There were no opportunities!
As Zhen Jin and Zi Di hid in the cave mouth, they paid close attention to the fight.
Throughout the fight, the leopards were active and cooperated with each other, keeping the monkey bear surrounded and in the center
If the couple ever left the cave, they would immediately expose themselves to these beasts.
The chances of leaving the cave and surviving was small. They would definitely not do it unless they were forced to.
The longer Zhen Jin watched the fight, the more fearful he felt.
As the two sides fought it out, it became clear that the numerous scaled leopards had the advantage over the monkey bear who fought alone.
Although leopards were not solitary animals and typically formed leaps to survive, such a large leap of leopards was simply unprecedented. On this island, not only were the creatures terrifyingly varied in shape, size and abilities, but their behaviours were also dramatically different.
Zhen Jin had some speculations about why these scaled leopards were here.
He remembered when the fire-poison bees were chasing him that he had encountered a mysterious leopard-like beast. In the end the beast had lost against the swarm and fled.
This mysterious beast could have been a scaled leopard. It could have returned to its pack and led them to follow Zhen Jin and Zi Di’s trail as the two fled, leading to their arrival here.
“These black leopards don't want revenge against the fire-poison bees per say, but rather I fear they wanted to hunt me and Zi Di.”
“Thinking of it this way, the monkey bear saved us from a disaster”
But Zhen Jin was not thankful.
The monkey bear drove away the fire-poison bee swarm and was now fighting the scaled leopards, giving Zhen Jin and Zi Di a chance to survive.
But if it won, it would still prey on the couple.
It was all simply a coincidence.
Roar!
The leader of the black leopards suddenly pounced onto the monkey bear’s back and bit its neck.
The monkey bear flew into a rage and frantically shook its body.
But the leap leader tenaciously clenched its teeth as it was nearly flung off, holding on only by its bite on the monkey bear’s neck.
The bear had stout flesh and only bled for a moment. It extended its orangutan arms and used its sharp claws to penetrate the leopard’s scales, stabbing the leopard’s body.
The head black leopard wouldn’t let go even if it died. Meanwhile the remaining black leopards also attacked.
One by one the black leopards pounced, pushing the bear to the ground.
“A chance!” Upon seeing this, Zhen Jin decided immediately, he dragged Zi Di and ran out of the cave.
But at this moment, a few of the remaining black leopards saw them. They immediately howled and lunged at them. The rest began to stir.
1
Zhen Jin and Zi Di were forced back into the cave by the leopards.
The black leopards did not chase into the cave because of the monkey bear’s explosive counterattack.
It’s two claws emitted a blazing aura that made them glow red like molten steel.
The bear rolled around crazily, shaking off most of the leopards.
It then used its claws to ruthlessly stab into the leap leader’s body. The leap leader struggled frantically as large amounts of blood splurted from its mouth and nose.
Rip!
The next moment, the monkey bear brazenly tore the leopard leader in two.
Its red claws gave off a scorching aura as if it were freshly smelted steel.
The fiery iron-like claws easily penetrated the leopard scales. With the bear’s great strength, it became a weapon of slaughter!
Shortly after, it had slaughtered all the black leopards in the area!
The leopards suffered a disastrous defeat.
Although the monkey bear was the victor it was miserable. It was blinded in its right eye, its entire body was covered in wounds, and it was drenched in blood. Its arms, claws, and legs were cut to the bone.
Its worst injury was on its neck. The leap leader had bitten it deeply and seemed to have nipped an artery.
This wound was now constantly bleeding.
The monkey bear received heavy losses in order to repel the leopards but decided not to pursue them and instead started to walk back to the cave immediately.
Without any options, Zhen Jin and Zi Di could only retreat.
An injured beast is often more frightening.
Fortunately the bear was gravely injured and walked back slowly.
The couple were forced to go deeper into the cave’s depths.
If the cave only had one path, then they and the bear would ultimately meet and be forced to fight.
But Zhen Jin was not sure.
He originally had a long sword but lost it at the bonfire. Now his only weapons were two daggers.
He had one while Zi Di had the other.
The couple retreated deeper into the cave.
The best case scenario would be that the cave had multiple paths.
However something unexpected happened.
The monkey bear had walked halfway when it suddenly stopped.
It started using its claws to dig ore out of the walls for it to devour.
It ate the fiery ores!
Zhen Jin’s pupils dilated as he secretly watched.
He was amazed to discover that as the monkey bear ate the ores, its wounds gradually healed. The bear’s weak and dispersed aura was steadily stabilizing.
Zhen Jin came to understand what was going on.
“It turns out these ores are the monkey bear’s food!”
He had seen many claw marks in the cave before, and thought that the monkey bear was just sharpening its claws. After seeing this, it seems that the claw marks were the result of the monkey bear’s meals.
2
The monkey bear’s condition was rapidly improving.
Zhen Jin and Zi Di looked at each other gravely.
Now they had two options.
The first is to continue to retreat and hope to find a fork in the cave and use it to avoid the monkey bear.
The second was to fight the monkey bear and seize the advantage while it was still injured!
Both options carried their risks.
The first would give up their golden opportunity and let the monkey bear recuperate smoothly. If the fork didn’t exist they would still have to fight the bear.
As for the second option, Zhen Jin did not know if he could fight the monkey bear. Although he had a supposed advantage, if there was a fork in the cave and he ended up dying fighting the monkey bear, wouldn’t that be too miserable?
