Peking Opera Cat: I Became A Zi's Brother

"hiss……"

Wu Song opened his eyes suddenly, and the biting cold air mixed with snow poured in from the cracks in the broken wooden house, making him shiver.

"here it is?"

The haystack beneath him rustled, and icicles hung from the beams above his head, reflecting tiny, cold lights. It turned out that he was still in the temporary wooden house at the foot of the snow-capped mountains.

"Really? Building this cabin is such a waste of time, but thank you anyway~"

"Wusong! You're finally awake!"

Dafei's voice came from the doorway wrapped in white mist, his thick fur still stained with snowflakes.

"He was in a coma for three days and three nights, and everyone was worried!"

Before he finished speaking, Bai Tang rushed in like a whirlwind, his bun-shaped head covered in ice crystals, and in his hand, he held a piece of frozen osmanthus cake:

"Eat it quickly! This is the last of my stock!"

"..."

Wusong's Adam's apple moved, and the warm pastry handed to him by Xiaosong in his dream and the cold, hard sweet block in front of him inexplicably overlapped.

"Clang!"

He struggled to get up, his lower back hitting the wooden table, causing the copper bell in the corner to jingle - that was something he had never taken out before, and the rhythm of its shaking was exactly the same as the bell on the tiger-head hat in his dream.

"Having a nightmare again?"

Xiaoqing squatted down, combing his messy hair with her fingertips condensed into ice flowers.

"When you were unconscious, you kept shouting, 'The mountain behind is dangerous,' 'Your rhythmic power should be like a stream.'..."

Wu Song suddenly grabbed her wrist, causing ice flowers to shatter all over the ground.

The memory of Chu Shanjun's admonition and the crooked tiger claw mark on Xiaosong's arm were now intertwined with the howling wind and snow outside the wooden house into a chaos.

"Wusong, you hurt me!"

Xiaoqing pulled her hand back, her ice-blue pupils reflecting his pale face.

"Wong..."

In the distance came the unique sound of gongs from Dongqiang Town, mixed with the avalanche warning horn.

Bai Tang jumped to the window, and pressed his nose against the frosted glass:

"Look! The snowy mountains are about to clear up!"

"Really~"

Wu Song leaned against the window frame and looked at the sky. The rosy morning glow was piercing through the clouds.

The sunset over Dazong City in the dream, Xiaosong's sparkling eyes, and Senior Sister Yunbai's gentleness in straightening the tiger-head hat gradually blurred in the cold morning light of reality.

He clenched his waist, but the chill on the whistle stick could not suppress the burning heat in his palm - after the chaos, Da Zong was already devastated. Are those figures in his memory still safe and sound?

The avalanche warning horn was heard mixed with the wind and snow. He looked at the snow-capped peaks that were looming in the distance and secretly made up his mind: after the Xingluo Squad crossed this snowy mountain, they must go back to Dazong to take a look. Even if there were ruins everywhere, they must find the swaying figure of Xiaosong in the tiger-head hat and confirm whether Senior Sister Yunbai was still defending the Yunguang of Dazong.

“Can’t waste time anywhere else!”

Wu Song was still immersed in the trance of dreams and reality, when he suddenly heard Bai Tang's heart-wrenching cry:

"Sister Azi is awake!"

The whole wooden house seemed to be shaken by the shout, and the original chaotic noise stopped abruptly, leaving only the crackling sound of the fire.

"boom!"

The moment the cat pushed open the wooden door of the wing room, a gust of cold wind blew, causing the flame of the oil lamp in the corner to shake violently.

"Don't be so excited, Baitang~"

Mo Zi leaned weakly on the straw mat, his face as pale as paper, but the dried camellia in his hair stood stubbornly.

Da Fei's towering figure froze in place, his eyes instantly reddened, and his rough hands trembled violently:

"Finally woke up... Sister Zi, you almost pulled our hearts out!"

As he spoke, Dafei, who had been holding back tears for a long time, was about to burst into tears.

"Sister Azi!"

Bai Tang rushed to the bedside, his ball-shaped head bouncing up and down with his rapid breathing.

"When you were unconscious, I stayed by your side every day! I even kept my most precious osmanthus cake for you, just waiting for you to wake up!"

He carefully took out the oil-paper bag, and the cake inside had already frozen hard.

"When the snow stops, I'll take you to pick wild berries all over the mountains. They're a hundred times sweeter than these!"

"Hmm~"

Xiao Qing's eyes instantly turned red. She forced herself to remain calm, her fingertips condensed with icy blue energy and probed for Mo Zi's pulse, but her voice trembled uncontrollably:

"Sister...how are you feeling? Is Chaos still hurting anywhere?"

As she was talking, tears suddenly fell on the back of Mo Zi's hand.

"Do you know how scared I am...afraid of losing you again?"

She held Mo Zi's hand tightly, as if if she let go, her sister would disappear into the chaos again.

"Don't worry~"

Haipiao stood silently by the bed holding a copper basin, the steaming heat blurred her face.

She gently put down the copper basin and wiped Mo Zi's face with a soft cloth soaked in hot water. Her movements were so gentle as if she was afraid of breaking a rare treasure.

"..."

Those clear eyes were full of heartache and joy, and his gaze never left Mo Zi's face, as if he wanted to engrave this lost and regained scene into his heart.

Mingyue stepped forward quickly and gently put a bracelet made of snow mountain ice crystals on Mo Zi's wrist:

"Azi, this is what I made these days to keep you safe."

Her voice was soft, but filled with undeniable determination.

"We will all be here from now on, and we will never let Chaos hurt you again."

