The wind bit at Jian Chen’s face as they crested the final ridge overlooking the Azure Cloud Sect. From this height, the sect looked like a sprawling, white-veined marble parasite clinging to the side of the mountain. It was beautiful, tranquil, and utterly rotting beneath its gilded surface. Jian Chen reigned in his horse, the beast’s breath blooming in the frigid air like white smoke. "You're going back in there? Master, that's not just a gamble. That’s a suicide pact with a smile on its face," Fubune said, her horse pulling up beside his. She adjusted her hood, her eyes fixed on the distant spires. "They have the scent of your 'sins' all over the border. Every sentry from the Outer Gate to the Inner Court has your portrait pinned to their spear-tip." "Reputation is just a story told by people who are too scared to change the ending, Fubune," Jian Chen replied, his voice a low, lethal vibration. He didn't look at her; his eyes were locked on the massive,

The Moonlight Valley didn't deserve its name tonight. Usually, the pale light of the crescent moon would bathe the jade-colored pagodas of the Moonlight Cult in a serene, silver glow. It was a place of meditation, of quiet sages and peaceful scholars. But as Jian Chen watched from the high ridge, the valley was churning with a thick, oily black mist that smelled of wet fur and raw slaughter."He’s ready, Master," Fubune whispered, her hand tightening on a pair of binoculars salvaged from a merchant raid. "Scarclaw is just waiting for the signal. He’s gathered at least three hundred shadow-wolves and four venom-drakes. The perimeter guards won't even have time to scream."Jian Chen leaned back against a pine tree, his violet eyes glowing with a dark, predatory amusement. The [Guardian Rune] on his arm pulsed with a rhythmic, heavy beat, synchronized with the terror he was about to unleash. "How’s the Sect Master doing? Old Chen usually likes to do his evening prayers around now, doesn'