Peking Opera Cat: I Became A Zi's Brother

"Drip drip..."

The rain in the body was like a broken string of beads. It had been falling day and night since the day Mo Yun walked out of the back mountain carrying the white sugar wrapped in white cloth and holding the ice spear that solidified and then dispersed.

The rain was so dense that it dyed the sect's green tiles dark grey. The lotus patterns carved on the pillars were soaked and darkened. Even the old banana trees in the courtyard had their leaf tips drooping, as if they were carrying an unshakable depression.

Mo Zi sat on the soft couch by the window, covered with two layers of thick lotus-embroidered blankets, and a hand-warming velvet towel draped across his knees. However, the chill in his heart still seeped out. It wasn't the coldness brought by the rain, but the internal injuries he had sustained after the decisive battle with the sect, when he had forcibly activated his heart meridians to protect the barrier. It was also the dull pain he felt when he recalled Mo Yun burying Bai Tang in the rain.

He dug at the loose soil on the back mountain with his bare hands. Mud and grass debris were embedded in the cracks between his fingernails, and his knuckles were red from being rubbed, but he seemed not to feel any pain.

He casually stuck the ice spear into the grass beside him. The ice on the tip of the spear mixed with raindrops and dripped down, landing on the newly turned soil, leaving small wet marks, like someone's uncontrollable tears, hitting people's hearts.

A half-rolled document on the defense of the clan was spread out on the desk. The ink in the inkstone had long since cooled, and the ink beads condensed on the tip of the pen dripped onto the paper, spreading out a small black mass.

Just as Mo Zi stretched out her hand to grab the pen, her heart suddenly constricted, as if a blunt knife was slowly cutting between her bones. She subconsciously clenched her handkerchief, her knuckles turning bluish-white. As soon as the sweat broke out on her forehead, she shivered in the cool breeze blowing in from under the eaves.

The white lotus embroidered on the corner of the handkerchief was wrinkled, and the seams were pulled out of shape - she had embroidered it overnight after Mo Yun hid in the cave in the back mountain. She had wanted to give it to him when he came out, and the thoughts of "safety" were hidden in the stitches. But in the end, she only watched him carrying Bai Tang wrapped in white cloth, walking out of the sect gate step by step, his back huddled into a small ball in the rain, and he didn't even have the strength to look back.

"Sister, the medicine is warm enough. I added a piece of ginger. The doctor said that your internal injuries need to be kept warm and you can't let it get cold again."

Xiaoqing's voice came from the door, as light as raindrops brushing against banana leaves.

She walked in holding a white porcelain medicine bowl, with a faint steam still rising from the edge of the bowl. Her right hand held the bottom of the bowl steadily, but her left arm was still stiffly bent at her side. The gauze wrapped around her forearm had been replaced with a new one, but from the curvature of the gauze, it could be seen that the wound underneath was still swollen - that was the wound left after the decisive battle with the clan, when she was controlled by the original chaos.

At that time, everyone thought that the original chaos had been completely eliminated. Until the third night after returning to the Shen Sect, Bai Tang suddenly became covered with black air, his eyes lost all clarity, and he threw towards Mo Yun with his rosary in hand.

She wanted to stand in the way, but Bai Tang's chaotic and violent power hit her arm. She felt as if her bones and muscles were torn apart, and her clothes were instantly soaked with cold sweat.

Even after so long of treatment, I still can't use force. I have to hold the bowl steadily with my right hand. If I use a little force, the injured area will be torn and it hurts so much.

She gently placed the medicine bowl on the small table next to Mo Zi. Her eyes immediately fell on her sister's hand pressing on her chest, and her brows knitted into knots:

"Does it hurt again? How many times have I told you not to waste your energy staring at the files? This heartache of yours needs to be healed, not endured."

As he spoke, he wanted to reach out and help Mo Zi lean against the back of the couch, but as soon as he raised his arm, he remembered his injury. His fingertips paused in the air, then quietly retracted it. He only dared to use his eyes to signal her to rest, and his voice became softer:

"Shall I give you a pillow?"

Mo Zi shook his head, slowly sat up on the edge of the couch, and picked up the medicine bowl.

The bitter smell of medicine mixed with the spiciness of ginger drifted into her nose. Without hesitation, she tilted her head back and drank it.

As the medicine slid down his throat, the astringent taste pricked him like a needle, but the three days when Mo Yun hid in the back mountain suddenly emerged in his mind - no one could persuade him.

