Peking Opera Cat: I Became A Zi's Brother

Just as the cats entered the spherical stone door, the "entrance" behind them closed with a "click". The originally dark passage was instantly lit up with a light green rune light - not a warm light to guide the direction, but a cold and dim light that stuck to the stone wall like moss, making every cat's face turn green.

"Something's wrong!"

Bai Tang was the first to stop, and his hand holding the weapon instantly tensed.

"The stone walls of this passage are cold, and... there is no wind."

He reached out and touched the stone wall, feeling a bit of a chill at his fingertips, and a sticky touch, like touching damp moss.

Wu Song also frowned, and the fiery red rhythmic energy quietly circled around the whistle stick, trying to dispel the cold with warmth. However, as soon as the rhythmic energy touched the stone wall, it was bounced back by an invisible force:

"There's something wrong with this broken stone! My rhythmic energy can't penetrate it!"

Mo Yun quickly walked to the stone wall, and gently covered it with the light blue power of his fingertips. After a moment, his face darkened:

"It's the 'Spirit Locking Stone', which is specifically designed to absorb external rhythmic energy and can also block out auras. What we just activated wasn't a secret passage, but the 'Prison Cage Formation' that the Panzong had set up long ago."

"Prison Cage Formation?"

Da Fei subconsciously pressed the Song Zong Gu Pu closer to his chest, and his voice became a little tight.

"Didn't the man in black robes say that the secret passage leads to the interrogation platform? Did he lie to us?"

“It may not be a lie.”

Mo Zi suddenly spoke, she walked to the side of the passage, and ran her fingertips across an inconspicuous crack in the stone.

"Look, there's dried black mud in this crevice, the same composition as the black mist controlled by the black-robed man. Perhaps he did know about this 'secret passage' back then, but Pan Zong later discovered it, sealed the true secret passage, and turned it into a prison. After all, if we can think of using the Five Elements' rhythmic energy to break the formation, there's no way Pan Zong wouldn't have thought of it."

Just as he finished speaking, a rustling sound suddenly came from the top of the passage, and countless tiny black vines emerged from the cracks in the rocks. The barbs on the vines glowed green and were dripping with transparent mucus.

"Be careful! This vine is poisonous!"

Xiaoqing immediately took out the jade flute, and the green rhythmic energy gathered along the flute holes. Just as she was about to blow out the arrow light, she found that the rhythmic energy had made a circle in the flute holes and was actually half weakened - the effect of the Soul Locking Stone absorbing the rhythmic energy had begun to affect them.

Seeing this, Wu Song rushed forward with his whistle stick, wrapped the stick with fiery red rhythmic energy, and smashed it hard into the vines:

"I wonder if you idiot vines dare to come!"

With a "bang", several vines were broken, but black mist immediately emerged from the broken ends, and new vines grew out in the blink of an eye, thicker and denser than before.

"That won't work! The more you hit the vines, the more they grow!"

Bai Tang leaped up, and the golden blade light cut off the vines that were wrapped around Da Fei, but he found that his arm began to go numb - he had accidentally touched the mucus of the vines just now, and his skin had turned a faint bluish-purple.

Mo Yun immediately stepped forward and brushed Bai Tang's arm with light blue rhyme power, and the purple color slowly faded away:

"The mucus has a paralyzing effect, don't touch it! The influence of the Soul Locking Stone will become stronger and stronger. We must find an exit as soon as possible. If we delay any longer, our rhyme power will be drained away!"

The cats were forced to retreat to the center of the passage, forming a circle with their backs against each other.

Wu Song's fiery red rhythmic power was noticeably weaker, the flame on the whistle stick only flickered faintly;

Xiaoqing's jade flute hung at her side, its emerald green melody as if covered by a layer of mist, no longer transparent;

Da Fei protected the ancient book, the green shield was so thin that it was almost invisible;

The golden blade light of Baitang also dimmed a lot, only Mo Zi's blue rhythm power was still relatively stable, but it also showed signs of effort.

"The passage is only this long. Either the entrance is fake, or the exit is somewhere else."

Mo Zi stared at the stone wall and suddenly remembered something.

"Brother, you said before that the Soul Locking Stone can block out auras. Is it possible... that there's a space behind this stone wall? For example, a door hidden by a 'blind spell'?"

Mo Yun's eyes lit up, and he immediately took out a blue rune, crushed it and scattered it on the stone wall.

The rune powder fell on the stone wall, and the originally smooth stone surface suddenly appeared with fine lines, which intertwined into a square outline - there was indeed a door!

But the edge of the outline was engraved with densely packed silver runes, which were more complicated than the previous lock array. There was also a sunken groove in the center of the runes, as if something was to be embedded.

"This rune is a 'key lock'. It requires a corresponding token to open it."

Mo Yun frowned.

"We only have the jade pendant given by the Sect Master. I don't know if it can be used."

He took out the jade pendant and tried to put it into the groove. As soon as the jade pendant touched the groove, the silver runes around it lit up, but it only lasted for a moment before dimming down again. A repulsive force came from the groove, pushing the jade pendant out.

"No, not this token."

Wu Song stamped his feet anxiously. The vines behind him had already wrapped around his whistle stick. If he hadn't used his rhythmic power to resist, he would have been entangled.

