Peking Opera Cat: I Became A Zi's Brother

Her lips moved, but no sound came out. She slowly raised her hand, trying to touch the bleeding bandage.

But just as he raised his wrist halfway into the air, it went limp - without the support of the rhythmic force in his meridians, even raising his hand felt like lifting a piece of lead.

"I am fine."

Xiaoqing quickly grabbed her hand and held the cold hand in her palm to warm it.

"It's good that you're awake, sister. Mom said that as long as you wake up, everything will be fine."

"..."

Molan stood by the tent, watching the clarity gradually gathering in her daughter's eyes, her knuckles still trembling.

When the rhythm power was drawn out just now, she clearly felt the last bit of ice rhythm in Mo Zi's meridians - that was the blood mark left by Mo Yun, which dissipated along with the murderous aura in her heart.

She hadn't dared to say it, fearing that Xiaoqing would panic even more, but her heart felt like ice: without this little bond, what would happen to Ah Zi in the future...

"Boom——"

Suddenly, a muffled sound was heard outside the palace. It was not thunder, but the sound of something huge hitting the palace wall. Even the beams and pillars of the inner hall trembled.

"?"

The medicine bowl that Nanny Rong had just brought shook, and the medicine splashed onto the tray, leaving a dark mark.

"what happened?"

The white-bearded elder frowned, condensed the water rhythm on his fingertips and was about to go out to check.

"Roar……"

But before he could take a step forward, a deafening dragon roar suddenly exploded, as if it came straight down from the clouds, shaking the pearl tassels on the top of the tent.

The dragon's roar was as sharp as an icy spike, yet also carried a very familiar warmth. Xiaoqing looked up suddenly - it was the voice of an ice dragon!

"elder brother?"

She almost blurted it out, and her hands holding Mo Zi were shaking.

"Are you back?"

Before the people in the tent could react, hurried footsteps were suddenly heard from the corridor outside the palace. They were not the hurried steps of palace servants, but steady and eager footsteps with the wind. The "dong dong" sound on the blue bricks seemed to be stepping on everyone's heart.

"Azi! Xiaoqing!"

The sound passed through the corridors and hit the door of the inner hall, with a clear sound like melting ice and snow.

"Yun'er!"

Molan was shocked and turned to look at the door - that voice...

With a creak, the carved wooden door was pushed open from the outside, bringing in a gust of wind carrying a scent of snow.

In the backlight stood a young man in a blue shirt, with unmelted snow still on the ends of his hair and a few magnolia petals on his shoulders. He was exactly the man they had been thinking about day and night.

"..."

Mo Yun's gaze immediately swept across the tent, landing on Xiaoqing beside the bed and Mo Zi in the tent.

"!"

When he saw Mo Zi's face as pale as paper and the warm jade padding her dantian, his eyes instantly filled with shock and he rushed over quickly.

"elder brother!"

Xiaoqing couldn't hold back any longer and tears fell down.

"..."

Mo Yun didn't bother to wipe her tears. She squatted beside the bed and gently touched Mo Zi's cheek with her fingertips.

He felt a chill to his touch, and quickly placed his palm against hers. A gentle icy rhythm slowly seeped into her skin - this was the first ray of rhythmic power he had condensed after his resurrection, carrying the warmth of blood connection.

"Azi."

His voice was extremely soft, as if he was afraid of shocking the person in front of him.

"Brother is back."

"what happened?"

Mo Zi's eyes were still half open, and she was confused at first, but when the icy rhythm touched her dantian, she seemed to be suddenly burned by something, and her eyelashes trembled violently.

She looked at the familiar face in front of her, and the mole on his eyebrow that was exactly the same as in her memory, and suddenly opened her mouth.

"elder brother……"

The sound was as thin as a mosquito, but it fell clearly into every cat's ears.

Mo Yun's eyes instantly turned red. He held his sister's cold hand, and rubbed the bloodstains left between her nails with his fingertips. His heart felt like it was hit by a blunt object.

"I'm here."

He nodded, his Adam's apple rolled.

"I will never leave you again."

"I hope you can keep your word, brother..."

"Roar……"

Just as he finished speaking, another dragon roar was heard outside the hall, closer than before, with a sense of excitement.

An ice-blue shadow "whoosh" came in from the window lattice, circled on the top of the tent, and finally rubbed Mo Yun's shoulder affectionately, then carefully stretched out the dragon horn and touched Mo Zi's forehead.

"Xiao Bing..."

The frost on the ice dragon's scales fell on Mo Zi's eyebrows, making her hum comfortably.

She looked at the familiar dragon horns and the tassel-like luster on the dragon scales, and some light finally gathered in her distracted eyes.

"Ice...Dragon..."

"Yes, it's an ice dragon."

Mo Yun smiled and used her fingertips to tidy up the loose hair on her forehead.

"It's thinking of you too. Knowing you like its scales, it specially cleaned the brightest one."

"..."

He turned to look at Molan, his eyes showing pity but no questioning.

He could feel the remaining hostility in the hall, see the red bloodshot in his mother's eyes, and even feel the emptiness in A Zi's meridians - there was no need to ask what had happened.

"mother,"

He stood up and nodded slightly to Molan, his voice calm and reassuring.

"Leave the rest to me."

Molan looked at her son's tall figure and the ice dragon circling gently in the tent, and suddenly she felt the ice pressing on her heart begin to melt.

She opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but in the end all she said was a light "hmm".

