Chapter 19 — Sword God Appears

Bach Trinh stood still for a long time, the sword tip was still pointed at Thien Ba's neck, but his hands did not tremble with anger like he had imagined for many years. Instead, a strange calm gradually spread in his heart, as if the entire burden of eighteen years was now slowly being laid down, not by taking the lives of his enemies, but by the very moment he realized he had the right to choose the path forward for himself.

He suddenly realized a strange paradox in this foggy night: eighteen years ago, because of a moment of delay, an irreversible tragedy occurred; Tonight, it was precisely because he did not allow himself to delay another moment that he won the decisive sword strike against Thien Ba. But that decisive sword strike, he understood, was only half the answer to eighteen years of torment. The other half lies not in the speed of a sword strike, but in what he chooses to do with that victory after the tip of the sword has hit the target. If tonight he had learned how to act decisively, without the half-moment of hesitation that had cost Thanh Phong, then this same night, he needed to learn one more thing: equally decisive restraint, so as not to turn this righteous victory into a blind sword of revenge, no different from the jealousy that had silently gnawed away and turned his former disciple into a stranger kneeling in front of him right now.

In his mind, the image of Thanh Phong appeared clearly, not the image of his friend lying dead in a pool of blood, but the image of better days, when he was still sitting by the fire telling stories, when he was still extending his arms to protect his two disciples with infinite tolerance. He thought of the words Dieu Vy had said on the way, about how her father certainly did not want to see the torment continue forever, and he suddenly understood that the best way to honor Thanh Phong's noble sacrifice was not to return blood for blood in the darkness, but to bring the light of justice, revealing the whole truth in a dignified and just manner.

"You think I'm going to kill you right now?" Bach Trinh said, his voice softened somewhat compared to the initial coldness. "No, Thien Ba. Killing you here, in the dark, without anyone witnessing, will not be able to wash away Thanh Phong's injustice, nor will it be possible to expose your crimes in front of the entire gang. I will take you back to Tang Phong Mon, so that you can face justice in a dignified manner, so that everything you have done can be judged publicly, for Thanh Phong, for all the victims of the Ghost Police Department."

Thien Ba looked at him, a real surprise flashed through his eyes, it seemed like he didn't expect that the opponent he thought would be as cruel as him would choose such a lenient path. "You... are you going to let me live?" he asked, his voice somewhat broken. "After all I've done?" Bach Trinh lowered his sword, but still kept a wary distance: "I do not forgive you, and I believe that justice will not tolerate the crimes you have committed. But I will not let myself become a murderer in the dark, nor let hatred turn me into another version of yourself."

Those words seemed to touch something deep in Thien Ba's heart, making his face flash with an indescribably complex expression, half gratitude, half extreme despair. Because for someone who had been accustomed to living in a world of power and cruelty for eighteen years, the prospect of facing public judgment, having to endure the scorn of the entire gang, having to see everything he had worked so hard to build completely collapse in humiliation, was perhaps even scarier than death.

Thien Ba sat silently under the moonlight, his hand still clutching the wound on his shoulder, his mind reeling with countless chaotic thoughts. He thought of the years that had passed, of the power he had worked so hard to build, of the countless lives that had fallen at the hands of his organization, and now, it was all about to be exposed to the light, to the judgmental eyes of all the martial world he once despised. Perhaps, in the depths of his soul that has been calloused by hatred and ambition, there is still a little bit of the young man from the past, who once longed to be recognized, to be loved, not just to be feared.

In an unexpected moment, when Bach Trinh turned his back to try to bandage his wound before considering escorting Thien Ba, he suddenly pulled out a dagger hidden in his sleeve, rushed forward with the intention of secretly stabbing the opponent in the back, the last treacherous act of a man who was used to living by deceit and calculation. But the instinct of a swordsman who had experienced hundreds of life and death battles saved Bach Trinh from that fatal attack. He turned around to dodge in a split second, and at the same time, the sword in his hand reflexively swung up just as Thien Ba rushed forward.

