Peking Opera Cat: I Became A Zi's Brother

"oops……"

The guard was pushed and staggered, and the lantern fell to the ground with a clang, sparks flying, and he was so scared that he hurried to pick it up.

"elder sister!"

Xiaoqing's cries came from the inner room, with suppressed pain.

She came out at some point, leaning against the wall. Her face was as white as paper, and the bandage on her left arm was bleeding. She had to hold on to the pillars to catch her breath every time she took a step.

"Stop messing around and come back soon..."

Mo Zi turned around when he heard the sound and saw Xiao Qing leaning against the pillar, swaying precariously. Suddenly, like a lit firecracker, he rushed over and tried to push her:

"You lied to me too! You said my brother would come back, where is he?!"

"elder sister!"

Xiaoqing gritted her teeth and stood firm. The severe pain from the wound made her eyes go black, but she still clenched her fists.

"Brother will be back soon! He said he would protect us..."

"elder brother……"

Mo Zi paused and blinked blankly, as if chewing on these two words.

"..."

But this trance only lasted for a moment, and she suddenly screamed again,

"You lied to me! He's not here! You're all lying to me!"

She waved her hand violently, and a chaotic rhythmic force exploded from her palm - that was the protective force that Mo Yun passed on to her when she was a child. At this moment, it was violently stirred by the nightmare in her heart, and it actually shocked Xiaoqing back two steps, causing her to hit the corridor pillar and groan in pain.

"Uh……"

"Azi!"

Nanny Rong and several maids rushed out and tried to hold Mo Zi down, but she threw them away like a madman.

Although the rhyme power in her body was chaotic, it carried the same icy coldness as the ink rhyme. Her fingertips swept across the maid's arm, and a thin layer of ice condensed in an instant.

"Don't touch her!"

Molan walked out of the hall quickly and looked at the chaotic scene with a face as cold as frost.

She originally wanted to wait for Palace Master Nianzong's solution, but now A Zi had hurt Xiao Qing, and letting it go would only make things worse.

"..."

Mo Zi was still screaming and waving her arms. The guards and maids surrounded her and dared not approach. Xiao Qing held onto the pillar and spoke again, enduring the pain:

"Sister...believe me this time...brother really..."

Before she could finish her words, Mo Zi suddenly turned towards her, his eyes full of hostility, and he was about to pounce on her again.

"enough!"

Molan's voice was filled with unquestionable majesty. She raised her hand and formed a seal, and lavender rhythmic energy flowed out like water, gently but irresistibly wrapping around Mo Zi's limbs.

This is the Body Sect's Water Binding Technique, which is used to suppress violent rhythmic power without damaging the source.

Mo Zi was entangled by the rhythmic force and struggled frantically like a butterfly caught in a spider web.

"Let me go! I want to find my brother!"

The icy power belonging to Mo Yun in her body suddenly erupted, causing ripples in the Water Binding Technique.

"Brother said... no one can trap me..."

"Azi, wake up."

Molan's voice trembled, but her fingertips did not relax.

"Mom knows you're upset, but if you keep making trouble, you won't be able to wait for your brother."

"elder brother……"

Mo Zi's struggle slowed down a bit, and her eyes began to blur again. The Water Binding Technique took the opportunity to tighten, wrapping her tightly.

Her strength gradually ran out, and she finally collapsed in Molan's arms, still muttering:

"Brother...Ice Dragon..."

"Ugh……"

Molan held her in her arms and could feel her daughter's body stiffening and trembling slightly, and her heart felt as if it was being pierced by an ice pick.

She gestured to Madam Rong:

"Take her back to her room and fumigate her with calming incense. Don't let her move around anymore."

The maids hurried forward, carefully took Mo Zi, who was wrapped in the Water Binding Technique, and walked towards the inner hall.

Xiaoqing held on to the pillar and watched her sister being taken away. Finally, she couldn't hold on any longer and slid down the pillar to sit on the ground, gasping for breath.

The bandage on her left arm was soaked with blood, but she seemed not to notice. She just looked at Molan with worry in her eyes.

Molan walked over, squatted down, gently pressed on her wound, and used her rhythmic power to comfort her.

"don’t worry,"

Her voice was hoarse.

"Once her mind is stabilized, the Palace Master of Nian Zong will have his own way."

The night wind blew through the corridor, bringing with it a hint of coolness.

Xiaoqing looked at the increasingly thick blue mist in the sky and suddenly whispered:

"Mom, just now... I seemed to smell my brother's scent."

"..."

Molan paused, looked up at the foggy sky, a glimmer of light flashed in her eyes.