Xiaoqing leaned against Mo Yun, watching the Ice Dragon carefully roll up the corner of the quilt with its dragon claws to cover Mo Zi's shoulders. Suddenly, she felt that the night that seemed endless just now seemed to be really about to dawn.

"..."

Mo Zi blinked, looked at his brother's profile, looked at the shiny scales of the ice dragon, and moved his fingers again - although they were still soft this time, they seemed to be stronger than before.

She could feel her brother's icy aura slowly spreading in her dantian, like warm water flowing over a dry riverbed. Although the emptiness was still there, it was no longer the heart-wrenching pain.

"elder brother……"

She called out again, this time her voice clearer.

"I'm here."

Mo Yun immediately lowered her head and responded to her.

"Candy...cake..."

She thought of what Xiaoqing had just said, and a faint smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.

Mo Yun was startled for a moment, then smiled. The redness in the corners of her eyes had not yet faded, but her smile was as gentle as a spring breeze.

"Okay, when you feel better, I'll buy you the best candy cake in the city and ask Xiaoqing to give you hers too."

"Never!"

Xiaoqing immediately retorted, but with a smile on her face, her tears had already dried.

The atmosphere in the tent finally relaxed a little, and even the three elders breathed a sigh of relief.

The sky outside the palace had turned pale at some point, and the copper bells on the eaves were rang softly in the morning breeze. This time, the sound was no longer a swirling muffled sound, but a clear tune that seemed to be welcoming something.

Mo Yun held Mo Zi's hand again, and the icy charm from his fingertips continued to flow over.

He knew that his sister's lost rhythmic power could not be recovered, but he would accompany her, just like he taught her to practice martial arts when she was a child, helping her adapt to her new body little by little, and gradually restore the memories that were gnawed by the nightmare in her heart.

He looked at the light that had rekindled in his sister's eyes and silently said in his heart:

Ah Zi, Xiao Qing, brother is back. From now on, I'm here with you.

……

While Binglong was curled up at the foot of the bed and dozing off, Mo Yun followed Mo Lan to the outer corridor.

The morning dew fell on the eaves, washing the copper bells until they were shiny. When the wind blew, there was a hint of clear warmth.

"Yun'er,"

Mo Lan looked at him sideways, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the winding branches on the pillars - there were still the crooked marks that Mo Zi had carved when he was a child.

"The foundation of Ah Zi's dantian's rhyme power has been depleted. The Broken Rhythm Technique stripped away her inner nightmare and also took away most of her meridian memories. Now she can't even gather the most basic water rhyme."

Mo Yun looked towards the inner hall and could hear Xiao Qing whispering to Mo Zi how to fold a paper crane.

"I just tried to give her some Ice Rhythm. It helped stabilize her pulse, but it couldn't help her regain her Rhythm."

He spoke in a very soft voice, as if he was afraid of disturbing something.

"Her meridians are like rice paper soaked in water, too fragile. Forcing her to move will only make her more painful. I can feel it."

This is the tricky part.

Ordinary Peking Opera cats can still start practicing again after losing their rhythmic power, but Mo Zi's meridians have been repeatedly tormented by the Heart Nightmare and the Broken Rhythm Technique, and he has long lost the resilience to carry new rhythmic power.

It's like a broken porcelain bottle. Even if you try to stick it back together, it can no longer hold water.

"There's a 'Pulse Nourishing Technique' in the ancient books of the Shen Sect. I asked Madam Rong to look for it."

Molan sighed, the wood grain on her fingertips turned white from being clenched.

"But that method would take ten years of effort, and I would have to use my heart and blood every day to nourish it. Would it work..."

She didn't continue, as if something was stuck in her throat.

"..."

Mo Yun was silent.

The power of the ice dragon is cold. If it is used forcibly on Mo Zi, it may freeze and crack his already fragile meridians.

He remembered that when she was a child, Mo Zi always loved to chase the ice dragon, and looked up and said that she wanted to learn her brother's ice rhythm technique. At that time, her meridians were so lively, and when she used the water rhythm, even the ice edges on the eaves could be transformed into lotus flowers.

"Brother, sister said she is thirsty."

Xiaoqing came out with an empty bowl and saw the two people standing in the corridor. She paused.

"She just raised her hand to ask for the bowl, although she didn't hold it firmly."

This is good news.

When Mo Yun took the bowl, her fingertips felt slightly warm - at least, she was getting better little by little.

"mother,"

He turned to look at Molan, the gloom in his eyes gone.

"Ten years is ten years. The meridian nourishment technique requires the blood of the heart, so you and I will take turns. It doesn't matter if she can't remember the flow of rhythmic energy now. I will teach her every day, starting with how to lift her fingers."

Molan looked at the light in her son's eyes and suddenly remembered that he was like this when he was a child.

Mo Zi couldn't learn the Water Rhythm Technique and cried, so he squatted in the corridor and practiced with her until late at night, saying in a baby voice:

"Don't be afraid, sister. I will block the master's ruler for you."

The young boy back then is now able to stand on his own feet, and even the confidence in his tone carries a reassuring power.

"it is good."

She responded softly, and the morning breeze blew away the loose hair on her temples.

"Let her get some good sleep for a few days first, and the three of us will handle the rest slowly."

In the inner hall, Mo Zi fell asleep again, but his brows relaxed a little.

The ice dragon rested its head on her pillow, its scales shimmering softly, as if shielding her from the cold. The bronze bells outside continued to ring, but this time, the sound was finally free of the night's gloom.