Chapter 24: Xiu Fei Shines on the Field

Lin Hui glanced over and smiled, making a cheering gesture.

The day before yesterday, Yuan Zhong had suddenly told her she wanted to queue up for ranked matches with Zhang Shun. Lin Hui was a little surprised. Ever since Yuan Zhong and her apprentice had reached King rank, Lin Hui had suggested arranging a session several times, but each time, Yuan Zhong came up with all sorts of excuses to decline.

Later, Lin Hui got busy with her own matters and let it be. With Yuan Zhong’s temperament, she thought it would take a long time before Yuan Zhong mustered the courage, but unexpectedly, she herself proposed it so soon.

Lin Hui thought it was a good thing. After this game, she could finally say she had fulfilled her duty and gracefully step back, then delete Zhang Shun’s WeChat and in-game contacts. In such a big campus, it was easy enough to avoid someone you didn’t want to see.

She turned her head to look at Yuan Zhong, whose eyes were bright with focus. Lin Hui felt a warmth in her heart. She liked this serious side of Yuan Zhong and silently wished her well.

At the beginning of the match, Yuan Zhong chose to start at blue buff. After clearing one side of the jungle, she headed to midlane to contest the river spirit, working with her teammates and using Smite to secure the objective.

Teammate Wang Zhaojun said, “I went to harass Lanling King at his blue just now and made him reset the buff to heal. He shouldn’t be able to get here so quickly. Their mid is only half health—let’s see if we can get a kill.”

Yuan Zhong replied, “Let’s try. I’ll go clear his little bears, bait him out. You wait in the bush.”

The enemy midlaner was Daji, whose crowd control skills were troublesome. Yuan Zhong attacked cautiously, keeping an eye on things.

Seeing her jungle being stolen, Daji couldn’t sit still and left her tower, casting spells at Yuan Zhong.

Wang Zhaojun said, “Ah, Daji! Did you forget to check the bush?” She immediately used her first skill to slow the enemy.

Yuan Zhong dodged with her second skill, followed by her first, then auto-attacked, and chained another second skill—her hand speed left the enemy no time to react. Wang Zhaojun added another hit, and Yuan Zhong’s Zhuge Liang secured first blood.

Lin Hui sent a “Well played!” and Zhang Shun followed with a “666.”

Yuan Zhong was delighted and moved along the river to her other jungle quadrant.

Wang Zhaojun warned, “Lanling King is coming. Be careful.” She herself retreated to the safety of the tower.

Yuan Zhong prudently dove into the bush, choosing to take her own red buff first. “My health isn’t great,” she said.

Zhang Shun answered, “I’m bringing the support over.”

The enemy Lanling King, invisible, wanted to pick off Zhuge Liang or at least steal red, but seeing both Gongsun Li the marksman and Liu Chan the support arriving, he gave up and returned to his own jungle.

Having cleared her first jungle rotation and with a kill under her belt, Yuan Zhong felt relieved—such a smooth start. For a hero like Zhuge Liang, this was the perfect setup to snowball.

Yuan Zhong kept Zhuge Liang hidden from vision and returned to mid, lurking in the side bush.

The enemy Daji was about to go help the marksman, happened to walk by, and Zhuge Liang seized the opportunity—second skill to close the gap, first skill, and then her ultimate, once again sending Daji back to base.

Wang Zhaojun said, “I’m on the solo lane. Zhuge Liang, handle a mid wave for me.” As soon as she spoke, the system announced that Wang Zhaojun had killed the enemy Sun Ce.

She continued, “I peeked and saw Lanling King doing red. I’ll harass him again.”

Yuan Zhong replied, “Then I’ll go steal his blue.” She thought Wang Zhaojun played really well.

Lin Hui spoke up, “I’ll try to contest red.”

“You didn’t bring Smite, be careful,” Zhang Shun cautioned.

Lin Hui said nothing more, maneuvering her Liu Bang forward.

Wang Zhaojun added, “It’s possible to at least force him off and slow him down, so Zhuge Liang can finish his blue side.”

