Peking Opera Cat: I Became A Zi's Brother

In Changzong's bedroom, a loud thunder shattered the rain curtain. Xiaoqing suddenly jumped up from the bed and let out a terrified "Ah!"

The wooden window beside the couch was clanging loudly due to the strong wind. She clutched the bed sheet soaked with cold sweat, her chest heaving violently.

"Sister Xiaoqing!"

Bai Tang knocked the door open with her slippers on, her head tilted to one side.

"What's wrong? It's just thunder!"

Xiaoqing's face was as pale as paper, and her throat was tight:

"I dreamed that my sister was locked in a huge formation... They drained her power and created a monster that looked exactly like her..."

Before she finished her words, a second thunder rumbled outside the window, and she shuddered involuntarily.

"It's just a nightmare!"

Bai Tang waved his hands, rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"Sister Mo Yun has the power of Brother Mo Yun, so why are you afraid of breaking the formation? Go to sleep quickly—you still have to watch the festival tomorrow!"

He kicked the corner of the quilt that had slipped off, and when he turned around, the corner of his robe brushed against the candlestick, causing the flame to flicker.

Wu Song leaned against the door frame and drank some water. The bamboo tube made a gurgling sound.

"Don't think about it. People with strong rhyme power tend to have strange dreams."

After saying that, he shook the empty bamboo tube at her, turned around and disappeared into the shadows of the corridor.

"..."

At this time, Haipiao pushed the door open with a copper basin in her hand. The charcoal fire at the bottom of the basin made her face look gentle.

He gently wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with a warm towel, and pointed to the celadon cup handed to him by Mingyue - the cup contained ginger tea with honey.

"Drink slowly..."

Mingyue squatted down, held the bottom of the cup and fed Xiaoqing to drink. The patterns on the talisman paper on her fingertips were faintly visible in the candlelight.

"..."

Da Fei leaned half of his body in from the window, bringing up a gust of wind:

"Haha, I'm guarding the window, go to sleep!"

His huge body blocked the swaying shadows of the trees outside the window, making the house feel more secure.

After everyone left, the house returned to silence.

"What does that portend?"

Xiaoqing leaned against the head of the bed, looking at the flickering candlelight on the table.

The heavy rain outside the window gradually subsided, but the dark clouds were still very low. Occasionally, lightning flashed, turning the window paper into a blue-gray color.

She reached for the ice-patterned pendant beside her pillow, and her fingertips touched the familiar patterns, but she couldn't fall asleep.

"Sister, did you find anything?"

In the distance, in the direction of the Forbidden Palace, there was a faint lingering sound of vibrating strings, mixed with the rustling sound of raindrops hitting banana leaves, weaving into a fine net in the middle of the night, gently trapping her.

……

The next morning, the bronze wind chimes under the Changzong Corridor rang softly in the morning breeze, and the kittens of the Xingluo class walked into the dining hall one after another.

"Wow, it smells really good!"

Bai Tang stood on tiptoe to reach the sweet-scented osmanthus cake in the steamer, with a little glutinous rice flour on the tip of his nose:

"Da Fei! Leave the biggest one for me!"

Dafei tiptoed slightly, hooked the pancake bag with his claws and laughed:

"Okay, I'll get it for you."

In the corner of the dining hall, "Mo Zi" was sitting at a carved round table, with steam rising from the fish porridge in the celadon bowl.

She waved to Xiaoqing:

"Come on, this morning's porridge has South China Sea pearl rice added."

The sunlight fell on her hair, making the newly inserted ice orchid hairpin transparent - it was made of jade that Xiaoqing had polished herself last year, but the end of the hairpin was missing a small pearl that should have been embedded in it.

Xiaoqing walked over holding a handkerchief, her eyes subconsciously sweeping over the Frost Fan on Mo Zi's waist.

The ice patterns on the fan handle solidified quietly, unlike in the past when they would emit a faint blue glow as the rhythmic force flowed.

"Sister...didn't you go to the Forbidden Palace last night?"

She blurted out, but when she met the other person's surprised eyes, she lowered her head hurriedly.

"I, I dreamed that you were drenched in rain..."

"Silly words."

"Mo Zi" picked up a piece of pickled vegetables and put it into her bowl. The temperature of his fingertips was the same as usual.

"I went to bed as soon as I got home last night without even opening the window."

She suddenly pointed behind Xiaoqing and laughed.

