Chapter 171: Lin Jianying and the Goblin

Chapter 171: Lin Jianying and the Goblin



The quarterfinals began without delay.

In the first match, Team 044 from the Capital City faced off against Team 018.

The two teams were clearly not on the same level.

If Team 044 had qualified through the playoffs, they would have had no chance against Team 018.

For Team 044, fighting Team 018 felt like taking on a preliminary round opponent; they only needed to deploy Li Kui's Ironclad Black Ox to secure victory.

Even Team 018's bird was taken down by the Ironclad Black Ox's long-range attack.

The entire match lasted less than half an hour, including some miscellaneous time from the previous round. The actual combat time was likely less than ten minutes.

The audience felt a sense of frustration witnessing such a one-sided match.

After all, the losing team was from Jiangnan Province.

Even though they had signed with Jiangbei, they were still considered part of Jiangnan, and such a crushing defeat was hard to accept.

Fortunately, Team 042 was up next.

Although Team 042 wasn't facing an external team, as the hope of Jiangnan, the audience was delighted to see them showcase their skills.

However, just as the audience anticipated Team 042's performance...

Team 042 encountered a problem. As the match approached, Lin Jianying's face turned unusually pale.

Lu Wu noticed and asked with concern, "What's wrong?"

"I... I need to use the bathroom," Lin Jianying replied.

Lu Wu understood his nervousness and didn't say anything. He patted Lin Jianying's shoulder and said, "Go ahead."

With Lu Wu's nod, Lin Jianying hurried off with the goblin to the restroom.

Lu Wu knew that Lin Jianying wasn't just going to the bathroom when he saw him with the goblin.

Indeed, after about ten minutes, Lin Jianying returned just before the match, his temples damp, cheeks slightly flushed, and his breath a bit unsteady. He looked a bit disheveled, but his anxiety and tension had lessened.

He immediately consulted Lu Wu, "If possible, can I take the lead position?"

Lu Wu glanced at Lin Jianying and then at the status of the goblin beside him.

"Sure!"

After all, this was just a routine match, and it didn't matter who took the lead.

Moreover, Lu Wu could guess what Lin Jianying had just done, and he understood Lin Jianying's current mindset.

So, when Lin Jianying made this request, Lu Wu didn't mind giving him this opportunity.

After receiving Lu Wu's approval, Lin Jianying's face visibly brightened, and he turned to pat the shoulder of his goblin, who looked a bit dazed, with extra emphasis, "It's all up to you now!"

Soon, the second match began.

Lu Wu's goblin took the lead, facing off against Team 054's cave dweller.

To be fair, the match was quite well-fought.

Both sides were Elite Tier 1, making it a fairly even contest.

After nearly ten minutes of back and forth, the goblin ultimately secured the victory with a stab attack.

Lu Wu was satisfied with the result, considering the goblin hadn't even unleashed its full potential yet. However, the audience was clearly dissatisfied.

After all, this goblin wasn't from a weak team; it belonged to Team 042.

It was the goblin that carried the great hopes of the people from Jiangnan.

In the audience's eyes, such a performance was disappointing, as it didn't live up to the standards of an ace team. Hence, they booed loudly.

Everyone felt that the goblin didn't deserve to be on Team 042, which made Lin Jianying, who had just regained his composure, look even paler. This directly affected his performance in the second match.

As a result, he made a noticeable mistake in commanding the goblin during its second match, causing it to lose the fight when it should have won.

This only intensified the booing from the audience.

They had placed all their hopes on Team 042, but Team 044 had dominated with a 3-0 victory, while Team 042's goblin but fails to draw blood.

This contrast in performance between the matches caused the audience's support for Team 042 to turn into loud criticism.

Audiences can be fickle, especially when they have high expectations. They can be quick to criticize when things don't go as they hoped.

When you win, you enjoy the applause and praise, but when you lose, you must also endure the corresponding scolding.

At this moment, Lin Jianying's face turned deathly pale.

He hadn't expected to mess up the opportunity he had gathered the courage to seize.

Moreover, the audience's scolding, combined with the guilt of not helping Lu Wu and even dragging him down, made Lin Jianying feel like he was falling into an abyss.

He had to exert his utmost control to keep himself from crying.

"Lu Wu, I want to take a rest."

After saying this to Lu Wu, he didn't even wait for a response and headed back to the resting area with the goblin.

Hearing Lu Wu's reply, "Go ahead, I'll take care of things here," Lin Jianying's pace quickened several times over as he dragged the goblin back.

After Lin Jianying left, Lu Wu sent the Little Skeleton up.

The Little Skeleton unleashed a Thunderfall, instantly ending the fight. As Team 054's third Summoned Beast appeared, the Little Skeleton launched another Thunderfall, and its battle music played, making it effortlessly crush the third Summoned Beast with overwhelming strength.

The Little Skeleton's dominance slightly quieted the audience's criticism.

However, there were still some harsh comments directed at Lin Jianying.

The audience felt that Lin Jianying had made no contribution to Team 042 and was purely a burden.

The discussions at the venue were relatively restrained, but online, keyboard warriors were more aggressive in their criticism.

Some even blamed Lin Jianying in advance for Team 042's potential failure.

There were those with darker minds who had already pinned the blame on Lin Jianying if Team 042 didn't win.

