Peking Opera Cat: I Became A Zi's Brother

The city gate slowly rose in the moonlight, and in the misty water vapor, the figures of the people in the sect gradually became clear.

"Xixi, come and catch me, you can't catch me, right?"

“You’re the only one who runs fast…”

The shops along the street are brightly lit, and the warm yellow light shines through the carved window lattices onto the bluestone road. Children are chasing lanterns condensed from the rhyme of water and laughing, and their crisp laughter startles the night herons perched on the eaves.

"Is everyone doing so well now?"

“This is the result of everyone’s hard work…”

The vendors in robes with water patterns piled up the freshly caught silver-scaled fish into small hills. The sound of their hawkers intertwined with the sound of the waves. This scene of peaceful and prosperous life made Xiaoqing stop in her tracks unconsciously.

The streets and alleys that were still shrouded in smoke and devastation when they left are now full of their former vitality. It turns out that during their days of traveling, their bodies have quietly recovered.

"Look! It's Palace Master Xiaoqing! And Palace Master Mozi!"

Someone shouted, and the originally bustling street suddenly became quiet.

Soon after, cats came like a tide, and the greetings coming one after another between the green tiles and white walls made Xiaoqing's eyes hot.

The old man, leaning on a jade cane, trembled as he pushed through the crowd. His wrinkled hands tightly grasped Xiaoqing's arm, tears welling in his cloudy eyes.

"My dear child, you are finally back safely!"

Several childhood playmates crowded to the front, looking her up and down with red eyes. Someone gently poked the jade flute at her waist, and said in a trembling voice:

"You have suffered along the way."

A few brave children even hugged her legs and called her "Sister Xiaoqing" in a baby voice, their little hands covered in icing sugar leaving white marks on the hem of her black dress.

"Palace Master Mo Zi, what is this..."

Suddenly, there was a gasp from the cats. Mo Zi clutched Xiao Qing's sleeve tightly, like a drowning man grabbing a piece of driftwood.

Her empty eyes timidly swept over the crowd, her originally heroic eyebrows were covered with a layer of confusion, and she unconsciously repeated

"Brother, brother."

Exclamations erupted one after another in an instant, and the onlookers subconsciously took half a step back. Dozens of unfriendly glances shot like sharp arrows at Mingyue who was accompanying them.

"You have misunderstood!"

Mingyue smiled helplessly, raised her hand to signal the cats to be patient, and her light purple sleeves swept the night wind.

"I have no ill intentions, but..."

Before she finished speaking, Xiaoqing was already standing in front of Mingyue, sobbing.

The salty sea breeze blew tears across her cheeks. She trembled and hugged Mo Zi tighter. She could clearly feel the body in her arms trembling slightly.

"Sister...you became like this because you wanted to seal the chaos..."

Xiaoqing's voice sounded like it had been rubbed by sandpaper, with suppressed sobs.

"We were fighting a bitter battle against Chaos under the Da Sect, and she... she exhausted all her energy just to preserve the peace of the Da Sect..."

The streets fell into deathly silence, with only Mo Zi's vague murmurs echoing in the night.

Xiaoqing took a deep breath and looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar faces. The days and nights of struggling in chaos, the excruciating pain when Mo Yun dissipated, and Mo Zi's cries of collapse all flooded into her heart like a tide.

She wiped away her tears and ran her fingertips over the mottled cracks on the jade flute, where the burn marks from the battle with Chaos still remained.

"But we came back,"

She straightened her back and her voice became firmer.

"I've returned with the hope of the Shenzong. My sister will get better. We will rebuild the Neko-sensei and never let Chaos hurt anyone again!"

"boom!"

The crisp sound of a porcelain bowl breaking exploded in the silence. The old fisherman in coarse cloth shorts kicked the broken porcelain away, anger burning in his turbid eyes.

He rolled up his sleeves, and the dim water patterns on his arms shimmered as he trembled.

"FUCKING CHAOS!"

The hoarse roar made the copper bells on the eaves buzz.

"My fishing boat was destroyed back then, and now you've injured Palace Master A Zi so badly. Even if I risk my life—"

"Let's fight! Let's fight Chaos!"

The fishmongering woman picked up the sharp knife on the chopping board, and the blade shone coldly in the light of the lamp.

