Peking Opera Cat: I Became A Zi's Brother

Consciousness is like a piece of sugar soaked in warm water, slowly becoming blurred.

Bai Tang leaned against the broken wall, and the hidden soldiers in his sight began to appear as double images, like the out-of-focus background boards on the stage.

He wanted to raise his hand to wipe his eyes, but his claws were so heavy as if they were filled with chaotic mucus. He could only let those familiar scenes flash before his eyes, and even his nose was filled with familiar smells - the aroma of tung oil from Wusong's whistle stick, the smell of mugwort in Xiaoqing's hair, and the smell of wheat flour that always stained Dafei's clothes.

First is the stone road in Dongqiang Town.

Wu Song swung his whistle stick in circles in the open space. The reddish-brown shaft of the stick gleamed in the sunlight, and the wind from the tip of the stick sent dust flying everywhere. After three turns, he proudly tapped the ground with the end of the stick:

"Bai Tang, do you dare to take my three-stick attack? If you lose, I'll have you rub the stick for three days!"

He wasn't going to fall for it. He circled Wu Song in the afterimage of the "comet," deliberately hooking his tail around his belt and pulling it to the side. The hem of Wu Song's red robe brushed against the stone slabs, making a rustling sound. He was so angry that he chased after him with his whistle stick raised:

"You little rascal! I'll knock you on the head!"

Xiaoqing stood in the corridor, a corner of her turquoise shirt lifted by the wind, the silver ornaments in her hair jingling, and she was twisting her sleeves in her hands to practice the "Dragon Dance". Seeing how happy they were, she couldn't help but cover her mouth with her sleeves and laughed:

"Wusong, stop chasing me! You're almost breaking your whistle stick! Be careful or I'll see you do horse stance!"

Da Fei squatted on the doorstep, chewing on a sesame seed bun. Sesame seeds fell all over his collar. He clapped his hands as he chewed.

"Come on, Baitang! Wrap the end of Wusong's stick around! He even stole half of my meat bun last time!"

The sunlight fell on them through the gaps in the eaves. Wusong's red, Xiaoqing's green, Dafei's yellow, and his own fluffy white hair looked like sugar figures hanging in the market, so vivid that it was dazzling.

He could even remember that he laughed so wildly that the tip of his tail brushed against Wusong's whistle stick, and the residual heat from the stick made him scream "Ah!", causing Xiaoqing to laugh so hard that her sleeves fell off.

"Wusong, your third run was still a little slow..."

He muttered, a fake smile playing on the corners of his mouth, his claws scratching unconsciously on the stone slab, as if he was drawing Wu Song's ears that had turned red with anger at that time, and the dusty sesame candy that he had secretly hidden behind his back.

The picture suddenly shook and turned into the pond of the resort.

The lotus leaves in the pond were bright green. His claws were stuck in the slime of the chaos fish. The slime was slippery and had a fishy smell. He was spinning in place in a hurry, and the tip of his tail was almost standing up like a flagpole.

Wu Song's whistle club smacked the fish's back with a "smack". The force of the club made the fish jump, splashing water all over Wu Song's trouser legs. But he stiffened his neck and shouted:

"Stupid cat! Can't you use the Dragon Run to scare them away? Why are you panicking over such a small situation?"

Xiaoqing's sleeves rolled up in time, and the light blue silk ribbon wrapped in cool rhythmic energy gently wiped the mucus off his claws. The green ribbon on her bun hung down and brushed across the tip of his nose, bringing with it a hint of the mint tea she always loved to make:

"I told you not to touch anything in the water, but you didn't listen. Look, your claws are all scratched."

As she spoke, she took out a clean handkerchief from her bosom and carefully pressed it against his wound.

Da Fei rushed over holding a large rock, which was still covered with moss. He smashed it into the mud beside the fish with a "stone-breaking" sound, splashing mud all over his face. However, he grinned, revealing his two big front teeth:

"Don't be afraid, Baitang. Dafei will knock it away! I'll go get two live fish and have Xiaoqing make fish soup for us!"

He looked at the mud spots on Dafei's face and suddenly felt that no matter how slippery the slime was, there was nothing to be afraid of, because he had a noisy partner behind him who would always protect him.

The pain in my lower back suddenly became sharp, and the picture shattered again.

This time it was in Kongsang's kitchen, with faint smoke wafting out of the chimney.

They were secretly searching for food. Wu Song, holding a whistle stick, stood on tiptoe to reach for the dried fish on the beam. The tip of his tail was stretched straight, and the corner of his robe rubbed against the stove, getting a little flour on it without him noticing.

Xiaoqing dug out a jar of candied fruit from the cupboard. There was a faded red paper on the glass jar. She quietly gave him two, her fingertips stained with candy, and whispered in his ear:

"Don't let Wu Song see this. He stole some of Da Fei's preserves last time and was chased and beaten half the street."

Da Fei was holding a pumpkin that was bigger than his head. He was scratching the rind with his claws, trying to figure out how to bake it to make it sweet. He was mumbling:

"Brother Mo said... you need to eat a full meal to have the strength to practice your rhythm... I'll save the pumpkin seeds and roast them for you as a snack later."

He put the candied fruit in his arms and was about to share it with everyone when Wu Song quickly snatched one away and chewed it stubbornly while saying:

"I'll taste it for you to see if it's poisonous! Hmm...it's okay. Give me another one."

