Backlash Part 1

Chapter 156: Coordinated Conversation

Lan Xichen was clutching his most recent correspondence from Meng Yao. He had only received it yesterday. Nie Mingjue had been gone for five days by then. It wasn't really a surprise it took Meng Yao time to get the letter to him. Meng Yao did not have as convenient a method to send information as Wen Qing did. Wen Qing was able to convey information much more quickly, even if it was less detailed.

Lan Xichen found himself reading through the correspondence again. The letter from Meng Yao. The messages from Wen Qing. Wen Qing had been very direct. She'd been the first to tell him where Nie Mingjue was. She did not share much about the condition he was in, and Lan Xichen did not ask. He was afraid to hear the answer. Meng Yao's message had taken much longer to receive.

Meng Yao reported that Wen Rouhan had wanted to execute Nie Mingjue immediately. Meng Yao was only able to save him by convincing Wen Rouhan to imprison Nie Mingjue in the Flame Palace. Meng Yao wasn't certain how long he'd be able to protect Nie Mingjue. Lan Xichen wished they could push the confrontation to Nightless City now. Meng Yao was risking discovery by shielding Nie Mingjue. There was only so much he could do to keep Nie Mingjue alive.

Lan Xichen might have been more frantic if it weren't for Wen Qing's messages. Her messages were brief and direct. Still, it was enough to keep Lan Xichen calm. Wen Qing was adamant that she would be able to free Nie Mingjue. Lan Xichen was worried about Wen Qing. He did not want her to endanger herself any more than necessary. The only thing that kept Lan Xichen from anxiously cautioning her was the knowledge that she had been the one to tell him to set limits. He trusted her to know her own limitations.

It was more uncomfortable than Lan Xichen wanted to admit. He was always trying to caution the people he cared about. Nie Mingjue and his didi were both subject to his worried gazes and his every effort to try and ensure they were taking care of themselves. He did the same to Wei Wuxian, or tried to. Lan Xichen's concerned questions and cautioning gazes did not seem to be very helpful.

Lan Xichen flipped through the few messages he had received from Wen Qing since Nie Mingjue's capture. He glanced at the next blank page. He wouldn't waste time asking her the many questions he wanted to ask. He was staring at the empty space hoping for a new message to appear. Maybe something to confirm Meng Yao's words. That Nie Mingjue was mostly well.

Lan Xichen's breath hitched when he saw characters begin to appear on blank paper. It took him a few seconds before he allowed himself to believe that this was not just a wishful imagining. Wen Qing was sending him a message and maybe it would give him some sort of update. Then Lan Xichen's breath stopped all together when the words formed a complete sentence.

'Today?' Lan Xichen was floored. Apparently Wen Qing was going to break Nie Mingjue out today and smuggle him to Dafan. The allied sect would have to take Dafan. Suddenly words were materializing faster than Lan Xichen could process them. Descriptions of the civilians that would be willing to help them. A map of the layout. Numbers of soldiers guarding the area and typical patrol routes. There was the note that more cultivators may arrive if they realized where Nie Mingjue was going. Wen Qing hoped to avoid this, but suddenly Lan Xichen felt a new urgency.

Lan Xichen read through the information Wen Qing provided twice. Then checked again to make sure no new pages had filled with information. She had never filled so many pages in a single day. Lan Xichen set about gathering the sect leaders. They had been hit hard by Nie Mingjue's capture. He had been the strongest voice in every war council and the deciding vote in every strategy meeting. Without him the allied sects were floundering.

Lan Xichen was in the strongest position among the sects present, but he had never had the experience with battle or the force to to overcome arguments the way Nie Mingjue had. Jiang Wanyin might have been able to grow into a sect leader with a similar kind of force, but he was young and new to the responsibilities of leadership. The smaller sects did not trust his opinion or respect his authority the way they did of the other major sect leaders. It meant Jiang Wanyin's temper was taken more like a disrespectful teenager than the wrath of a sect leader.