluid motion, evading every blade.

Then, something unexpected happened. Lin Wan tripped during his movement. Zhang Yisheng seized the opportunity, gripping a scalpel and thrusting it straight for Lin Wan’s heart!

"Watch out!" I shouted in alarm as I saw Lin Wan about to be struck.

Sumu had already wrapped Lin Wan’s legs tightly with plants, rendering him completely immobile.

Chen Hao patted my back reassuringly. "Don’t worry about Lin Wan, Zijian. He’s not so easy to take down. Just stay put." Behind us, Fatty Qian watched the one-on-two nervously.

Zhang Yisheng’s scalpel landed precisely at Lin Wan’s heart, but in the next instant, a look of triumph on his face turned to utter disbelief as his brow furrowed.

The sound was wrong.

The noise of a scalpel piercing flesh was nothing like the dull thud of earth, and there wasn’t a trace of blood.

It was as though Zhang Yisheng had been kicked hard; he lost his balance and fell to the ground. The real Lin Wan appeared behind him.

"Sumu, attack him!" Zhang Yisheng realized his speed was no match for Lin Wan, and his only hope was for Sumu to bind Lin Wan and restrict his movement. Only then could he possibly land a hit. Though he hated involving others in his own fights, Lin Wan’s abilities left him no choice but to cooperate with Sumu again.

But before Sumu could act, Lin Wan spoke first.

"Sumu, are you sure you want to make a move?"

Sumu ignored him and sent his vines snaking forward.

Lin Wan remained calm, producing a strange slip of paper with Sumu’s name written on it. The moment he revealed the slip, Sumu’s attack ceased abruptly, and he collapsed as if struck by lightning.

Sensing things had taken a turn, Zhang Yisheng readied his scalpel for another go—but Lin Wan seemed to have lost interest in continuing the fight. He pulled out another slip, this one bearing Zhang Yisheng’s name. He even turned the paper around for Zhang Yisheng to see. Seeing the back, Zhang Yisheng paused, then put away his weapon, hefted Sumu over his shoulder, and made to leave.

"Hey, Zhang Yisheng, we’re not enemies here. Why not join us?" Lin Wan called after him, unconcerned about their recent fight. After all, contract holders were still rare; it was worth recruiting any he could.

"Zhang Yisheng, it’s not like there’s a grudge between us," I added.

Zhang Yisheng let out a cold laugh. "No, there isn’t. But—"

"I prefer to work alone."

"Then… what about Sumu?" Lin Wan asked carefully.

Zhang Yisheng looked back at him. "Heh, we’re just cooperating, nothing more. In this game, there are no friends. You all know that collecting the playing cards is the only way out. So, any contract holder is my enemy."

"But Zhang Yisheng!" I signaled for Chen Hao to bring me over. "There are other ways! Didn’t they say finding the hidden Jokers also ends the game? There’s no need for all fifty-two of us to kill each other!"

Lin Wan and Chen Hao nodded in agreement. "Zhang Yisheng, work with us. One person’s strength is limited."

Zhang Yisheng just smiled and walked away without looking back.

After resting quietly for a while, I finally regained my energy. Using my abilities so frequently had left me unusually exhausted.

The first thing I did was check on Fatty Qian. Normally he was all jokes and grins, but after the encounter with Zhang Yisheng and Sumu, he seemed petrified, huddled in a corner without saying a word.

Chen Hao tried to cheer him up with a constant stream of lousy jokes.

My attention, though, was on those slips of paper Lin Wan had used.

"Lin Wan, um…"

"Yes?" Lin Wan set aside his origami and walked over.

"What are those slips you used?" I asked directly. After everything we’d been through, I figured I could trust him.

"Oh, these?" Lin Wan pulled a whole stack from his pocket.

I glanced at them. The names included Zhang Yisheng, Sumu, Lin Xiayue, Han Xue, and several I didn’t recognize.

"Are these ban commands?" I asked.

Lin Wan nodded. I picked up Sumu’s slip. The paper felt unusual, nearly indestructible. The front bore a name, the back a single character:

"Move."

"What does this mean?" I asked, curious to hear Lin Wan, the strategist, explain.

"This game is obviously unfair. Pitting contract holders against ordinary people—ordinary folks are just cannon fodder. But to balance things out, they introduced the ban command principle at the start. If you induce someone to perform a specified action, their movement is forcibly prohibited."

I listened quietly. "But we’ve seen forced restrictions before, haven’t we?"

Lin Wan shook his head. "Last time, at most, you lost partial control over your body. This time, you’re completely immobilized. Anyone could kill you in that state."

"So this gives ordinary people a fair chance to kill contract holders," I mused.

"Exactly! That’s why Sumu dropped so suddenly. The ban command is simple to use: just reveal it, and the target is done for. Like with Zhang Yisheng—if he hadn’t left, he wouldn’t have been able to anymore."

"I see." With the ban commands able to completely restrict contract holders’ actions, at least for this round, Zhang Yisheng and Sumu wouldn’t trouble us.

"Give me Han Xue’s command; I’ll hide it. We can’t let anyone else get it."

Lin Wan handed me the slip with Han Xue’s name, which I stowed safely in my clothes.

"I think these bans are meant for contract holders. None of the names are ordinary people," Lin Wan whispered, gathering up the remaining slips.

Fatty Qian had mostly recovered by now, though he still looked pale. Chen Hao brought him over.

"Don’t be nervous, Qian. We’re tough—we’re not going to die!" Chen Hao said, clapping him heartily on the shoulder. Qian forced a stiff smile.

Just as we were about to leave, we heard someone calling our names.

"Lin Wan?"

"Qian Duoduo?"

"And is that Lu Ling and Sun Cheng?"

The four of us turned instinctively. What we saw were four raised slips of paper and a man and woman brandishing guns.

"Damn!" Lin Wan’s warning was cut short as he collapsed instantly, Qian Duoduo following suit in a shudder.

"Not bad! We caught two contract holders this time," the man with the gun said proudly.

"You’re amazing, brother," the girl beside him gushed.

"As for the rest of you, you can die now…"

The man aimed the gun at me and pulled the trigger.

Unfortunately for him, my light shield had already been activated and perfectly blocked the attack. The bullets posed no threat.

"Well, well, you’re a contract holder too!" The man didn’t seem the least bit frightened by my power. On the contrary, he brightened, gazing affectionately at the girl beside him. "Your turn, Meimei."

Meimei produced a playing card.

"The two of hearts!"