"Candied fruit... I'm going to save two for Xiaoqing... She said last time she liked plum flavor..."

He swallowed, his throat was dry as if it had been rubbed by sandpaper, but the tip of his tongue seemed to still retain the sour and sweet taste of the candied fruit, mixed with the smell of smoke from the kitchen stove.

The roar of the hidden soldiers came from afar, like a muffled gong.

He saw that his claws were glowing, not as majestic as a running dragon, nor as swift as a comet, but faint and warm, like the flickering flame in a kitchen stove.

There was a piece of candy floating in the light, half melted and covered with a little dirt. It was the one he had hidden in the crevice of a rock. The candy wrapper was wrinkled, and it was left over from when Xiaoqing made him an osmanthus cake last time.

"I'll share it among you... Wusong can only take one... Dafei can eat more..."

His voice was as light as a feather, but he could clearly hear the response - Wu Song's disdainful "tsk", but actually it was hiding a smirk;

There was Xiaoqing's admonition to "eat slowly", accompanied by the sound of the wind with water sleeves;

And Dafei's silly smile of "Thank you, sugar" made his ears itchy.

These sounds mixed together, sounding very much like the noisy yet warm noise when the Xingluo class gets together.

He leaned against the broken wall and slowly closed his eyes. He felt like a candy thrown into a candy jar, gently wrapped up by those familiar smells, sounds, lights and shadows.

The warm light in my consciousness was suddenly swallowed up by the dark purple, like a candle wick extinguished by chaos.

Bai Tang saw the willow tree in the picture fall down, and the clear waves of the resort turned into surging primordial chaos. Mo Zi stood in the center of the vortex, with the ice fan in his hand stretched straight, and the ice patterns on the fan bones were being nibbled away by the dark purple color bit by bit - that was not the mucus of an ordinary dark soldier, but the corrosive origin of chaos, which stained the fan surface and made a "sizzling" sound, like ice meeting boiling oil.

"Sister Mo Zi!"

His throat tightened, and he remembered what Brother Mo Yun said, that the original chaos was the most capable of devouring the power of rhythm, and even the spiral patterns on the gun barrel would tremble at the sight of it.

Her dark purple headband had been entangled in the chaos, and the hem of her purple shirt was immersed in dark purple, like a flower about to wither. But she did not retreat. She suddenly closed and opened her ice fan, and the tip of the fan flung out three ice spikes, which collided with the chaotic vortex but only caused small ripples.

"Bai Tang, don't come over here!"

Her voice trembled like ice.

"This thing will eat up your rhythmic energy!"

But Bai Tang had already pounced on him.

He remembered the muffled sound of the gun tip hitting the ground when Mo Yun was leaving, and the words the other party said when he pressed his shoulder.

"The original chaos is dangerous. If I can't protect her, I will protect the thoughts of the Xingluo Squad."

At that time, he didn't understand what "longing" was, but now he suddenly understood - it was the cold light on the dark purple ice fan, the fine lines at the corners of her eyes when she smiled, and the warmth when the Xingluo class got together and were reluctant to separate even if they quarreled.

"Running Dragon!"

He roared, and this time the dragon form was not white light, but mixed with his own blood - the wound on the claw tip was torn open by chaos, and the blood dripped onto the light dragon, causing the dragon's body to ignite with a faint golden light.

That was the look of him burning all his rhythmic energy and all his thoughts into it, like a piece of candy that was forced into a desperate situation, bursting out with the last sweet fragrance in the fire.

When the light dragon crashed into the chaotic vortex, the original chaos suddenly boiled up, and the dark purple waves hit Mo Zi.

Bai Tang didn't think twice and used his body to block in front - the moment the chaos touched his back, he heard his bones "crackling", as if being pulled in by countless hands, but he stared at Mo Zi and saw that her ice fan lit up again. This time it was not for defense, but to take advantage of the gap he blocked to condense the ice pattern into a long sword, and stabbed it fiercely at the center of the vortex.

"It's now!"

He shouted, his voice hoarse as if it had been sandpapered.

The moment the dark purple ice sword pierced through the chaos, Bai Tang felt as if a layer of skin and flesh on his back was peeled off, and his consciousness began to drift.

But he saw Mo Zi retreating from the vortex. Although the ice patterns on the ice fan were dim, they were not broken. He saw that the chaos on her purple shirt was fading. It was his blood mixed with Yunli that blocked the most severe blow for her.

In the picture, Mo Zi rushed over, pressing the icy fan against his bleeding back, and tears fell on his neck, bringing with them the coolness of the icy fan:

"You idiot... who asked you to block for me..."

"Brother Mo Yun said..."

He smiled, blood foam coming out from the corner of his mouth.

"No matter how fierce the Primordial Chaos is...it can't snatch the people from the Star Luo Class..."

When his consciousness sank, he seemed to see Brother Mo Yun standing in the light, his green robe fluttering, the light from the tip of his gun reflected on his face, as if praising him for doing a good job.

With the last bit of strength he had, he leaned close to Mo Zi's ear and whispered as lightly as a feather:

"Brother Mo Yun...I did it..."

The chaos on his back was still hissing, but he felt very safe, just like when he was a child and was protected by Brother Mo Yun, feeling warm and cozy.