Chapter Seventy-Seven: The Duel of Blood Packs Behind the Tower

If Shangjie wanted to instantly swap positions with his puppet using his second and first skills, it would result in Shangjie successfully switching places, but the puppet would remain unretrieved. Lin Hao’s puppet had already anticipated and was binding Shangjie’s Yuan Ge at his true location. Shangjie smiled slightly, not in a hurry to swap positions. In fact, the moment he and Lin Hao simultaneously released their puppets, he had already devised his move.

Both sides held advantages. Lin Hao’s edge was learning the third skill first, which provided control, but his disadvantage was clear: he couldn’t switch positions. That left his true body exposed, open for Wang Hanshang to attack.

Shangjie had no intention of switching and risking being controlled. He simply used his puppet to attack Lin Hao’s Yuan Ge directly. No switching? Lin Hao raised an eyebrow, sensing the subtlety in his opponent’s play. Both were top-tier Yuan Ge players, but in a solo match, it was all about the finer details.

Lin Hao kept his puppet at a distance, not recalling it, since doing so would risk being hit by a full combo or possibly killed outright. After the third skill’s control ended, Lin Hao moved his puppet forward a step and started attacking Shangjie’s true body. Both began trading blows with their puppets, each targeting the other’s core. Their health bars gradually dropped.

Shangjie smiled, unconcerned, because he had the health advantage. Even if they continued this way without changing tactics, Lin Hao would fall first.

Finally, Lin Hao’s health dropped to the kill threshold. Shangjie instantly swapped positions with his second and first skills, timing his move to catch Lin Hao off guard. After the swap, he could follow up with either the second skill or a basic attack to finish Lin Hao.

But at that moment, Lin Hao made his move—he recalled his puppet, right as Shangjie was switching positions! Thud! Thud! Both their true bodies sounded the recall almost simultaneously. Each recalled their puppet without being controlled. Yuan Ge’s puppet recall granted a brief immunity effect. In essence, recalling the puppet required a split second during which the puppet returned to the body and could not be interrupted—even if the puppet was controlled at that moment, the recall would proceed unaffected.

Both Lin Hao and Shangjie were momentarily stunned.

Immediately, they began repositioning. Lin Hao’s health was low, Shangjie’s was as well; a second or third skill would settle the matter for either side.

Because of Shangjie’s swap, their distance was now very close. Shangjie unleashed his second skill. The dart’s wind-up was clearly visible. At that instant, both acted! The sound of their flash skills rang out almost simultaneously.

The next moment, the audience saw Shangjie’s Yuan Ge flash backward, tossing the dart at the same time—a two-flash combo. Lin Hao’s Yuan Ge flashed sideways, timing it perfectly with the end of Shangjie’s second skill, and executed a precise Cross Slash.

“Firstblood!”

The first kill exploded onto the screen, taken by Lin Hao!

The maneuver was so fast that many spectators didn’t quite understand what had happened.

“???”

“I didn’t really get it, but I’m absolutely stunned.”

“I saw it, and I’m so shocked I can’t even speak.”

“Shangjie and Haoran’s anticipation and counter-anticipation are incredible!”

Lin Hao’s livestream chat erupted in amazed comments after a moment of silence.

After securing the first kill, Lin Hao reflexively performed the recall animation three times before realizing it might not be appropriate. Shangjie also issued an apology.

“I wonder if everyone caught the details of that exchange.” Lin Hao pushed the minion wave forward, returned to his tower to grab a health pack, waited two seconds, then recalled to base.

He explained, “When Shangjie used his second skill, I sensed he might anticipate me flashing behind him, since the two Yuan Ges were so close. Yuan Ge’s flash doesn’t change skill direction, only position, so his two-flash combo widened the area of his second skill. I, on the other hand, flashed sideways. The reason is simple: whether or not Shangjie flashed, his second skill is always a cone, and the side is always the weaker spot.”

“In practice, because of his flash, one dart did hit me, but the damage wasn’t enough to kill me. I countered with a Cross Slash to finish him.”

Of course, the precision of Lin Hao’s Cross Slash was purely a matter of mastery—top-tier Yuan Ge skill requiring tens of thousands of reps to perfect. Lin Hao left that unsaid.

In truth, if Lin Hao’s final Cross Slash hadn’t landed perfectly, or if he’d been even a second slower, Shangjie’s basic attack would have finished him instead.

Shangjie’s livestream.

“Wow, Haoran’s attention to detail is remarkable.” Shangjie rubbed his hands together. “I didn’t expect him to flash sideways—I thought he’d flash behind me.”

“This Yuan Ge is imposing. Looks like Wang Hanshang will have to bring his full strength.”

Shangjie was now itching to play, his competitive spirit fully ignited.

“Brother Jie is getting ready to give away another free kill.”

“To be honest, I feel Haoran’s proficiency with Yuan Ge is on par with Brother Jie and Ting’an at their best.”

“You’re missing the point. In Yuan Ge solo matches, it’s all about the details—but in peak ranked games, or five-on-five battles, those details are just a small part!”

“Brother Jie, he’s taunting you—are you going to take that? Go crush him!”

Shangjie’s fans were a bit indignant, though this round couldn’t really be blamed on Shangjie; he had played with great precision.

His opponent was simply more precise.

As the laning phase resumed, Shangjie, upon respawning, didn’t dare send his puppet into the bush; instead, he paced near his tower.

Because—

After dying, Shangjie closely monitored the action. Though Lin Hao’s vision vanished after clearing the wave, Shangjie noticed the health pack behind Lin Hao’s tower disappeared at a certain moment.

For a skilled player, watching the opponent’s tower-side health pack could reveal their movements.

“That means he’s probably lurking in the bush to ambush me. I can’t use my puppet to scout—remember, if the opponent’s Yuan Ge uses second and first skills together, my puppet will be destroyed instantly. Or if he uses his puppet to control mine as I enter the bush, it would be a quick kill regardless.”

“So we’ll just stay put and wait for him to clear the wave!”

Shangjie felt his awareness was on point, and he explained Lin Hao’s movements in detail to his livestream audience.

The main evidence was the disappearance of the tower-side health pack!

After a while, Lin Hao’s figure slowly emerged from behind the first tower.