Peking Opera Cat: I Became A Zi's Brother

A few days later

The icy charm on Mo Yun's fingertips had just stabilized at Mo Zi's dantian when it was suddenly hit by something invisible - the warmth that was originally as gentle as melting snow in spring actually caused tiny ripples, causing even his knuckles to tremble slightly.

"?"

His brows were slightly furrowed, and his eyelashes cast a light shadow under his eyes: just now, when he was crossing the rhyme, it was as smooth as a stream flowing over pebbles, why did it suddenly become stagnant?

"elder brother?"

Xiao Qing was using a silver pick to pick apart the sweat-soaked hair on Mo Zi's forehead when he saw the ice mist condensed on his fingertips suddenly tremble. Two of the tiny ice particles even fell on the back of Mo Zi's hand. He quickly reached out to catch them.

"Is there something wrong? My sister..."

Mo Yun didn't answer immediately, but gently pressed her other hand on Mo Zi's wrist.

The meridians under the fingertips were as soft as cotton threads soaked in water. They had just been warmed up by the ice, but now they were getting colder, like a stream covered with a thin layer of ice, which was about to melt and then froze again.

What was even more strange was that the rhythm he had passed through seemed to be entangled by something when it reached here, and the flow rate slowed down by half, and even the warmth was a little weaker.

This was not because of the fragility of the meridians - he was too familiar with his sister's pulse. It was more like there was a very faint smell of rotten wood quietly wrapping around her, like damp cotton wool, blocking the path for the flow of rhythmic power bit by bit.

He turned his head to look at the ice dragon hovering above the tent.

The ice dragon seemed to have sensed something was wrong. The cold light on its horns had subsided a lot, and even its circling movements had become lighter. When its tail swept across the pearl tassels on top, it deliberately restrained its strength for fear of shocking the cat below.

Mo Yun looked at the snow particles that had not faded on its dragon scales - that was coldness. Perhaps it was this coldness that made the already fragile meridians even tighter.

He raised his hand and rubbed his brow, his voice as light as falling snow:

"Come back, let my Ah Zi have a good rest."

The ice dragon let out a low roar, the voice carrying a hint of reluctance, yet revealing absolute obedience.

It circled and fell half a foot, its dragon eyes turning reluctantly on Mo Zi's face, as if to confirm whether she was safe, and then the dragon body suddenly turned into an ice-blue stream of light, as thin as a silk thread, circling and drilling into Mo Yun's eyebrows.

The cinnabar mole between his eyebrows, which was originally so faint that it was almost invisible, suddenly lit up with an ice-blue light, like a fallen star, but disappeared after a moment, leaving only a very faint warmth under his skin.

"Will this... drain my brother's rhythmic energy?"

Xiaoqing stared at his brows for a long time, and when she saw that the light had completely disappeared, she asked in a low voice, her fingertips unconsciously picking at her cuffs - it was an ink-colored brocade sleeve that Mo Zi had embroidered for her before, and it still had a faint orchid scent on it.

Mo Yun shook his head and gently pressed his fingertips on his brow, where the coolness of the Ice Dragon's spirit still lingered.

He placed his palm on the dark purple dantian again, and through the thin layer of underwear, he could clearly feel the coolness under her skin.

Without the interference of the ice dragon's cold air, his icy rhythm indeed became smoother, like a stream that had found its river channel again and slowly spread out.

But just after he walked half an inch, the rotten air came up again - the stale air that the Ice Dragon had suppressed with the spiritual dew just now was now like cotton thread soaked in water, spreading out bit by bit in the meridians, and even his icy rhythm became stagnant wherever it passed.

"This is so wrong..."

He could feel his ice charm being consumed bit by bit. It was not the natural loss during normal rhythm transmission, but it was like being hooked by countless tiny hooks and dragged into the darkness. A faint chill remained in the place where it was dragged, like a piece of cloth eaten by insects, with invisible holes left behind.

"Yun'er..."

Molan had just come in from the outer room, holding in her hand the ancient book on meridian nourishment that Nanny Rong had found. The edges of the yellowed pages were curled, obviously having been read repeatedly.

She saw that the icy mist on Mo Yun's fingertips was lighter than before, and even her knuckles were a little white, so she hurried over:

"Are you exhausted? Why don't you take a break and let the elders take care of you..."

"Mom, there's something inside Ah Zi that's draining her energy."

Mo Yun did not hide it from her, and lowered her voice.

“Like rusty hooks, they hook my rhymes and drag them into the darkness. I can feel them gnawing at my rhyme power.”

He paused and added,

"It's not the evil spirit of the nightmare. That thing is more sinister, like a woodworm hiding in the wood, silent and unnoticed."

"..."

Mo Lan hurried closer and took a look with the help of the glass lamp beside the tent. Sure enough, she saw a faint green aura rising from between Mo Zi's eyebrows again, which was heavier than when she had suppressed it with the spiritual dew just now, like light ink spreading on rice paper.

The rhythm gathered on her fingertips, and the rhythm was as soft as morning dew. Just as it was about to touch the dark purple brow, it was gently bounced away by the green energy. Then, it seemed to be sucked in and faded at a speed visible to the naked eye - in the blink of an eye, half of it dissipated.