"Look at Baitang's face. If he keeps trying, the steamer will hit his head."

"..."

Xiaoqing turned around and saw Baitang being pressed on the table by Dafei with his wings, with the meatball dipped in red bean paste, which made Haipiao burst out laughing.

Mingyue added tea for everyone. The amber liquid flowing from the celadon spout vaguely reflected an "inky purple" image - the curve of the reflected mouth was half a beat slower than hers.

Wu Song sat down with a tea bowl in his hand. A few refreshing mint leaves floated in the bowl.

"The festival doesn't start until 3 p.m., so after breakfast, come with me to the martial arts arena for practice?"

He lowered his voice so that only Xiaoqing could hear it.

"This morning, when I passed by the Forbidden Palace, the moss at the base of the wall showed signs of fresh footsteps."

"boom!"

Xiaoqing held the spoon tightly, and the porcelain spoon made a slight sound when it hit the edge of the bowl.

Mo Zi suddenly pressed her hand, wiping the sweat from her palm with his fingertips:

"Why are you so nervous? Did you not sleep well last night?"

"No, nothing, I just had a nightmare!"

Suddenly, there was the sound of startled birds flying away outside the dining hall.

Xiaoqing looked up and saw the red silk of the Chang Sect leader sweeping across the corridor and heading towards the Forbidden Palace.

The silver bell tied at the end of the red silk rang softly, mixed with Mo Zi's gentle voice at the moment, just like the rhythm of the swaying chains in last night's dream.

"Eat it quickly, it won't taste good if it gets cold."

"Mo Zi" pushed the warm bowl of porridge over, but Xiao Qing suddenly retracted her hand when it touched the edge of the bowl - the temperature was exactly the same as the coldness of her sister's fingertips in her dream last night.

……

By the time the cats had finished their breakfast, the red silk of the Chang Sect leader had already wrapped around the door frame of the dining hall like a living snake.

She smiled and waved her sleeves:

"Haha, everyone's full, right? Then follow me to the festival to take a look—this year's puppet show, 'The Puppet Ballad,' is a new production."

"Ha ha……"

The sugar immediately jumped up, and the candied haws stick spun quickly between his fingers:

"I can't wait! I heard the sugar paintings at the Changzong Festival can be stretched into three-foot-long threads!"

He poked Wu Song beside him, who was wiping his whistle stick with his sleeve.

"You idiot, don't you think the Sect Master looks like he's been corrupted by Chaos? Even if there really is a problem, with our Xingluo Squad—"

"ball."

Wu Song suddenly lowered his voice and knocked his stick against the bluestone bricks with a "bang".

"Don't take chaos too lightly."

He glanced at the Frost Fan in front of him, which was swaying lightly with each step. The ice pattern on the handle of the fan was still as solid as a dead object.

"Especially her..."

"Tch, coward!"

Bai Tang ran forward with her hair in a bun, but suddenly stopped when she passed by "Mo Zi" - the ice blue hairpin on her temples was emitting a faint gray mist in the morning light, like a spider silk contaminated by chaos.

"Um?"

As the group passed through the Nine-Curved Corridor, Xiaoqing was always half a step behind.

She stared at the jade hairpin swaying in Mo Zi's hair, and recalled the equally crooked hairpin shadow in her dream last night - at that time, her sister was hung by chains in the blood pattern array, and it was this hairpin that was inserted in her broken hair, with half a bloody ice orchid petal hanging on the end of the hairpin.

"Xiao Qing?"

Mo Zi suddenly turned around, and his sleeves swept across the runes on the pillars.

"The puppet show will start soon. Can you sit on my right? I remember when you were little you were afraid of puppet hats and always snuggled into my arms."

She smiled gently, but there was a strange light in her eyes, like an undercurrent that suddenly surged in a deep pool.

The leader of the Chang Sect stopped at the entrance of the festival square, and the red silk spread out, revealing a huge puppet stage in the center of the square.

The twenty-four puppets on the stage had already lined up, and the hem of each puppet's clothes was embroidered with the same red silk pattern as the "Mo Zi" earrings.

White Sugar whistled:

"Wow! These puppets are much more impressive than the opera troupe in our Dongqiang Town!"

"That's natural."

The leader raised his hand and brushed the nearest puppet's cheek, and the puppet's pupils suddenly glowed red.

"Chang Zong's puppetry has always been Maotu's specialty... especially today's 'protagonist'."