Peking Opera Cat: I Became A Zi's Brother

When the last ray of golden light from the setting sun passed over the eaves of Ningshui Palace, Xiaoqing followed Mo Zi to the bedroom.

After practicing "Frost Arrow·Ice Dragon" for an entire afternoon, the coolness of ice still lingered on her fingertips. She couldn't help but bend her knuckles even when walking, silently recalling the tenacity she had felt when she condensed it into a dragon shape. Rong Mama was right. After incorporating the power of "like breaking the sea", the dragon roar of the arrow became much clearer, and even the dragon shadow on the water mirror became more lively.

"Walk slowly, don't hold on so hard."

Mo Zi walked beside her, her lavender skirt sweeping across the bluestone road, bringing up a fine breeze.

Seeing Xiaoqing twirling her fingertips absentmindedly, she reached out to wipe away the broken light from the water mirror on her shoulders, "Rhythm power is like a person, it needs a break.

Tomorrow, I'll practice the coordination of 'Wind-Breaking Sleeves' and Ice Dragon Arrows. Tonight, I'll retrain the sinking power of 'Flowing Water Through the Secluded Places'."

Xiaoqing nodded, but her eyes fell on the corridor in front - the nights in Shenzong were always wrapped in a thin layer of moisture. The glass lamps hanging under the corridor were reflected on the wet ground, creating a swaying light spot, which looked very much like the ripples of dragon shadows in the water mirror in the afternoon.

She recalled the shadow of the ice dragon swimming in the water when the arrow tip pierced the water mirror, and the corners of her mouth could not help but rise:

"Sister, when I upgrade Neon, will I be able to use the charm of water wrapped in ice power like my brother does and protect the entire Moat River in one go? If I had this ability when the Chaos Soldiers came last time, I wouldn't have let my brother..."

Before she could finish her words, she paused.

Mentioning Mo Yun, the air became a bit more stagnant. Mo Zi paused slightly, reached out and gently patted her back, stroking down her spine like when they were little:

"Yes. If my brother saw your Ice Dragon Arrow now, he would definitely say, 'Xiaoqing is much stronger than I was back then.'"

As the two were talking, they unknowingly walked to the "Moxi Corridor" connecting Ningshui Palace and the Inner Palace.

This corridor is the oldest building in the Shen Sect. The pillars are engraved with faded ink patterns, which are said to be the marks left by the first generation of the sect leader.

There were no lights hanging in the corridor, only the moonlight from above filtering through the carved window lattices, weaving fine silver lines on the blue bricks. When the wind blew, the shadows swayed like fish in water.

Xiaoqing was about to quicken her pace to pass through the dark corridor, but her wrist suddenly felt numb - it was not the soreness after practicing a move, but a familiar, icy rhythmic power that gently wrapped around her wrist.

The touch was so much like Mo Yun, it was the temperature he always used to use his fingertips to smooth out Bing Yun for her, a little cool, but very steady.

"elder brother?"

She turned her head suddenly, thinking that Mo Yun had quietly returned, but the corridor was empty, with only her and Mo Zi's figures, and even the wind had stopped.

"Ok?"

Mo Zi also noticed something unusual, raised his hand and condensed a ray of light purple energy, the light illuminated half of the corridor:

"What's wrong? What's wrong?"

"It's the power of rhythm,"

Xiaoqing frowned and moved her fingertips slightly, trying to catch the icy rhythm.

"It's very similar to my brother's icy rhythm. It's right on my wrist. Can't you feel it? It...it seems to be drilling into my pulse."

Mo Zi's expression darkened. The purple rhythm of his fingertips swept across the pillars, but he didn't catch any trace of ice-type rhythmic power.

"No. This corridor is connected to the source of the Ink Vein of the Body Sect, and occasionally there will be scattered ancient ink rhyme floating out. You practiced the Ice Dragon Arrow all afternoon, and you are too sensitive to the ice rhyme energy."

As soon as she finished speaking, the palace-protecting river outside the corridor suddenly made a "splash" sound, as if something was surging out of the water.

Xiaoqing subconsciously turned her head to look over, and saw that the river surface under the moonlight was suddenly covered with a thick, indissoluble ink-colored halo - the halo was not ordinary black, but had a hint of ancient blue, like an ink stick that had been deposited for thousands of years and dissolved in the water, climbing up along the corridor column, gradually flowing over the window frame, and wrapping around her ankles.

"This is……"

Xiaoqing wanted to step back, but found that her feet seemed to be stuck to the blue bricks and she couldn't move.

What was even more strange was that a hint of icy blue energy slowly emerged from the inky halo - purer and more ancient than the icy rhyme of the ink, like jade freshly chiseled out of an iceberg, emitting a cold light.

"Xiao Qing!"

Seeing this, Mo Zi immediately waved his sleeves, trying to pull her to his side, but as soon as the sleeves touched the inky halo, they were bounced back by an invisible force. There were even some tiny ink spots on the corners of his sleeves, which melted as soon as they touched the air.

Xiaoqing watched the wisp of ice-blue rhyme gradually condense, and suddenly a strong intuition arose in her heart - this was not an ordinary ancient rhyme, it was directed at her.

She subconsciously activated the rhythmic power of the Ice Dragon Arrow, trying to break free from the restraints, but as soon as her fingertips felt cold, the ice-blue rhythmic power suddenly wrapped around her, climbed up her arm, and penetrated into her veins.

In an instant, the world was spinning.

The sound of the river and Mo Zi's shouting in my ears suddenly disappeared, and the corridor in front of me gradually became blurred as if it was stained with ink.

