Chapter 421: Squat!

Malaxiangguo ran down while comforting Xiaohu:

"It's fine, even if they didn't take Baron they couldn't do much; I've held the tower for you."

On the minimap, Kreli's icon disappeared from RNG's vision; seeing this, Malaxiangguo abandoned the plan to circle behind and snipe, instead heading straight to the bottom lane and pulling back the minion wave that was pushing into the tower.

Malaxiangguo's farm this game was actually not bad; in that recent teamfight he snagged another kill, bringing his total to three kills, and with the spider not contesting his jungle much, his second completed item was almost ready; although his level wasn't as high as the top tier, his gear was comparable to Kreli's.

Fu Lan Duo also knew her HP was a bit risky; even if she remounted she'd be instantly killed by the mantis, so she didn't get greedy, after killing she quickly cleared the minion wave and went home.

Economically, VG still maintained a slight lead.

Because the bottom tower still stood, Xiaohu's Orianna returned to the bottom lane to guard the tower after respawning.

Actually, in Liang Yan's view, this defensive tower had become a burden for RNG rather than an asset. If RNG's command had better overall vision and made decisions more decisively, the best option now would be to decisively abandon the first tower and fall back to the second. That would naturally solve RNG's bottom lane defensive problem, Xiaohu's Orianna wouldn't be hampered much in her development, and the mutual support across positions would become easier thanks to the shortened distance.

But it's a shame that RNG lacks such excellent command; they don't even have a single shot-caller whose word is law. As the shot-caller for RNG's team tempo, Malaxiangguo often has to discuss his decisions with teammates, at least checking with Uzi's opinion, and only after Uzi agrees can he act.

Unlike VG, where Liang Yan issues a single order and everyone follows without hesitation.

So RNG can only continue with their habitual playstyle; since the bottom tower hasn't fallen yet and still looks relatively healthy, they can only keep sending people to defend it, and this tower becomes a trap that drags them into a dilemma.

From a top‑level decision‑making perspective, Liang Yan could see at a glance that, given the current state of each position's development, the only key for RNG to break the stalemate was Xiaohu's Orianna.

RNG can only rely on Orianna to land a big ultimate in teamfights to break the current stalemate; otherwise they will be tormented to death by the overwhelmingly strong Kreli split‑pushing.

Orianna's development is crucial.

Of course, this isn't hard to see; Malaxiangguo knows it too, so his focus of care has begun to shift gradually toward the bottom half of the map.

As for Letme's already crippled Gragas, he can only be left to fend for himself in the top lane; sometimes the top‑lane minion wave will even be eaten by Uzi as he passes by.

For example, when Uzi goes back to base and then heads out, if the top‑lane minion wave happens to be just below the high ground, he will go over and simply take it, then after clearing it return to mid lane to pick up the wave.

However, while Malaxiangguo intends to safeguard Xiaohu's development, wanting to do so is one thing and being able to do so is another; especially when the lane matchup is completely lopsided, this becomes especially difficult.

Moreover, Xiaohu has also been targeted by Liang Yan.

And Liang Yan's method against Xiaohu is simple: starve him and camp hard.

At this point in the game, no matter how strong one's game sense, the enemy jungler's position is hard to predict accurately, so Liang Yan simply couldn't be bothered to guess.

It's just hard camping, lying in wait, silently waiting for an opportunity to strike.

As long as the opportunity is good, regardless of where the enemy jungler is, with Fu Lan Duo's current advantage, killing an Orianna whose flash is still on cooldown is a sure thing; even if the enemy jungler counter‑camps and trades one for one, it's still a net gain for VG.

As for the other lanes, Liang Yan doesn't need to worry about them.

The Marquis holding the lane in top lane is steady enough; the vampire, thanks to his blood‑pool skill, has stronger survivability than other champions, so the Marquis just needs to keep his own development healthy to provide a late‑game safety net for the team.

In mid lane, the duo holds sway; Sima Laozei's Varus is developing normally, needing no extra edge, lane priority need not be contested—just hold the middle tower under Tham's protection, and even if it can't be held it's okay to let it go, since the teamfights don't rely on Varus anyway.

Once the situation is clear, Liang Yan can naturally camp Orianna brainlessly without any burden.

Xiaohu had only been solo‑killed once, so he was naturally wary; he resolved to only pick up the wave in front of the tower, thinking it safe, since Kreli's ultimate wasn't ready and he likewise lacked flash, so as long as Xiaohu kept the distance of his E skill, Kreli would find it very hard to hit him, let alone Malaxiangguo camping in the triangular brush behind him.

Xiaohu thought his danger would only appear after Kreli's ultimate came online, but he didn't expect VG to be so eager to kill him that they would just dive in.

Fu Lan Duo's Kreli may lack flash, but Liang Yan's spider does have it.

Liang Yan hid at the front edge of the side brush behind Fu Lan Duo in the bottom lane, camped for nearly half a minute, and finally waited for an opportunity that an average player could never seize.

When Xiaohu's Orianna peeked out halfway from behind the red‑side minion wave that was being blocked by the blue‑side minion wave in front of the tower, Liang Yan flashed out from the front of the grass!

The instant he appeared from the flash——

Pfft!

A glob of white, sticky substance shot out of Elise's mouth like an arrow released from a bow, speeding toward the Orianna spirit exposed outside the minion wave!

"Holy shit!!

The moment Elise appeared, Xiaohu let out a startled cry, his finger instinctively hit the D key, and he frantically clicked the mouse!

Unfortunately, his flash was still on cooldown.

As for his positioning, Liang Yan's Cocoon was already predictive.

The fuzzy white projectile grazed past a red‑side ranged minion and finally splatted with a soft slap onto Orianna's butt before she could retract it.

"What!!

"This can also hit!!!

Guan Zeyuan stared wide‑eyed and shouted, his voice tinged with a hint of fear,

"Xiaohu's reaction was already fast enough! He was dodging the instant Jiao Shen flashed out of the grass, but he was still stunned by this Cocoon!

"Sheng Qiang Ge stepped forward two steps, unleashed an E, threw a harpoon that latched onto Xiaohu, began to savage him, and simultaneously drew the tower's aggro!

"Jiao Shen fired a neurotoxin, then without delay launched his Spider‑style swing, landed and unleashed a full‑damage combo!

"The lurking Malaxiangguo activated his ultimate, went invisible with a speed boost, walked out of the grass and leapt onto him!

"The instant Xiaohu lost control, he slapped a shield on himself, detonated his ball for a speed boost and tried to run back, but after just two steps Kreli's hook dragged him back and the spider finished him off!!