(End)

"If only Lin Jianying suddenly dropped dead right now, Team 042 could replace her with a new teammate, and our chances of winning the championship would greatly increase!"

Unfortunately, this comment was seen by Lin Jianying.

Although the comment was quickly deleted, Lin Jianying had already seen it.

Lin Jianying was stunned for a moment...

In fact, ever since Lin Jianying joined Lu Wu's team, his feelings had been complicated.

On one hand, he felt grateful and delighted, but on the other, his guilt grew heavier each day.

After all, it was he who initially disliked Lu Wu's little skeleton and didn't want to team up with him. Although he had his reasons and difficulties, those difficulties never convinced himself.

So, the more Lu Wu treated him well, the more he felt unworthy, and his guilt intensified.

This guilt fermented within him, causing immense pressure in his heart.

He tried hard to find ways to help Lu Wu, to alleviate his guilt.

But no matter how hard he racked his brains, he couldn't find any way to be of use to Lu Wu.

The high school league information he gathered was of no use, and the knowledge he collected couldn't even compare to what Lu Wu saw at a glance.

He wanted to take care of Lu Wu's daily life, help with cleaning and cooking, but that was Dudu's role.

In the 16-19 age group, in the first round of the competition, Lin Jianying realized he couldn't make any mistakes!

In the end, he realized that the only thing he could do was to perform well in the competition and fulfill his role as a teammate, providing the best assistance to Lu Wu during the matches.

For this reason, in the past few months, Lin Jianying worked tirelessly, training with all his might.

But when the competition arrived, he realized that all his efforts had not helped Lu Wu in any way.

In the match against Team 001, he was just cannon fodder, contributing far less than Dudu.

Today, although he defeated an opponent, it still didn't help Lu Wu much.

From the perspective of others, the best help he could give Lu Wu seemed to be dropping dead.

What terrified him even more was that at that moment, he found himself agreeing with that comment, and he struggled to control his emotions, eventually breaking down in the locker room, crying silently while hugging his goblin.

The goblin didn't understand what was wrong with its master.

It couldn't sense its master's current feelings.

It just felt that its master was very unhappy and distressed, and it shared that distress.

Finally, with a twist of its mouth, it started crying along with Lin Jianying...

...

In the locker room, Lin Jianying and the goblin cried together.

Outside, the competition continued.

After Lu Wu's match, it was Team 002's turn against Team 073, led by Hengheng Guai.

It was another battle between a powerhouse and a seeded team, a fight where the outcome was almost certain from the start.

As expected, the match began with a one-sided onslaught.

Team 002's first Elite Tier 3 Summoned Beast, the Little Devil, showcased its prowess, effortlessly defeating Hengheng Guai's two teammates.

Just when everyone thought that the Jiangnan team was about to lose three matches in a row, Hengheng Guai's Summoned Beast appeared.

It was a cat with two tails.

With its Elite Tier 2 strength, it had decent combat power. Relying on its speed advantage, after about ten minutes of close combat, it managed to defeat Team 002's first Summoned Beast, the Little Devil.

This outcome was unexpected!

Cheers erupted from the audience, and for a moment, it felt like Team 073 had won.

The cheers were even louder than when Team 042 had won.

This was mainly due to psychological expectations.

The audience had high expectations for Team 042, and anything less than a dominant performance was considered a failure. On the other hand, for Team 073, the audience believed that not getting swept was a victory in itself.

However, these cheers weren't good news for Lu Wu.

After Hengheng Guai narrowly defeated the Little Devil, her expression turned sour, feeling embarrassed and not daring to raise her head.

But when the cheers erupted, this silly woman became elated, raising her head to search for Lu Wu in the audience.

Upon seeing Lu Wu, Hengheng Guai proudly lifted her head higher.

That proud look made Lu Wu's teeth itch.

When Hengheng Guai noticed Lu Wu's gloomy expression, she became even happier. Initially planning to concede after one match, she decided to fight another round.

As a result, Hengheng Guai quickly learned a harsh lesson: Don't show off, or you'll get struck by lightning.

Hengheng Guai didn't get struck by lightning, but her Summoned Beast was nearly beheaded by the Wind Blade.

The one who made the move was the Baby Griffin that had been sprayed with salt soda by the Little Goldfish.

The one commanding it was Team 002's captain, Fang Bai.

After his first Summoned Beast lost, this guy took matters into his own hands, going all out without giving Hengheng Guai a chance to concede. He directly inflicted severe injuries on Hengheng Guai's Summoned Beast.

The reason he was so ruthless was twofold. First, Hengheng Guai hadn't lost, which meant Team 002 couldn't achieve a perfect sweep, and they felt defeated in terms of momentum.

However, this wasn't the most important reason. The crucial factor was that after Hengheng Guai won, she openly flirted with Lu Wu in front of him.

He couldn't hold back anymore.

He directly inflicted severe injuries on Hengheng Guai's Summoned Beast and immediately flashed a provocative smile at Lu Wu in the audience, challenging him.

Dare to show off your affection in front of me?

I'll twist your partner's Summoned Beast's head!

...

I thought about it and decided to be honest. This book is about a cross-dressing guy.

He exchanged his book chapters with me for cross-dressing photos.

He looks incredibly pretty in his cross-dressing photos, so go ask him for them!

Chapter end