Peking Opera Cat: I Became A Zi's Brother

"..."

The nights in the palace were always gloomy and silent. The copper bells on the eaves rang softly in the wind, but they could not penetrate the thick corridors and could only spin at the corners of the eaves.

"Ah, why did it become like this?"

"I'm really not a qualified mother!"

Mo Lan stood at the door of the inner hall, her fingertips stroking the twined branches on the carved door frame - this was the carving that she had personally supervised. Mo Yun and Mo Zi always loved to chase the ice dragon in the corridor, and the wood splinters had torn Mo Zi's skirt. At that time, she smiled and blamed the craftsman for his rough work. Now, the wood grain touched by her fingertips felt like rusty needles, which made people feel nervous.

"..."

The calming incense in the tent had burned to the end, and the last spark "crackled" and turned into ashes that fell on the silver incense holder.

"Uh……"

Mo Zi's breathing began to rapid again, and a faint whimper came from his throat, as if something was strangling his throat.

"..."

When she rolled to the foot of the bed, she knocked over the stool, and the stool leg knocked a shallow pit on the blue brick floor. At this moment, she was curled up at the edge of the pit, digging her nails into the cracks in the bricks, scraping off a few pieces of blue gray. The flesh on her fingertips was curled up, and blood was oozing out, but she was completely unaware.

"metropolitan."

Madam Rong came in from the outer room holding an ebony tray. On the tray were three silver needles. The pigeon blood rubies embedded in the needle tips shone coldly under the candlelight.

"The 'Locking Rhythm Water' that the elders sent is already warm. Mixing it with the tea will help Palace Master A Zi to struggle less."

"..."

Mo Lan didn't look at the tray, but her eyes fell on Mo Zi's back - the pajamas there were soaked with cold sweat, the soft moon-white silk stuck to the skin, and the throbbing tendons under the skin could be clearly seen, as if there was a living thing moving under the flesh.

"Madam Rong, have you seen the diagram of the forbidden technique of the Body Sect, 'Broken Rhythm Technique'?"

She lowered her voice very low, but the ending tone had an imperceptible tremor.

"When that renegade elder was stripped of his evil aura, his meridians were like hemp ropes soaked in ice water, breaking in pieces. In the end, he even had to rely on a cat to hold a pen."

"!"

"Master, what do you want to do? Do you want to do this to Princess A Zi?"

"I don't know either, but I have no choice now..."

"No, you can't do that. You can just push the external force away like you did when you stripped Shui Wuxiang..."

Nanny Rong's hand trembled and the tray almost fell over.

She has served Molan for thirty years, from the time she was young and naive when she first succeeded to the throne as the Sect Master to the time when she is now calm and composed in charge of the Sect. She has never seen such turbulent waves in her eyes.

"This situation is different from that time, but the evil aura has already penetrated deeply into my body..."

"How will I explain this to Young Master Mo Yun when the time comes..."

"No, Ah Zi's nightmare is more ferocious than Xie Yun's."

Mo Lan interrupted her and turned to look at the tassels on the top of the tent. They were the tribute sent by the Jiangnan weaving factory last year. They were silver threads wrapped with pearls. Mo Zi once said that they looked very much like the scales of his brother's ice dragon.

"It hides in the deepest part of her mind, gnawing at her memories and disrupting her rhyme power. If it continues, her meridians will become like cotton thread soaked in water, and she won't even be able to break the rhyme technique."

"Um……"

Before he could finish his words, heart-wrenching cries suddenly came from inside the tent.

Mo Zi had turned over at some point and was banging her head against the bedpost. The new blood scab on her forehead cracked again, and blood flowed down her cheeks and dripped onto her clothes, just like the way she looked when she secretly drank the "fairy dew" mixed with rouge and powder and was scared to tears when Mo Lan found out.

"elder sister!"

Xiaoqing suddenly cried out outside, her voice filled with tearing pain.

She had just been helped by Nanny Rong to rest on the soft couch outside. The wound on her right arm had just been bandaged, but now she struggled to get up, ignoring the bleeding bandage.

"Mom! I heard my sister banging her head against the pillar!"

"Do not……"

Molan quickly walked over and held her down. Her palm touched the bandage on Xiaoqing's arm, which was already wet and red.

"Sit still."

There was an unquestionable firmness in her tone, but when her fingertips landed on her daughter's shoulder, she unconsciously softened her strength.

"Your rhythmic power is already weak, and your wound has broken open. If you come close to me, you will only be provoked by your inner nightmare."

"But my sister is bleeding!"

Xiaoqing grabbed Molan's hand, her knuckles turning white from exerting too much force, tears streaming down her eyes, hitting the back of Molan's hand, burning hot.

"Mother, the Broken Rhythm Technique is meant to suppress both my mind and my inner nightmare, right? If...if I can't control the force, I'll become a fool!"