"This judge is too cruel, setting so many traps!"

Bai Tang stared at the groove and suddenly noticed a small word "pu" engraved on the edge of the groove. He had an idea:

"Da Fei, take out the ancient score of the Chang Sect and try it out! Just now in the town, the patrol disciples were staring at the ancient score. Maybe the ancient score is related to the Pan Sect!"

Dafei was stunned for a moment, then quickly took out the ancient music score.

The cover of the ancient score is dark brown leather, embroidered with golden musical notes, and the edges are a little worn.

He tried to move the ancient score into the groove - as soon as it touched the groove, the surrounding silver runes instantly burst into dazzling light, and the groove opened with a "click", just enough to fit the ancient score in!

"Really!"

Xiaoqing exclaimed in surprise. As the ancient manual was embedded, silver runes began to circulate rapidly, flowing along the lines like water. The square outline on the stone wall slowly sank inward, revealing a stone door. Behind the door was no longer a pitch-black passage, but a path paved with bluestone slabs. Pale yellow oil lamps lit on both sides, exuding a warm atmosphere.

"Get in quickly!"

Mo Yun took the ancient score out of the groove (after the score was taken out, the stone door did not close, obviously it was temporarily unlocked), and pushed a few people to walk behind the door.

Wu Song was the last one to go in. Before leaving, he swung his whistle stick to break the vines that were chasing him, and even kicked the stone wall:

"Humph, we finally found the way!"

The stone door slowly closed behind them, isolating them from the coldness of the vines and the Soul-Locking Stone outside.

A few cats stood on the path, finally breathing a sigh of relief, and couldn't help but lean against the stone wall on the side of the road to catch their breath.

"This Panhei Town is too dangerous. I almost became a snack for the vines the moment I entered."

Wu Song wiped the sweat from his forehead, and his fiery red rhythmic energy slowly recovered.

"But it's a good thing we have the Zong Gu Pu, otherwise we would really be trapped in there."

Da Fei held the ancient score in his arms and carefully wiped the cover:

"I didn't expect the ancient score to be useful in this way. It seems the relationship between the Chang Sect and the Pan Sect wasn't as simple as we thought."

Xiaoqing also nodded:

"The path behind the stone gate just now doesn't look like a cage, but more like a passage inside the Judgment Sect. Maybe... this is the real secret passage? It just requires an ancient manual to open it."

Mo Yun looked into the distance of the path, lost in thought:

"The black-robed man might not have lied about the secret passage, but he didn't know it was doubly insured—it required both the Five Elements Rhythm to break the formation and the recitation of the sect's ancient music to open the door. It seems the sect leader had anticipated that someone would come looking for him with the music. These traps are more like a way to 'screen' those who can find this place."

"filter?"

White Sugar frowned.

"Why is the Sect Master selecting us? Isn't he afraid of us?"

"Maybe it's not fear, it's waiting."

Mo Zi gently fanned the folding fan,

"Just now in the stone chamber, the disciple on guard said that the sect leader stays in the main hall every day and has increased the guards. Maybe he is waiting for someone who can break through these traps and help him do something."

The cats stopped guessing and continued along the path. The path was quiet, with only the crackling of the burning oil lamp and the sound of their footsteps.

After walking for about half an hour, a fork in the road appeared in front of them - the road on the left led to a dark forest, and the road on the right led to a small courtyard. There was a wooden sign hanging at the entrance of the courtyard with the words "Shoupuyuan" written on it.

"Shoupuyuan?"

Da Fei stared at the wooden sign, feeling an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

"I seem to have heard this name somewhere."

Mo Yun walked over to the wooden sign and touched the writing on it. She found that the writing was still very new, and it was obviously hung up recently:

"The road on the left looks dangerous, but the courtyard on the right might hold clues. Let's go to the Shoupu Courtyard first. We might be able to find out the secrets of the ancient genealogy and what the sect leader is waiting for."

The cats nodded and walked towards Shoupu Courtyard. The door of the courtyard was ajar and opened with a gentle push.

There are several osmanthus trees planted in the yard. Now is the flowering season. The air is filled with a faint fragrance of osmanthus, which is completely different from the depression of Panhei Town.

There is a main room in the middle of the yard. The light is on in the room and the sound of turning pages can be heard.

"Is there a cat in there?"

Wu Song subconsciously gripped his whistle tightly and walked very lightly.

Mo Yun signaled the cats not to move, and quietly walked to the window and looked inside through the crack - an old man in a gray-black robe was sitting in the room, with gray hair and a face full of wrinkles. He was holding a thick booklet in his hand and reading it. The cover of the booklet was very similar to the Chang Zong Gupu.

There was also a small incense burner next to the old man, and the incense burning in it was the same as the one he smelled in Panzong that year.

"It's the elder of the Panzong!"

Mo Yun was shocked, but didn't dare to say anything - the old man's aura was very steady, much stronger than the man in black robe. If he was alarmed, Bai Tang and the other four might not be able to cope with it in their current state.

But at this moment, the old man in the room suddenly raised his head and looked towards the window, his voice calm but majestic:

"Guests outside, since you are here, please come in and stop hiding."