Peking Opera Cat: I Became A Zi's Brother

"?"

"boom……"

Mo Yun had just felt the faint warmth on Bai Tang's forehead when the chaotic energy wrapped around him suddenly exploded with a "buzz" - it was not the dark black color with a sense of decay in the gloomy valley, but a darker and rougher blue-gray color, like the original chaos just turned out from the thousand-year-old frozen soil, wrapped in a murderous aura that could freeze stones.

The chaotic air was no longer loose mist, but condensed into fine ice chips, which made a "ding ding" sound when falling on the blue brick ground. Wherever it touched, a layer of cracked white frost formed.

"!"

Bai Tang suddenly raised his head, and his shoulders, which had been trembling just now, straightened up all of a sudden.

His originally drooping ears stood up, and the hairs on the tips of his ears were dyed gray by the chaotic energy, but they were also hard as if they had been tempered by ice.

The gray mist in those eyes dissipated a little, revealing the pupils underneath - no longer the usual round shape, nor the thin lines when out of control, but shrunk into tiny dots, and the whites of the eyes were tinged with the unique blue-green color of chaos, so bright that it scared cats, like two frozen sparks.

"Ha ha……"

He stared at Mo Yun's face for a long time, and suddenly the corners of his mouth raised.

It wasn't the usual grin with his little fangs showing, but he only pulled one corner of his mouth, revealing half of his pointed canine teeth, with a wild smile.

"Hey, isn't this the Young Master of the Shen Sect?"

When he spoke, the youthfulness in his voice was completely worn away by the chaos, becoming hoarse and deep, with the ending tone deliberately rising, like scratching glass with an ice pick.

"You're leaving your precious sister, whose eyelashes are frosted, to take care of my 'trouble'?"

"..."

The ice silk at Mo Yun's fingertips instantly tightened, and the fine frost condensed on the ice silk was shaken down by this violent energy.

The tone was so unfamiliar - even when Bai Tang was anxious or annoyed, he would always speak directly, never using such an icy tone, and certainly not saying the word "sister" as if it were like rubbing salt into a wound.

"Sugar, chaos is affecting your consciousness."

Mo Yun said in a deep voice, the rhythm in his palm condensed into a denser net, and even tiny ice crystals could be seen flowing between the meshes.

"Try to focus and not let it distract you."

"Influence?"

Bai Tang sneered, and the laughter echoed in the cold room, shaking the icy flowers on the window frames so that they fell down.

He suddenly raised his hand and accurately pinched the ice silk wrapped around his wrist with two fingers. The chaotic energy climbed up along his fingertips, and the ice silk immediately made a "sizzling" sound. Some strands were actually broken into pieces by him.

He shook his wrist, and the chaotic energy condensed into a small vortex in his palm.

"I feel pretty good now—at least I don't have to act like a fool, and I don't have to worry about 'who to protect' or 'who not to let get hurt' every day."

"..."

He took two steps back to the bed, and his back hit the cold wall with a thud, but he seemed not to feel the cold at all. He even rubbed his shoulder against the wall, rubbing off a large piece of thin ice on the wall.

His eyes swept across the copper heater in the room—the hot air from the mouth froze into white mist as soon as it emerged, and across the bowl of ice-covered medicine on the table—the frost on the edge of the bowl was as thick as snow. Finally, he fell on Mo Yun, and the mockery in his eyes was like a freshly chiseled ice ridge:

"Look at you, you have to look after a sister who has trouble breathing, and you also have to keep an eye on me, an 'outsider'. Aren't you tired?"

"Actually, you're also upset, right?"

He suddenly tilted his head, deliberately imitating Bai Tang's usual silly look, but his eyes narrowed into slits, and a cold light shone through the slits.

"If she had recovered sooner, if I hadn't been entangled by Chaos, you could have breathed a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, she can't recover, and I can't die. I'll just be wasting my time like this until your entire body is frozen into a lump of ice."

"..."

Mo Yun's fingertips trembled slightly - not because she was angry, but because the voice sounded too much like Bai Tang, even the small habits of the ending tone were similar, but the words that came out were too hurtful.

He had seen Bai Tang at his most miserable state, being beaten to the ground by Chaos, yet still clutching his rosary and shouting "I can do it";

I’ve seen him crying while holding a dried fish, saying, “If only I were stronger”;

But I have never seen someone like this, who is covered with thorns, hiding the softest part of his heart, and using malice as armor.

"That's not what you think."

Mo Yun took a step forward, and the icy rhyme condensed around him into a translucent round shield, reflecting his own shadow and the blue-gray outline of Bai Tang.

"You told me a few days ago that when you get better, you'll go catch the most beautiful koi for Mo Zi. You also said you want to melt all the ice in Shen Zong so that the boats at the dock can go out to sea again."

"That's nonsense."

Bai Tang suddenly interrupted him, her voice as cold as ice.

He reached out and grabbed the glass cup on the table - the medicine inside had long since frozen into a dark brown ice block, and even the bottom of the cup was frozen to the table top.

