Chapter Sixty-One: Switching Positions... Binding the Air!

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Chopsticks Live, Shang Jie’s streaming room.

“Whoa, Ma Chao’s got some real skills!” Shang Jie exclaimed, clearly surprised.

If Ma Chao had made even the slightest mistake in that maneuver, there was no way he could have taken Shang Jie down before Fire Dancer arrived. Or, if Ma Chao had recklessly charged in, even with all his skills landing, he would have died first. After all, Shang Jie had already used his abilities to wear Ma Chao down, and Ma Chao’s health wasn’t full when he started diving the turret.

But credit where it’s due, that return kill was masterful—full of nuance.

“No way, I have to take this seriously now.” Reviving once more, Shang Jie apologized as he made his way back to the lane.

Meanwhile, the chat in his streaming room was buzzing with merriment.

“Hahaha, Brother Jie got turret-dived and killed!”

“Brother Jie, you’re slacking!”

“Show him! Ma Chao’s getting way too cocky!”

“Looks like Ma Chao’s going to teach Brother Jie a lesson this match.”

“Top-tier Ma Chao incoming!”

Returning to the lane, Lin Hao had just arrived as well, but kept a safe distance from Puppet Song. Both Ma Chao and Guan Yu were decent matchups against Puppet Song, but Ma Chao was his greatest nemesis. Why? Because Ma Chao’s penalty for being slowed isn’t as severe as Guan Yu’s—he just loses some damage. More importantly, when both players are evenly matched, Ma Chao can suppress Puppet Song at every level.

Only at level three, when Puppet Song has his puppet and Ma Chao lacks his ultimate, is it a bit tougher, but not impossible. After all, without the puppet’s dash skill, as long as Ma Chao has a spear ready, Puppet Song can’t do much.

Now, Lin Hao was using his first and second skills to throw spears and clear the lane, while chipping away at Puppet Song. But the damage was limited, and Puppet Song cleared the wave first.

“Hahaha, just wait for me to turret dive you this time!” Puppet Song hit level three, and Shang Jie laughed heartily, turning toward the river grass.

He was about to use the grass to send his puppet over the wall and dive straight under the enemy turret.

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As for killing a level-three Ma Chao, it was simple. If Ma Chao had a spear, just basic attack him. Wait for the aftershock of Ma Chao’s spear thrust, swap positions, or use the third skill to control him—any combo could finish him off.

But Lin Hao was completely unbothered. Because he had teammates!

“That Puppet Song looks ready to dive you. I’ve timed my arrival just right, Fire Dancer probably won’t notice,” Xinran said through the mic.

“He’s in the grass, just pull him when you see him,” Lin Hao replied, keeping a spear in hand. Puppet Song’s puppet rushed forward, raining basic attacks, but Lin Hao focused on maintaining distance.

If he thrust in directly, a national server player like Shang Jie would react quickly and lock him down with the third skill—rendering him helpless.

Lin Hao wasn’t idle, either. Like Shang Jie, all his quick messages were apologies. He rapidly tapped the interaction bar on the right, sending “Sorry” in quick succession.

Then, in the vision, Xishi finally crept in and unleashed her first skill!

“Oh damn!” Shang Jie noticed Xishi’s appearance immediately. Unlike novice Puppet Song players who get their bodies killed while controlling the puppet, he was fully aware.

But there was a serious problem: his position was awkward. It was already too late to recall the puppet, and after recalling, he’d need to follow up with his third skill—enough time for Xishi’s first skill to land.

As for swapping positions… it would avoid the skill, but it’d send his body right into the wolf’s den. His puppet was still dueling Ma Chao under the enemy turret!

If he had the fourth skill, he could swap and then use it to retreat—but unfortunately, he didn’t.

All these thoughts flashed by in an instant. Shang Jie knew that hesitation meant defeat, so he made his decision immediately!

Swap positions!

The puppet and body switched places, just as Xishi’s skill descended.

Smack! It landed on Shang Jie’s puppet.

The puppet counted as a minion, and while the skill couldn’t pull the puppet, it could nudge it toward the center.

Ordinarily, this wasn’t a big deal, but at this moment, it was fatal!

Lin Hao saw that after Shang Jie swapped, the puppet wasn’t recalled, and the body stood dumbly before him, landing a basic attack.

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Then, the merciless red beam from the turret locked onto Shang Jie’s body.

It wasn’t over yet. Shang Jie was quick with his skills, trying to swap again and hit Ma Chao with the third skill for a knock-up, then follow up with the second skill—maybe burst Ma Chao down.

But Xishi’s slight control threw him off. His second swap didn’t trigger; he pressed the third skill instead!

The puppet performed a binding move right there.

“Ahhhhh!” Realizing his misclick, Shang Jie transformed into a howling monkey from Flower Fruit Mountain.

He hurriedly recalled the puppet, unable to follow up with the cross slash—it would definitely miss, since Ma Chao wasn’t a sitting duck.

All he could do was cast the second skill, sending four daggers flying!

Its coverage was wide, and in this terrain, Lin Hao couldn’t dodge it—he was hit.

Lin Hao kept sidestepping.

Shang Jie’s third skill followed, but the cross slash he swung missed perfectly as Lin Hao dodged.

Even if the cross slash had hit, Lin Hao’s health would require one more basic attack from Puppet Song to finish him off.

But as Shang Jie unleashed the cross slash, he died—the animation of the slash and Shang Jie’s collapse happened almost simultaneously.

“Very decisive, but such a pity—I had a teammate this time,” Lin Hao chuckled, standing atop Puppet Song’s corpse, spamming the recall button.

“Rage from Shang Jie: +300.”

That’s low—shouldn’t it be more?

Lin Hao realized the bulk of Shang Jie’s anger must have gone to Xinran, while he only added insult to injury with his recall spam.

“Well played!” Lin Hao praised.

The top credit belonged to Xinran.

If Xinran hadn’t come, Lin Hao would have had to rely on footwork and spear thrusts to dodge Shang Jie’s knock-ups after the swap, but the advantage would have been Shang Jie’s. If Shang Jie played well, Lin Hao risked getting turret-dived and killed.

“Hahaha, Royal treatment for your top lane,” Xinran teased, then added, “Once Puppet Song hits level four, I won’t be able to catch him. You’ll have to handle him yourself—I’ve got to roam.”

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