Chapter Thirty-Three: A Headlong Rush Without Regard for Anything

The Bull Demon dutifully provided a bit of vision near the Dragon Pit. Although Yun Ying was dead and the Dragon was clearly out of reach, the Bull Demon was still curious and wanted to check it out, hoping to exert some pressure with vision—who knows, maybe the enemy team might suddenly turn their attention to him and abandon the Dragon.

However, the Bull Demon King wasn’t nearly charming enough to draw such attention; instead, it was Second Master Guan who made the enemy rush over without hesitation.

The Bull Demon watched helplessly as the five opponents, each with varying health, unanimously gave up on the Dragon and moved as a group to surround Guan Yu on the top lane.

The Bull Demon was utterly bewildered.

Five players charging forward, the Bull Demon quickly pressed his second skill, which he’d been holding onto, and dashed backward. Yet he soon realized those five didn’t even spare him a glance.

They were going for Guan Yu?

It made sense—even though the Bull Demon hadn’t spent much time around Guan Yu, whenever he caught sight of Second Master Guan, he’d always hear that telltale "thump, thump, thump" of the recall.

If only he’d used his ultimate to block them first.

The Bull Demon only managed to send Guan Yu a retreat signal on the top lane, but he doubted there was any saving him.

Meanwhile, Lin Hao felt his whole body ignite with excitement.

Five players coming for me—if I can pull off moves that infuriate them, I can collect all their rage points!

It was time to rely on skill and positioning!

Lin Hao abandoned his recall and stepped straight into the bush.

There was no vision outside the bush, so the enemy couldn’t pinpoint his exact location; they’d have to probe with skills or their bodies.

“I’ll flank from below—Liu Chan, go straight into the bush!” Nine-tailed Fox barked orders rapidly.

The five advanced in a surround formation toward the bush where Lin Hao was hiding.

Though he’d entered the bush with a recall-taunt, once hidden inside he spun in place, then resumed his running stance.

Liu Chan and Li Bai didn’t have large-area control skills; they’d likely enter the bush directly rather than probe with skills. So all Lin Hao needed to do was wait for them to step in, then attempt to break through the encirclement.

As for Di Renjie and Bai Qi, they lingered a bit farther back. Shen Mengxi, though positioned behind, was rapidly approaching thanks to the movement speed boost from his second skill’s ignition.

Li Bai and Liu Chan flanked from below, Shen Mengxi charged straight through the middle, and Bai Qi quietly moved up, blocking Guan Yu’s path on the inner lane.

It seemed a flawless net—no matter which angle Lin Hao tried to escape from, he’d be hit with a barrage of skills.

The audience held their breath in tense anticipation.

Just as Shen Mengxi, Liu Chan, and Li Bai entered the bush almost simultaneously, a figure suddenly burst out straight toward Shen Mengxi. In an instant, Shen Mengxi, caught off guard, overlapped with him and was quickly left behind.

He’d manipulated vision!

Shen Mengxi froze for a moment; instantly, Guan Yu pushed forward, heading in the opposite direction and rushing right up to Di Renjie!

Seeing his teammates pressing ahead, Di Renjie was startled when Guan Yu suddenly appeared in front of him, prompting him to hastily retreat.

Lin Hao, while pushing forward, activated sprint and his ultimate; Guan Yu’s running status was immediately restored. Without hesitation, Lin Hao slashed at Di Renjie!

With a single sweep, he cut off most of Di Renjie’s health!

As a champion who relies on basic attacks to stack movement and attack speed, faced with Guan Yu’s direct assault, Di Renjie’s first thought was, “He wants to trade blows with me!”

If Guan Yu took one down in a five-on-one, it would be an utter humiliation!

Di Renjie didn’t dare use his ultimate, which had a noticeable delay, to control Guan Yu. Truthfully, Guan Yu’s habit of dodging while running throughout this match unnerved him. If Guan Yu dodged the ultimate, wouldn’t Di Renjie become merely another victim?

Seeing Di Renjie dodge, Lin Hao decisively made his escape!

The next moment, Shen Mengxi, Bai Qi, Liu Chan, and Li Bai all reacted simultaneously!

A barrage of skills followed!

Li Bai, seeing Guan Yu had pushed twice and opened a wide gap, immediately unleashed consecutive first skills to stun Guan Yu!

Yet Lin Hao didn’t use his second skill to cleanse the control.

He waited.

Then, Bai Qi’s ultimate and the bomb cat’s small bomb from his second skill followed!

Lin Hao calmly waited for the last hit; only when the bomb cat’s skill landed did he instantly use his second skill to cleanse, then strode away!

Li Bai’s ultimate was finally unleashed, but its damage was limited. In the end, Lin Hao’s Guan Yu was left with barely a sliver of health—yet he’d survived the onslaught of all five!

This maneuver was right at the edge of possibility; Lin Hao had no time for a triumphant recall-taunt, instead finding a safe spot to recall.

By now, Lin Hao’s livestream chat had exploded.

“?????”

“How did he escape that round? I didn't get it at all!”

“I noticed that last detail—Hao waited until the final control was used before cleansing. Otherwise, he probably wouldn’t have made it!”

“The enemy’s control chain was pretty tight, but the streamer’s moves were just mind-blowing!”

Lin Hao saw the lively discussion in chat and shook his head with a laugh. “This movement technique is something mostly used by League of Legends PC players—it’s a positioning trick called ‘reverse running in the bush.’”

“You use the vision gap between you and your opponent—when they enter the bush, in that split second as their vision shifts and their eyes take in new information, you run in the opposite direction! ‘Reverse running’ means you dash right at them and slip past at the edge of the bush.”

“This maneuver isn’t just useful in King of Glory or League; it’s great in CrossFire for dodging infected, or even in Identity V for kiting the hunter in mobile games!”

What Lin Hao didn’t mention was that this situation was particularly special.

First, the enemy knew that Guan Yu had both his ultimate and sprint available, so he could suddenly accelerate and escape.

Thus, they didn’t use their control skills to probe the bush, but instead formed a surround, gradually stepping in to see which way Guan Yu would run before using their skills to break his charge.

But the key to this escape was Lin Hao, at the bush boundary, after crossing paths with Shen Mengxi’s model, immediately following up with a push, shifting himself some distance!

Then, taking advantage of the vision gap as the three frontliners entered the bush, he slashed Di Renjie, waited for Di Renjie to back off, then ran straight for the river without looking back!

Of course, this was a peak showdown—his opponents reacted quickly, and their control skills followed right after. But Lin Hao chose to tank the controls, then timed his cleanse for the final control, barely surviving with a sliver of health!

Thus, he escaped from five enemies.