"Wusong~"

Mo Zi looked at the cats surrounding him, and his gaze finally fell on Wu Song who was standing silently in the corner.

The golden light that dispelled the chaos before he fell into a coma, and the familiar rhythm, now overlapped with the silent figure in front of him.

Her throat tightened and she tried hard to hold back her sobs:

"Thank you... Thank you for not giving up on me..."

Before he could finish his words, tears started to flow.

"Wong..."

Suddenly, there was a violent tremor, and the gong sounding the avalanche warning sounded heartbreakingly.

Dafei's expression suddenly changed:

"A snowstorm is coming! We need to reinforce the cabin immediately!"

"I am coming too!"

Mo Zi struggled to get up, but was held down by Xiao Qing.

"Sister, don't move!"

Xiaoqing's voice was filled with tears.

"Have a good rest, we are here!"

When she turned around, Mo Zi saw her sister's red eyes and bitten lips - the stubborn little girl had long grown into a guardian who could stand on her own.

"Ha~"

Bai Tang shook her shoulders, but suddenly turned around and hugged Mo Zi:

"Sister Azi, wait for me! Once I drive away the snow and wind, I'll come back and tell you a thousand jokes!"

Haipiao gently held Mo Zi's hand, conveyed his reassurance with his eyes, and stayed by Mo Zi's side with peace of mind.

"boom!"

The wooden door was shut tightly, isolating the howling wind and snow from outside.

Mo Zi held the still warm bowl of medicine, listening to the concerted shouts of her companions outside the house, and remembered the golden light that always guided her when she fell into chaos.

"Brother, I understand..."

The scalding tears dripped into the medicinal soup, creating ripples - it turned out that the warmth and redemption she had been pursuing for so long had already transformed into the steadfast figures of the companions around her, becoming the light that illuminated her life.

……

When the morning light shines through the cracks in the wooden house, Mo Zi always sits quietly on the haystack to regulate his breathing.

Haipiao had already placed the warm medicine next to her hand and drew a sun-facing flower on the wooden board with charcoal, reminding her to remember to take the medicine on time.

"Hey hey hey..."

Bai Tang would always pop in at this time, sometimes with half a piece of candy that he had secretly hidden, and sometimes with ice crystals dug from the snow. He would insist on showing off his newly learned stick-playing skills in front of her, making Da Fei shake his head:

"Don't disturb Sister A Zi's breathing!"

When the afternoon sun is at its brightest, Xiaoqing would accompany her sister to practice rhyme outside the cabin.

Their moves were exactly the same, the ice-blue light interwoven into a web, yet each had its own sharp edge.

Mo Zi's movements were a little stiff at first, and the hidden injuries left by the chaos always caused a dull pain when she exerted force, but Xiao Qing always patiently accompanied her to break down each movement.

"..."

Once, Mo Zi almost fell down, and Xiao Qing quickly supported her. The two sisters looked at each other and saw the long-lost peace of mind in each other's eyes.

Although sea drifters cannot speak, they can always fill the gaps in their lives with their actions.

She would quietly prepare hot water in the evening, and the water temperature was always just right;

When she found holes in Mo Zi's clothes, she used scraps of cloth to mend them into the shape of flowers overnight;

When all the cats sat around the fire, she would draw their faces on the wooden board - Bai Tang with his teeth bared and claws waving, Da Fei with a silly smile and scratching his head, Wu Song leaning against a tree and taking a nap, and next to her own portrait, she would always draw a picture of herself holding Mo Zi's hand.

Mingyue often brought back herbs collected from the snow-capped mountains and carefully taught Mo Zi to identify the effects of each herb.

"Drinking this edelweiss in water can speed up recovery from injuries."

She gently placed the frosted herbs on the wooden table.

"Azi, when you're well again, let's go to the top of the mountain to watch the sunrise together. I heard the sunrise there is more beautiful than anywhere else."

The most lively time is dinner time.

Dafei could always pull out the treasured dry food from his bag like magic, and Baitang was responsible for telling jokes that made everyone laugh, and even Wu Song couldn't help but smile.

Haipiao would draw recipes on the ground with charcoal and gesture to show his creativity. Although he couldn't make any sound, his exaggerated expressions always made everyone laugh.

"..."

Mo Zi sat quietly aside, watching the dancing flames reflected on the smiling faces of his friends. A corner of his heart that had been frozen for a long time was being melted little by little by the warmth.

"call--"

As night fell, the wind and snow were still howling outside the cabin.

Mo Zi sometimes practiced simple moves under the moonlight, and the feeling of rhythmic power flowing through his fingertips gradually became clearer.

Every time at this time, she could always catch a glimpse of Wu Song wiping his weapon not far away, but his eyes would look over here from time to time - the figure who had carved out a way of life in the chaos now turned into a force of silent protection.

"Take a rest while you're at sea~"

And Haipiao would always give her warm ginger tea after she finished practicing, and gently massage her sore shoulders with his warm palms.

……

The days passed slowly, and the snow outside the wooden house slowly melted, revealing the buried stones and dead branches.

Mo Zi's steps became more and more steady, and the flow of rhythmic power became smoother.

“Great, great”

One morning, when she was finally able to perform a complete set of moves, Bai Tang was so excited that she ran around the room, Da Fei clapped his hands so hard that snow fell from the roof, Xiao Qing smiled and turned her head away to wipe her eyes, and Hai Piao, with tears in his eyes, quickly wrote a big "Congratulations" on the wooden board.

"How long can we continue like this?"

In this small wooden house at the foot of the snow-capped mountains, there are no thrilling battles, no chaotic crises, only ordinary yet precious daily life.