Peking Opera Cat: I Became A Zi's Brother

"tread……"

"!"

Bai Tang had just taken half a step forward, and before the tip of his shoe touched the gray floor tiles, Xiao Qing suddenly turned around like a cat whose tail was stepped on.

The tears and blood welling up in her eyes almost devoured the cat. Her sleeves swept over with a biting cold air, condensing into icy spikes in mid-air.

"do not move!"

"!"

The sharp rebuke startled Bai Tang so much that he froze in place, and the bell behind him rang loudly when he kicked it.

"Sister Xiaoqing, maybe there is a way..."

His voice was trembling and Xiaoqing interrupted him before he could finish his words.

Xiaoqing stumbled in front of him, her bloody fingertips almost poking his nose:

"Stinky! Back then at the Shenzong martial arts training ground, you clearly held Brother Mo Yun's hand and swore an oath! You said you would protect Sister A Zi until the clouds parted and the moon appeared!"

Her voice suddenly rose, with a hoarseness like a torn silk.

"What about now? Look at her! Look at the blood all over the bed!"

"I...I really tried my best..."

Bai Tang's throat felt like it was clogged with cotton wool soaked in medicine, and salty tears finally burst through his eyes, rolling down his freckled cheeks.

"That day, Brother Mo Yun entrusted Sister A Zi to me, and I tried my best to protect her..."

"Desperately?"

Xiaoqing suddenly sneered, and her laughter was sharp with tears, and tears mixed with blood dripped onto her clothes.

"What do you mean by fighting to the death is to let her lie here covered in wounds? I will never forget the look in Brother Mo Yun's eyes before he died. He gave his most precious sister to you, but you..."

Da Fei trembled and wanted to step forward to dissuade him:

"Xiaoqing, don't say that...Bai Tang also..."

Before he could finish his words, his rough palm just touched Xiaoqing's shoulder and she shook it away.

"Do not touch me!"

Xiaoqing stumbled back, knocking over a medicine shelf beside her.

"Don't any of you touch me!"

She turned to Dafei, her voice suddenly becoming shrill.

"Da Fei, tell me! If you were a little stronger, would Sister A Zi not be injured? Would we be able to protect her?"

"I..."

Da Fei retreated to the corner, leaned against the mottled brick wall and slowly slid down to sit down, his broad back bent into a desperate arc.

"It's all my fault...it's all my fault..."

He buried his head in his arms, his knuckles turning white from the exertion.

"If only I could be a little faster and block that Chaos attack..."

"Sorry……"

Wu Song clenched and unclenched the whistle stick, leaving deep sweat marks on the wood grain from his knuckles.

He turned his face away, not daring to look at Xiaoqing's collapse, and said in a low and hoarse voice:

"Now is not the time to blame each other, we have to find a solution..."

"Solution? What other solution is there?"

Xiaoqing suddenly grabbed the broken porcelain piece beside the pillow, and pressed the sharp edge against her wrist. Ice-blue rhythmic patterns moved crazily on her skin.

"My brother left, and now my sister is leaving me too... We agreed to watch the lotus lanterns at the waterside pavilion, but now..."

She suddenly turned to Bai Tang, her eyes full of resentment.

"You know what? At his last moment, my brother was still asking me to take good care of my sister, but I..."

"Xiao Qing!"

Wu Song raised his voice,

"Brother Mo Yun definitely doesn't want to see you like this! He entrusted his sister to us because he believed we could find a solution!"

"boom!"

Bai Tang suddenly knelt on the green bricks, and the bell of justice hit the ground, making a clear echo, but it was completely drowned out by Xiaoqing's crying.

He trembled and loosened the scarf around his neck, revealing the scar on his collarbone that had not yet healed.

"Sister Xiaoqing, I know I was wrong... but we can't give up! Brother Mo Yun said that as long as we have faith, there will be hope!"

"belief?"

Xiaoqing sneered, the porcelain shards scratched her skin and tiny blood beads oozed out.

"Can faith save my sister? Can it bring my brother back?"

She suddenly turned around and murmured to herself at the sleeping Mo Zi,

"Sister, I'm sorry... Xiaoqing is useless..."

"Cough cough..."

In the room filled with the aroma of medicine, Mo Zi's cough suddenly became rapid.

The old doctor reached out to feel her pulse, his withered fingers trembling slightly:

"Children, prepare for the funeral..."

"No!"

Bai Tang suddenly looked up, and in her tear-blurred vision, the figures of her companions were shrouded in thick despair.

He suddenly remembered what his master had said, and dug his nails deep into his palms:

"As long as there's still a glimmer of hope, we can't give up! I'm going to find the antidote now! Even if I have to traverse all twelve sects, I must rescue Sister A Zi!"

"!"

The porcelain piece in Xiaoqing's hand fell to the ground with a clang, and the ice-blue rhythmic pattern gradually faded away with her heavy breathing.

She looked at Bai Tang's red eyes and her companions' tear-stained faces, and suddenly staggered back half a step. The fragments of the overturned medicine jar shone coldly in the moonlight.

The scene in his memory of Mo Yun entrusting Mo Zi to the Xingluo Squad before his death overlapped with this moment, and guilt flooded his heart like a tide.

"Yes, I'm sorry..."

Her voice suddenly became hoarse and trembling, and her nails dug deep into her palms but she felt no pain.

"I...I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you..."

The sleeves slipped down, revealing a shallow wound on the wrist. Blood slowly dripped down the fair skin, leaving a dark mark on the blue brick.

Da Fei was the first to stumble forward, his rough hands gently resting on her trembling shoulders:

"Xiaoqing, we all understand..."

He choked and couldn't continue speaking. He turned around and wiped his face, but it was covered with medicine residue.

Wu Song gripped his whistle stick tightly, his knuckles turning white.

"If Brother Mo Yun were here, he wouldn't want to see you humiliating yourself like this."

Bai Tang knelt down and walked to the bedside, and the bell of justice made a crisp sound on the ground.

He wiped the tears from his face, his eyes burning with passion again:

"Sister Xiaoqing, let's find a solution together! Didn't we survive the last time we broke into the Haze Valley? We'll be able to do it this time too!"

Xiaoqing slowly walked to Mo Zi's bed and tremblingly held her sister's blood-stained hand.

Mo Zi's skin was extremely hot, yet as light as a feather.

She leaned over and placed her cheek against the back of the cold hand, tears dripping onto the dark purple sleeves.

"Sister, don't worry... Even if I lose all my rhythmic energy, even if I crush every inch of the Shen Sect's land, I will definitely save you. This time, it's my turn to protect you..."

"..."

Haipiao suddenly cried "woooo" and squeezed to the front of the bed, and its tentacles, which were glowing slightly, gently touched Mo Zi's fingertips.

The old doctor's cloudy eyes moistened again, and he raised the medicine jar tremblingly:

"Although I am powerless to save the situation, the thousand-year-old snow ginseng in the back mountain may be able to save my life. However..."

"Let's go pick them!"

Xingluoban shouted in unison, their voices making the porcelain bottles on the medicine cabinet buzz.

Wu Song slammed his whistle stick onto the ground.

"I swore an oath to protect my companions. Today, I swear in the name of Wusong that I will bring back the snow ginseng!"

Da Fei raised his fist as big as a casserole:

"I'll beat up anyone who stops us!"

Moonlight streamed through the broken window lattice onto the dark purple pale face. Xiaoqing leaned over and kissed her sister's forehead, the jade hairpin in her hair swaying gently:

"Wait for me, sister. Brother Mo Yun is gone, but I am still here. This time, it's my turn to light your way home..."