Chapter Seventy-Four: The Cross Slash That Relies Solely on Technique

As Shen Mengxi was just charging up his ultimate, he took advantage of the elevated perspective it granted him, seeing everything with remarkable clarity. Yuan Ge’s maneuvers were dazzlingly skillful. However… he had already used his fourth skill! Even in the late game, Yuan Ge’s fourth skill had a cooldown of over ten seconds. Shen Mengxi’s player had some experience with Yuan Ge, and he remembered this detail clearly. So, strike while the iron is hot!

He had already tossed his last ultimate Cat Bomb, so now his plan was to flash forward, finish off Yuan Ge, and then rejoin the team fight. At this moment, Shen Mengxi flashed aggressively toward Lin Hao’s Yuan Ge, hurling a Cat Bomb empowered by his second skill’s burning state straight at him!

In the burning state, Shen Mengxi’s Cat Bomb would lock onto an enemy, and upon impact, would knock them back and then bounce forward a short distance, dealing another round of damage. Both instances of damage dealt by this skill were higher than what Shen Mengxi’s first skill could do by itself!

Given Yuan Ge’s current health, taking these two hits should be fatal—or perhaps just one more basic attack from the Cat would seal the deal. In truth, throughout this entire sequence—from the initial tower dive against Bai Li Shou Yue, to the flashy play against Donghuang, and now—Lin Hao had only taken Shen Mengxi’s ultimate! He dodged every other skill.

Even so, one ultimate from Shen Mengxi had already stripped two-thirds of Yuan Ge’s health. Now, Shen Mengxi rushed in, landed a second skill, and followed up with a basic attack; Lin Hao was as good as gone!

The Cat Bomb struck Yuan Ge, knocking him back before it hit the ground. At that very moment, Lin Hao frantically tapped his flash skill, aiming forward.

Ding!

At last, flash activated. The second burst from the Cat Bomb—the rolling explosion after the knockback—was dodged by Lin Hao’s flash!

Shen Mengxi’s basic attack followed instantly, enhanced by the earlier ignition from the ultimate, and Yuan Ge was left with a sliver of health!

Almost simultaneously, Lin Hao pressed his second skill, swiping the joystick. Four blades shot forth! All he had left were his second and third skills, both with cooldowns of about five seconds.

Smack!

All four blades landed, and Shen Mengxi’s health plummeted. Lin Hao followed up with another basic attack and then smoothly activated his third skill. In Lin Hao’s eyes, he tracked Shen Mengxi’s movements and even the tiny after-movement delay from the basic attack.

Cross Slash!

This round’s Cross Slash was entirely reliant on skill, as there was no prior control—Shen Mengxi was still moving. Yuan Ge was slain by Shen Mengxi’s second basic attack, and almost simultaneously, the light of Cross Slash bloomed across Shen Mengxi, causing his health to drop again, leaving just one-fifth!

Xinran’s Xi Shi arrived in time, her second skill landing perfectly at Shen Mengxi’s feet, finishing him off with a burst of damage!

Though Lin Hao didn’t manage to kill Shen Mengxi outright, his precise mechanics with only the second and third skills nearly brought Shen Mengxi down to a thread of life!

“Damn, Shen Mengxi is way too tanky!” Lin Hao muttered, dissatisfied. He had executed every detail perfectly. It was unfortunate—maybe his only critical hit chance didn’t trigger, or maybe not all four blades from his second skill hit. But this was already the limit.

“Wow, you can dodge the Cat’s skill like that?”

“I’ve learned something new!”

“Xi Shi finished off the kill for a solid trade!”

“Looks like this will be a decisive push!”

“That Cross Slash was dead-on! Is Haozi really not the top Yuan Ge player in the server?”

The chat was filled with astonishment. Two consecutive, tightly executed displays of skill had the audience roaring in admiration.

“Yes, Shen Mengxi’s second skill can be dodged. If I had my fourth skill, I could have avoided both bursts of damage. All you need to do is use your displacement in the opposite direction of the bomb’s path,” Lin Hao explained when he saw someone mention this in chat.

These were tidbits from his experience as the top Yuan Ge player.

On the main battlefield, Lin Hao’s early takedown of Shen Mengxi and Donghuang made the fight go smoothly. The Elder was pulled around, facing Pei Qinhu, Xi Shi, and Sun Shangxiang; he didn’t even have a chance to bind anyone, serving only as a meat shield.

Bai Li Shou Yue opted for sniping, but his damage was limited. Seeing the situation deteriorate, Yao used two abilities to help the Elder split the fire.

Both were tanky enough to survive for a few seconds, but the Elder died first, and Yao could only escape with his ultimate.

Xinran’s Xi Shi accurately predicted Yao’s ultimate landing spot, hooked him with her first skill, and dragged him over for Sun Shangxiang to finish off.

With Bai Li Shou Yue left, Pei Qinhu transformed into his tiger form, pounced, and chased him into the fountain.

Sun Shangxiang rolled forward and fired her ultimate from a distance, snatching Bai Li Shou Yue’s head that Pei Qinhu had cornered. Pei Qinhu was instantly killed by fountain damage.

“Baggy, you’re really shameless with the kill stealing!” Han Han joked. “I fought my way into the fountain for a kill, and you still stole it!”

“Pure accident!” Baggy replied with a laugh.

After wiping out the enemy, the game finally ended amidst laughter.

On the results screen, Lin Hao’s Yuan Ge had somehow sold off the support item, appearing just like a normal Yuan Ge. Only his gold was a bit low, about the same as Xinran’s Xi Shi.

Looking at the damage—good heavens—he dealt the third highest damage on the team, almost matching Han Han’s Pei Qinhu!

“Yi Fan, this won’t do. Hao Ran’s support did more damage than your solo lane!” Han Han teased.

“No, no, Yuan Ge’s damage is mostly poke, so it doesn’t really count,” Lin Hao waved it off, humbly.

“No, this round Hao Ran really carried,” Yi Fan admitted. “I just coasted. Next game, let Hao Ran play the solo lane, and I’ll support with Ma Chao!”

“Sure, why not? Let’s try solo lane with support, and tear through the enemy together!” Lin Hao was excited.

So, Lin Hao and Han Han’s squad played on until three in the morning. Only when Lin Hao, whose biological clock was always early, started getting sleepy, did he say his goodbyes.

“I even worked overtime for three hours tonight,” Lin Hao joked. “Tomorrow I want to start streaming at nine. What do you think, viewers?”

“No way!”

“No chance!”

“Start on time or we’ll unfollow!”

The fans were emphatic. Lin Hao’s recent streams had been wildly popular, especially tonight. In regular ranked games, he taunted with recall moves; in late-night five-stacks, with strong teammates who knew each other well, he experimented with creative picks—Yuan Ge support, Guan Yu support, and more.

The fans were thrilled.

“Alright, I’ll start on time tomorrow. And tomorrow night, I’ll probably have a Yuan Ge solo match against Brother Shangjie!” Lin Hao promised as he wrapped up.