The Snow Lantern Pavilion was an anomaly within the cold splendor of the Obsidian Palace. While other pavilions were filled with sharp golden ornaments and the suffocating scent of incense, Lady Baek's abode was filled with the soft scent of winter-blooming bue luh flowers and the fragrance of brewing jasmine tea. The atmosphere was so quiet, it seemed as if even time itself refused to pass quickly here.
Lady Baek, the third wife of the Grand Master of the Demon Faction, sat gracefully by the slightly open wooden window. Her slender fingers were embroidering a white silk handkerchief. Her face remained calm, though faint traces of worry flickered in the corners of her gentle eyes.
"Madam..."
A young maid named Mei, who had long been Lady Baek's secret ears and eyes, entered with hurried but polite steps. Her face was slightly pale, mixed with a twinkle of excitement that was hard to conceal.
Lady Baek put down her embroidery needle.
"What's wrong, Mei? You look as if you've just seen the first snowfall of midsummer."
"News from the south, Madam,"
Mei knelt beside the tea table, her voice barely a whisper.
"Young Master Moen Kang Yo... he's not just safe. He's completely taken over Evernight Gate. And the latest news is that he's just wiped out the Ironfang Tiger Guild's resistance on the Eastern Pass in just one day."
Lady Baek's hand trembled slightly as she reached for her teacup.
"He... survived? And he's fighting again?"
"Not just fighting, Madam,"
Mei continued in a low voice.
"People say he's changed. He no longer slaughters without reason. He talks about 'management' and 'infrastructure.' He's holding the Mount Hua Elder as collateral, and now... he's forcing the Tiger Guild to build a road."
Lady Baek was stunned. She stared at the small paper lantern hanging in the corner of the room—the same one she had brought to Kang Yo's cell all those years ago. A faint smile, the most sincere in years, appeared on her lips.
"An honest pillar..."
Lady Baek whispered softly.
"He truly listens to me. He's not destroying the world, he's trying to repair it."
However, the smile quickly faded as she remembered Empress Wei.
"Mei, be careful. If word of this has reached me, then Empress Wei must have prepared a poison more deadly than just the Nine Regrets. We must find a way to send her a backup 'supply,' not a cure, but information about the movements of the central palace."
The air in the valley of the Eastern Pass was damp and stuffy, but the sound of sledgehammers and shouts of work orders made it feel very lively. On the muddy riverbank, a massive project was underway: the complete reconstruction of Iron Fang Bridge.
Yoe Choin, in the body of Moen Kang Yo, stood atop a tall bamboo scaffolding, holding a scroll of blueprints made of animal hide. His glowing blue eyes scanned the massive teak structure being erected as the main pillar.
"Jin-Pyo! Reduce the load on the lateral side! Use a metal lever to lock the bolt!"
Choin shouted, his voice breaking through the noise of construction.
Below, Jin-Pyo and the Demolition Unit were working side by side with members of the Iron Fang Tiger Guild. The scene was quite unique. Former bandits who usually wielded machetes were now forced to wield saws and stone chisels. Guroh, the former guild leader, was sweating profusely as he carried a wooden beam weighing hundreds of kilograms with two Evernight apprentices.
"Heh, Tiger!"
Jin-Pyo grinned as he helped Guroh position the beam.
"Don't tilt! If this pillar is off by an inch, the Foreman will have you carry it back up the mountain!"
Guroh snorted, wiping the sweat from his grimy face.
"You Evernight people are truly insane. I'd rather fight to the death than have to calculate the angle of this log every five minutes."
"That's because you only know how to destroy, Guroh."
Choin replied, jumping down from the scaffolding with efficient movements. He landed right in front of Guroh.
"Building this bridge requires precision. If the structure is strong, you won't have to extort merchants just for food. This path will become a legitimate source of gold through maintenance taxes."
Choin took a chisel and demonstrated how to make perfect mortise and tenon joints in the wood.
"Look at this. If the joints are precise, the load will be distributed evenly throughout the structure. This is called system integrity. The same goes for your guild. If you have clear rules, you won't be easily toppled by outside intrigue."
Guroh stared at the joints, then at Choin's hands, covered in wood dust but still steady. A sense of respect grew behind his rough face.
"Foreman... you speak as if the world is one large building under renovation."
"Because it is, Guroh,"
Choin replied calmly.
"And you've just become the supporting pillars of the Eastern Front."
"Hahaha! Look at them, Foreman!"
The real Moen Kang Yo laughed internally.
"These thugs are now more afraid of a miscalculation of angles than of our swords. You've truly 'brainwashed' them with wood shavings."
In Red Cloud City, inside the elegant office of the Blue Sky Trade Alliance, Namgung Shiri sat at his desk covered in trade intelligence reports. A steaming porcelain teacup sat beside him, but his attention was completely focused on the message Jo-Sun had just brought.
"The news has spread throughout the market, Miss,"
Jo-Sun said excitedly.
"Young Master Moen Kang Yo has taken control of the Eastern Passage. But what has all the trade guilds in an uproar is how he did it. He didn't slaughter the Tiger Guild. He hired them to repair the bridges and roads they had damaged."
Shiri put down the report, her eyes gleaming with sharp intelligence.
"Incredible... he's not just eliminating pests, he's turning them into a productive workforce. It's the most brilliant asset acquisition move I've ever heard of in Jianghu."
Shiri stood up and walked to the window, gazing out at the mountains where Evernight Gate was located.
"My father considered him a powerful security ally, but I see something more. He's building an 'Ecosystem.' With the East Passage repaired, the flow of goods from our territory will be twice as fast. The resulting profits will bolster Evernight's coffers, which he will then use to strengthen his military."
She held her chest, remembering the moment Choin had stared blankly at her face the other day.
"He has a truly expansive vision... he views the territory as if it were a giant machine that must be fine-tuned. Moen Kang Yo... you're not just a foreman. You're a future architect redrawing the map of this world."
Shiri turned and looked at Jo-Sun.
"Jo-Sun, prepare additional supplies to the East. Not gold, but first-rate building materials cast iron, asphalt, and wood preservative. Tell him this is the 'structural investment' of the Namgung clan. And convey my message to him..."
Shiri smiled a little, a smile that held both challenge and hope.
"Tell him I want to see the bridge when it's finished. I want to confirm whether the 'symmetry' of the structure is as accurate as his assessment of my face."
Night fell on the Eastern Passage, shrouding the emerging bridge in darkness. However, under the light of the construction torches, a new spirit was beginning to ignite. The Demon Overseer had just completed his first audit in the East, and the reverberations of his construction were now beginning to shake the hearts of friend and foe alike.