Peking Opera Cat: I Became A Zi's Brother

Someday.

The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and the eaves of the bamboo building were still immersed in haze. The copper bells on the eaves were weighed down by the dew, and only occasionally made one or two muffled sounds.

"hurry up……"

Mo Zi clutched the half-embroidered purse, the toes of her shoes stained with grass debris. As she trotted through the corridor, the hem of her skirt swept across the moss in front of the steps, leaving behind tiny water marks.

She hardly slept last night and went to her brother's yard as soon as it was dawn.

When he turned around the moon gate shaded by banana trees, his footsteps suddenly stopped - the bluestone ground was scattered with freshly turned soil, still with a damp fishy smell, and Mo Yun was squatting beside the grass where bamboo strips had been inserted, his fingertips gently brushing the temples of the person in his arms.

Bai Tang's body was wrapped in a piece of plain silk cloth, with grass seeds still on the fur at the tips of his ears. There seemed to be a hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth, as if he was just sleepy and hadn't woken up yet.

Mo Yun's movements were very light. When her fingertips brushed across his neck, her fingertips trembled slightly. There had once been warmth from the flow of Yun's power, but now there was only coldness left.

A few minutes ago, he dug up the new soil with his own hands. When the soil leaked from between his fingers, he suddenly remembered that Bai Tang always liked to bury the dried fish in the soil, saying that it would taste better this way. At that time, the sunlight fell on the tip of his raised tail, making people dizzy.

"elder brother."

Mo Zi's voice drifted in the morning mist. She took two steps forward and saw Mo Yun stuffing a jade pendant engraved with a dried fish pattern into the silk cloth. It was found by her mother a few days ago. She said that Bai Tang always praised the dried fish in Zhulou as the most delicious.

When Mo Yun raised her eyes, the redness in her eyes faded a little, but there was a kind of firmness in her eyes that Mo Zi had never seen before.

He picked up Bai Tang carefully. The sound of the cloth rubbing against each other was particularly clear in the silence, like someone whispering in his ear.

"Azi came just in time."

He stood up, the person in his arms was very light, as light as a cloud that would be blown away by the wind.

"Get my brother a clean robe."

"Hmm~"

Mo Zi responded, and when she turned around, she saw the tip of the tail sticking out from the edge of the silk cloth. The snow-white fur was stained with a little mud. She wanted to reach out and brush it away, but was afraid of disturbing the peace. Her fingertips were suspended in the air, but she finally retracted them.

When she brought out her outer robe, Mo Yun was standing in the corridor. The morning light shone through the gaps in the banana leaves onto his shoulders, dyeing the light blue Yun Li into gold.

He took the outer robe and put it on his arm, and the sugar in his arms was protected very firmly, as if it was just an ordinary day when he took his sleepy brother to bask in the sun.

"elder brother,"

Mo Zi bit her lip, and the thread of the purse hooked her fingertips again.

"Are you sure you want to take Bai Tang back to Dongqiang Town and explain to the band owner, Granny?"

Her voice trembled, and the tail end of the sound was blown away by the wind.

"The cats there... they might not understand."

He was afraid that his brother would take the sugar out, but what he brought back was a corpse.

At that time, her brother always protected Bai Tang behind him, saying "he is my companion", but now... she didn't dare to think about it, she just felt her heart tighten as if soaked by morning dew.

Mo Yun looked down at the cat in her arms. The cat's ears moved under the silk cloth, perhaps because of the wind, or perhaps it was just an illusion.

He remembered the half piece of dried fish he took out of Bai Tang's arms when he was sorting out Bai Tang's belongings last night. It was as hard as a small stone, but still had teeth marks on it.

"Ah."

He responded, his voice carrying a quiet power in the morning mist.

"I watched Bai Tang being brought out of Dongqiang Town. He followed me with dried fish in his arms, saying we wanted to go find the source of chaos together."

He paused and gently pressed his fingertips on Bai Tang's brow, where a faint golden light had flashed, as if hiding an unspoken secret.

"Now that he's become like this, I can't let him stay in the mountains like this without knowing why. The owner of the group has watched them grow up. She should know what happened along the way, and she should also... see him off."

The last few words were spoken softly, as if afraid of shattering something.

Mo Zi saw his brother's Adam's apple move, and the tip of the tail of the person in his arms was slightly arched under the silk cloth, like a restless little animal trying to break free from a dream.

"elder brother!"

A clear shout came from outside the yard, with a slight breath.

Xiaoqing ran in with her skirt lifted up. Most of her green dress was wet with dew, and a freshly picked wild chrysanthemum was pinned in her hair.

"I heard from Madam Rong that you are going to Dongqiang Town?"

She ran to Mo Yun, with sweat dripping from the tip of her nose.

"Take me with you. I haven't seen the class owner in a long time. She always complains about my poor physical skills. This is a good opportunity for her to see my progress!"

As she spoke, she flipped her wrist and the light green rhythmic energy condensed into a small leaf in her palm, with dew still on the tip of the leaf. It was much more stable than the last time they met.

But Mo Yun clearly saw that when she turned her wrist, her fingertips trembled imperceptibly - because she had protected the injured Bai Tang that day, her rhythmic power had not yet fully recovered.

