Two or Three Events in the Last Days 040-1
Chapter 40 Part 1 of 3
“Mimi!” Tang Tang cried anxiously. “Mimi got hit by the crocodile’s tail yesterday while protecting me. Her front left leg was broken!”
The three kittens inside the cave sensed their mother’s familiar presence and all began meowing.
When the people inside the cave saw Mimi appear and realized how enormous she was, they immediately felt a surge of hope. But after hearing Tang Tang’s words, Li Feiyu took a careful look at Mimi’s leg. Sure enough, something was wrong. The lower part of the leg was bent out of shape, and she could not fully bear weight on it.
Meanwhile, Mimi arched her back and cautiously circled the crocodile. The crocodile suddenly opened its jaws and lunged at her!
Although Mimi was injured, her reflexes remained swift. The instant the crocodile attacked, she sprang into the air, twisting her body with agile movements of all four limbs to evade its bite while using her powerful tail to maintain balance. Her front paws spread wide, exposing razor-sharp claws over ten centimeters long from their sheaths. She slashed viciously at the crocodile’s neck, then kicked off with her hind legs and leaped aside just as the crocodile’s tail swept toward her, returning to a guarded stance once more for the next move.
Against an ordinary crocodile, an uninjured Mimi would have had little trouble winning. But this crocodile had grown much larger, with greatly increased strength and agility. Injured as she was, Mimi was no match for it.
Mimi’s claws were long and sharp, but the crocodile’s hide was simply too tough. Her strikes left only faint scratches that barely counted as wounds. Narrowing her eyes, she realized attacking the neck would not work. She would have to go for its throat instead. But that was extremely dangerous—one mistake and she would be struck by the crocodile’s massive tail.
The crocodile launched another attack. Mimi dodged several times, seemingly searching for the best angle to bite. After another exchange, she vaulted into the air to avoid its attack, landed on a nearby tree trunk, then used it as a springboard to dive toward the crocodile’s throat. Her sharp fangs pierced its vulnerable throat just as she intended, but before she could clamp down completely, the giant tail swept toward her. Even though she released her bite and tried to dodge immediately, she was too late. The tail struck her squarely, snapping her own tail completely in two. Mimi let out a thunderous roar of agony.
Seeing Mimi injured, everyone inside the cave felt their hearts clench.
Two or Three Events in the Last Days (TELD) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Jing Lin said, “We have to go out and help her!” From the current situation, it was impossible for Mimi to subdue the crocodile on her own. If she collapsed completely, they would still be unable to escape death. But if they went out now, Mimi still had enough strength left to fight and could help protect them from the crocodile’s deadly attacks.
Helping her sounded easy enough, but very few people were willing to go outside. As soon as Jing Lin made the suggestion, most of the people in the cave instinctively backed away. Someone cried, “If we go out, aren’t we just throwing our lives away?”
Yan Fei said, “What’s the difference between sitting here waiting to die and throwing our lives away?” He took out the broadsword wrapped in cloth, took a deep breath, and said, “I’m going.”
Jing Lin picked up his woodcutting machete and followed behind Yan Fei. Zhao Zhiwen removed the broadsword from his back, tossed the bundle of vine rope he had brought onto the ground, and walked out without another word. Yan Lu, still determined to see whether she or the crocodile was stronger, followed closely behind the three of them.
Of everyone remaining in the cave, only Tang Hao moved. Everyone had ended up in this deadly situation today because they had come to help him find his daughter. There was no way he could hide behind everyone else.
The remaining people suddenly fell silent. They looked at one another, seeing only familiar faces. They had all grown up together or watched one another grow up. Although they occasionally quarreled over trivial matters, they had spent far more time living as friendly neighbors.
Ma Chunzheng gritted his teeth and stood up. He pounded his still-trembling legs, then walked out as well. After him came the Ma Chunkang brothers, Zhao Shaoqian, Li Feiyu, Gao Changhui, Zhang Kai…
In the end, all twenty people, along with Tang Tang, came out one after another.
At that moment, they all felt something change deep inside themselves. It fermented rapidly, filling them with courage and strength.
Bang!
Mimi was struck once again by the crocodile’s tail. Her injured leg severely hindered her, and her normally lightning-fast reflexes were functioning at less than half their usual level. Multiple bones throughout her body had already been broken, yet she kept forcing herself back onto her feet to confront the crocodile again and again.
Fresh prey had crawled out of the cave on its own. The crocodile abandoned Mimi and turned toward the crowd.
Mimi immediately gave chase.
“Spread out!” Yan Fei roared.
“Hide behind the trees!” Jing Lin added.
Two or Three Events in the Last Days (TELD) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Yan Fei rolled across the ground to avoid the crocodile charging straight at him. Even so, its massive body clipped him, sending him flying. Fortunately, Jing Lin had already given him a defensive talisman beforehand. Although the impact was tremendous, after rolling across the grass several times, he was surprised to find that it hardly hurt at all.
Startled, Jing Lin hurried over to help Yan Fei up and asked whether he was injured. After Yan Fei shook his head, Jing Lin grabbed his right hand and felt his palm. When he confirmed that the talisman paper was still there, he finally let out a sigh of relief. It proved the defensive talisman really worked.
