Peking Opera Cat: I Became A Zi's Brother

"..."

The moment you step into the border town of Dazong, the damp fishy smell mixed with the smell of rust hits you in the face.

The broken flag with the Chinese character "武" drooped on the dilapidated city wall. Dark red slime seeped out from the cracks in the blue-gray bricks and stones, corroding the gilded plaque in front of the city gate that read "Establish Prestige through Military Force" into spots.

"Is this really the territory of Da Zong? How could it be so dilapidated?"

"At least other sects are clean once you step inside!"

On the originally wide main road, broken Wumai stone pillars lay in all directions, and the Qilin patterns carved on the pillars had been gnawed away, leaving only stumps. The purple-black veins formed by chaotic erosion were like hideous blood vessels, slowly wriggling along the stone surface.

"boom!"

The ball of sugar fluff suddenly exploded into a dandelion, trembling violently in the wind.

"Oh my God, what scared me so much?"

He looked up and saw three twisted puppets hanging upside down under the eaves. Their blue-gray skin was covered with spider-web-like cracks, and green flames burned in their empty eye sockets.

The moment they discovered Xingluoban, their necks made a clicking sound like dislocated gears, and twisted violently at an angle that was contrary to ergonomics. The sharp sound of their claws tearing through the air pierced the silence.

"Um?"

"careful!"

Wu Song's stick swept out, but sparks flew the moment it touched the puppet.

Those materials that looked like flesh were actually as hard as metal. The sharp claws scraped across his wrist guard, leaving three charred marks.

"Water Shield!"

Xiaoqing's sleeves surged into a barrier, but ice spikes burst out from the puppet's fingertips, freezing the water curtain into sharp ice crystals.

"Roar……"

What's worse is that after the ice spike fell to the ground, it turned into a new puppet, and when it drilled out from the ground, it brought up bursts of foul-smelling black mist.

"Has the Da Zong been eroded so severely?"

Mo Zi leaned against the bright moon and barely stood still, a faint light condensing from his pale fingertips.

"Ice Howl!"

When her light blade chopped off the puppet's head, what splashed out was not blood, but a sticky black liquid.

"What? How could..."

When the liquid touched the ground, it immediately corroded into deep pits with bubbles rising from them. Tiny tentacles emerged from the bottom of the pits, trying to wrap around the cats' ankles.

"Everyone, be careful of the tentacles on the ground. Don't get caught!"

"What's wrong with this Da Zong? It's so far behind the others!"

The roar of gears turning could be heard in the distance, and a dense phalanx of puppets emerged from the end of the street. The friction of mechanical joints merged into a sound wave that made one's teeth ache.

"Just shut up, Megumi!"

"Run to the alley!"

Wu Song's stick smashed the puppet that was rushing towards him, but he saw its broken limbs reassemble in the air.

"elder sister……"

Xiaoqing embraced Mo Zi, and her sleeves rolled up the gravel and smashed it into the gaps in the puppet's joints. Mingyue swung out the astrological chains, temporarily trapping the puppet that was trying to outflank it.

"Roar……"

But as more and more puppets crawled out of the ruins, the cats were gradually forced into a dead end - behind them were the collapsed ruins of the martial arts hall, with half a blood-stained plaque of "Stop War, Be Martial" hanging on the broken beam, and in front of them, the puppets' scarlet eyes formed a terrifying sea of ​​light in the darkness.

"East! The clinic is on East Street!"

Wu Song suddenly shouted, but his voice was torn into pieces by the roars of the puppets.

His eyes swept across the crooked medicine gourd sign on the street corner, which was the unique medical clinic logo of the small border town of Dazong.

"Okay, I'll cover this area. You guys go ahead, Run Long!"

Bai Tang immediately understood, stepped on the dandelion and flew into the air, firing the meatball cannon towards the area where the puppets were most concentrated.

"Roar!"

In the smoke and dust raised by the explosion, Wu Song took the opportunity to lift Mo Zi, half-carrying her on his shoulders, and ran towards East Street.

"Hey, you better be gentle with my sister!"

"Hmm~"

Mo Zi's consciousness was intermittent in the bumpy ride.

She felt as if she had fallen into the cold deep sea, and the chaotic power was like an undercurrent, constantly impacting her already fragile heart.

"Uh--"

The Bu Zong emblem on his chest was dim and dull, and every breath felt like swallowing broken ice.

"Is Wu Song supporting me now?"

In a trance, she heard Wu Song's rapid breathing right beside her ear and felt the burning heat coming from his back, which was a fresh breath of life that was completely different from the coldness of chaos.

……

The scene on East Street was even more tragic than on the main road.

The once bustling herbal shop, once buzzing with cats, now had shattered doors and windows, overturned medicine cabinets, and scattered herbs mixed with pus and blood. The plaque reading "Ji Shi Tang" hung askew on the doorframe, its ink warped and distorted by chaos, like a face twisted in pain.

"boom!"

"Hey, is there a cat? Come and help!"

Wu Song kicked open the rickety wooden door, and the scene inside the room made his pupils shrink suddenly - seven or eight apprentices from the medical clinic fell in a pool of blood, still clutching medicine boxes and bandages in their hands. It was obvious that they had been attacked while treating the wounded.

"Quick! Find some healing medicine!"

Xiaoqing gently placed Mo Zi on the cracked medicine couch and began to rummage through the scattered medicine cabinets.

Mingyue stood guard at the door, the astrological chains in her hands transformed into a flowing light shield, resisting the influx of puppets.

"Hmm? What is this medicine?"

Bai Tang jumped onto the counter and stuffed all the medicine bottles he saw into his arms, but he was suddenly stunned when he grabbed a jade bottle - the bottle contained not ordinary liquid medicine, but powder shining with golden light, which was the secret "Wumai Shengji Powder" of Da Zong.

"Um?"

After hearing this, Mingyue ran over and switched places with Wusong, tearing off the dark purple bandage soaked in black blood.

At her wound, the power of chaos was devouring her flesh and blood at a speed visible to the naked eye, and purple-black tissue was rolling around the edge of the wound.

"Azi, you must hold on!"

Mingyue gritted her teeth and sprinkled the Wumai Shengji Powder on the wound. The moment the powder came into contact with Hun Chaos, bursts of white smoke rose up, accompanied by a sharp sizzling sound.

"Uh--"

Mo Zi suddenly arched his body, let out a suppressed cry of pain, and cold sweat instantly soaked the sheets beneath him.

"Hold on, A Zi!"

Mingyue's voice was terribly hoarse. She held down Mo Zi's trembling body tightly, fearing that she would be swallowed by the power of chaos.

"Sister, you must hold it in!"

Xiaoqing used her water-based power to try to relieve Mo Zi's pain with the cool water.

"Damn it!"

The puppet attacks outside the door became more and more fierce. Cracks appeared in Wu Song's astrological chains, and his face turned as pale as paper due to excessive consumption of rhythmic energy.

"Wong..."

At this moment, a deafening roar came from the center of the city.

The ground shook violently, and broken plaster from the ceiling fell. Through the broken windows, the cats saw a strange black mist rising from the sky, and a huge chaos rune vaguely emerged from the black mist.

The puppets seemed to have received some kind of summons and suddenly stopped attacking. They turned in unison towards the city center and left in a line with mechanical steps.

"What happened at home..."

Wu Song looked at the puppet's receding back, his clenched fists reluctant to loosen.

He knew that this brief calm was just the calm before the storm.