Yuan Zhong replied, “Don’t worry, I’ll take whatever I can.”

After clearing the enemy jungle, Yuan Zhong had Zhuge Liang camp in the bush near the enemy’s first tower. “Marksman, let the minion wave push in,” she said.

Zhang Shun asked, “Are we diving, or should we play it safe?”

Wang Zhaojun said, “I think she can do it.”

Lin Hui agreed, “I agree.”

Gongsun Li swiftly cleared the wave. The enemy marksman was Galo; Yuan Zhong was determined not to let her scale.

Gongsun Li’s footwork was nimble, but Galo’s range was long, making it hard to clear the wave efficiently. Yuan Zhong waited for Gongsun Li to whittle down Galo’s health—when Galo retreated and the support was up front, she braved the turret, starting with her first skill, then closing in with her second. Zhuge Liang built up five passive stacks in a flash, then used her ultimate to finish off Galo.

Galo seemed stunned, likely not expecting Zhuge Liang to appear from behind.

After tanking two turret shots and left with low health, Yuan Zhong had Zhuge Liang retreat under the tower. There was a healing pack, but she didn’t take it and chose to recall instead.

Just then, the enemy Daji arrived and instantly stunned Liu Chan. In the early game, Liu Chan wasn’t tanky, losing half his health. Gongsun Li attacked, Daji flashed to dodge, stunning Gongsun Li as well.

Yuan Zhong’s Zhuge Liang was dangerously low, so she quickly grabbed the healing pack and attacked Daji. Daji’s skills were on cooldown and her auto-attacks weren’t enough; Zhuge Liang’s agility prevailed and she barely secured the kill.

Glancing at her health bar, now invisible above Zhuge Liang’s head, Yuan Zhong said, “No, I need to go back.”

Wang Zhaojun advised, “Retreat, recall in the bush—watch out for Lanling King.”

Yuan Zhong fell back from the first tower, hid in the bush, and recalled.

Zhang Shun’s Gongsun Li was also low, but chose to recall under tower. The enemy Lanling King wasn’t one to waste opportunities, went invisible, burst in, and killed Gongsun Li.

Wang Zhaojun laughed, “Told you to be careful.”

Zhang Shun replied, “I was halfway through recalling, didn’t want to interrupt.”

Liu Chan said, “You’re just overconfident. Bad habit.”

Zhang Shun joked, “Recalling under tower gives me a buff.”

Yuan Zhong said, “It’s fine, not a loss—their marksman died too.”

With Zhuge Liang back to full health, Yuan Zhong entered the blue side jungle, cleared the camps, then headed to the solo lane. “Lin Hui, how’s Sun Ce doing?”

Lin Hui replied, “We’re at a stalemate.”

Yuan Zhong said, “I’ll go to the bot lane again, see if I can catch them off guard.”

Wang Zhaojun praised, “Nice, I love ambushes—I’ve never lost a bush fight.”

Liu Chan chimed in, “That’s accurate—jungler bush, mage bush, especially the bush trio you excel at.”

Alright, this Wang Zhaojun really knew her stuff. Yuan Zhong had Zhuge Liang hide in the same bush on the enemy bot lane.

Galo cleared the wave, then tried to rotate mid, carefully passing through her own jungle, not expecting Zhuge Liang to be waiting in the bush. She was sent back to base once again.

Lin Hui and Wang Zhaojun both gave their likes.

Zhang Shun had Gongsun Li move up to hit the tower; Yuan Zhong’s Zhuge Liang went to help, and they took down the first tower.

Zhang Shun said, “Lin Hui, let’s switch lanes.”

Lin Hui remained silent.

Zhang Shun didn’t press the issue and took the support to the solo lane.

Yuan Zhong said, “Marksman, clear the jungle here first.”

“Alright,” Zhang Shun replied, starting blue.

Yuan Zhong helped with Zhuge Liang, then waited in the bush. Suddenly, a signal appeared overhead—Lanling King was near, invisible.

No one panicked; as soon as Lanling King made a move, he’d be revealed.

