Peking Opera Cat: I Became A Zi's Brother

The ice dragon's scales reflected cold light in the sky, like a huge ice crystal split by the sunlight.

"About to arrive……"

Mo Yun stood on the dragon's head, the hem of his robe rustling as the air currents tore at it. The soles of his boots rolled over the smoothest scales on the ice dragon's forehead, leaving a fleeting white mark.

"what to do……"

He lowered his head slightly and could see Dongqiang Town getting closer and closer below him. The small town surrounded by low mountains was like a rice cake soaked in the warm sun. The grass stems on the gray tiles, the morning glories on the bamboo fences, and the twisted branches of the old locust tree at the town entrance were all exactly the same as when Bai Tang and the others set out in his memory. However, looking at it now, every inch of familiarity was wrapped in a needle-like pain.

"Roar……"

The ice dragon seemed to sense his melancholy and slowed down its pace. A huge shadow slowly moved across the ridge of the field outside the town, startling a few pecking sparrows and causing them to flutter and fly away.

Mo Yun's fingertips unconsciously stroked the ice dragon's curved horns. The frost on the horns was touched by his body temperature, turned into fine beads, rolled down, dripped onto the dragon's scales, and instantly condensed into smaller ice particles.

The space in his arms, wrapped in rhythmic energy, became heavier and heavier. It wasn't the heaviness of weight, but the kind that could make a cat's breathing difficult. Hidden inside was the little fellow who always loved to say "I want to be the strongest Peking Opera cat", the Bai Tang who would steal grapes from the yard when the owner's grandmother wasn't paying attention, and who would stick out his tongue and smile with his head tilted when he was discovered.

……

The closer we got to the town, the more familiar the smell of the wind became.

It's the smell of blue cloth shirts drying on bamboo poles, the aroma of steamed pumpkin wafting from the kitchen, and you can even vaguely smell the unique sour and sweet scent of the old grape vine in the Xingluoban courtyard.

Mo Yun recalled Bai Tang's appearance when she first told him about Dongqiang Town. At that time, they had just fought off a group of monsters in the Misty Forest. The little guy was sitting by the campfire, chewing on grilled fish, the tip of his tail still caked with ash, his eyes shining like falling stars:

"Brother Mo Yun, you don't know, the grapes in our town are so sweet! The pumpkin cake steamed by the owner's mother-in-law is so fragrant that it can be smelled all the way to the town entrance!"

At that time, he just thought it was a childish show-off, but now he felt that the tastes that had been talked about had become thorns piercing his heart.

The ice dragon stopped under the old locust tree outside the town, and its head sank slightly, allowing Mo Yun to land steadily.

He stood in the shadow of the locust tree, looking at the mottled wooden door not far away.

There were still several deep claw marks on the door panel. The one on the top was scratched by Bai Tang when he jumped up to reach the door bolt. At that time, the little guy fell to the ground and patted his chest stubbornly, saying, "I was practicing light kung fu on purpose."

There was a half-dried vine wrapped around the door knocker. Tofu and Tangyuan had wrapped it there last spring, saying they wanted the door to look like it was wearing new clothes.

There were faint noises coming from inside the door: the creaking of a bamboo chair being moved, the soft thud of a ceramic bowl being placed on the stone table, and the slow voice of the owner's mother-in-law:

"Tangyuan, if you keep making trouble, the dried fish you had this afternoon will be given to Tofu—"

"..."

Mo Yun's footsteps seemed to be nailed to the spot.

The space in his arms felt cold again, seeping through the fabric to his skin, like holding a piece of jade just taken out of an ice cellar.

He remembered that Bai Tang also left through this door.

That day, the little fellow was standing at the door, carrying his small bag, looking back with his tail raised high:

"Just wait, Grandma! When I become a hero, I'll bring you all the delicious food in Maotu!"

The owner's mother-in-law smiled and waved at that time, with light in the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, but when the door closed, Mo Yun saw her standing in the yard from afar, looking at the empty doorway, and stood there for a very long time.

The wind leaked through the branches of the locust tree, causing Mo Yun's robe to move again.

He raised his hand and pressed on the door knocker. The copper ring had been worn smooth by time and was cool, like an old jade that had been touched by countless hands.

The noise from the door stopped. Perhaps the owner's mother-in-law heard the noise. After a moment, her gentle voice came from the door:

"who is that?"

Mo Yun opened her mouth, but found her throat was tight.

He could imagine what the boss's mother-in-law looked like at the moment. She must be sitting on a bamboo chair, perhaps picking vegetables in her hands. The sunlight fell on her gray hair, like a layer of gold.

