Chapter 456: White Paper Fan

Everyone nodded and helped Joe Keung onto the vehicle. He finally felt like he could rest for a moment.

“Ah, everyone…” Joe Keung smiled and reclined in his seat. “I haven’t ridden in many cars, so I get a little motion sick. Drive slow and steady, alright?”

“Joe, stop joking around…” The others looked at him with concern. “We don’t have your skills. What if you get hit later?”

“Me, get hit?” Joe grinned suddenly. “Listen up, I just had a new idea!”

Hearing this, everyone felt uneasy.

Though they had fought side by side for a while and had some understanding of Joe’s character, this man always had a new idea every round.

Was it really reliable?

“What’s the idea, Joe?” Out of courtesy, Bai Jiu forced a sweet smile.

“I want all six of you to push the cart together,” Joe said. “Push slowly, and try to keep it as steady as possible.”

“Huh?!” Bai Jiu felt like the word she’d said most since entering this game was “Huh?!”

“Then who’s going to block the balls?!” Chou Ershi widened his eyes.

“Me,” Joe replied. “I won’t bother with the ones flying at you, but I’ll handle the ones coming at me. I’ll catch what I can and dodge the rest. Should be fine.”

Bai Jiu thought about the feasibility of Joe’s plan and immediately felt something was off.

“Joe… I think this method sounds possible, but the margin for error is way too low.”

“Margin for error?”

“If you slip up even once, you’ll die,” Bai Jiu said, glancing at the chair beneath him. “Your chair is on a unicycle, and the unicycle is on ice. The movements you make here will be totally different from those on solid ground.”

“Hmm, you might be right,” Joe nodded. “If I fail to catch even one, that counts as ‘elimination’—which means death.”

“Exactly,” Bai Jiu agreed. “Joe, don’t take unnecessary risks. If it’s just ‘ice balls,’ the rest of us can handle them without much trouble.”

“But…”

“Stop trying to shoulder everything alone,” Bai Jiu insisted. “This is a team game. You’ve already done more than enough for us. Let us protect you this round.”

Joe couldn’t help but smile. In his over twenty years of life, no one had ever said they’d protect him.

“Is that so…?” He nodded and leaned back in his chair again. “Then I trust you.”

Seeing everyone nod in agreement, Joe added, “This round, I’m putting my life in your hands. Even if I die, it’s fine.”

Bai Jiu knew Joe wasn’t speaking out of frustration—it was genuine trust.

“Understood,” she smiled back. “Joe, if you die this round, I’ll slit my own throat first thing.”

The others chuckled. “We’ll do the same.”

“Ha!” Joe nodded approvingly. “Not bad at all, ‘Cat.’ Who knew there were still so many righteous people here?”

“Joe, sit tight. We’re moving out.”

The group began pushing the cart forward. Joe was the third person to ride the “Wooden Ox and Gliding Horse,” and many of them had already pushed for three rounds straight, greatly improving their control over the cart’s stability.

Bai Jiu exchanged glances with Chou Ershi and Ning Shiba, who immediately understood and left the cart to approach “Wenqu.” Unlike Joe, they didn’t get too close, keeping a distance of several meters.

“Why send the troublemaker and the astrologer?” Joe glanced at Luo Shiwu and Yun Shijiu beside him. “These two pretty boys tired already?”

“No,” Bai Jiu shook her head. “Twenty and Eighteen are the most agile in our team. It’s safer with them there.”

“I see…” Joe nodded and gazed at the distant “Wenqu.”

“Wenqu… as in ‘Wenqu Star’?” Joe stroked his chin. “If Wenqu Star descends to earth, wouldn’t that be like the ‘White Paper Fan’ in a gang?”

The thought suddenly struck him as ominous.

Something hidden seemed to swirl in his mind. The first round’s “Pojun” was also “water,” representing the vanguard—the expendable “lackeys” in a gang. But a “White Paper Fan” was different.

Both were “water,” but what set the “White Paper Fan” apart?

“White Paper Fan” and “Red Pole” were the pillars of a gang. If that was the case…

“Don’t catch it!” Joe suddenly shouted. “Hey! ‘White Paper Fans’ kill without a trace—you absolutely cannot catch it!”

Clearly, no one understood what he meant. What did this game have to do with “paper fans”?

*Whoosh!*

A pure white ball suddenly shot out from “Wenqu,” wrapped in swirling mist, flying straight toward Ning Shiba.

Her eyes narrowed coldly as she imitated Joe’s earlier move, striking at the white ball.

*Crack!*

Just like the coal ball, the white ball shattered with a crisp sound.

But while the coal ball had released black smoke, this one spewed thick white fumes.

Ning Shiba raised her right hand, now covered in rolling white mist, but she felt nothing unusual at first.

She lightly rubbed her fingers against the mist—and the next second, she let out a bloodcurdling scream.

“AHH!!”

Clutching her hand, she wailed in agony, her face twisted in pain.

“Damn it!” Joe immediately stood up to check on her, only to remember he couldn’t leave the cart.

Chou Ershi quickly knelt beside Ning Shiba to examine her hand. The situation was dire—her fingertips were coated in frost, as if instantly frostbitten.

“Is… is this dry ice?” Frowning, Chou picked up a white fragment from the ground. The moment he touched it, an intense chill pierced his fingertips. “No… but how could dry ice cause instant frostbite? Is it really that cold?”

He hastily dropped the fragment. Cold vapor rose from it, but nowhere near enough to cause instant frostbite. Then what…?

Ning Shiba felt like her right hand had completely lost sensation.

“The ball… there’s something inside…” She gritted her teeth. “The ball’s just a shell… it’s filled with something!”

Only then did Chou notice the ground around them had frosted over, as though something had spilled across a one-meter radius.

Bai Jiu frowned in thought, piecing it together. Though she didn’t know the specifics, she guessed the Earthly Horse had packed some ultra-cold liquid inside a dry ice ball, ensuring anyone who broke it would suffer instant injury.

“Just like a ‘White Paper Fan’…” Joe muttered darkly. “Outwardly pure and cold, but vicious to the core.”