Mo Yun raised his hand and gently rubbed her hair. His fingertips touched the wild chrysanthemum, and the dew on the petals made his hand cold.

"No need, Xiaoqing."

His voice was gentle, yet filled with undeniable determination.

"You stay in the bamboo house and practice your rhyme skills with Madam Rong. Last time you said you wanted to practice the third form of 'body rhyme', so this is a good time to consolidate your foundation."

He looked at Xiaoqing's wrist, which was still bandaged. It was the wound left by the last time Chaos invaded.

"When you can hold this leaf in your palm for an hour without dispersing, I'll take you to the dried fish stall in Dongqiang Town and let you pick the biggest one."

Xiaoqing pouted her lips like a flower wilted by the wind, but when she looked at the white sugar in Mo Yun's arms, she swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue.

She knew that her brother rarely changed his decision, especially at a time like this.

"Then... then brother should come back early."

She clutched the corner of her clothes, and the green rhythmic energy flashed at her fingertips.

"If the boss scolds you, just say it's my fault for not taking good care of Bai Tang. She loves me the most and she will definitely not blame you."

Mo Yun smiled, and that smile spread over the gloom in her eyes, like the light shining through the morning mist.

"it is good."

He responded and turned to walk out of the yard.

Mo Zi hurriedly followed and lifted the hanging bamboo curtain for him.

The sunlight just passed over the top of the mountain and fell obliquely on his shoulders, dyeing the silk cloth in his arms a warm white.

When he reached the door of the bamboo building, Mo Yun stopped, looked up at the misty mountain behind, and a clear whistle came from his throat, like a mountain breeze blowing through the pine forest.

"Xiao Bing."

Before he finished speaking, a dragon's roar that shook the valley came from afar. It was not a violent roar, but an intimate response.

Immediately afterwards, an ice-blue shadow swooped down from the clouds, its scales gleaming like broken jade in the sunlight, and its dragon tail swept through the morning mist, stirring up water vapor all over the sky.

It was an ice dragon. It landed in front of Mo Yun, rubbed its head against his arm affectionately, and the cold air from its nostrils formed a thin layer of frost on the surrounding grass leaves.

Mo Yun lowered his head and carefully held Bai Tang in his arms. With his other hand, he pressed the dragon's horn, pointed his toes, and lightly jumped onto the dragon's head.

The ice dragon let out a low hum, and the wind from its wings picked up the fallen leaves on the ground, circling and rising higher.

"Brother, be careful on the road!"

Xiaoqing stood in front of the bamboo building, tiptoeing and waving. Her green skirt swayed like a blade of grass in the wind.

"Remember to bring back the osmanthus cake from Dongqiang Town!"

Mo Yun turned around and waved to her. The morning breeze blew up his robe, which touched the ice dragon's scales, making a crackling sound.

The silk cloth in his arms rustled in the wind, but he always held it firmly against his chest.

Mo Zi stood beside Xiao Qing, not saying a word, just watching the ice-blue shadow getting smaller and smaller, gradually blending into the clouds in the sky.

She gripped her purse tighter and tighter, the needle piercing her palm, causing a sharp pain.

She remembered her brother wiping his spear under the lamp last night, the light from the spear reflecting the red in his eyes. She knew then that there were some roads her brother had to walk alone.

Inside the Sect Master's Hall, Molan was looking at an open map by the window, his fingertips running over the location marked "Chaos".

The wind pushed the bamboo window open a crack, and the lingering sound of a dragon's roar floated in. Her fingertips suddenly stopped.

The ink on the map was slightly blurred by the morning dew, like a quietly blooming ink flower.

She raised her head and looked in the direction where the ice dragon disappeared. The strands of hair on her temples were blown by the wind. There was no surprise in her eyes, only a sigh of understanding.

She recalled the first time Mo Yun was a child, learning to climb walls and tumble down a wall. He bruised his knee, yet he gritted his teeth and refused to cry, saying only, "Mom, I can protect you now." Back then, his eyes had that same stubborn determination that held him back today.

"Go."

She whispered to the empty window, her fingertips tracing the location of Dongqiang Town on the map, where there was a small dried fish stall, which she had added last year.

“Some debts must be repaid by oneself; some knots must be untied by oneself.”

The copper bell on the eaves started ringing again at some point, jingling, as if it was saying goodbye to someone, or waiting for someone to return.

As the ice dragon passed through the clouds, Mo Yun looked down at the white sugar in his arms.

The wind lifted a corner of the silk cloth, revealing his peacefully sleeping face. The sunlight fell on his eyelashes, casting a tiny shadow.

"Coming."

Mo Yun whispered, as if talking to the person in his arms, or as if talking to himself.

The wind whistled past my ears, bringing with it the scent of outside the mountains, the sweetness of osmanthus, the fragrance of dried fish, and... the familiar smell of noise and tranquility on the stone road of Dongqiang Town.

He knew that the owner's mother-in-law might blame him, and the cats in the town might be puzzled, but as long as the person in his arms was still there, as long as he told the story of this journey clearly, Bai Tang would not really leave.

The ice dragon let out a long roar and carried them towards the familiar land.

The clouds rolled below like an endless sea, and their figures were the only boat on the sea, moving forward courageously towards the destined shore.