Peking Opera Cat: I Became A Zi's Brother

The moment the ink arrow shot from Mo Yuan's fingertips, Xiao Qing's first reaction was to raise her hand and condense the Ice Dragon Arrow to block it head-on - after all, it was a new move she had just mastered, and she always wanted to use its power to "break the deadlock."

But as soon as the tip of the arrow touched the dark blue interwoven rhythmic power, she suddenly stopped.

It’s not that I’m afraid, it’s just that the rhythm is too familiar.

It was like the feeling when Mo Yun held her hand as a child, teaching her to condense the Ice Rhythm for the first time—gentle, yet with an unmistakable sense of “steadiness”, not at all aggressive, but rather like a gentle reminder to her:

"Don't be anxious, think about the foundation of the body sect."

"Your Ice Dragon Arrow has the 'hardness of a dragon', but lacks the 'softness of ink'."

Mo Yuan's voice came from the other side of the water mirror. The ink arrow stopped in mid-air, and the ink pattern on the arrow flickered gently.

"The techniques of the Shen Sect have never been about 'using strength to defeat weakness', but about 'using softness to overcome hardness, and using compliance to break strength'.

Try it, don't use the sharp edge of the Ice Dragon Arrow, use the entanglement of the Wind-Breaking Sleeves instead."

Wind-Breaking Sleeves? Xiaoqing was stunned. She had practiced the Ice Dragon Arrow all afternoon and had almost forgotten the basic technique.

But remembering what Mo Yuan said, "The Wind-Breaking Sleeves evolved from the Thousand Silks of Ink Net," she immediately retracted the sharpness of the Ice Dragon Arrow, raised her hand and directed the rhythmic power to her sleeves - the light blue sleeves instantly unfolded, like two wisps of light smoke, and wrapped around the ink arrows.

But just when the sleeves were about to touch the ink arrow, the ancient ink arrow suddenly vibrated with a "hum" sound, and the ink patterns on the arrow suddenly lit up!

Then, the entire arrow split apart like a stream of water, turning into dozens of small black arrows as thick as little fingers. Each of them was wrapped in a faint dark blue power, densely woven into a net, covering her from all directions.

The arrow net fell at an extremely fast speed, with a slight sound of breaking wind, and even the reflection on the water mirror was cut into pieces.

Xiaoqing's pupils shrank slightly, and she subconsciously wanted to retreat - this posture was even denser than the black fog of the Chaos Soldiers last time, and there was no way to avoid it!

"Don't hide."

Mo Yuan's voice sounded again, with an unquestionable calmness.

"Look at the patterns on this arrow net. The power of each small arrow corresponds to the 'entanglement' power of your sleeves. This is the basic formation used by the first generation of disciples of the Body Sect when practicing 'Ink Net Thousand Silks'. It is also the most fundamental use of the 'Wind-Breaking Sleeves' - it's not 'blocking', but 'following'."

顺？

Xiaoqing bit her lip and forced herself to calm down. She remembered what Mo Zi had said in the afternoon when he taught her to "bend without bending":

"Rhythm should be like the flow of water. If you encounter obstacles, just follow the flow and don't force it."

She took a deep breath and no longer thought about retreating. Instead, she spread out the rhythmic power of her sleeves a little more, allowing the light blue sleeves to gently stick to her body like real water flow.

Her eyes were fixed on the arrow net - as Mo Yuan said, the trajectory of each small arrow had a pattern: the three arrows at the top were the most powerful, like the "edge of the net"; the arrows on the left and right sides were slightly weaker, like the "net ropes"; and the arrow on the lower left had the weakest power, and the ink pattern on the arrow was the lightest, like a "live hole" deliberately left.

"found it!"

Xiaoqing was delighted and turned her wrist slightly. The left sleeve suddenly sank down, not to block the strong arrow from above, but to follow the trajectory of the virtual arrow on the lower left and gently wrap around it.

She didn't use any strength, but just let the rhythm of her sleeves like vines wrapping around a tree, following the force of the little arrow and climbing up little by little.

"Good, that's it."

There was a hint of laughter in Mo Yuan's voice.

Xiaoqing could clearly feel that when the rhythmic power of the water sleeves touched the virtual arrow, it was like water encountering a gap and instantly flowed in along the arrow body.

She followed the mantra of "going and coming back" and let the rhythmic force rotate slightly in the arrow body - there was no attack, just a slight pull, and she actually led the trajectory of the virtual arrow half an inch to the side.

It is this half-inch deviation that makes the "live opening" in the arrow net instantly larger!

The arrow net, which was originally tightly woven, was disrupted because of the deviation of the arrow on the lower left. The trajectories of the other small arrows were also disrupted - the "net rope" on the right side lost its balance, and a gap appeared on the "net edge" at the top.

Xiaoqing seized the opportunity and suddenly raised her right sleeve, not to attack, but like a comb, gently picking along the gaps in the arrow net.

With a light "crash" sound, those small ink arrows seemed to have lost their backbone and fell apart in an instant. They fell on the water mirror one by one and turned into tiny ink dots, which slowly dispersed along the ripples on the mirror surface.

But before she could breathe a sigh of relief, the ink spots suddenly spun on the water surface and began to gather together again!

This time, what gathered together were not arrows, but wisps of faint black mist—the black mist grew thicker and thicker, gradually condensing into a familiar figure:

Shen Zong's training clothes, the light blue headband, and even the movements when turning were exactly the same as Mo Yun's.

But the figure's eyes were empty and gray, just like... just like being controlled by chaos.

"Xiaoqing..."

The figure spoke, his voice hoarse and filled with the filth that was unique to chaos.

