Peking Opera Cat: I Became A Zi's Brother

The air in late spring is filled with the fragrance of osmanthus.

"Uh, why does she look at me so strangely?"

When Dafei was squatting in the kitchen of the dining hall learning how to make cakes and sweets, he always felt that the new cook looked at him strangely - she always handed him a handkerchief when flour was rubbed on his sleeves. The pattern of the blue-feathered bird embroidered on the corner of the handkerchief was exactly the same as the amulet he wore on his body.

"Da Fei, the Sect Master wants you to go to the Sutra Library!"

Bai Tang's voice came from outside the corridor, startling him so much that he almost choked.

The scent of sandalwood in the Sutra Repository was mixed with a musty smell.

Da Fei saw the sect leader standing on tiptoe to sort out the top layer of scriptures. His wide, moon-white sleeves slid down an inch, revealing a faded red rope around his wrist. At the end of the rope was tied half a green-feathered bird feather, which fit perfectly with the broken part of his amulet.

"Master, your feather..."

Before he finished speaking, the scroll suddenly fell to the ground, revealing half of the embroidery frame inside. On it were embroidered the words "Da Fei", with green spiritual power condensed between the strokes, exactly the same as the ink marks on the note in his swaddling clothes.

"..."

When the sect leader turned around, the scriptures fell to the ground, raising fine dust.

"The previous injury..."

Da Fei saw the new white hair behind her ear and remembered the attack she blocked for him during the battle three days ago. The wound on her back revealed the same birthmark shape as the one on his left shoulder.

In the bloody setting sun at the end of the battle, when the attack tore the leader's clothes, Da Fei heard himself roaring like a trapped beast.

"..."

He saw the old scar under the clan leader's collarbone and suddenly remembered the paper crumpled that his grandmother had slipped to him before she died. It had the words written on it:

"Cinnabar on the left shoulder, and green feather as proof."

"Da Fei, take this!"

The sect leader stuffed the blood-stained heart-protecting mirror into his palm, and dark patterns suddenly appeared on the mirror surface - it was the blue-feathered bird totem he had worn since childhood.

The moment the breastplate became hot, memories came flooding back like a tide: the crying of a baby mixed with the sound of broken strings; a veiled woman stuffed him into a grass nest; when the veil fell, it revealed a cinnabar mole at the corner of his left eye that was a mirror image of him.

"you are……"

His throat tightened and his heart-protecting goggles fell to the ground, reflecting the sect leader's trembling pupils.

"it's me."

"Twenty years ago, during the internal strife of the Chang Sect, your father died protecting you. I embroidered that handkerchief while imprisoned in the dungeon..."

"This is……"

Da Fei touched the stitches on the embroidery frame, and his fingertips touched a hard object in the interlayer - when he pulled it out, it was a knot made of baby's hair, with a silver bell hanging at the end of the rope, and a tiny "Fei" character engraved on the bell.

"I made this up when you were born."

The clan leader's voice trembled.

"The day your wet nurse took you away, I heard your cries fading away. I knelt in the rain clutching this bell until dawn..."

Dafei suddenly remembered the nightmares he always had as a child: heavy rain, chains, and a woman's sobbing.

Looking at the red rope on the sect leader's wrist, he finally understood why every time he was close to her, he always felt a familiar sense of security in his heart - that was the breath of his mother engraved in his blood.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

He grabbed the sect leader's hand and felt the thin calluses on her palm - they were left by years of hard work, but he always thought she only knew how to play the piano.

The leader gently withdrew his hand and took out a yellowed page from the pile of scriptures:

"Every time I see you hurt, I want to hug you as a mother, but I'm afraid..."

The pages were covered with dense handwriting, and "My son Dafei" was written on every page. The word "Qing" at the end of the signature was blurred by tears and dried up, forming a dark brown mark.

Dafei saw a page that said:

"Today, I saw him fall and break his knee in the martial arts arena, but he gritted his teeth and refused to cry. He's just like his father..."

"So you know everything."

He recalled that when he was twelve years old, he got lost in the back mountains. It was the Sect Master who used his spiritual power to transform into a blue-feathered bird to lead him home, but lied that he "just happened to pass by";

He remembered that every time he got into trouble and was put in solitary confinement, there would always be sugared osmanthus flowers on the windowsill - that was the smell of his mother that remained in his cradle.

……

The candlelight flickered deep in the dungeon. When Mo Zi raised her handkerchief and exclaimed, Da Fei was using his spiritual power to stop the bleeding of the sect leader.

The blood-stained handkerchief was unfolded, and the two words "Da Fei" on the corner of the handkerchief glowed green in the firelight - completely overlapping with the spiritual power patterns on the back of his heart-protecting mirror.

"I embroidered this while I was imprisoned."

The leader held down his trembling hands.

"At that time, I didn't know if I could get out alive, I just wanted to keep a memory..."

"I have one too!"

Da Fei opened his collar, revealing half a silver locket he was wearing.

"Grandma said this was carved by my father, saying that the blue-winged bird would eventually take me home..."

When the silver locks collided, a clear sound was heard. Mo Zi suddenly pointed at the secret compartment in the dungeon:

"There's a letter there!"

On the charred letter paper, the four words "My son Dafei" are blurred, but the two words "Muqing" in the signature are clearly visible.

Mingyue's voice called out from the dining hall. When Dafei helped the sect leader downstairs, the spring breeze blew up the loose hair on her temples.

"Actually, I waited for you outside the store for three hours that day."

The clan leader chuckled, and his fingertips brushed over the blue-feathered bird carving on the hairpin.

"Look at how nervous you are holding the silver, it's just like the first time I picked out a jade pendant for your father."

……

In the dining hall, Wu Song was fighting with Bai Tang for the sweet and sour fish, and Xiao Qing added a bowl of lotus seed soup to Mo Zi.

Da Fei watched as the Sect Master scooped up lotus seeds for him, always avoiding the lilies he disliked, and suddenly remembered her whispers in the dungeon before she passed out:

"He doesn't like bitter taste..."

"Here, try this."

The leader put a piece of osmanthus cake into his bowl.

"It's made according to the recipe you loved as a child."

When he took the first bite, Dafei suddenly burst into tears - the soft and glutinous cake was filled with crushed walnuts, just as his grandmother used to make it.

He remembered the vague warmth in the cradle, and the hesitant look in the sect leader's eyes every time he was hurt. He finally understood that the unspoken love had long since turned into gentle spring breezes and rains, silently nourishing every inch of his growth.

"mother,"

This word finally broke through twenty years of time, with a bitter taste but also extremely sweet.

"I'll protect you from now on."

The sect leader was stunned for a moment, and suddenly burst into tears of laughter.

She reached out and wiped away his tears, just like she wiped away his first tear when he was still in his cradle twenty years ago:

"Silly child, why does a mother need protection? As long as you are safe, that is my greatest wish."

As dusk drifted into the dining hall, the copper bells on the eaves rang softly.

"I'm finally back!"

Da Fei looked at the Sect Master and Mo Zi chatting happily, and touched the new sachet tied around his waist - which contained the Sect Master's newly embroidered amulet and the fetal bell that was twenty years late.

Outside the window, a blue-feathered bird flew over the eaves with osmanthus flowers in its beak.

Dafei suddenly understood that home is never a fixed place, but when you look back, there is always someone leaving a light on for you, waiting to hear you say:

"I am back."

……

……

……

(Tomorrow I will just casually transition to the main part and do some singing about the main part. Then I will finish it and jump to fighting the main part.)