She remembered that Mo Zi had sat by the window and taught her how to fold paper cranes, saying that when her brother came back, she would show him the box full of paper cranes.

Back then, her sister's fingers were so nimble that she could fold a crane wing and keep it standing on her fingertips. But now… She looked at the hand waving haphazardly inside the tent, the cracks between her nails stained with blood and ash, and her heart felt like it was being cut by a blunt knife. If her sister really became a useless cat, unable to even fold a paper crane, what would she say when her brother returned with the ice dragon? Would she say they had failed to protect her sister, letting her be gnawed away by the inner nightmare?

"if not?"

"Do you think this is what I want to see? She is no longer just a fool!"

Molan's voice suddenly fell silent. She raised her hand to wipe away the tears from Xiaoqing's cheek, but her fingertips were colder than her daughter's tears.

"Watching her scratch herself until she was covered in blood every day, tearing the quilt at night and calling out to the Ice Dragon, and finally dying from severed meridians?"

"..."

The whimpering sound inside the tent suddenly changed its tone, becoming as sharp as a cat whose tail was stepped on.

Nanny Rong lifted a corner of the curtain and her face turned pale instantly:

"Palace Master! Miss A Zi bit her tongue!"

"!"

Mo Lan rushed into the tent and saw blood foam dripping from the corners of Mo Zi's mouth. His eyes were wide open, and the shadow of the candlelight was reflected in his pupils, but they were empty and frightening.

She reached out to pry open her daughter's mouth to see the extent of the bite, but her wrist was held tightly by Mo Zi - the strength was too great to be that of a madman, his knuckles almost dug into Mo Lan's flesh, with a fierce determination to destroy herself and the enemy.

"Azi, look at mother."

Mo Lan's voice trembled, and her other hand gathered water rhythm and gently covered the center of Mo Zi's eyebrows.

"Mom knows you're feeling bad, just bear with it until you get through this."

The moment the water rhyme touched his brow, Mo Zi suddenly struggled violently, twisting in her arms like a fish out of water, shouting vaguely

"Ice Dragon...Cold..."

Tears mixed with blood foam flowed down, dripping onto Molan's clothes, leaving dark marks.

Molan held her down tightly, and with her fingertips she could feel the bulging veins on her daughter's neck. The evil and violent energy there was rushing up through her blood vessels, burning like charcoal.

"Madam Rong, lock the rhyme water!"

Molan let out a low cry, her voice already filled with tears.

Nanny Rong hurriedly handed over the warm soul-locking water. Mo Lan pried open Mo Zi's mouth and poured it in bit by bit.

The potion had a bitter taste of almonds, and Mo Zi choked and coughed violently, but he no longer bit people randomly. Instead, his eyes became more and more unfocused, like glass covered with a layer of white mist.

"Xiaoqing, come here and hold her legs."

Molan's voice was as deep as ice. She took the silver needles from Rong Mama's hand. The first one had already condensed the charm of water, and the tip of the needle was shining with a cold light.

"Remember, no matter how much she screams, don't let go."

"I'm sorry, sister..."

Xiaoqing gritted her teeth and moved to the edge of the bed. The wound on her right arm felt like the tendons were being pulled every time she moved, but she held down Mo Zi's kicking ankle tightly. Her fingertips touched her sister's cold skin, and tears suddenly burst out - she remembered that Mo Zi always liked to put her feet into her quilt, saying that her sister's legs were like a heater. Now, these once warm feet were as cold as the frozen stones in the back mountain.

"Sister, I'm sorry..."

She choked and her tears fell on her dark purple ankles.

"When you get better, I'll give you all the sweets and cakes. Don't hate us..."

"hiss……"

Mo Lan took a deep breath and inserted the first silver needle into Mo Zi's Baihui acupoint.

"what--!"

The shrill scream almost blew the roof of the tent off. Mo Zi's body suddenly arched up like a nailed shrimp, and all the tendons in his body were stretched straight.

A gray-black mist rushed out from above her head, hit the tent, and actually burned a small hole in the brocade embroidered with lotus flowers.

"You hurt my daughter and you still want to run away!"

The water charm at Molan's fingertips suddenly surged, like a dense and airtight net, covering the fog tightly, but the nightmare in the fog made a shrill hissing, which made her eardrums hurt.

"Mom! My sister's face!"

Xiaoqing suddenly started crying.

"!"

Mo Lan looked down and saw that Mo Zi's cheeks were turning blue and purple at a speed visible to the naked eye, and black blood was constantly flowing out of the corners of his mouth. It was a sign that the nightmare in his heart had been stimulated and was backlashing through his blood vessels.

"Azi, you must hold on!"

She gritted her teeth and inserted the second silver needle into the Danzhong acupoint. This time the resistance was even more intense. Mo Zi suddenly exerted force and pushed Xiao Qing away. His arm grasped Mo Lan's wrist like an iron clamp, and his nails dug deep into the flesh.

