Chapter 28: One Slash Cuts Through, the Wild Beasts Fall in Vain

Is he really planning to invade Li Bai’s jungle at level one?

It’s not entirely out of the question—after all, Guan Yu is an agile hero, swift and fleet of foot. Around thirty-three seconds in, he could charge into the opponent’s buff, swing his blade, and instantly disrupt the enemy’s plans. If their jungler is attacking the buff and has already used Smite, it would be as infuriating as swallowing a mouthful of sand. What’s more, after that single strike, Guan Yu can quickly retreat to his lane and safely farm under his turret. Usually, he’d only lose a single frontline minion, which is a small price to pay.

But in this match, Lin Hao’s team is on the blue side, with his solo lane in the top lane while the blue buff is in the lower half of the map. If Lin Hao wants to harass the enemy’s blue buff and then make it back across the map to catch the top lane’s wave, that would be wishful thinking.

Of course, Guan Yu could target the red buff instead since it’s closer to top, but most Li Bai players start blue, and the terrain around red is treacherous—once you go in, you might not make it out.

…

In Nine-Tailed Fox’s stream room.

“This one’s a showdown at the summit, boys. I’m pulling out the number one Li Bai in the server—this game is ours!”

“We’re starting blue again. Li Bai’s early jungle should be uncontested; our mid can push the wave fast, and if their mid and support come, they won’t walk away.”

“Mid is off to a good start: Liu Chan’s harassing Jin Chan, and Shen Mengxi has already taken the wave, heading top to catch out Guan Yu. The enemy shouldn’t be able to invade now, so I’ll use Smite early—no reason to wait for cooldowns.”

Nine-Tailed Fox chattered away, his constant commentary keeping the chat lively.

At the thirty-second mark, he professionally checked the mid lane situation: Liu Chan still pestering Jin Chan, Niu Mo nearby trying to mediate, and Shen Mengxi already sprinting top—likely to ambush Guan Yu.

“Gotta say, this cat’s level two is ridiculous—even if he can’t kill Guan Yu, he’ll help Bai Qi secure the river crab.”

So Nine-Tailed Fox used Smite early, ambitious for that one-minute river crab.

But the moment his Smite went off, a mounted warrior burst into the jungle, targeting him with deadly intent.

“What the—why is Guan Yu here?”

No one could have predicted it—Guan Yu hadn’t gone to lane but invaded blue directly.

“Is he just abandoning his wave?”

Now was not the time to wonder. Nine-Tailed Fox’s mind raced for solutions, but none came to him.

He’d already used his triple-dash skill at the start, just to maximize cooldowns, and Smite was spent around thirty-one seconds.

Meanwhile, Lin Hao glanced at the blue buff’s health and couldn’t help but chuckle.

At thirty-three seconds, with the buff at this health, Li Bai had used Smite and skills.

Heh—Nine-Tailed Fox, here I come.

Lin Hao watched as Li Bai, flustered, kept hitting the buff, clinging to a sliver of hope.

The sound of Guan Yu’s horse drew closer, and in a flash he was behind Li Bai, his blade slicing outward.

Nine-Tailed Fox tried to dodge, but Guan Yu’s strike was true—it hit both Li Bai and the buff.

In an instant, Li Bai lost nearly a third of his health.

Guan Yu’s Roaring Slash deals massive damage at all levels; in one blow, Li Bai was left on the brink.

But more importantly, the blue buff was knocked away—disengaged!

The blue buff paused, then sluggishly wandered back to its pit.

Nine-Tailed Fox’s mood plummeted.

“+800 Rage from Nine-Tailed Fox!”

Lin Hao’s stream erupted in laughter.

“Haha, savage move—one slash and the buff’s wasted!”

“And Li Bai had already used Smite!”

“But what about the top wave?”

“Didn’t Hao say earlier? Jungle tempo is more important than lane minions. For a top-tier solo-laner, destroying the enemy jungler’s rhythm early is the real path!”

“I’ve learned something—next time I play Guan Yu, I’m doing this.”

“It depends on the situation! If their jungler saves Smite or their mid doesn’t just abandon lane, you’ll lose your life here.”

Lin Hao didn’t have time to read chat; he was in high spirits.

Eight hundred rage points in one go—delightful!

But he wasn’t done with Li Bai yet. After the slash, Lin Hao instantly activated Sprint.

Behind Guan Yu’s horse, two crimson trails flared to life.

Nine-Tailed Fox’s face darkened.

Enough already!

What are you up to?

The next moment, Lin Hao answered with action.

At the blue buff, he circled rapidly. With Sprint, in just a few seconds, Guan Yu regained his running state.

Meanwhile, Li Bai’s first skill, despite two reworks reducing its cooldown from twelve to eight seconds, was nowhere near ready for this crisis.

Nine-Tailed Fox could only spam ping for backup and click Guan Yu a couple times for good measure.

Soon, Lin Hao’s Guan Yu was running at full tilt once more. With a light tap of his weapon, he knocked Li Bai away again.

Now Li Bai was left with barely half health.

“+500 Rage from Nine-Tailed Fox!”

Will you ever stop?

Even if this is a set play, surely after this push, you’ll Sprint back to top lane?

Still pestering me?

Is this how you play the game?

Was this Guan Yu sent here just to target me?

Nine-Tailed Fox felt the full weight of the focus on him. Luckily, his first skill’s cooldown had just finished, and Guan Yu, still under Sprint, was quickly regaining his running gauge.

“Bring on the wine, let the cups never empty!”

Li Bai dashed in, landing a precise hit as Guan Yu gathered momentum.

“Trying to run again?”

Despite his anger, Nine-Tailed Fox played the details well, refraining from chaining both dashes and stuns. Guan Yu’s sprint requires a buildup, but any crowd control or heavy slow resets it.

So Nine-Tailed Fox slowed Guan Yu with the first skill, holding the second for when the gauge was nearly full, planning to disrupt the charge.

Yet Lin Hao’s Guan Yu simply stopped in place, his broadsword swinging heavily toward Li Bai.

Worse, Lin Hao began auto-attacking while channeling a recall.

Guan Yu had activated Sprint yet didn’t run—instead, he dismounted to duel Li Bai head-on?

Is this a joke?

Nine-Tailed Fox snorted. Pure auto-attacks—does he really think he can outfight me?

Without hesitation, he unleashed the second dash, stabbed, auto-attacked once, then dashed again, returning to his original position.