Chapter 21 — Sword God Appears

After the posthumous ceremony at Tang Phong Mon, Bach Trinh and Dieu Vy stayed together for a few more days, partly because his wound needed time to recuperate, and partly because Dieu Vy wanted to spend more time learning more about the place where her father spent his entire youth. She was led by the elders to visit all over the mountain gate, from the sword practice yard where Thanh Phong once practiced hard, to the study room where he used to read books and study military techniques, each little corner carried a story that she had never known.

In Thanh Phong's study, still kept intact for the past eighteen years as a silent homage to him by the sect, Dieu Vy found a stack of old books on the art of war and medicine, the handwriting of notes on the margins of the pages was still clear, strong and careful. She sat for hours in that small room, her hands flipping through each page of the book, feeling some of the meticulous and thoughtful personality of her father whom she never had the chance to talk to even once when she was old enough to remember.

An older disciple of the sect, who was a classmate at the same time as Thanh Phong although not as close as Bach Trinh, also came to tell her a few more small stories, about how Thanh Phong once gave up a scholarship to study as a monk at a famous temple to another disciple with more difficult circumstances, about how he used to stay up many nights taking care of a young disciple who was seriously ill even though he was also in an important period of hard training. Each of these small stories is like a puzzle piece, gradually creating in Dieu Vy's mind a complete and vivid portrait of the father she lost too early to remember on her own.

One afternoon, while walking around the garden behind the mountain gate, Dieu Vy happened to see To Nhat Hac sitting and recuperating under an old tree. The elder invited her to sit down with him, then began to tell her more detailed stories about the years when Bach Trinh and Thanh Phong were still enthusiastic young men, about the deep friendship between the two, about how Bach Trinh, despite his outstanding talent, always humbly learned from the maturity of his senior brother.

"You know," To Nhat Hac said, his voice deep and warm, "for the past eighteen years, Bach Trinh has never truly lived for himself. He imprisoned himself in regret, refused every opportunity for happiness, every new relationship, just because he thought he did not deserve to live a normal life after letting Thanh Phong go. I have seen many talented young people ruin their lives because of similar psychological burdens, but I have never seen anyone. persevered for so long."

To Nhat Hac also added that, after Bach Trinh left the sect, there were many times when the elders sent people to search for his whereabouts, hoping to convince him to return, but each time they only received a silent refusal. There was even a time when the person sent could not find where he was hiding, because Bach Trinh deliberately chose a place so remote that it almost did not exist on any map. "He was afraid that if he came back, he would have to face everyone's pitying or blaming eyes, even though no one in the sect ever really blamed him," he said, his voice filled with sadness for the student he considered a descendant of the family.

That story made Dieu Vy understand and feel even more sorry for Bach Trinh, the man she gradually fell in love with through every day they went through many dangers together. She remembered every little moment during the past journey: how he always put her safety first, how he patiently listened to her small stories by the campfire, how he accepted every danger without a single complaint, all from a heart that had endured so much suffering but never let it turn into coldness or selfishness.

That evening, when they both sat on the porch of the guest house arranged for them, Dieu Vy decided to ask directly what she had been cherishing for a long time. "Sir," she said, her voice gentle but full of sincerity, "now that everything is over, the revenge has been paid, do you have any plans for the future? Will you return to Tuyet Phong Coc and continue your secluded life as before?"

Bach Trinh was silent for a moment, his eyes looked far into the darkness, then replied slowly: "I don't know anymore. For the past eighteen years, Tuyet Phong Coc has been the only place where I felt I could hide from myself. But now, when that burden has been lifted, I realize that perhaps I no longer need to hide. It's just that I don't know how to start a new life, after all these years of living like a shadow."

Dieu Vy looked at him, took a deep breath, then sat up straight, placing her hands neatly on her knees as if she was calming herself before an important decision. "You don't have to start alone," she said, her voice shaking slightly but still determined. "If you don't mind, this young lady wishes to accompany you on your upcoming journey, whether it is returning to the mountains or forests or staying in this prosperous place." Those words stunned Bach Trinh. He turned to look at her, his eyes filled with surprise mixed with a happiness that he had never dared to dream of for nearly two decades.

"Dieu Vy, do you know what you are saying?" he asked, his voice holding a rare tremor. "Your Majesty is nearly forty-five years old, carrying a heavy past, unworthy of a young girl with an open future like you." Dieu Vy shook her head, her eyes looked straight at him without hesitation: "You are not the one with your heavy past. You are the one who saved this young lady's life more than once, the one who helped this young lady understand the whole truth about her father, the one who showed this young lady what true courage is. Age or past, for this young lady, are not as important as who you really are."

Bach Trinh looked at her for a long time. In his heart, all the defenses he had built over the past eighteen years seemed to be collapsing little by little before her simple sincerity. He remembered what Thanh Phong had said in the past, about life being lived to the fullest, not to hide in fear, and he suddenly realized that perhaps the best way to honor the memory of his deceased brother was not to continue burying himself in loneliness, but to dare to open his heart to receive a new chance of happiness, especially when that chance came from the blood of his soulmate.

"I..." he began, his voice choked with emotion, "I've also felt something special for you, right from the first days we met, even though I always tried to suppress it because I thought I had no right to be happy after what happened. But maybe, you're right. It's time for me to learn to live in the present, instead of forever dwelling on the past." The two sat together under the moonlight, no more words needed, only the warm silence of two hearts that had found each other through many hardships.

Xuan Dao, when she heard the news, was overjoyed, hugging Dieu Vy and twirling around in the middle of the yard, laughing and talking endlessly that she had finally found a happy place after so many years of just burying herself in smoking and forgetting that she also needed to be loved. "See, I told you from the beginning, the way that benefactor looks at you is always different from normal people," she said, her voice full of teasing, making Dieu Vy blush and be speechless.

In the following days, news about the relationship between the sword god Vu Bach Trinh and the daughter of the late Chuc Thanh Phong gradually spread within Tang Phong Mon, receiving warm blessings from almost everyone, because everyone felt that this was a complete and meaningful ending to the tragic story that had lasted for eighteen years. To Nhat Hac, when hearing the news, could not hide his satisfied smile, saying that if Thanh Phong was still alive, he would certainly be happy to see his daughter find happiness with the junior brother he once loved like his own flesh and blood.

"It seems that God knows how to make up for the losses of the past," the old elder said, his eyes looking far away towards the sword training ground where generations of disciples had grown up. "A relationship that originates from tragedy, but can blossom into happiness, is also a way for the injustices of the past to be completely resolved."