Zi Di suddenly grabbed Zhen Jin’s hand, her purple eyes revealed her decision---it was all up to Zhen Jin!
Zhen Jin was caught between a rock and a hard place.
This was a decision of that determined life and death!
More importantly, this not only determined his life and death but also Zi Di’s.
A heavy responsibility lay on Zhen Jin’s shoulders.
Zhen Jin’s eyes darkened for a time, but soon a light of perseverance appeared.
He grasped Zi Di’s hand and then let go.
He took out the dagger and slowly approached the busily eating monkey bear.
Of the two options, Zhen Jin was not sure. He lacked any reliable information to help him decide.
Therefore he decided to follow his instincts--he preferred to fight and attempt to strangle the throat of fate.
He didn’t even have a sword, just a small dagger.
Closer, closer.
The distance between Zhen Jin and the monkey bear was getting smaller.
The bear was still eating, perhaps because this was his home, perhaps because he just had a bitter battle, whatever the case may be, it did not notice Zhen Jin approaching.
But at this moment, Zhen Jin’s complexion changed.
A memory appeared from his mind.
“Damm it, not now!” Zhen Jin’s heart powerlessly cursed, as he was forced to recall a memory.
In a dimly lit old tavern filled with chattering people
“We are victorious!”
“Drink to your heart’s content”
Zhen Jin found himself in a corner wearing knight’s armor surrounded by others also in armour. It was obvious that he was one of them.
Although these knights had scars on their armor, capes, and bodies, they were still very excited.
It appeared to be a post war celebration.
“Glory Be” someone cheered, “could anyone in the world stop us templar knights?”
3
“Thinking back, that recent battle was difficult.” another lamented.
Someone else spoke with fear while stroking a wine cup: “I almost lost control of my mount.”
The sighs of the templar knights drew a sneer.
“What kind of hardships are these? Children, you are all too tender.” The voice attracted the gazes of Zhen Jin and the rest of the knights.
It came from an elderly man.
He had a grizzled beard, a majestic physique, and was wearing plate armor adorned with gold and silver, distinguishing him from the surrounding knights.
The templar knights didn’t respond but instead looked on with reverence.
The noisy tavern suddenly became silent.
“Commander, tell us, we know you are a veteran of many wars. For instance, tell us about the siege of the Iron Banner Castle, the campaigns against the blood knights, or the protection of the Griffin Cliff. Which one of these battles do you think was the most difficult?” Someone asked.
The commander chuckled but did not answer, rather he lifted his wine cup and drank it.
As soon as he put down his empty cup, a templar knight next to him served a full cup.
The commander reached for the wine cup, this time not guzzling it but rather took a small sip of the beer foam.
He only had a left eye which reflected the light of the fire and shone with reminiscence.
He began to speak: “When it comes to difficult battles, it would have to be that one, six years ago at Jackal Valley."
“I know, that was the Fir Knights massacre!” Someone shouted excitedly.
Many people narrowed their eyes and glared at Zhen Jin.
The commander nodded and continued: “That's right it was at Jackal Valley. Those southern nobles are all treacherous scum. They are despicable, shameless, capricious.
“We had been marching for five days. We had just entered Jackel Valley when our allies suddenly betrayed us! We were surrounded by thousands of murderous Fir Knights."
“The fifth legion that had just retreated from the front lines were attacked without warning. Thirty percent of them died on the spot and almost all of the remaining thousand were injured."
The Fir Knights launched wave upon wave of attacks.
Our camp’s defenses were barely enough.
We repelled the second wave at the cost of 300 men.
The third wave struck and killed 200 men.
After the fourth wave attacked, we only had 80 men left.
“We had frantically used up all of our berserker potions. There were none left. Even worse was that the enemy had a powerful man who called himself the Corruptor. This magician was extremely ruthless and under his spells our weapons and armours were corroded away."
"We were in dire straits. The Fir Knight commander demanded we surrender.
4
"
“We knew the southern nobles wanted to capture us as an important bargaining chip for favorable negotiations with the emperor.”
“Hehe, but he underestimated us templar knights!”
“We negotiated for a while and began to charge!"
“Even without a sword, we are still templar knights.”
“Even without armor, we are still templar knights.”
“Even without horses, we are still templar knights.”
“Even without supplies, we are still templar knights.”
“No matter how numerous or powerful the enemy or how small we are, we will never surrender.”
“Because we are templar knights!”
Notes
Sometime ago. Zhen Jin: “I want my memories back!”
At the same time the monkey bear thought to itself, “why are my claws curling?”
Based on what we know about the southern nobles, it is clear they are a dastardly and scheming bunch. Knowing this I theorize that before Zhen Jin got hit with
the ban hammer
amnesia, his personality held more similarities to Fang Yuan than what he is like now.
Translation notes
Everytime you see “monkey bear”, the author uses the full name aka (monkey tailed brown bear) and whenever you see just “bear” the author simply uses “brown bear”. This will apply to all animals stated.
蠢蠢欲动: idiom that means “to begin to stir”, “to get restless”, to become threatening” 原以为是: idiom that means “to believe oneself infallible” As you said, this is a cheering onomatopoeia, so i first thought ‘huzzah’ considering the medieval times setting- but a further look into the context and them being templar knights, i decided to use ‘glory be’ which is a old and rarely used cheer for celebration [Deus] 投无路: idiom, “in a tight spot”, “to be in an impasse”) (陷入绝境: sunk into dire straits) Kinda weird that both of these idioms are slapped together like this when they both mean the same thing but whatever