Xiaoqing felt like she had fallen into an endless expanse of inky black water. There was ice-cold water all around her, but she didn't choke. Instead, she felt like she was being gently supported by a pair of gentle hands, slowly floating upwards.

When she finally opened her eyes, she found herself standing in front of an unfamiliar water mirror - this water mirror was ten times larger than the one in Ningshui Palace. The mirror surface was as calm as a complete piece of black jade, reflecting the gray sky above her head, without even a trace of cloud.

Opposite the water mirror stood a figure so familiar that it made her heart tighten.

The light blue hem of her dress hung on the water, and she wore an ice-blue headband in her hair. The outline of her face, the curve of her wrist when she raised her hand, and even the subtle movements of her fingertips when she gathered her rhythmic power were exactly the same as the Mo Yun in her memory.

"elder brother?"

Xiaoqing's voice trembled. She took two steps forward, and ripples appeared on the water mirror, reflecting her own shadow - still wearing the training clothes of the Shenzong, and the icy charm still lingered on her fingertips.

She wanted to see the other person's face clearly, so she quickened her pace.

"Is that you? You're back? I... I've learned how to use the Ice Dragon Arrow. Look..."

"..."

The cat slowly turned around, revealing a face that looked exactly like Mo Yun, except for the look in its eyes.

There was always a gentle smile in Mo Yun's eyes, but the eyes of the man in front of her were like an icy lake that had been settled for a thousand years, calm, deep, and hiding a hint of antiquity that she could not understand - that was a calmness that did not belong to Mo Yun, a calmness that had gone through the years.

He looked at Xiaoqing without a smile on his face, but raised his hand to condense a strand of ice-blue rhythmic energy - the rhythmic energy flowed through his fingertips, and it was even brighter and more transparent than the water mirror, with a very light ink color wrapped in it, like ink dripped into ice water, melting but not dissolving, yet clearly distinct.

"I'm not Mo Yun."

He spoke, his voice was a little deeper than Mo Yun's, but it carried the same icy feeling, like ice beads falling on black jade, clear and heavy.

"I am Mo Yuan, the holder of the first wield of Mo Yun in the Shen Sect, and also the first generation leader of this lineage."

Xiaoqing was stunned and stopped abruptly.

Mo Yuan? The name exploded in her mind like a thunderclap. She seemed to have seen these two words before in the ancient texts of her sect, yet it seemed she hadn't. She only felt that these two words weighed heavily on her ears, like a mark pressing upon the very essence of her Mo Vein.

"You...you are the first generation sect leader?"

She clenched her fists, and the power of the Ice Dragon Arrow emerged unconsciously from her fingertips, but was suppressed by the other party with a light wave of his hand.

The force was gentle and non-aggressive, more like a reminder to her "don't be impatient".

Mo Yuan's gaze fell on her fingertips, and a hint of approval flashed in his eyes:

"Indeed, you can combine the rhythm of ice and the power of dragons, and you have also fully grasped the profound power of 'Flowing Water Leads to the Mysterious Places'. You haven't lost the fundamental principle of 'ink follows water, rhythm follows the heart'."

He raised his hand and waved it at the water mirror. Ripples suddenly appeared on the mirror surface, reflecting an ancient scene - that was the earliest appearance of the Shen Sect, and the palace was built with bluestone and black jade.

The tiles on the roof of the palace were engraved with dense black patterns, which glowed under the gray sky. The water in the palace-protecting river was the same black color as his fingertips.

"This is the illusion of the Ink Vein. I used the will that remains in my own Ink Vein to construct this trial field for you."

Mo Yuan took a step forward, and the ripples on the water mirror spread with his footsteps.

"When you were practicing archery today, the rhythmic energy of the Ice Dragon Arrow activated the essence of the Ink Vein and also aroused my resolve to stay here. You are now qualified to inherit the 'Ink Soul' of the Body Sect."

Xiaoqing looked at the face in front of her that was exactly the same as her brother's, and suddenly a complex emotion surged in her heart - surprise, nervousness, and a sense of indescribable closeness.

She knew that this was not a dream, but an illusion created by the First Generation Sect Master using her brother's appearance, in order to let her down her guard and to tell her:

Her power and her heritage have always been closely connected with Mo Yun and Shen Zong's past.

She took a deep breath, suppressed the throbbing in her heart, and the rhythmic power of the Ice Dragon Arrow at her fingertips lit up again - this time she did not rush to condense it, but followed the mantra of "bend but not break", slowly sinking it, like ink dripping into water, drilling down along the pulse, steady and not shaking.

"I'm ready."

She raised her head and looked at Mo Yuan. There was no more panic in her eyes, only determination.

"No matter what the trial is, I will accept it. I want to become stronger, I want to protect the Shen Sect, I want to... not let my brother down, and I want to live up to the Shen Sect's legacy."

Mo Yuan looked at her, and finally a faint smile appeared in his eyes - the smile was very light, but it was exactly the same as the look Mo Yun occasionally had when she was serious.

He raised his hand and suddenly an arrow shape condensed on the water mirror - the arrow was very similar to her ice dragon arrow, but more ancient. The arrow was not engraved with dragon patterns, but layers of ink patterns, like flowing water and cloud patterns. The tip of the arrow was also wrapped with a strand of dark blue rhythmic power, the same as his fingertips.

"The trial begins now."

As the words fell, the ink arrow suddenly moved, shooting towards Xiaoqing like a meteor. The wind in the illusion finally began to flow, carrying the breath of ink.

Carrying the will of the first generation sect leader and wrapped in Xiaoqing's figure, he was involved in this trial of inheritance and growth.