What should he say? That he had brought back the little one who had promised to bring back something delicious? That the mischievous Sugar would no longer jump up to grab the door bolt, steal grapes, or chase butterflies in the yard?

The ice dragon roared softly behind him, and its breath blew up the dust on the ground, blinding him.

Mo Yun blinked, suppressed the rising bitterness, gripped the door knocker with her fingertips, and knocked lightly twice.

"Squeak-"

The wooden door was opened a crack, and the owner's mother-in-law's face peeked out. When she saw him, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes immediately turned into a smile:

"Is that Mo Yun? Come in quickly, there's freshly steamed pumpkin cake..."

Halfway through her words, her gaze fell on Mo Yun's arms. Although the shape of the space wrapped in Yun's power could not be seen, it exuded a chill that was incompatible with the warm afternoon.

The smile on her face gradually faded, like a candle flame blown by the wind, dimming little by little.

Mo Yun looked into her eyes, those eyes that always held tenderness, now seemed covered with mist. He opened his mouth and finally squeezed out a few words, his voice hoarse as if it had been rubbed by sandpaper:

"Grandma, I... brought back some sugar."

The wind came in through the crack in the door, carrying with it the fragrance of the grape vines in the yard, as well as the second half of Mo Yun's unspoken sentence.

The bamboo chair inside the door made another slight sound. The owner's mother-in-law's hand, which was holding the door frame, trembled slightly, and her knuckles turned white, as if she had suddenly lost her strength.

The sunlight passed through her white hair, casting tiny spots of light on the ground, but when the light fell on Mo Yun, it could not warm the growing coldness in his arms.

The ice dragon roared again, and this time there was a slight whimper in the sound.

When the wooden door was pushed open, the wind brought out the fragrance of locust flowers in the yard.

The owner's mother-in-law stepped aside to let Mo Yun in. The smile on her face was still there, but the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes were not as relaxed as before, as if someone had stretched them gently and then slowly loosened them.

"It's windy outside, come in and sit down."

She turned and walked into the yard, the straps of her blue apron swaying gently behind her, but her steps were slower than usual.

Mo Yun followed him into the yard. The Yunli space in his arms seemed to have taken root, making his shoulders slightly stiff due to the heaviness.

The grape vines climbed high up the bamboo frame, and the leaves were densely covered. The sunlight shone through the gaps between the leaves and fell to the ground, shimmering like a piece of broken gold.

Toufu was squatting under the grape trellis and digging in the soil, with wet mud lumps on his paws. When he saw Mo Yun coming in, he meowed and raised his paws in the air, as if he wanted to show off something - that posture was exactly the same as Bai Tang's when he hid something good and wanted to show it off.

Tangyuan jumped out of the house, holding half a piece of pumpkin cake in his hand, with golden cake crumbs on the corners of his mouth.

He ran to Mo Yun, looked up at him with his eyes shining:

"Brother Mo Yun! Why did you come back alone? Where's Bai Tang? Where's Wu Song? Where's Xiao Qing? Are they playing hide-and-seek with you back there?"

As he spoke, his tail swung happily behind him.

"Last time you said that after Maotu was freed, you would bring them back to eat the pumpkin cake made by grandma, and now..."

"sweet dumpling."

The voice of the troupe owner's mother-in-law came from the other side of the bamboo chair. It was not loud, but it made Tangyuan's words stuck in his throat.

She was sitting on a bamboo chair, holding a bamboo basket filled with freshly picked beans. Her fingertips were slowly pinching the bean tendons. Her movements were no different from usual, except that the sound of pinching the bean tendons was "snap", which was particularly clear in the yard.

Mo Yun's gaze fell on the stone table next to the bamboo chair, where three coarse porcelain bowls were placed, with some rice soup marks on the rims.

He remembered that when Xingluo Squad was there, there were always four bowls on the table. The bowl containing sugar had a small chip on the rim, which he had dropped, and he insisted that it was a "unique mark."

Tofu had run to Mo Yun's feet at some point, rubbing his head against his trouser leg, grabbing the corner of his clothes with his claws, and staring straight at his arms - perhaps he smelled Yunli's scent, or perhaps he was looking for the figure who always liked to snatch his dried fish.

Mo Yun bent down to touch its head, but stopped halfway, her fingertips turning white, and finally she dropped her hand.

"My mother-in-law's steamed pumpkin cake is so sweet,"

Seeing that Mo Yun was silent, Tang Yuan came forward again and handed over the half piece in his hand.