Maybe what Xiaoqing said is true.

Perhaps, the figure returning on the ice dragon is not far away from them.

……

When Mo Zi was half-supported and half-carried by Mo Lan back to the room, his eyelids felt as heavy as if they were weighed down by lead, and every time he blinked, it took a great deal of effort.

The water-binding technique lingering on Molan's fingertips was seeping into her limbs and bones. The warm rhythmic power was not as clear as ordinary water breath, but instead was like pond water warmed by the spring sun, wrapped in the moisture of grass and trees, and slowly seeped over her tense bones.

The anger that had accumulated from the previous wild play in the yard was now like cotton wool softened by warm water, gradually sinking to her dantian, no longer causing her splitting headache.

The maids brought a copper basin, wrung a handkerchief half-dry in warm water, and carefully wiped her face with it - the bloodstain on her forehead was caused by bumping into the corridor column just now, the ink stain on her chin was probably caused by knocking over the inkstone on the table, and even there was some dust and dirt behind her ears.

When changing into pajamas, Molan deliberately picked out a piece of soft moon-white silk. The material was a tribute woven last year. It was as smooth as running water. When it touched Mo Zi's arm, she shuddered, but did not kick it like she did in the previous few days. Her eyelashes cast a dark shadow under her eyes, and her fingers curled up unconsciously, as if she was still trying to grab the puppet that disappeared out of thin air.

"..."

Nanny Rong took out a piece of calming incense from the camphorwood box. It was benzoin that was tributed from the Western Regions in the early years. It had a sweet, creamy scent when it burned.

The fire starter lit up with a "hiss", and the orange-red flame licked the incense head. Soon a wisp of thin smoke rose up and slowly wrapped around the tent top embroidered with lotus.

She retreated to the outer room and saw Molan sitting on the edge of the bed staring into the tent, so she lowered her voice and said:

"Palace Master, although Ah Zi has been acting crazy these past few days, she keeps calling out 'Binglong' and 'Brother' at night. She seems more lively than she was a while ago when she was so sluggish and motionless all day long."

Having said this, she glanced into the tent and saw the curled-up figure still trembling slightly.

"It's just that the madness mixed in with this foolishness is even more worrying—last night she tore a big hole in the quilt, saying that 'the ice dragon wants to come out to breathe,' and I didn't mend it until late at night."

Mo Lan didn't respond, but reached out to push away Mo Zi's sweat-soaked hair.

My daughter's cheeks were abnormally flushed, like peach preserves smoked by charcoal fire, and even the tips of her ears were hot.

This was because the nightmare in her heart caused her blood to surge. She gently placed her fingertips on Mo Zi's wrist pulse and could clearly feel the icy power belonging to Mo Yun - that was the bond between the brother and sister since childhood, but now it was like an angry little snake.

It rushed around in the dark purple veins, sometimes suddenly surging up an inch, making her gasp for breath, and sometimes sinking down, making her pulse as weak as a candle in the wind.

"Go and get the calming talisman that the Nianzong Palace Master sent."

Molan's voice was so soft that she was afraid of startling the people in the tent.

"Just put it under her pillow."

The talisman paper was personally delivered by the puppeteer of Nian Zong. The edges of the jute paper were cut neatly, and a complicated "Heart Calming Mantra" was painted on it with red gold sand. It is said that when drawing the talisman, one must use one's own Heart Purification Technique to stimulate spiritual power in order to calm the chaotic and violent spirit in the mind.

Molan has never believed in these talismans, but the medicine can only temporarily relieve her depression, and the Water Binding Technique consumes her own spiritual power. The only thing that can make Mo Zi feel more at ease is this thin piece of paper.

Just as I stuffed the talisman paper into the gap of the pillowcase, I suddenly heard faint mumblings from inside the tent.

The dark purple eyelashes trembled like frightened butterfly wings, the corners of her mouth twitched, and her voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible:

"Ice Dragon...Cold...Brother, hold me..."

"!"

Molan's heart suddenly tightened, as if something was grabbing it.

She suddenly remembered the time when Mo Yun took Mo Zi to the beach. At that time, he had just cultivated his ice power, and he always liked to use his fingertips to condense a small ice dragon about an inch long. The dragon scales were carved to lifelike quality, and it circled around Mo Zi's wrist.

Mo Zi was only a few years old at that time. She was afraid of ice, but she loved to chase the ice dragon. Every time she ran, her little face turned red. Then she threw herself into her brother's arms, put her cold little hands into his clothes, and shouted, "Brother is warm, the ice dragon is not cold."