"I'm in so much pain... Why didn't you save me? If you had been stronger the last time the Chaos Soldiers came, I wouldn't have..."

"elder brother!"

Xiaoqing's heart suddenly tightened, and the rhythmic power at her fingertips shook instantly.

Those words pierced her heart like needles - this was the guilt she hid deep in her heart, the reason why she practiced archery until late at night every day, and the "if" she was most afraid to face.

She subconsciously wanted to rush over, wanted to grab the figure, wanted to tell him "I'm strong now, I can save you."

But as soon as she took a step, she was stopped by a gentle force - it was Mo Yuan's rhythmic power, which gently wrapped around her wrist, as if pulling her.

"Don't worry."

Mo Yuan's voice was a little deeper than before.

"Look at his rhythmic power."

Xiao Qing was stunned for a moment, and followed Mo Yuan's gaze - although the "Mo Yun figure" was wrapped in black mist, if you look closely, there is not a trace of Mo Yun's ice-blue power under the black mist, only a turbid aura that does not belong to the body sect.

The true rhythm and power of ink are pure and warm. Even if it is light, it will never be so "cold".

"That's not true."

Mo Yuan's voice fell into her ears, like a basin of warm water, extinguishing her panic.

"This is the 'obsession' in your heart, your fear of not being strong enough, and your guilt over 'loss'. The 'ink' of the Body Sect can blend all things and distinguish true from false. If your mind is disturbed, your rhythmic power will be disturbed as well. If you can't even distinguish true from false, how can you talk about protection?"

Xiaoqing closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

She remembered what Mo Yun said when he helped her to smooth out Bing Yun for the last time before she left:

"Xiaoqing, to cultivate your rhythmic power, you must first cultivate your mind. When your mind is steady, your rhythm will be steady; when your mind is clear, your rhythm will be strong."

She raised her hand and pressed the Shuixin acupoint on her chest, feeling the icy rhythm within her pulse—the icy rhythm that belonged to her. It contained the "smoothness" that Mo Zi had helped her unleash during archery practice that afternoon, the "ink rhythm" inherited from the Shen Sect, and her own determination to become stronger. These were the real things.

When she opened her eyes again, her vision was clear. She didn't rush forward again, but simply stood still, raising her hand to condense a faint wisp of icy aura—this time she didn't rush to condense the Ice Dragon Arrow, but simply let the icy aura drift gently towards the "Mo Yun figure" like a stream of water.

"Brother, I know you're not real."

Her voice was soft but firm.

"You won't blame me, nor will you let me live in guilt. You told me to become stronger, to protect the sect, and wait for your return. I have done it, and I am getting stronger, so I will not be fooled by this false illusion."

When the wisp of icy rhythm floated in front of the "Mo Yun figure", it suddenly dispersed, like a thin layer of ice, gently wrapping the figure.

There was no attack, no dispelling, just quietly sticking to the black fog.

Then, a magical scene happened - when the black fog encountered Bingyun, it did not resist as before, but began to dissipate little by little.

The originally empty "Mo Yun figure" gradually became transparent, and finally turned into a wisp of pure white rhyme power, gently falling on the water mirror, like a star, twinkling, and then drilling into Xiaoqing's pulse.

"very good."

There was obvious approval in Mo Yuan's voice. He took two steps forward, and the ripples on the water mirror spread with his footsteps.

"You passed the first level—not because you broke the ink net, nor because you distinguished true from false, but because you 'steadied your mind.'"

He raised his hand, and a strand of dark blue rhythmic energy gathered at his fingertips, and gently tapped it on the water mirror.

Dense patterns instantly appeared on the water mirror. They were the ancient seal characters of the Shen Sect, and each character was glowing with a faint light.

"This is the complete mental method of 'Ink Net Thousand Threads', and also the origin formula of 'Wind-Breaking Sleeves'."

Mo Yuan looked at the seal characters with a hint of nostalgia in his eyes.

"When I created this move, it was to let the disciples of the Shen Sect understand that 'softness' is not weakness, and 'compliance' is not retreat. True strength lies in having a firm mind and being able to protect one's 'roots' no matter what happens."

Xiaoqing looked at the seal characters and felt as if her mind had opened up - when she practiced the Broken Wind Sleeves before, she always thought about "wrapping tightly and swinging hard", but she never thought that the essence of this move was "following the force and identifying the momentum".

Now thinking back, the way Mo Zi demonstrated "curved but not broken" with rhythmic power in the afternoon perfectly matched the seal characters in front of me.

"I will write down these mental methods."

She said seriously, her fingertips unconsciously following the trajectory of the seal characters, lightly drawing in the air.

Mo Yuan smiled and waved his hand. The seal characters suddenly turned into strands of ink-colored rhythmic energy and penetrated into Xiaoqing's pulse.

In an instant, she felt as if the meridians in her arms had been soaked in warm water. The places that had occasionally gotten stuck when practicing the Wind-Breaking Sleeves suddenly became extremely smooth - like a stream that had been blocked for a long time finally found an outlet.

"The first level of the trial is not only to test you, but also to help you complete the foundation of the 'Wind-Breaking Sleeves'."

Mo Yuan's tone became gentler.

"The next second level will be the true test—a test of your understanding of 'Cheng'. But before that, you must first digest these mental methods, steady your 'heart', and stabilize your rhythmic power."

When he finished speaking, the seal characters on the water mirror had disappeared, leaving only a calm ink color.

Xiaoqing stood where she was, feeling the rhythmic force flowing in her pulse - steadier and smoother than before, even the icy rhythm on her fingertips had a touch of "ink" softness.

She knew that in this first level, she not only broke through, but also found the "roots" of the body sect's techniques.

And this is just the beginning of the trial.