Chapter 120: What on earth? How did you let them get away?

"What is this? How could you let them get away?" Han Han complained.

However, turning his head, he saw a Nakoruru chasing toward their position from the rear. Han Han had no choice but to set Guan Yu aside for a moment and deal with Nakoruru first. Pei Qinhu used his energy wave and basic attacks on Nakoruru, while Nakoruru chose to retreat to create distance. Nakoruru's skills were still on cooldown, and Han Han’s Pei Qinhu managed his positioning perfectly, using ranged attacks and the slow effect from the Red Buff to wear him down.

However, behind him and Yuange, Guan Yu had re-entered his galloping state and was charging back!

"Death Cleave!"

Lin Hao gauged the distance with surgical precision. He slashed into thin air, and the edge of Guan Yu's blade aura struck Yuange perfectly!

"Anger points from Yuange +600."

Han Han widened his eyes: "What the hell? How did that even hit? What on earth are you doing, Yuange?"

If Yuange hadn't died, Pei Qinhu could have covered his retreat or even turned back with him to counter-engage Nakoruru. But with Yuange dead, it was truly over. They were caught in a pincer attack. Although Guan Yu and Nakoruru weren't in great shape, it was still a two-on-one!

Han Han could only grumble as he switched into tiger form and pounced from the inner brush, retreating toward his tower. This trip to the top lane had failed to contain Nakoruru, failed to kill Guan Yu, and ended up costing them the life of Yuange.

One had to realize that Yuange was different from other side-lane heroes. He was inherently squishy and couldn't soak up damage; he relied on the high burst damage of his puppet to dictate the tempo. Once the game turned into a losing position and his items fell behind, Yuange became truly useless—he had no damage output and couldn't survive incoming hits, effectively becoming a dead weight.

Han Han checked the Yuange player's microphone. Good grief, he had already muted it; it seemed he had decided to become a silent player. He might have even blocked Han Han. Han Han couldn't do anything about it. The Yuange player wasn't throwing the game or trolling; he actually had a provincial ranking badge, and Han Han had seen his peak ranking—over 1000th place—upon entering the match, so he wasn't a bottom-tier player. It was likely just that the opposing top laner was too strong; after all, he was in the top ten of the peak leaderboard.

Thinking of this, Han Han felt a headache coming on. Forget it, he would just attack the bottom lane instead. In the bottom lane, the combination of Li Yuanfang and Niu Mo, plus Mozi as the mid-laner, meant that the bottom lane tower should be easy to pressure.

...

After Lin Hao returned to the lane, he noticed that the opposing Yuange’s playstyle had become cautious. He was no longer trading with him, and he didn't even use his puppet to dash in and poke Lin Hao.

"This Yuange has been intimidated by my overwhelming aura," Lin Hao looked at the mini-map. "Pei Qinhu showed up in the mid lane; based on his jungling path, he’s likely heading to the bottom lane to pressure the tower soon."

Lin Hao’s teammates were also gathering toward the bottom lane.

"Dive that Yuange!"
"Keep pressuring Yuange, let them fight four-on-four in the bottom lane!"
"How about a hat-trick!"

The fans had seen Lin Hao use Ma Chao to crush many Yuange players, often including tower dives. Seeing the advantage in the lane, they wanted to see Lin Hao perform another tower dive.

"Diving Yuange as Guan Yu isn't easy. The damage is too singular, and the margin for error is too low. I need to give up my lane and head to the bottom."

A good Guan Yu player must know when it is reasonable to abandon their lane. Most of the time, the game's tempo is more important than minion waves or defensive towers, but one must keep up with the pace. You can't leave your lane to support, only to arrive after the teammates have already finished the fight, and find that your own tower has been destroyed. That would be a net loss.

Taking advantage of having just cleared a wave, and with the next wave just leaving the base, Lin Hao bypassed the mid lane. Skirting the edge of the first middle tower, he remained out of sight. Lin Hao went straight through the mid-lane brush, bypassed the river, and entered the enemy's red zone.

Guan Yu’s "horse eyes" remained dark the whole way. The position was clear: all four enemies were camping in the bottom lane!

Just then, on Lin Hao's side, Di Renjie, who was clearing minions, was suddenly hit by a blast from Mozi in the river! Di Renjie reacted quickly, using his second skill to cleanse the stun instantly! However, a cataclysmic shockwave erupted from the brush—Niu Mo had been hiding his vision in the brush and used his ultimate combined with Flash to slam into him!

Li Yuanfang immediately rolled in, cast his first skill followed by his ultimate, and began unleashing basic attacks, dumping all his high burst damage! In an instant, Di Renjie was surrounded, his health dropping rapidly!

The enemy had made the first move!

Sulei, hiding in another inner brush near Di Renjie's tower, rushed over and used his second skill to push them away, trying to peel for his teammate! At this moment, Di Renjie had just regained his ability to move and used Flash to retreat, but the four-layer mark from Li Yuanfang detonated, leaving Di Renjie with only a sliver of health!

Han Han’s Pei Qinhu made his move.

An excellent assassin needs to find the right moment to enter the fray and deliver the killing blow. Of course, it is also possible that he didn't arrive in time...

He started in tiger form, used his second skill to vault over the river wall, quickly dived into the tower, switched to human form, and fired off a basic attack! At this moment, Di Renjie seemed to have escaped, retreating back into the tower! Pei Qinhu's attack range seemed insufficient!

Han Han performed a very detailed maneuver. He clicked the "attack tower" button! Pei Qinhu’s enhanced basic attack from switching forms triggered!

Boom!

While striking the tower, the splash damage also hit the fleeing Di Renjie. Di Renjie’s health bar was instantly wiped out! The first basic attack after Pei Qinhu switches to human form is actually a fan-shaped AOE attack. Han Han’s choice to attack the tower rather than moving closer to target Di Renjie was a very subtle play, allowing him to avoid taking a significant amount of tower damage.

"Di Renjie is down, the enemies are done for!" Han Han retreated quickly, saying this while attacking Sulei, the support on Lin Hao’s side.

However, at this moment, the two damage dealers on Lin Hao’s side arrived on the front line. Nakoruru flew in from the blue zone and slammed directly into Pei Qinhu, likely because Pei Qinhu had dived deep into the tower range.

Han Han felt a surge of joy. Nakoruru didn't go for Li Yuanfang, which meant his own team's marksman had guaranteed space to output damage; this team fight was secure. At this moment, Mozi from Han Han’s side arrived quickly from the river, using his first skill followed by an ultimate-flash, pinning Nakoruru down!

On the other side, Sulei was forced to retreat by Li Yuanfang’s Flash, and then the kiting began. It looked like Lin Hao’s side was finished.

Just then, behind Han Han and the others, the sound of Guan Yu’s horse hooves emerged from the silence, growing closer and clearer.