A day later, at the summit of Mount Qi in the Eastern Court Profound Residence.
Zhang Yu stood before the viewing platform with his hands behind his back. Xiang Chun stood behind him and reported, "Profound Chief, all the great craftsmen and master craftsmen, including Great Craftsman Guo, have just been rescued. Not one is missing. However, more than fifty of the guards at their side were lost. The casualties were severe."
Xiang Chun's tone was heavy. Although the great craftsmen and master craftsmen had suffered no losses, the armored guards were people too, and they had come from the Celestial Military Department. More than fifty dead and wounded in a single ambush was by no means a minor matter.
Chen Song said, "Profound Chief, I have already investigated it clearly. In this attack, the two True Cultivators originally assigned to protect the great craftsmen were the first to act. They suddenly killed the boatmen steering the main vessel, causing chaos and forcing the entire flying-vessel fleet to stop. Not long afterward, the men in black launched their assault. This must have been carefully planned."
Zhang Yu nodded as well. It was very difficult to attack flying vessels racing at high speed. To lie in wait for them beforehand upon the vast sea was almost impossible. How immense were the sea and sky? A slight deviation would mean an enormous distance.
Moreover, the Heavenly Works Bureau's flying vessels possessed formidable defensive strength themselves. With a large number of guards ready at any moment to go out and shield them, they ordinarily would never be so easily intercepted.
But if there had been cooperation from within, then it all made sense.
Chen Song continued, "The first to act was a True Cultivator named Mi Hai. He had originally intended to knock