Chapter 109: Breaking the Guardian Pact

Xiao Jue originally played mid lane and ordinarily wouldn’t have touched Baili Shouyue, a marksman-type hero. However, there was a period when the Baili Shouyue system in the KPL suddenly emerged and flourished under the legendary mid laner Jiu Cheng, becoming a reliable way to rack up points.

At that time, Jiu Cheng had just transferred to DIG. As the holder of the MVP skin for Gan Jiang Mo Ye, Jiu Cheng had maxed out his talents in prediction and skill accuracy. What he brought to DIG was this mid-lane Baili Shouyue system centered around himself.

After Jiu Cheng left, Xiao Jue became DIG’s starting mid laner. The club’s coaching staff were already well-versed in the Baili Shouyue mid-lane system, and Xiao Jue successfully mastered the core hero of the system, Baili Shouyue.

Even in professional matches, facing pro players’ movements, he could maintain an extraordinarily high hit rate—let alone in peak-rank matches or sniping random opponents.

It was like playing for fun.

Yet today, he repeatedly found himself at a disadvantage against Lin Hao.

He had fired seven shots at Nuwa and landed only one.

At first, Xiao Jue thought it was just an off day. But when he set up the sniper in mid lane and faced off against the enemy’s Sun Bin, Kai, and even the roaming Lü Bu, nearly every shot hit.

“So it’s not me; it’s Nuwa,” Xiao Jue thought, then grew inexplicably annoyed watching Nuwa’s erratic, cut-off movements dodge his bullets again and again.

Xiao Jue recalled the coach’s clear instructions.

The strength of the Baili Shouyue mid-lane system lay in controlling vision over both river paths from mid lane, setting up snipes to whittle down enemy health, especially against mid laners without sustain.

And Baili Shouyue’s power naturally depended on precision.

Failing to chip away at Nuwa meant she could maintain lane control and even have the priority to support other lanes.

After all, Baili Shouyue mid had two glaring weaknesses: lack of magic damage typical for mid laners and difficulty assisting side lanes.

Nuwa, on the other hand, could teleport with her third skill to land a full combo from afar without even needing to be physically present. Her ultimate’s high-caliber barrage might even provide critical damage support in side-lane fights, tipping the scales in team battles.

At eight minutes and thirty seconds into the game, Baili Shouyue had quietly returned to base twice.

Nuwa, however, sustained herself with health packs under the tower, never once returning to base.

In terms of skill accuracy, Xiao Jue was utterly outclassed by Hao Ran.

“Jue Jue the Heavenly Emperor, show some dominance! This Nuwa is blatantly teleporting behind my tower, cutting off my retreat!” exclaimed Yi Zheng, who had just been slain by Nuwa descending from above.

Yi Zheng was helpless; earlier, his health had been drained by Yu Ji. When Yu Ji rushed him, he dodged with his ultimate, but Nuwa’s third skill blocked his retreat path, perfectly timing his skill cooldowns.

He couldn’t retreat or flank; his second skill was on cooldown, and after being hit by Yu Ji’s ultimate, his health was critically low. His only option was to flee towards Nuwa’s skill direction.

But awaiting him was Nuwa’s triple strike upon landing—second, first, ultimate—instantly killing him.

After dying, Yi Zheng angrily told mid laner Xiao Jue, “Nuwa doesn’t even have displacement skills, but a sniper like you should be able to suppress her.”

“No choice. Nuwa’s movement is just too tricky. I can’t keep her down,” Xiao Jue replied with a wry smile.

“Maybe, Zheng, we should swap lanes?”

“That would just get both of us wrecked by Tommy. At this stage, Baili Shouyue has to hold mid for vision,” Yi Zheng said.

Xiao Jue admitted he was outmatched; it was no longer a matter of strategy. Yi Zheng could only accept it.

Nuwa returned to mid lane. After another wave of minions, Lin Hao’s Kai, who had come from the bottom lane with Sun Bin, planned to push the mid tower.

At this point, the enemy was generally slow on rotation. At least on the top lane, Lü Bu prioritized clearing minions and assisting.

Meanwhile, the enemy’s Luna, Jia Yue, was still reeling from her first blood and hadn’t developed enough to threaten side lanes or secure successful ganks.

Seeing that Lü Bu was almost at mid lane to assist, Lin Hao’s overall game sense kicked in.

Except for the enemy’s Zhang Fei, who was still dutifully protecting Baili Shouyue, mid lane was temporarily unmanned.

His ultimate would be ready in six seconds.

Sun Bin first moved to the left bush and destroyed Baili Shouyue’s conservative ward. At this moment, Luna was still in the blue buff area, so Sun Bin was safe.

As a champion side laner, Lü Bu’s vision control was meticulous. This support move left neither the enemy’s Hua Mulan nor the professional Baili Shouyue with any clue of their intentions.

“Sun Bin cleared the ward, keep sweeping,” both Xiao Jue and support 726 thought alike.

Zhang Fei stayed alert, jumping into the bush after clearing mid lane.

He was scouting vision.

Xiao Jue stepped forward to place a ward through the bush near his defensive tower’s path.

All his wards so far had been placed conservatively to guarantee safety when sniping under tower or last hitting in front of it, preventing surprise attacks.

Suddenly, Kai appeared in the river vision.

Sun Bin, having given Kai a speed boost, charged at Xiao Jue alongside him.

Kai had no flash; how could he pose a threat?

Just as this thought crossed Xiao Jue’s mind, Nuwa began closing in and placed a square ward behind him.

She was about to harass him again.

Before he could react, Zhang Fei leaped into the bush, illuminating the area.

A burly man with twin ponytails suddenly appeared, his sharp eyes fixed on Xiao Jue.

Damn!

How did Lü Bu get here?

Lü Bu decisively unleashed his ultimate to lock down movement!

From behind Baili Shouyue, an ultimate appeared, its center just behind him, restricting Baili Shouyue’s path back to the tower.

At the same time, Lin Hao skillfully placed another square ward with Nuwa’s second skill near the red buff entrance on the left.

As a master of positioning, Lin Hao’s judgment was precise. By blocking this path, Baili Shouyue’s only escape was to use his ultimate and flash to immediately distance himself beyond Lü Bu’s ultimate range and flee from the rear.

If he tried escaping through the red buff area, he’d still have to burn ultimate and flash, only to be trapped again by Lin Hao’s follow-up third skill that sealed off the route.

Sun Bin seized the moment and immediately cast his ultimate!

This near-perfect coordination between Sun Bin and Lü Bu—though unspoken—was almost flawless.

Yet, there remained a sliver of reaction time in between.