Xiaoqing went outside the cave to call him, but he just muttered "Leave me alone" inside;

She went to deliver the dry food and water herself and placed them on the stone platform at the entrance of the cave. When she looked back, the dry food was not touched and only a sip of water was missing.

The cave was pitch black, with only the cold air from the ice spear drifting out through the cracks in the rocks, like the unresolved confusion in his heart:

Why Bai Tang? Why did he have to do it? Was Bai Tang's final, almost fleeting "thank you" a sign of relief, or a veil of unspoken regret?

It was not until the evening of the third day that the rain subsided and a faint light appeared in the sky.

Mo Yun just walked out of the cave. His clothes were stained with moisture and dirt from the cave wall, and his hair was messy like dead grass. However, the emptiness in his eyes was gone, and there was something deep in his bones.

He didn't speak to anyone and walked straight to the slope of the mountain behind - that was where he buried the sugar with his own hands. The newly turned soil had been hardened by the rain.

He squatted down and, still using his hands, dug up the soil bit by bit, moving so gently as if he was afraid of hurting the people underneath.

The white cloth was wrapped in mud. He carefully untied the cloth and walked towards the stream holding Bai Tang's body. The stream water was cold, but he seemed not to feel it. He scooped the water in his hands and washed the mud on the white cloth bit by bit, even smoothing out the wrinkles at the corners of the cloth.

Xiaoqing happened to be washing clothes by the stream at the time. When she saw this scene, she was so scared that the mallet in her hand dropped.

When Mo Yun saw her, he just paused and said, "I have to give an explanation to my mother-in-law."

His voice was hoarse as if it had been sanded, but the tremor he had had before was gone.

He found a new piece of white cloth and wrapped the sugar tightly, just like how he covered his sleeping brother with a quilt when he was a child, tucking the corners neatly. Then he carried the person on his back, holding him with one hand and picking up the ice spear inserted next to him with the other hand. This time the ice spear was very stable, and the ice at the tip of the spear no longer trembled, as if it had calmed down with him.

"Sister, are you thinking about Brother Mo Yun and Bai Tang again?"

Xiaoqing sat on a small stool beside the couch and picked up the bamboo plate on the table. On it were a few pieces of freshly steamed lotus cakes. Candied dates were embedded in the golden cake body, shining temptingly.

She carefully picked up a piece with her right hand and handed it to Mo Zi:

"Have something sweet to overcome the medicinal taste. The kitchen specially put a lot of candied dates there. Baitang used to be the one who would fight for it the most. Every time we divided the cake, he would pick the one with the most candied dates, saying, 'The one with more candied dates is sweeter and eating it will give you strength.'"

Mo Zi took the lotus cake, his fingertips touched the warm cake, and suddenly he remembered the days when they traveled together with the Xingluo team.

At that time, the weather was not so cold, and the road was not so difficult to walk. Bai Tang always carried half a bag of candied dates. When he felt tired, he would take out one and give it to her, saying, "Sister Mo Zi, you are weak, so eating sweet things will give you strength."

Whenever he came across an inn, he would always ask for candied date cakes, and he would pat his chest and say, "After defeating Hun Dun, I will try all the delicious food in Maotu, from the sugar porridge of Chang Zong to the baked cakes of Bu Zong, and also eat candied date buns with the owner's mother-in-law under the locust tree in Dongqiang Town."

But now, the child who shouted that he wanted to eat all the cat soil was wrapped in a white cloth bag and carried on Mo Yun's back, walking on the way to Dongqiang Town - he wanted to give an explanation to the troupe's grandmother, a belated farewell to the old man who watched Bai Tang grow up and loved him like his own grandson, and also to give a temporary period to the Xingluo troupe and this unfinished journey.

"You said... Brother Mo Yun will talk to Bai Tang on the way?"

Xiaoqing suddenly asked in a low voice, with a hint of uncontrollable crying in her voice.

She knew why Mo Yun wanted to take Bai Tang back, and she also knew how much pain he felt in his heart - when he was digging the soil, his hands holding Bai Tang were shaking;

When washing the white cloth, his fingertips were red from the cold, but he still gently stroked the corner of the cloth;

When he was carrying someone on his back, he walked very slowly, as if he was afraid of shaking the person on his back, and even his steps were very light.

Mo Zi felt a pain in his heart again. This time it was not the pain of internal injuries, but the depression that was pent up in his heart.

