DARK BEFORE THE DAWN As Gu Mang’s mind continues to deteriorate, he and Mo Xi set out for the prefecture of Lin’an, hoping to find a legendary sage with the ability to summon Gu Mang’s missing souls. Chances of success are vanishingly small, but Mo Xi is unwilling to give up any hope of restoring his beloved to health. Upon arrival, however, Mo Xi and Gu Mang find no such fabled sage, but a familiar face—Murong Chuyi, who has arrived with the rest of the Yue Clan, including Yue Chenqing and the estranged Jiang Yexue, to complete a perilous blood ritual. What begins as a chance encounter soon turns deadly as Mo Xi stumbles across one of the clan’s darkest and most deeply buried secrets. Series Overview: Noble-born Mo Xi is the foremost general of Chonghua, known for his ruthless temper and ascetic air. Once he was one of two promising young commanders, twin stars of the empire. His comrade, the lowborn Gu Mang, was Mo Xi’s brother-in-arms, best friend, and—secretly—his lover, until the day Gu Mang turned traitor and joined the ranks of their nation’s greatest enemy. Now Gu Mang has been returned to the empire a ruined man, a shadow of the military genius he once was. The public clamors for his death, and no one yearns for vengeance more than Mo Xi. Or so he thought—for faced once more with his bitterest enemy, Mo Xi is left with more questions than answers. Why did the man he loved betray him? And what secrets hide behind Gu Mang’s tortured eyes?