"That's weird."

The white-bearded elder came in carrying a medicine box, with some herbal powder on his gray beard. He wanted to change the medicine for Mo Zi again, but seeing this, he quickly put down the medicine box and walked over, putting his skinny fingers on Mo Zi's other wrist.

His fingers paused as he took the patient's pulse, his brows furrowed in knots.

"The Broken Rhythm Technique clearly removed the inner nightmare, and logically should have eliminated even the root of the resentment. How could this thing exist? This aura... sounds like the stale energy accumulated from an old injury, but Palace Master A Zi has never had such a serious old injury before."

"Hmm~"

As he was speaking, Mo Zi suddenly hummed softly, her eyelashes trembled like the wings of a frightened butterfly, and even tears came out of the corners of her eyes - it was not because of the pain that she woke up, but more like she felt uncomfortable in the dream.

Mo Yun's heart tightened, and she quickly retracted most of the rhythm, leaving only a very thin, silk-like ice rhythm to protect her dantian.

He tried to slow down his strength, but found that the harder he pushed, the more active the decaying energy became, like a startled insect, burrowing more happily into his meridians.

It would be better to warm it slowly with gentle rhythmic force, just like guarding a handful of charcoal fire, and the rotten air will be more obedient.

"It seems we can't rush it."

When he withdrew his hand, his fingertips felt a little cold, and even his fingertips were whiter than before.

"This thing is afraid of strong rhythmic force, so we have to use soft methods."

"But soft methods will drain your rhythmic energy."

Xiaoqing looked at the ice mist on his fingertips, which was almost dissipating, and her eyes turned red with anxiety.

"Is there any method in the meridian nourishment technique that can help me recover faster? Wasn't mother holding an ancient book just now?"

Molan quickly flipped open the ancient book, her fingertips running across the yellowed pages. The handwriting on it was written in cinnabar, and some places were blurred. She identified each word:

"It says 'use Huomai grass as a guide, warm and nourish daily, and new pulses will grow in three months'. Huomai grass..."

She paused, lowering her voice.

"It became extinct three hundred years ago. I heard that the last one was used by the previous sect leader to save a cat, and there has been no record of it since then."

As soon as he finished speaking, Mo Yun suddenly made a "hmm" sound, and his eyebrows twitched slightly, as if something moved inside.

"We still have the living vein grass."

Mo Yun raised his hand and pressed his brow. He could feel the Ice Dragon gently rubbing his soul palace, as if asking for credit.

"Xiaobing has seen it on the ice field. It said there's running water next to that clump of grass, so it should be able to survive."

"Really?"

Xiaoqing's eyes lit up, and the red circles around her eyes suddenly brightened up, like falling stars.

"Shall we go get it now? I'll ask the guards to prepare the car..."

"You can't go."

Mo Yun held her hand, and the coolness of her fingertips calmed Xiao Qing down.

"Azi can't be away from others now, you have to stay here to take care of her." He looked at Molan,

"Mother, you can't move either. The subsequent Yangmai Technique still relies on you to stabilize the foundation."

Molan immediately understood:

"You want to go?"

"Ah."

Mo Yun lowered her head to look at Mo Zi. She was still sleeping, but after the discomfort just now, her lips were no longer as pale as before, and even formed a very shallow arc, as if she had dreamed of something good.

He touched her cheek lightly with his fingertips.

"I'll take the Ice Dragon with me. If we can go quickly, we'll be back in three days."

"But you just came back, and your rhythmic energy hasn't recovered yet."

Molan grabbed his wrist and rubbed the blue marks on his wrist with her fingertips - those were left by forcing her spiritual energy to speed up when she came back.

"It's so far, you're just a cat..."

"Mom, I'm fine."

Mo Yun held her hand in his, his palm was bigger than Mo Lan's, and could completely cover her hand.

"I promised Ah Zi that I would bring her some sweets and cakes. I can't let her wake up and see me looking so exhausted."

He smiled, the redness in the corners of his eyes had not faded, but his smile was like a spring breeze.

"Besides, I still have Xiaobing."

The cinnabar mole between his eyebrows lit up again, as if in response.

The tent was quiet for a while. The morning light leaked in through the window lattice, slanting down on Mo Zi's face, giving her pale cheeks a layer of warm light.

Mo Yun knew that going to the ice field to find the Huomai Grass was only the first step. It was still unknown where the root of the decaying energy was hidden in the meridians and whether it could be completely eliminated by the Huomai Grass.

But when he touched his brow, he could feel the spirit of the ice dragon moving gently inside, like a small flame, warm.

He looked down at Mo Zi's hand. Her fingers curled up at some point, as if she was grabbing something.

Mo Yun quickly extended his hand to her, letting her hold it gently - her strength was very light, like a feather falling on the palm of his hand, but it made him feel at ease instantly.

"wait for me."

He whispered to his sleeping sister, with a certainty he had never had before in his voice.

"I will definitely take away all the troubles this time, and I will never let you feel any pain again."