Simultaneous time travel: But our system is out of sync!

The chill of the night crept in quietly through the cracks in the door and the windows.

The air was filled with a desolate atmosphere, much like the old, dilapidated houses.

Just like Lady Rose's state of mind at this moment.

The flickering candlelight cast dancing shadows on Madame Rose's slightly tired yet still exquisite face.

Her words, like fallen leaves drifting outside the window, carried a heavy weight as she slowly unfolded the story of Rose House to Lin Bei.

"So that's how it is!"

Lin Bei's deep voice broke the brief silence. He nodded slowly, a hint of understanding in his eyes.

Madame Rose's narration was like a key, finally unlocking the mystery that had troubled him for so long.

He finally understood clearly the predicament facing Madame Rose and Rose House.

He also finally understood why Rose House, backed by a powerful figure like Urokodaki Sakonji, had fallen to the point where it needed to seek refuge from him—an outsider—whom it had only met twice.

The root of all this lies in Lady Rose's arrogance.

She recounted the Rose House's former glory, its vast intelligence network, and the results of its maneuvering with various forces.

Without exception, they all owed their success to their superb skills and shrewd calculations.

She was immersed in her own fabricated fantasy about power and influence.

And so on until the dream ends.

She didn't understand that in this cruel world, there was only one unchanging rule.

Might and absolute power.

The so-called "giant" meticulously constructed by Lady Rose.

After losing the powerful military deterrent of Urokodaki Sakonji, its fragile nature was exposed.

That was the impregnable fortress in Lady Rose's imagination.

It's just a fancy but impractical toy built with building blocks.

When the four great families from Saitama, the true rulers of this land, touched it with a hint of probing and greed, the seemingly magnificent palace's foundations crumbled, revealing its inner emptiness and chaos.

As for why Urokodaki Sakonji appeared at the Rose House less and less in the later stages, until he almost disappeared.

Lady Rose's explanation was understated: Mr. Urokodaki had other, more important matters to attend to.

But Lin Bei's eyes were incredibly sharp; he had already deduced the real reason from Madam Rose's account.

Firstly, Urokodaki Sakonji is undoubtedly very busy.

Even though he is no longer the Water Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps.

But his hunt for evil spirits never stopped.

Hunting down monsters that lurk in the shadows and feed on humans has always been his goal.

This is no longer just a job and a responsibility.

It has become a way of life and an obsession for him.

Moreover, for an experienced demon hunter, operating in the open for a long time and exposing oneself to the public eye is a huge risk in itself.

Having watched the Demon Slayer series, Lin Bei knew that the battle between demon slayers and demons was a two-way street.

The Demon Slayer Corps is hunting demons, while Muzan's "Twelve Demon Moons" are also hunting down the Demon Slayer Corps.

In particular, the terrifyingly powerful "Upper Six Strings" are constantly hunting down the elite forces of the Demon Slayer Corps.

In particular, those ranked among the "Upper Three Strings" possess power that completely surpasses that of ordinary "Pillar" level swordsmen.

Even if Urokodaki Sakonji is strong, he must always be vigilant and act cautiously. Reducing his appearances in semi-public places like the Rose House is a way to protect himself and the Rose House—at least, it won't attract more terrible enemies because of his whereabouts.

Lin Bei was fully aware of the other reason that Lady Rose had kept secret but never mentioned.

That was Lady Rose's ever-growing arrogance, and the resulting complete deviation of the Rose House's business strategy.

This had already deeply disappointed the former Water Column, who had a cold exterior but a burning passion within.

The time that Hayashi and Urokodaki Sakonji lived together was not long.

But it was enough for Lin Bei to truly understand Urokodaki Sakonji's character.

Like Giyu Tomioka, he is a person who is cold on the outside but warm on the inside.

Lin Bei guessed that the original intention of Urokodaki Sakonji in helping Lady Rose build the Rose House was definitely not to create a tool for seizing wealth and power.

He simply regarded the Rose House as a sanctuary, a haven.

The Rose House provides a platform for those who have lost loved ones in the ravages of demons, but are unable to join the Demon Slayer Corps for systematic training due to their limited abilities, to seek refuge with the Rose House and have the opportunity to hunt down some relatively weak ordinary demons.

In this way, these hearts filled with hatred and sorrow can find a sliver of solace and gain some sense of power for revenge.

Within their capabilities, they can alleviate some of the suffering of those shrouded in the shadow of evil spirits and save more innocent lives.

However, the direction in which Lady Rose took charge of Rose House gradually strayed from this weighty original aspiration.

She became obsessed with expanding her power and cultivating relationships with influential people, turning Rose House into a purely informational and trade center focused on fame and fortune.

Those who should have been protected and given the power of revenge may have become dispensable in Lady Rose's eyes, or even just pawns to be used.

Urokodaki Sakonji saw this and his gentle heart was filled with regret and helplessness.

With his ruthless methods, he could have easily destroyed the derailed Rose House, but he couldn't bear to personally extinguish the seeds of goodwill he had sown, nor could he let down those who might still be seeking a glimmer of hope within it.

So he chose the "gentle" yet "cruel" way—to reduce his public appearances.

He acted like a silent guardian, retreating behind the scenes, hoping that this detachment would allow Madame Rose to see her mistakes clearly amidst the impact of reality, awaken to her errors, and return to the right path.

In retrospect, Urokodaki Sakonji's judgment was absolutely correct.

He merely withdrew that invisible deterrent power slightly and reduced the frequency of its appearance. Without its core support, the Rose House was like a house without its backbone, its operation quickly descended into chaos, internal conflicts intensified, external pressure increased sharply, and it eventually slid to the brink of collapse.

It was only when things reached this point that Lady Rose realized she had been completely sidelined and even her life was under real threat, and only then did she come to terms with this bloody reality.

It was at this very moment that a flash of inspiration, like lightning, cleaved through the fog in Lin Bei's mind! He finally understood everything!

The so-called "reason" that Urokodaki Sakonji initially gave him to come down the mountain to the Rose House for training was that "he didn't have enough money to feed him and Tanjiro, those two big eaters."

It's just a pretext!

Even the seemingly respectable reason of "hunting ghosts" was just a side note.

Its core purpose is very simple.

Let him clean up this mess.

That old fox!