She remembered that before Mo Yun left, he stuffed a hollow jade into her hand. The jade was still warm because he had kept it in his arms to keep it warm.

He said, "Our hearts are connected. If I am well, the jade will be warm." After saying this, he turned around and never looked back.

At this moment, the jade was sticking to her lapel, and a very faint warmth came through the thin shirt. There was no anxiety, no collapse.

There is only a kind of "stability" that slowly settles down - like the way he walks in the rain with sugar on his back, his steps are not fast, but he never stops for a moment, with a bit of stubbornness of "I must send him off safely" and a bit of tenacity of "I will not fall down".

"Will do."

Mo Zi put the lotus cake to his lips and took a small bite. The sweet aroma of candied dates spread in his mouth, but his heart felt even more bitter. "He will tell Bai Tang that the rain on the road is lighter and the wind is not cold anymore;

He would tell Bai Tang that his mother-in-law was waiting for him in Dongqiang Town, and that the old locust tree in the yard was still in good condition;

I will tell Bai Tang that we all remember his wish to eat all the cat dirt, and later we will eat it for him and tell him about it.”

Xiaoqing nodded and picked up a piece of lotus cake to nibble on, but tears fell like broken strings, hitting the cake and leaving a small wet mark.

She remembered how Bai Tang looked when he was controlled by chaos, with black air in his eyes and roaring incomprehensible words. But at the last moment, the black air dissipated, he looked at Mo Yun, a very faint smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he said "thank you" - he must have woken up at that time, right?

He must have known that Mo Yun was helping him, helping him escape Chaos's control, right? But he must have had his regrets: he hadn't yet eaten all of Cat Earth, hadn't seen it peaceful, hadn't yet said "I'm back" to the class leader, hadn't yet joined the rest of the Xingluo class to eat the jujube buns made by the class leader again.

The rain was still falling, rustling against the window paper, like an unfinished song.

The lanterns outside the hall swayed in the wind, and the dim light fell on the two sisters, stretching their shadows very long, overlapping the files on the desk, like two unspoken thoughts.

Mo Zi clenched the heart-shaped jade in her lapel, and the jade piece suddenly trembled slightly, as if Mo Yun's breath was responding - there was no despair on the other end, only a sense of steadiness of "being on the road", waiting to walk through this rainy road, waiting to hand the sugar to her mother-in-law, waiting to tell the unspoken "I'm sorry" and "I understand" to the child who was forever stuck in his youth.

"When the rain stops, let's go to Dongqiang Town."

Mo Zi suddenly spoke, his voice was very soft, but with a firmness, as if he had made a great decision.

"Let's go see Grandma and Mo Yun. When the time comes, we'll bring Bai Tang the largest candied date cake we can and tell him... We still remember his wish to eat all over Cat Earth, and we remember that everyone in the Xingluo class has never been apart."

Xiaoqing raised her head, tears still in her eyes, but her eyes brightened up a little, and she nodded vigorously:

"Okay! Once my arm is healed, we'll go. We also need to tell Brother Mo Yun that we don't blame him, and neither does Bai Tang—we all know he's doing this for Bai Tang's own good."

Mo Zi didn't say anything, just looked at the rain curtain outside the window.

Raindrops fell from the eaves in strings, hitting the bluestone slabs and splashing tiny water droplets.

She knew that the rain would eventually stop, just like the pain in Mo Yun's heart, which would gradually fade away.

Just like Bai Tang’s unfinished wish, there will always be someone to fulfill it for him.

What they have to do is to guard this sect, guard this concern, wait for the rain to stop, wait for Mo Yun to come back, wait for the day when they can look at Bai Tang's tombstone and say with a smile, "The Maotu is peaceful now, we will take you to eat all the delicious food, from the sugar porridge of Changzong, to the baked cakes of Buzong, and the jujube buns of Dongqiang Town."

The jade in the lapel was still warm, and the stability at the end was still there - perhaps, Mo Yun was walking in the rain, carrying Bai Tang on his back, whispering about the past of Xingluo Squad, about how Xiao Qing almost fell into the mud when she first learned to use Yunli, about how delicious the cakes made by Dafei were, and about how Wu Song always liked to quarrel with Bai Tang but always protected him, as if they had never been apart.

The raindrops fell on his shoulders and on Bai Tang who was wrapped in white cloth, but they no longer had the previous chill. Instead, they brought a bit of tenderness, as if to say, "Let's go home together."