Aw. This continues to be unnecessary but appreciated.

Time to meet with Nie Mingjue. He doesn't have any updates from her sect or her brother, of course. Lan Zhan doesn't respond to this at all, her face calm and blank; they can move on to strategy.

Today's strategy discussion: more guerrilla tactics, methods of communicating with the surviving Lans, the best route that she and Wei Ying should use to reenter the Cloud Recesses...

This time, Nie Mingjue produced two chairs. 

He is also frustrated with the lack of updates and he channels this into martial creativity. 

Meng Yao doesn't happen to be there this time. 

No, he doesn't.

"You may volunteer any strategic information you'd like, to begin. I would recommend doing that; you will spare yourself pain. Furthermore, you may appease me with details you consider less harmful to disclose. This is a generous opportunity."

Wen Chao, who never in his life experienced a consequence before this whole debacle started, scowls at him. 

"Is the Nie sect really so perverse, that even the son of a prostitute would speak to me like this?" 

Wen Chao's hands are shackled to the wooden table between them. In a few seconds, Wen Chao's right hand becomes additionally attached to the table by Meng Yao's dagger driven straight through it into the wood. 

Wen Chao screams. 

"I have never met a 'prostitute' so stupid or blind to their circumstance as you, Wen-er gongzi. Would you like to repeat yourself?"

He sobs and clutches at his injured hand with the other. 

He taps the hilt of his dagger. "You have one more chance to volunteer information before I begin."

He starts babbling strategically relevant information. 

How disappointingly easy.

Meng Yao thanks him. He has questions, now. He asks for elaboration on many strategic points. He asks what Wen Chao thinks Wen Ruohan will do about his abduction, specifically with regards to management in Nightless City.

Unfortunately for Wen Chao, he is a moron. Elaboration on strategic points he can mostly do, where they're a matter of factual information, but what he thinks Wen Ruohan will do about his abduction is raze the Unclean Realm more thoroughly than Cloud Recesses and put every man, woman and child to the sword. 

Meng Yao takes his dagger and twists it. He has other knives; he rests one blade against the joint of Wen Chao's thumb and smiles at him. Would he like to rephrase that?

He'd like to scream, does that count?

Well, it's an improvement.

It's interesting that he should bring up the Cloud Recesses, though. What's the situation there? Have they killed more survivors? What's the Wen presence like in Gusu, how many soldiers are in the Cloud Recesses?

The survivors have scattered and they haven't bothered hunting them down, they've been trying to find Lan Xichen but no luck, trying to find the Yin Iron but no luck, here have some troop and deployment information and stuff. 

Where have they looked for Lan Xichen?

Pla...ces? He doesn't super know, that's Wen Xu's lookout. 

Is he sure he hasn't heard anything about Lan Xichen. Maybe this knife carving into his thumb will help. 

OW OW OW FUCK Uhhhhh he managed to make off with most of the library???

How do they know this. Did anyone see him?

Well someone did!!! And they found out it was missing before the Lan bitch turned herself in and the rest of the disciples were left to run off. 

Being disrespectful to Zewu Jun's younger sister is not allowed, actually. Meng Yao very calmly puts down his knife, smiles, and then breaks Wen Chao's finger with his bare hands.

On the topic of Lan-guniang, though. Now that she has publicly abducted him, does he expect retaliations against the surviving Lans?

Ow, yes, definitely, his father will hunt them down and destroy them all. 

Even with his son held hostage?