Pork on the chopping board

When the dragon respawned for the third time, GOD was no longer in a hurry to contest it. They couldn't win it anyway, so they planned to harass the other side and keep them from starting it.

Clear circled halfway around the map to the brush in the bottom lane. He was itching to make a play and start a fight.

The mid laner, jungler, and support were starting the dragon, while Ji Chengyan was alone near the middle brush. Wantonly threw an ultimate at him to slow him down, and Sun followed up with three fire souls.

But Ji Chengyan's passive had fully stacked again. Sun didn't take a sliver off his health and instead lost half of his own.

Even the usually easygoing Sun frowned slightly.

Why is he so hard to kill?

Yet, who was "sweeping for mines," spotted Clear, forcing him to use a movement skill to get away.

YH's brush-checking fundamentals were rock solid, and they had always been especially good with the details.

"I really want a fight!"

Shi Mu lifted his eyelids, his fingers still controlling Loki as he maneuvered around the dragon pit. "Can you beat them?"

He couldn't.

Of course he couldn't!

Clear seethed in helpless rage-

Wantonly felt as though he had been worn down into a dried corpse, his soul gone. "This is too hard. We can't kill them at all, so doesn't that mean all we can do is wait to be killed?"

Sun's eyes were numb. "What else can we do? We're pork on the chopping board."

Everyone else: ...

I miss Jin so much all of a sudden...

Shi Mu and He Zhen waited behind the dragon, hoping to try stealing it once its health was low, but Ji Chengyan pulled the dragon away, crushing their hopes.

Ji Chengyan: You want to steal something from me?

Dream on.

Lion circled around in front of GOD and quickly used his ultimate to chip away at their health. The GOD players immediately retreated, but Yet used Flash and stuck right to Shi Mu and Wantonly's faces with his second skill.

After being knocked airborne, Wantonly hurriedly used a heal and activated a speed boost to escape. But Yet clearly hadn't come for nothing; he beat Wantonly senseless and took him out.

YH pressed forward to the tower. He Zhen rushed over, used a movement skill to dodge Yet's interference, and immediately used his ultimate to knock two of them airborne. By rights, GOD now had tower damage, crowd control, and three players, enough to take out one or two members of YH.

But YH had a terrifying mobile fountain behind them: Ji Chengyan. He instantly restored his teammates to full health, and they continued fighting.

He Zhen's position suddenly became dangerous. With nowhere to escape, he was hit by a mouthful of venom from Poison Rat and died on the spot.

Seeing them pursue relentlessly, Shi Mu used his ultimate to dodge the damage and escape. Clear had grown somewhat impatient from the beating and seized a chance to dive straight into the enemy backline.

One flying kick caught three people, and he followed up with a fan to push them away and put some distance between them, but...

It did practically no damage.

So the five members of YH descended on him and killed him.

To YH, the defense tower might as well not have existed. They didn't care at all.

Clear's nose itched. As it turned out...

His nose had turned red!

In the lounge, Coach Ming's face was black as charcoal.

He had told him over and over not to be impulsive!

When he got back after the match, Coach Ming would beat him into submission!

Brother Qian propped his face on his hand, his heart as calm as still water. Looking at Coach Ming's face, he even felt a bit of schadenfreude. "That kid Clear is going to get a beating when he comes back, hahaha."

Wu Jin, who was watching the match intently, nodded.

Clear could clearly have gotten away just then, but he had charged in regardless. It was obvious that the blood had rushed to his head and he had made a bad call.

She shifted her gaze from the TV to her phone.

I really want to eat.

What should I have tonight?

At twelve minutes, YH was already pushing the high ground in all three lanes. GOD had no chance to get out and farm, and couldn't even stop them from taking towers.

GOD's helplessness filled the screen.

Ji Chengyan strolled leisurely behind his teammates, giving instructions from time to time. This match, they were like fish in water.

As always, Yet asked the captain first: "Do we force the push, Brother Ji?"

Ji Chengyan's beautiful phoenix eyes and swordlike brows always gave others the impression that he was sharp and fierce, but he was actually very gentle with people. From a distance he looked like a wolf, but up close he turned out to be a sled dog.