The crowd that originally surrounded Xiaoqing instantly became boiling. Some picked up their carrying poles, some pulled down their swords, and amidst the roar of angry curses,

"Give me back my Palace Master!" "Blood debt must be paid with blood!"

The roar startled the seabirds and scattered. Several young kittens immediately leaped to their feet, their chains of watery energy gleaming coldly across the night sky, ready to charge into the gloomy valley.

"!"

Xiaoqing was so frightened by the sudden anger that she took a step back, but Mo Zi in her arms suddenly let out a whimper of fear.

She quickly raised her hand to signal, and the jade flute drew a clear water curtain in her palm:

"Everyone calm down! Chaos has been severely damaged. If we pursue him now, we will fall into a trap!"

But the angry people were not willing to listen. As the crowd pushed and shoved, an out-of-control water blade flew past Mingyue's ear and plowed a half-foot deep gully on the blue brick wall.

"Stop it all!"

The old man's roar echoed through the streets like a loud bell.

The old man with the jade cane climbed up the stone steps at some point, slamming the cane into the ground. The pressure from his body froze the restless cats in their places.

"Look at you now! The peace that Palace Master A Zi sacrificed her life for is now allowing you to mess up yourselves here?"

He coughed violently, his cloudy eyes swept across the red eyes of the cats.

"Revenge cannot be rushed. The most urgent task is to heal the Palace Master and strengthen the barrier!"

The bustling streets gradually returned to calm, with only the sea breeze blowing up broken porcelain on the ground, making a tinkling sound.

Xiaoqing looked at the people who clenched their fists and looked unwilling, and suddenly remembered what her sister had said:

“True strength does not come from fighting violence with violence, but from turning scars into the power of protection.”

She gently wiped away the tears on Mo Zi's face and placed her trembling hands on the jade flute at her waist. This time, she wanted to let the hope of her sect be like a lighthouse that never goes out, illuminating every inch of land infected by chaos.

……

When the noise gradually died down, the old man leaning on a jade cane suddenly stepped forward tremblingly, his cloudy eyes filled with hope and anxiety:

"Two Palace Masters, and all the young heroes..."

His Adam's apple rolled and his voice trembled.

"How on earth did you manage to break through the chaos and return? Could it be... Could it be the Young Sect Master..."

Before he finished speaking, the onlookers held their breath unconsciously, and dozens of eyes fell on Xiaoqing.

"Hmm~"

Xiaoqing was slightly startled. The last smile of her brother before he disappeared flashed through her mind, and a gentle arc unconsciously appeared at the corner of her lips:

"It was my brother. He brought us back."

"Dang Cang——"

The old man's cane clattered to the ground. This elder, a man of great esteem and experience, stumbled back half a step, his wrinkled face flushing crimson, tears streaming uncontrollably.

"Okay! Okay!"

He suddenly raised his hand and wiped his face, laughing and crying,

"Late that night, the seawater across the entire city suddenly froze into icy shards. Amidst the biting cold, a streak of blue light shot straight into the sky! I knew... I knew it was the Young Sect Master! Master Molan had returned!"

"Well, this is great!"

The people around gathered around after hearing this, their chatter filled with excitement and emotion. The old woman selling flowers took off her headscarf and wiped her tears:

"That's right! The wilted black lotus in my house suddenly bloomed brighter than the moonlight in the middle of the night!"

The man with the wine gourd on his waist ripped open his clothes, revealing the dark lines on his chest:

"Look! This old injury of mine had been recurring for over ten years, but that night the pain suddenly went away!"

"..."

Xiaoqing looked at the cats in front of her who were so excited that they almost lost their composure. The frozen place in her memory and her brother's last smile overlapped in her mind.

She gently placed her hand on the old man's rough hand, feeling the scorching heat from his palm.

"Brother used his final rhyme to shatter the Chaos Core and lead us through the fog."

Her voice was choked with sobs, yet full of power.

"He said that the people of the Shen Sect never need to fear the dark."

The people around started to stir when they heard this.

"So...it really is the Young Sect Master's Mo Yun!"

Amidst the exclamations, several young warriors knelt on one knee and placed their palms on their hearts. The sobbing voices of "Young Sect Master" resounded throughout the streets, mixed with the roar of waves hitting the rocks, turning into the most sincere memorial and the most resolute oath.