Chapter 119: Luring the Tiger Away from the Mountain

Both sides continued to farm, finally reaching level four.

In the mid lane, a skirmish broke out; Sun Bin and Shiranui Mai coordinated to take down Mozi. Of course, Shiranui Mai’s health was not in a great state either.

Once Lin Hao reached level four, he cleared the minion wave with decisive speed. He knew that as long as Yuan Ge dared to attempt a positional swap or a puppet bind, he could immediately trigger his ultimate to retaliate. After all, Yuan Ge had already burned his Flash.

"Pei Qinhu is likely coming. Yuan Ge’s positioning feels a bit too confident. The enemy tiger’s route was probably to teleport home, start at the red buff, and then clear upward to initiate a play. A standard sequence."

Having merged his god-tier skills in movement and awareness, Lin Hao had even invested points into psychology. An average psychologist observes micro-expressions to determine a person's attitude and infer their intentions. Lin Hao, however, observed the enemy’s positioning and could deduce whether they had come for a gank.

Under normal circumstances, since the Tiger had lost so much time early on, even if he skipped the river crab, he wouldn't have been able to clear his entire jungle and reach the top lane at this exact moment. There was only one possibility: he hadn't cleared the full jungle; he had likely finished the buff and arrived at the top lane just in time for the minion wave. Pei Qinhu wasn't heavily reliant on his ultimate to start ganking since he had it from the beginning, allowing him to jungle in an unconventional manner.

At this moment, Lin Hao’s own jungler, Nakoruru, was already crouching in the river brush. The Tiger was in the inner lane brush.

Thinking this, Lin Hao pinged Nakoruru and tapped the portrait of the enemy jungler, Pei Qinhu, signaling that he had arrived at the top lane.

"An excellent hunter often appears in the form of the prey."

As the minion waves collided, Lin Hao moved from the inner lane, skirting the right side of the wave to join the lane. The opposing Yuan Ge saw this and chose to approach from the other side. This resulted in both laners seemingly unaware, moving closer to the jungler crouching in wait for them.

Han Han had been crouching in the outer brush since before the minions arrived.

"Yuan Ge, if you see an opening, initiate immediately! Break his horse's legs!" Han Han commanded.

At that moment, Lin Hao’s positioning shifted slightly forward. He appeared to be heading behind the minion wave, ready to turn and cleave to clear the minions and contest level four. The Yuan Ge player’s eyes lit up, and he immediately cast his second and first skills!

But right then, Lin Hao suddenly jerked his character to the side!

The edge of the second skill barely grazed the horse’s hindquarters, but it dealt no damage! This was perfect distance control! The Yuan Ge player had already released his puppet, so he simply continued to control it in pursuit.

Han Han also anticipated the distance, stepping out from the brush to land a basic attack on Guan Yu before fully revealing himself. If Pei Qinhu’s enhanced basic attack had landed, the Red Buff’s slow would have been applied, and without his Sprint ability, Guan Yu would have been essentially finished.

However, Lin Hao’s control over distance was too precise. With that single pivot, Pei Qinhu lost his target. Consequently, even as he lunged from the brush, he failed to bite Guan Yu! Naturally, the skill’s auto-targeting mechanism didn't make him stupidly attack a nearby minion; it just chased Guan Yu.

*Damn it, how did this Guan Yu suddenly dodge?*

Seeing the distance was insufficient, Han Han grew anxious and tapped his second skill! Using Pei Qinhu’s second skill without a wall to jump off of was costly—not only was energy wasted, but it dealt little damage. Yet, in this situation, closing the gap was the priority.

However, Lin Hao’s Guan Yu executed another charge at that exact moment. He had actually shaken off Pei Qinhu!

Han Han was stunned. *Is this enemy Guan Yu poisonous? Why does he create distance the exact moment I’m about to engage?*

Han Han continued to pursue, but he seemed to have lost his cool, forgetting something important.

Lin Hao smiled slightly, whispering to himself: "This trick is called, luring the tiger away from the mountain."

At the edge of vision, Nakoruru finally emerged from the river. This Nakoruru knew how to find an opening; when Yuan Ge approached the lane, he didn't immediately jump in, knowing he couldn't burst Yuan Ge down in one combo and would only be countered.

Now, he dove in—*Rising Sky*, followed by his ultimate’s impact, a dash with his second skill, and a follow-up basic attack. The damage burst was instantaneous. Yuan Ge’s health plummeted to below one-third!

Seeing the state of his main body, the Yuan Ge player gritted his teeth and chose to swap positions! Should he retract the puppet and run to the tower? He wasn't level four yet, had only his third skill, and was still some distance from the defensive tower; he might not make it. More importantly, it felt cowardly. He had just been outplayed by Guan Yu moments ago and was seething with frustration.

He chose to swap, hoping to coordinate with Pei Qinhu to burst down Guan Yu before turning back to deal with Nakoruru.

"Aim your cross-slash properly!" Han Han shouted, seeing Yuan Ge move up. This was it—do or die!

Han Han finally waited for the moment to switch to human form! He immediately activated his ultimate, Pei Qinhu switched forms, and he followed up with a basic attack, striking Guan Yu’s hindquarters. He immediately layered on the slow from his first skill!

Just then, Lin Hao’s hands moved with lightning speed, tapping his second skill.

Instant cleanse!

The energy bar beneath Guan Yu’s health flickered with a slow for a split second before immediately beginning to recover! Next came Yuan Ge’s cross-slash. Relying on the movement speed boost from the swap and the momentary slow from Pei Qinhu, Yuan Ge finally reached Guan Yu!

Guan Yu had entered the range of the cross-slash, if only for a fraction of a second! The Yuan Ge player seized the moment and launched the strike!

Lin Hao saw Yuan Ge’s speed boost and knew the cross-slash was coming. If he were slowed, he would be caught in Pei Qinhu’s basic attack chain and wouldn't be able to run. In this critical moment, Lin Hao jerked his character toward the river!

The cross-slash missed!

*Phew.* Lin Hao breathed a sigh of relief. It was fortunate that this Yuan Ge was only average; if he were a mechanical master, dodging that cross-slash would have been nearly impossible. After all, his movement space was limited—he couldn't dodge upward, or he would enter Pei Qinhu’s attack range.

The opportunity had lasted only a moment. Guan Yu had escaped.

"Rage points from Han Han +500."
"Rage points from Yuan Ge +600."

Lin Hao received the notifications for their rage points. He chuckled, "It’s not over yet."

Right now, Yuan Ge’s health was below one-third—exactly within the execute range of his blade!