As the blue buff’s health dropped, Lanling King appeared, trying to steal it. Liu Chan started channeling his ultimate, Gongsun Li used her umbrella to leap away, and auto-attacked. Zhuge Liang flashed into the pit, used Smite to secure blue, then flashed onto Lanling King, building up her passive. Lanling King tried to escape, but Zhuge Liang’s ultimate chained him down, sending him back to base.

Wang Zhaojun arrived just as the fight ended. “Looks like I was late.”

Yuan Zhong said, “Not at all, let’s catch Daji.”

Wang Zhaojun’s hands were quick; as she spoke, she froze Daji with a skill. Zhuge Liang followed up with her first and third skills, securing another kill.

Ten minutes in, the enemy team was collapsing.

Wang Zhaojun clicked her tongue. “This is a total disaster. Lanling King’s economy is pitiful—he’s just a ward now.”

Yuan Zhong’s Zhuge Liang was at the top in gold, with seven kills already.

After a few more minutes, Zhuge Liang dazzled the whole field—wherever she went, kills followed.

The enemy finally couldn’t take it and surrendered.

“Why did they surrender?” Yuan Zhong felt it ended too soon.

Wang Zhaojun grinned, “They were hopeless.”

Zhang Shun said, “Good, let’s start another. If we play fast, we can get more games in.”

Yuan Zhong asked, “In a hurry? Do you all have something to do?”

Wang Zhaojun explained, “No, it’s his rule—he insists on going to bed by ten. Such a hassle.”

Yuan Zhong said, “That’s a good habit.”

Liu Chan disagreed, “Good? None of us sleep, but he can? He just lies there pretending to be a corpse.”

Wang Zhaojun added, “Exactly, it’s a waste of time, a waste of fun.”

Yuan Zhong smiled. In her heart, she still thought going to bed early was a good habit.

Zhang Shun said nothing. Yuan Zhong noticed that, aside from in-game communication, he rarely responded to other topics, letting the others joke around.

In the second game, Yuan Zhong still didn’t get support—clearly, it was a fixed role.

Wang Zhaojun wanted to play jungle and picked Jing; Yuan Zhong chose the mage Zhen Ji, who could also be played as a support.

Zhang Shun picked Yu Ji, the support was Zhang Fei, and Lin Hui picked Xiahou Dun.

At the start, Zhen Ji’s waveclear was slower than the enemy Angela’s. Yuan Zhong carefully avoided Angela’s fire, standing in the bush.

Jing asked, “How’s Angela’s positioning?”

Yuan Zhong replied, “Pretty bold. Wait for you to come over, I’ll freeze her with my bouncing ball.”

Jing: “Okay, coming.”

Yuan Zhong moved Zhen Ji in the bush. Seeing Angela not retreating after clearing the wave, she cast her second skill. Zhen Ji’s second skill could bounce off minions and heroes, freezing them on the second hit. Yuan Zhong had deliberately left the wave intact, setting up the bounce onto Angela.

The ice ball bounced off the minions, hit Angela, and froze her. Jing arrived, activated her skills, and finished off the fragile Angela.

“Thanks,” Jing said to Yuan Zhong.

“I got an assist, don’t mention it. Once I hit level four, I’ll start roaming—mid wave is yours,” Yuan Zhong replied.

Jing immediately invaded the enemy jungle. “Zhen Ji, come over, you can have this blue.”

Yuan Zhong had Zhen Ji step up; seeing blue buff was low, she used her first skill to secure it.

The enemy jungler was Zhao Yun. Yuan Zhong saw him approaching and predicted his move, casting a skill at his landing spot. Jing used her ultimate right there, and together they sent Zhao Yun back to base.

While Jing cleared the enemy jungle, Yuan Zhong’s Zhen Ji returned under tower to clear a wave, then headed for the bot lane.

Zhen Ji waited patiently in the bush. When the enemy mid came over, she timed it perfectly—three, two, one—unleashing a full combo and securing another kill.

Jing gave a like. “Your mage play is really impressive.”

Lin Hui said, “Of course—she’s always been amazing.”