The tip of the sword pierced straight into Thien Ba's chest, right at the heart. He stopped mid-step, the dagger fell from his hand, his eyes looked down at the fatal wound with an expression of extreme surprise, as if he himself did not expect that fate would eventually bring him to this end, even though Bach Trinh had given him another chance. "You... gave me a chance... and yet I..." he said, his voice broken, blood pouring out of the corner of his mouth.

Bach Trinh supported Thien Ba's falling body and laid him down on the stone floor. His eyes looked at his one-time enemy with an indescribable complexity, no longer pure hatred, but mixed with regret for a life that had strayed too far from the right path just because of jealousy and initial cowardice. "You had the chance to correct your mistakes, twice in your life, and both times you chose the wrong path," he said, his voice more sad than angry.

Thien Ba looked up at the night sky through the thin mist, his breathing becoming weaker and weaker. "Tell Thanh Phong... if I can see him again... that I'm sorry..." he whispered the last words, then closed his eyes, breathing his last breath right at the very place eighteen years ago he took the life of the senior brother who had treated him well. Vong Soul Alley, once again, witnessed a life pass away, closing a tragic cycle that had lasted for nearly two decades.

Bach Trinh stood frozen in the thin mist, the sword in his hand still trembling slightly, not because of fear, but because that final betrayal confirmed something more bitter than death: even though given another chance to live, Thien Ba still did not have the courage to step out of the dark path he chose eighteen years ago, until his last breath he still only knew how to choose the dagger instead of the truth. He looked down at his hand, wondering if this was what Thanh Phong had wanted, not a public verdict in front of the entire gang like he had planned, but a reflexive sword strike in the cold foggy night, ending everything in a way that neither of them had ever really chosen.

Bach Trinh knelt next to Thien Ba's body for a long time, not to pity, but to allow himself to fully feel the complex emotions that were welling up: relief when the feud was finally resolved, sadness for a life that had been completely lost, and above all, a feeling of liberation that he had never dared to dream of during eighteen years of living in torment. He raised his head and looked up at the starry sky, whispering softly: "Thanh Phong, did you hear? I did it. That debt has finally been paid."

The night wind blew through the canyon, carrying a thin mist that gradually disappeared, revealing the bright moonlight shining down more clearly, as if heaven and earth themselves were witnessing the end of a tragic chapter that had lasted for so long. Bach Trinh stood up, temporarily bandaged the wound on his arm, then began to clean up the scene, preparing to bring Thien Ba's body back to report the truth to Tang Phong Mon and the entire gang, closing as completely and transparently as possible the story that had been buried in the dark for too long.

He looked around Soul Alley one last time, memorizing every contour of the cliff, every turn that for the past eighteen years had only existed in his painful dreams. Now, this place will no longer be a symbol of obsession and guilt, but will become a place that marks the end of a cycle of hatred, where justice was finally served, albeit late but not in vain. He thought to himself, perhaps later, when everything had calmed down, he will return here again, not in suffering, but in true peace.

On the way back, the dawn gradually appeared on the horizon, dyeing the vast mountain area pink. Bach Trinh walked slowly, feeling that each step was much lighter than the heavy years that had passed, as if a giant rock that had been weighing him down for eighteen years had just been lifted from his shoulders. For the first time in many years, he felt like he could hold his head high to the sunlight without having to hide in the darkness of his past and his own imagined sins.

Far away, at the foot of the hill leading to Thanh Van Phai, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure waiting, his shirt fluttering in the morning breeze. Dieu Vy did not listen to the instructions to stay and wait for news, but at midnight quietly left the sect, looking as close to the Vong Soul Alley area as she dared to go alone, just to be the first to know the news, whether it was good news or bad news. Seeing that figure from afar, Bach Trinh's heart suddenly beat faster, not because of fear or tension like in the last battle, but because a new warm feeling was creeping into his heart that had been cold for eighteen years.