"Last time, Bai Tang said that he wanted to bring back those glowing fruits, saying they were better than pumpkin cakes..."

He suddenly stopped, looked at Mo Yun's face, then looked at the host's mother-in-law, and frowned.

"Brother Mo Yun, why aren't you talking? Are Bai Tang and the others in trouble? Or..."

"Tangyuan, go and bring the pumpkin cake over here."

After picking the last string bean, the owner's mother-in-law put the bamboo basket aside. Her voice was still gentle, but when she raised her hand, her sleeve slipped down, revealing the light blue spot on her wrist - that was left when she was protected by the monster's black energy in the past.

Mo Yun sat down on the stone bench next to the bamboo chair. The coolness of the stone surface came through the fabric of her clothes, just enough to suppress the creeping chill in her arms.

He looked at the owner's mother-in-law, who was wiping her hands with a handkerchief. The sunlight fell on her gray temples, like a layer of falling snow.

He wanted to say something, about how Bai Tang tried his best to protect everyone, and how at that last moment the little guy's eyes showed no fear, only the light of "I did it." But when the words came to his lips, they turned dry:

"Pumpkin cake... smells delicious."

"Um,"

The boss's mother-in-law nodded, a smile appeared on her face again, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes curved up.

"I know you like sweet food, so I added two more spoonfuls of sugar."

She paused, her eyes swept across Mo Yun's arms, as if asking casually,

"Are you tired from the journey? Is the dragon settled?"

"Yes, under the locust tree outside the town."

Mo Yun's Adam's apple rolled.

"It's...very well behaved."

Tofu ran over with a grape seed in his mouth, put it at Mo Yun's feet, looked up and meowed at him.

The grape seeds were round, exactly the same as the ones that White Sugar had spit out under the grape vines before.

Mo Yun stared at the grape seed and suddenly remembered what Bai Tang said, "Bury the grape seeds in the soil, and a lot of grapes will grow next year. Then you can make a jar of wine for your mother-in-law." At that time, the little guy patted his chest and promised that he would make the wine by himself, but was laughed at by Wu Song for "not being able to even pick the grapes steadily."

"Brother Mo Yun!"

Tang Yuan came over with a plate in his hand, the steam from the pumpkin cake lingering in his palm.

"Hurry up and tell us, has Maotu been liberated? Will Baitang and the others be back soon? Last time you sent a letter saying you were in a decisive battle with An, did you win?"

The little guy's questions were like a barrage of questions, and his eyes were full of expectations.

"Bai Tang said that if I win, he'll teach me new rhyme moves. He also said..."

"sweet dumpling."

The owner's mother-in-law spoke again. This time she didn't look at the dumplings, but just looked at the grape trellis, where several bunches of green grapes were hanging. They were not yet ripe, like hard jade beads.

"Let your brother Mo Yun have a piece of cake first. You must be hungry after running such a long way."

Tang Yuan pushed the plate towards Mo Yun and muttered softly:

"But I want to know when Bai Tang will come back... He still owes me half a dried fish."

Mo Yun picked up a piece of pumpkin cake. The warm touch spread from his fingertips to his palm, and the sweet fragrance filled his nostrils, but he could not taste it.

The icing on the cake was sticky on his fingertips, just like the sugar that sticks to the corners of his mouth every time he secretly eats it. He opened his mouth and wanted to say

"Sugar is not coming back",

But looking at the eyes of the boss's mother-in-law hidden in the wrinkles - the answer was clearly in those eyes, but she was still trying hard to smile, as if afraid of disturbing something - he swallowed his words again.

The boss's mother-in-law stood up and walked towards the kitchen:

"I'll get another bowl of mung bean soup. It's so hot, it'll help me cool down."

Her back moved slowly in the shadow of the vines, her steps were a little slow, the apron strings hanging behind her, motionless.

The yard was quiet, the only sound being the rustling of the wind through the grape leaves. Tofu lay at Mo Yun's feet, his tail gently sweeping the ground, past the grape seed.

Tang Yuan sat on the stone bench, holding a half-eaten cake in his hand, looking at the door, as if waiting for the jumping figure to suddenly push the door open and shout

"Grandma, I'm back."

Mo Yun looked down at the space in his arms that was wrapped in Yunli. The coolness seeped in through the clothes and collided with the warmth of the pumpkin cake in his palm, like the unspeakable pain in his heart, half hot and half cold.

He knew that there were things he had to say sooner or later, but looking at the sunshine and quietness in the yard at this moment, he just wanted time to stop a little longer, longer - as if as long as he didn't say it, the little guy who always loved to make trouble was still somewhere, running towards home.