The lanterns of the Azure Cloud Sect’s middle peak flickered with a dying amber glow as the midnight wind whistled through the jagged limestone arches. Ren didn’t need his eyes to see the path back to his shack; he could feel the cold dampness of the stones through the soles of his thin, worn sandals. More importantly, he could feel the gaze.It was sharp, predatory, and smelled faintly of burned oil. Someone had been trailing him since he left the infirmary.The "Core-Damper" ring on Ren's finger was practically screaming. Its steady hum had turned into a high-pitched whine as it struggled to stabilize the chaotic collision of the Earth-Crush resonance he’d just stolen from Sun Tao and the Inferno Burst that still sought to cook his liver. He was a walking ecological disaster, his meridians feeling less like pathways and more like high-pressure steam pipes nearing their breaking point."Come on out," Ren murmured, stopping in the center of the shadows cast by the Pavilion of Silent O