He exerted force with his wrist and forcibly pulled the glass cup off. Without even looking at it, he threw it to the ground. With a "clang", the ice and glass pieces shattered on the blue bricks, and the fragments flew everywhere. A sharp corner even bounced to the edge of the heater, and with a "sizzle", it extinguished the last spark in the charcoal basin.

"What does it have to do with me if the ice melts or not? What does it have to do with me if the koi fish swim or not?"

He clapped his hands, as if shaking off some dirt, and the chaotic energy fell down along his fingertips, creating small ice pits on the ground.

"I was so stupid before, always trying to help this and that, but what happened? Didn't I get caught up by Chaos? Now that I think about it, it's so much better to be alone. I can smash things and curse at people as I please, without having to worry about other people's feelings."

"..."

He suddenly turned his head and shouted towards the door. The sound penetrated the cold air in the room and reached the main room, even shaking the icicles on the window lattice and making them fall down:

"Xiaoqing! Did you hear that? Your brother is in such a state right now! On one side is your sister who's almost frozen to death, and on the other side is me, a ticking time bomb. Do you think he'll regret saving me?"

"..."

Mo Yun's heart sank suddenly.

He knew very well what Bai Tang was planning - to choose the words that would most touch people's hearts.

Qing'er cares about Mo Zi the most, and also regards Bai Tang as a friend. If these words were to be passed on, it would only make her more panicked.

"!"

Sure enough, outside the door came the sound of "thump thump thump", so rapid as if stepping on the beat of a drum.

Immediately afterwards, the edge of the ice-blue cloak swept across the threshold, and Xiaoqing rushed in. The snow particles on the cloak fell to the ground and instantly froze into small ice beads.

Her hair was still frosted, and the tip of her nose was red; it was obvious she had been running all the way here.

"Bai Tang, what nonsense are you talking about! You are not a time bomb—"

"..."

Before he could finish his words, Bai Tang interrupted him coldly: "I'm not talking nonsense."

He raised his hand and pointed at the chaotic lines on his arm. The lines were deeper than before, like blue-grey vines crawling on his skin.

"Look at me now. I might lose control in the next second and freeze you all into ice sculptures. You'd better stay away from me, so as not to get bad luck on me and bring bad luck to your precious sister..."

"Shut up!"

Xiaoqing's voice suddenly rose and her eyes turned red.

The Bai Tang she knew would grin and call out, "Sister Xiaoqing, wait for me," and would give her the roasted dried fish to taste first;

When she was worried about Mo Zi, he would awkwardly say "Don't worry, it will be fine";

He would never look at her like that, and would never talk about Mo Zi.

"How can I shut up?"

Bai Tang suddenly laughed, and the sound of chaos in his laughter was like ice beads rolling through an empty bucket, swinging around the room.

"I'm telling the truth. You used to follow me around all the time, as if I needed someone to take care of me. I was stupid before, thinking it was nice to have a companion. Now I think about it, it's so much better to do whatever you want alone without worrying about whether others are happy or not."

"you……"

Xiaoqing's face turned pale instantly, the knuckles of her fingers gripping the collar of her cloak turned white, and her fingertips created wrinkles in the ice-blue fabric.

She took half a step back, and the ice beads at her feet made a "crackling" sound when she stepped on them.

"Humph……"

Mo Yun suddenly took a step forward and stood in front of Xiaoqing.

The icy rhythm condensed into a half-foot thick ice wall between the two of them, casting a sugar-green-gray shadow on the wall.

"Sugar,"

He stared into Bai Tang's eyes and said in a steady voice,

"If you really thought so, you wouldn't have deliberately controlled the chaotic energy. When you smashed the glass just now, you could have let the fragments splash to Xiaoqing's feet, but they missed by half an inch."

"..."

The smile on Bai Tang's face froze for a moment, so fast that it seemed like an illusion.

Mo Yun continued, his eyes falling on Bai Tang's cuffs - there was a light yellow stain there, which was the osmanthus cake Xiaoqing brought him a few days ago. He ate it too quickly and it rubbed against his sleeve.

"You just said 'I'm happy alone,' but you still remember that Ah Zi's remaining medicine was on the table, and you deliberately avoided the medicine bowl when you smashed the glass cup."

"!"

The chaotic energy surged more violently around Bai Tang, like boiling ice water.

His fingers clenched violently, the chaotic energy between them flickering, and blue-gray lines darted across the back of his hand. He suddenly squatted, covering his head, a suppressed growl emanating from his throat, half from the chaotic energy and half from his own struggle.

Most of the fierceness he had just had dissipated, and his shoulders began to tremble again, but he gritted his teeth tightly and didn't make any sound.

"..."

Mo Yun looked at his hunched back and his clenched fingers that were white - his fingers were clearly shaking, but he subconsciously avoided the glass fragments on the ground for fear of being pricked.

This child, even if he is wrapped in the primordial chaos, even if he hides himself in the hardest shell, the things engraved in his bones cannot be hidden.