Peking Opera Cat: I Became A Zi's Brother

"Oh, I didn't expect it to be so cold now..."

The biting cold wind, like the claws of chaos, whistled through the ruins of Da Zong, raising clouds of scorched earth and dust, and whimpering among the broken walls and ruins.

"Um……"

Wu Song and Yun Bai walked side by side among the ruins in the west of the city, their fluffy hair blown by the wind. It had only been a month since they returned to the devastated Dazong.

"I never thought that this place would become like this in just one month."

Wu Song broke the silence, his voice low and hoarse, his tiger eyes staring at the collapsed ruins of the inn in front of him.

In the rubble, on a half-faded wooden sign,

The four words "There is an inn" have become blurred.

Thinking back to when I first came here, the proprietress’s somewhat impatient expression and the cold words “Just have a night’s rest, don’t expect any good treatment” still seem to echo in my ears.

At that time, the bedding she threw to them gave off a pungent smell of mold, the food was cold and hard, the steamed bread tasted like chewing wax in the mouth, and scattered vegetable leaves in the soup floated on the turbid water.

But even so, it is not easy to find a place to shelter from the wind and rain in this dilapidated sect ravaged by chaos.

"Ugh……"

Wu Song sighed softly, his hair fluttering slightly in the wind:

"At that time, she always had a stern face and said that we disciples were ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth."

He paused, his claws unconsciously stroking the charred beam beside him. There were still a few deep scratches on it, which were left by them when they tried to stabilize the crumbling beams.

"Now that I think about it, she did give us a place to stay."

His voice gradually became softer, and his mind emerged that night. Although the landlady complained, she still quietly added some firewood to their room late at night so that they would not freeze in the cold night.

……

The two continued to search in the ruins. The broken bricks and tiles under their feet made a creaking sound, and every step seemed to be stepping on memories of the past.

Suddenly, the disciples' exclamations were heard not far away.

"Brother! Sister! Come and see!"

A young disciple waved his claws, his voice filled with nervousness and excitement, his ears twitching nervously.

"..."

Wu Song and Yun Bai exchanged a glance and immediately rushed over. They saw several disciples gathered around a pile of rubble, their expressions solemn.

Their paws were covered in mud and their faces were covered in sweat, obviously they had discovered something unusual while clearing the ruins.

"We found this while we were cleaning!"

A disciple pointed to the ground, his voice trembling slightly. Beneath the layers of rubble, a stone slab engraved with strange runes gradually emerged.

The rune glowed with an eerie purple-black light, which was out of tune with the surrounding scorched earth. There were also faint traces of dark red on the edge of the rune, like dried blood. It was obvious at a glance that it was inextricably linked to chaos.

"Is it Chaos again?"

Wu Song's eyes instantly became alert, orange-red flames ignited around his body, and the flame patterns on his tail jumped violently, as if ready to explode at any time.

He gripped the flaming whistle stick tightly, his knuckles turning white from exertion, and shouted loudly:

"Everyone stand back! This thing is wrong!"

The disciples quickly dispersed, and Yun Bai also drew out his whip. The aqua-blue rhythmic energy flowed from the tip of the whip, illuminating the surrounding darkness.

"call……"

Wu Song took a deep breath, poured all his strength into the flaming whistle stick, and shouted:

"Judgment by fire!"

The blazing flames swept out like a surging wave, carrying the heat and anger unique to the disciples of the Da Zong, and slammed heavily on the stone slabs.

After a loud bang, the stone slab exploded, rubble flew everywhere, and revealed a deep passage below.

A strong stench of decay and chaos hit me in the face, making me sick. The passage was pitch black, and I could faintly hear the sound of dragging chains and faint groans, as if something terrible was lurking in the darkness.

"There must be something going on down there."

Yun Bai said seriously, with worry in his eyes.

"This aura is exactly the same as the chaos that infected the proprietress."

Wu Song nodded, his eyes firm:

"Whatever is down there, we have to find out."

He turned to look at the disciples behind him.

"Stay up there and notify us immediately if there's any movement."

"Yes!"

The disciples responded in unison, holding their weapons tightly and guarding the entrance.

Wu Song and Yun Bai looked at each other and stepped into the passage cautiously.

The passage was damp and dark, with moss growing on the walls and dried bloodstains on the ground, which looked particularly glaring under the fiery red light.

They are extremely cautious with every step they take, their ears always alert to the movements around them, and their claws firmly pressed to the ground, ready to deal with emergencies at any time.

As they went deeper, the sound of chains and moans became clearer and clearer, and an oppressive atmosphere enveloped them.

Finally, they arrived at the dungeon at the end of the passage.

In the dim light, an old man covered with old whip marks was chained to the wall.

His prison uniform was tattered, the fabric was almost in rags, and could barely cover his body. The exposed skin was covered with scars, some of which had festered and rotted, emitting a disgusting odor.

The old man was emaciated, skin and bones visible, his ribs bulging, his eye sockets sunken, his lips chapped and bleeding, and his near-dehydration made him look frail. His limbs were tightly bound by thick chains that dug deep into his flesh. The chains were engraved with Chaos runes, constantly draining his rhythmic energy.

"!"

When the old man saw Wu Song and Yun Bai, a glimmer of light flashed in his cloudy pupils. His dry tail moved slightly, and his cracked lips moved, and he uttered a hoarse voice with difficulty:

"Wu...Song...Yunbai..."

"Grandpa! Master!"

Wu Song and Yun Bai exclaimed at the same time, their voices filled with shock and heartache.

Wu Song immediately rushed to the prison door, gripping the iron bars tightly with his claws, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Grandpa, why are you here? Who locked you up?"

"Cough cough..."

The old man coughed violently, black blood oozing from the corners of his mouth. Every breath seemed to exhaust all his strength.

"It's... that lady boss... After being corrupted by Chaos, she imprisoned me here to gain power... and used my rhythmic energy to propel her evil plans..."

His voice grew weaker and weaker, and by the end he was almost on his last breath, but there was a glimmer of resentment and anger in his eyes.