Shi Mu's assessment of him was: "He's secretly flashy rather than openly flashy, and he has more schemes than a hospital has needle holes."

Only a fool like Xiao Qi would think Ji Chengyan was a gentle big boy.

Xiao Qi, whose name had just come up, sneezed. Suspecting he had caught a cold, he hurriedly made himself a cup of cold medicine.

His expression relaxed. "Push. It's time to end the game."

Shi Mu and He Zhen surrounded Lion, who had been caught alone. Fortunately, as a mage, his health bar wasn't that thick, and the two of them sent him home in no time.

They had just finished fighting him and all their skills were on cooldown when Caesar came slashing at them with his ultimate active. Behind them, Wantonly activated his second skill to restore some of their health.

After replenishing his health at the fountain, Clear immediately charged back into the fight. The dragon had entered the crystal, and he had to kill it, but Ji Chengyan had already set his sights on him.

Clear used a movement skill to advance, but just as he was about to deal damage, Ji Chengyan poisoned him to death.

Lili's first skill could not only slow enemies but also knock them airborne under special circumstances. Yet went onto the crystal and tanked some damage, knocking down Shi Mu's health. Ji Chengyan spat another mouthful of poison, and Shi Mu succumbed to it at the very moment he stepped into the fountain.

Shi Mu: A smile is a courtesy, and also a warning.

At last, the fountain exploded.

Unsurprisingly, Ji Chengyan was awarded MVP for the match.

[Wu Hu: Let's congratulate YH on winning this match and advancing to the grand finals!]

[Qingqing: What a spectacular showdown! It showed us the limitless possibilities of playing Poison Rat in the farm lane!]

[Wu Hu: That's right. Although GOD had a very difficult match, they also showed us the caliber of their teamwork. We look forward to seeing their performance in the matches ahead!]

After the match, the players from both sides shook hands as a show of respect.

When Shi Mu and Ji Chengyan shook hands, their eyes met, and everything went unsaid.

Shi Mu smiled faintly. "Fancy playing."

Ji Chengyan laughed in exasperation.

That mouth of his really is venomous.

I'll deal with him sooner or later.

Back at the lounge, Clear stopped short as soon as he saw Coach Ming standing there waiting for them, his face dark.

"I'm going to the bathroom first."

Coach Ming strode over ahead of him and grabbed him by the ear. "Get back here, you brat!"

Clear sucked in a sharp breath from the pain. "Ow, ow! Easy, easy!"

Although they had lost the match, they still had to eat dinner. As it happened, while Wu Jin was browsing short videos, a Cantonese restaurant popped up and caught Brother Qian's eye. After asking Wu Jin what she thought, he immediately went to reserve a private room.

The competition was being held in Pengcheng, where morning tea was very famous. From the restaurant GOD Team had come to, they could see Pengcheng's iconic buildings across the water.

At night, the lights glittered brilliantly like pearls, and the buildings towered into the clouds, their splendor breathtaking.

Wu Jin stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing blankly across the water. Wantonly slapped his forehead, hurriedly pulled out his phone, and told Wu Jin to pose.

"Little A Jin, give life a victory sign!"

Wu Jin turned around and saw Wantonly pointing his camera at her. She cooperatively raised two fingers beside her face.

Brother Qian joined in and raised his phone too, while Clear directed Wu Jin's poses from the sidelines.

After taking pictures of Wu Jin, the others also began posing for photos with the iconic buildings. The phone in Wu Jin's hand was like a hot potato.

Asking her to take pictures really was...

Sure enough, as soon as Wantonly and Clear saw the finished photos, they started "lodging complaints" against Wu Jin.

"Little sis, you could at least get a clear shot of me. My face is so blurry it's leaving an afterimage!"

"Why do I look so short? Little A Jin, is Brother Cheng really that ugly in your eyes?!"

"No, no! Take them again!"

Shi Mu couldn't help laughing as he watched them. He took over the task from Wu Jin and photographed the "fat and skinny immortal boys."