Following Jing Lin’s instructions, everyone scattered behind the giant trees. They soon realized they actually had the advantage. As long as they ran fast enough around the massive trunks, the crocodile’s enormous body prevented it from catching them quickly. The only downside was that they needed enough stamina to keep sprinting without slowing down, or the crocodile would eventually catch them.
Li Feiyu was being chased by the crocodile. He cried loudly in terror while running for his life, almost able to feel the blood-reeking breath from the crocodile brushing past his ear.
“Stupid crocodile! Over here!” Tang Tang shouted from behind a tree, her face pale as she waved both hands. She had only called out to test whether it would react, but to her surprise, the crocodile actually turned to look at her before charging straight toward her.
“!” Tang Tang immediately turned and ran around the tree. She felt like she had gone completely insane. She was terrified, yet at the same time her frantic thoughts reminded her that she had been the long-distance running champion in her grade. Running? She wasn’t afraid of that at all. Racing a crocodile in a long-distance run… she was probably the only person in the entire school who could say that. Talk about a legendary story to tell, hehe.
Everyone soon realized the crocodile did not seem particularly intelligent. They quickly came up with a plan to take turns luring it around. Whenever the person being chased was about to collapse from exhaustion, Mimi would rush in to distract the crocodile so no one would be seriously injured.
To everyone’s surprise, this seemingly unsophisticated strategy worked remarkably well.
As the crocodile chased them, its speed gradually slowed. Eventually, it became so exhausted that it simply stopped running altogether and rested where it stood.
Even the slowest person knew they could not allow the crocodile to recover its strength. But taking the initiative to kill it was still an incredibly difficult task.
Jing Lin glanced around and noticed the bundle of vine rope Zhao Zhiwen had thrown near the cave entrance. Suddenly, he said, “Let’s try tying it up.”
After discussing it with everyone, he picked up the rope, spread it out, and fashioned a sliding noose sized to fit around the crocodile’s head. The knot would only tighten the harder it was pulled. As long as they held one end securely while slipping the loop over the crocodile’s head, it would be useless no matter how violently it struggled.
Everyone kept a close watch on the crocodile. Mimi, in particular, never took her eyes off it. The slightest movement from the crocodile would prompt her to growl a warning.
The noose was large enough that two people holding either side could stay a safe distance from the crocodile’s head. As for who would actually slip it over the crocodile, Jing Lin and Yan Fei volunteered without hesitation. After all, they were the most agile fighters present, and they also carried defensive talismans that no one else knew about.
Two or Three Events in the Last Days (TELD) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Jing Lin expanded his spiritual sense. He shut out everything except the crocodile, focusing every ounce of his attention solely on it.
As Yan Fei and Jing Lin slowly approached, everyone held their breath. The moment the noose slipped over the crocodile’s snout, Jing Lin “saw” the muscles around its mouth twitch through his spiritual sense. Instantly reacting, he shouted, “Pull!” He released the noose and rolled away just as the crocodile lunged.
At the same time, Yan Fei yanked the rope backward. Everyone already waiting behind him immediately pulled together. The noose tightened in an instant, clamping firmly around the front of the crocodile’s jaws and jerking its snapping mouth away from Jing Lin.
The vine rope was more than long enough. With its mouth bound shut, the crocodile charged toward the crowd. Everyone scattered immediately while Yan Fei pulled the rope around a giant tree. Each lap wound another loop around the trunk. Once all the rope had been wrapped around it, no matter how fiercely the crocodile struggled, the rope remained securely anchored to the tree, leaving the crocodile trapped beside it.
The crocodile had already exhausted much of its strength. Though it thrashed furiously in rage, it could not keep it up for long. Meanwhile, the toughness of the vine rope far exceeded everyone’s expectations. No matter how violently it struggled or pulled, the rope showed no sign of snapping or deforming.
At that point, Yan Lu—who had insisted on seeing whether she was stronger than the crocodile—grabbed her massive axe and rushed behind it, smashing its tail repeatedly. She was knocked flying several times, and each time everyone gasped in alarm as she got back up and continued hacking away. She did not stop until even the axe handle shattered. Meanwhile, Mimi had already leaped onto the crocodile’s back. Without its tail threatening her anymore, she successfully clamped her jaws around its throat and violently shook her head. After holding on for more than ten minutes, she finally killed the crocodile.
Mimi fell from the crocodile’s back. She was completely spent.
“Mimi!” Tang Tang threw herself beside her, picked up a blood-soaked canine tooth that had fallen to the ground, and burst into tears.
At that moment, Mimi seemed like nothing more than a tiny kitten again. She let out a soft meow and carefully licked the back of her little master’s hand with her barbed tongue, letting her know she was still alright.
The crocodile was enormous and incredibly heavy. Even with all twenty-one of them working together, they could not drag it an inch. After several failed attempts, they decided to send four people back to the village to bring more help.
Words from the Translation Crew
Miiya: Two of two for the week.
Pinned note: Chapters 38-47 (except 45) are almost 3times in length.
Translator: Miiya
Editor: MushroomKnight73
Proofreader: Yume
Avid BL reader, editor, and translator with 1 story completed (CLWP) and 1 story in progress (TELD). Support this translation with a Ko-fi. Three Ko-fis will add an extra chapter from the stockpile to the next weekly release.