"It hurts... Mom... It hurts..."

Mo Zi's voice suddenly became clear, and a glimmer of clarity flashed in his eyes, but that clarity was fleeting and was drowned by the thick chaos again.

"Ice Dragon...Brother...save me..."

"what……"

Xiaoqing was pushed against the low cabinet, and the bandage on her right arm completely broke off. The blood from the wound splattered on the bronze mirror on the cabinet, reflecting her pale face.

"At this point, I'm still useless..."

She stared at her sister's face, twisted in agony, and felt a thousand needles piercing her heart. If her sister truly became disabled, would her brother blame her when he returned? Would he think they hadn't taken good care of her? She couldn't even imagine whether the sister who had smiled and ruffled her hair would one day forget her name.

"Azi, hold on!"

Cold sweat oozed from Mo Lan's forehead, flowed down her cheeks and dripped onto the back of Mo Zi's hand.

"I don't want it anymore, okay, it hurts..."

She could feel the icy rhythm in her daughter's pulse dissipating. That was the blood connection left by Mo Yun, but now it was like a silk thread gnawed by a heart nightmare, and it could break at any time.

"..."

The third silver needle was hanging above Dantian, and Molan's hands suddenly shook violently.

This is the source of rhythmic power, and also the place where the mind and the heart are most closely intertwined. If one is not careful when injecting this needle, Mo Zi will either go completely crazy or become an empty shell without mind.

"..."

Suddenly, hurried footsteps were heard outside the tent. The three elders of the Shen Sect had arrived.

The leading white-bearded elder opened the curtain and gasped at the sight.

"Sect Master! Don't rush the Broken Rhythm Technique! Palace Master A Zi's meridians can't bear it any longer!"

"..."

Mo Lan didn't look back, her eyes fixed on the throbbing veins in Mo Zi's dantian.

The hostility there was like boiling water, constantly hitting the skin and flesh. If it was not peeled off in time, it would completely explode within half an hour.

"Three elders,"

Her voice was hoarse as if it had been rubbed with sandpaper. "Set up a formation. Use the 'Three Waters Confining Dragon Formation' to help me stabilize her rhythmic power."

"..."

The three elders looked at each other, and although they felt reluctant, they quickly took their positions.

Three streams of water, green, blue and white, gushed out from their fingertips, weaving into a translucent water shield inside the tent, enveloping the dark purple.

When the water shield touched her dark purple skin, her struggle slowed down a little, but the gray-black mist became more violent, bumping around in the water shield and making a dull loud noise.

"Azi, mother is here."

Molan leaned over and whispered in her daughter's ear, with a pleading tone in her voice that she herself didn't even notice.

"Think about my brother's ice dragon, think about the paper crane you said you would fold for him...Hold on, we'll wait for him to come back."

"..."

The dark purple eyelashes trembled, and a tear rolled down the corner of the eye, mixed with blood foam and fell on the pillow.

"Brother~"

Her hands seemed to loosen a little, but they were still curled up unconsciously, as if she was grabbing something.

Molan closed her eyes and thrust the third silver needle into her dantian.

"Hmm~"

This time, there was no scream, only a very soft whimper, like a kitten whose tail was stepped on.

Mo Zi's body softened instantly, and the gray-black mist suddenly rushed out from her seven orifices, spinning wildly in the water shield, but was trapped by the water rhyme of the three elders and was crushed into pieces bit by bit.

And Mo Zi's pulse, after a brief surge, suddenly became extremely weak, like a candle in the wind. Even the three elders couldn't help but hold their breath.

"elder sister!"

Xiaoqing rushed over and tremblingly reached out to Mo Zi's nose to feel his breath. The air current that her fingertips touched was so weak that she could hardly feel it.

She looked at her sister's pale face, her lips moving but no sound coming out - it was over, was her sister... was she really just a hollow shell? What would she say when her brother came back?

"..."

Molan stumbled back, bumping into the doorframe. Her knuckles rubbed against the carved wooden edges, leaving several red marks. She stared at the motionless figure inside the tent and suddenly felt all her strength drained away.

"..."

The three elders accepted Shui Yun and looked at each other, no one dared to speak first.

The wind outside the tent stopped at some point, and the copper bells on the eaves stopped ringing.

The rhyme-locking water brought by Nanny Rong was still warm, but no one wanted to touch it.

Xiaoqing lay on the edge of the bed, tears falling silently on the back of Mo Zi's cold hand, but she could not warm the coldness.

Molan raised her hand and pressed her chest, where her heart was beating fast and rough.

She didn't know if she had done the right thing, but she knew that her daughter in the tent had stopped crying and scratching, and was as quiet as a fragile porcelain doll.

It was still early in the morning, but the night in the palace seemed to last forever.

"Is this really the only way..."

……

……

……

(Today there are still two chapters, but I am too lazy to separate them. It is very annoying to think of titles after separating them...)