Chapter 24 — Sword God Appears

Before the wedding day, Bach Trinh and Dieu Vy went on a trip together that they both considered more important than any wedding ceremony: returning to Vong Soul Alley, where Chuc Thanh Phong had fallen eighteen years ago, to officially place a tombstone commemorating him at that exact place, according to the will that To Nhat Hac said Thanh Phong had once expressed during his lifetime, that if one day he had to leave this world, he wished to rest in peace among natural mountains and forests rather than within the narrow confines of a mountain range.

Before leaving, Dieu Vy spent an entire evening preparing the offerings herself, simple dishes that she heard were the ones her father loved during his lifetime, along with a few jars of fragrant sticky rice wine brewed according to the family's heirloom recipe. She carefully packed each thing, her hands shaking with emotion, her heart both excited and nervous when thinking that for the first time in her life, she would be standing in front of her father's real grave, instead of only being able to remember him through stories told by others.

The small group, including Bach Trinh, Dieu Vy, Xuan Dao and To Nhat Hac, departed early in the morning, carrying a stone stele that had been engraved with solemn inscriptions recording the name and merits of Chuc Thanh Phong, along with incense, flowers and offerings. The road to Vong Soul Alley no longer had the heavy and scary feeling like before, the gentle autumn sunlight filtered through the foliage, birds chirped on the branches along the road, as if nature itself was sharing in the joy of a new page of history about to be opened.

Xuan Dao, even though she was not Thanh Phong's blood relative, quietly helped prepare everything. In her heart, she secretly appreciated the man she had never had the chance to meet but had indirectly brought her a real home and family since the day his wife adopted her. She stood quietly in a corner, leaving private space for Bach Trinh and Dieu Vy in this sacred moment, only occasionally glancing towards them with a warm smile.

Upon arriving, Bach Trinh and a few helpers set up the stone stele in a flat position in the middle of the canyon, where there used to be a pool of blood from the old tragedy, but now young grass had grown green, almost completely erasing traces of the painful past. Dieu Vy knelt down in front of the tombstone, her trembling hands lit the first incense sticks, the thin smoke rose up to blend into the fresh air of the mountains and forests.

"Dad," she whispered, her voice choked but no longer filled with tears like the times she mentioned him before, "I have learned the whole truth about you, about the noble sacrifice you made for the sect, for everyone around me. I am proud to be your daughter, even though I never had the chance to tell you that when you were alive. Please rest assured. I have found someone who will protect and love me for the rest of my life, just as you hoped."

Bach Trinh knelt down next to Dieu Vy, his hands also shook as he lit his own incense stick. "Thanh Phong," he said, his voice low and full of emotion, "I have carried this debt for eighteen years, blaming myself for being a moment late, letting you leave in solitude. That night, you told me to promise you one thing, but before you could finish the sentence, you died, leaving me for eighteen long years without knowing what I had missed. I thought for a while, and finally understood: maybe you just wanted me to promise to live on and not let your sacrifice become meaningless. If that is true, today I promise again, belatedly but completely: I have found out the whole truth, have avenged the wrongs you never had the chance to avenge, and I am sorry for letting that regret imprison me for so long, to the point of almost missing the opportunity to live a fulfilling life."

He paused for a moment, looked at Dieu Vy kneeling next to him, then continued, his voice softening: "I also want to thank you, for leaving me the most precious gift you can give: my daughter, who helped me find the meaning of life, helped me learn how to let go of the past to look forward to the future. I promise to spend the rest of my life protecting and loving her, the way you loved me."

To Nhat Hac stood behind, quietly witnessing that emotional moment, his old eyes also filled with tears. He stepped forward, lit an incense stick of his own, and prayed: "Thanh Phong, you are the greatest pride in my life of teaching disciples. Now, when your injustice has been washed away, when your daughter has found happiness, I believe that you can rest peacefully in the nine springs, no longer entangled with anything."

All four people stood silently in front of the tombstone for a long time, letting the incense smoke spread, carrying words of apology, thanksgiving and wishes for the future to float up into the vast space of the mountains and forests. The gentle wind blew through the canyon, shaking the green grass that had just grown, creating a gentle rustling sound, completely different from the haunting whine of the wind that Bach Trinh had heard in his dreams for the past eighteen years. Perhaps, he thought, this was a sign that Thanh Phong's soul had finally been comforted, just as his own soul had finally found true peace.

On the way back, Dieu Vy held Bach Trinh's hand tightly, her eyes looking towards the distant horizon where the afternoon sunlight was falling gently. "I think," she said, her voice thoughtful, "our story, even though it begins with a tragedy, can ultimately end with a new beginning full of hope. Perhaps that is the fairest way fate has for those who have suffered so much." Bach Trinh nodded, squeezed her hand in response, his heart filled with a peace that he had never dared to dream of during nearly twenty years of living in the darkness of the past.

Before leaving Vong Soul Alley, To Nhat Hac also suggested planting a few more apricot trees around the tombstone area, saying that this was the flower that Thanh Phong loved most during his life. Every spring it would bloom throughout the canyon, turning what was once a place of tragedy into a colorful flower garden, as a symbol of life always finding a way to rise even from the lands that were once tinged with the most pain. Everyone rolled up their sleeves, dug the ground to plant trees, and laughter rang out in the middle of the canyon where there was once only eerie silence, as a living proof that the past, no matter how painful, cannot prevent new life from continuing to grow. When the last apricot tree had just been filled with soil, a small sparrow flew from somewhere, perched on a young tree branch, tilted its head and looked at all of them without showing any signs of fear, just like the sparrows used to swooping down on the porch of Bach Trinh's thatched house in Tuyet Phong Coc years ago. He smiled slightly, suddenly realizing that he did not need to leave that peace to find it somewhere else, he just needed to take it with him, sowing it wherever people no longer had to fear each other.

A few months later, the wedding between Vu Bach Trinh and Chuc Dieu Vy was solemnly held at Lang Uyen Citadel, with the witness of many friends, relatives, and representatives of many sects in the land of Lang Uyen. The martial world, after the turmoil of the eighteen-year feud, have now turned a new page, with no shadow of any cruel assassin organization threatening the peace of honest people, no longer any dark secrets silently gnawing at the honor of the righteous sects.

Bach Trinh, who was once revered as the sword god but then chose to hide his sword behind a deserted mountain because of the burden of the past, had now found his own path: preserving and teaching the essence of Hidden Wind Sword Art to the next generation, while living a simple, happy life with the wife he loves, at the very place where fate had arranged for them to meet. The old sword no longer needed to be hidden behind a layer of hemp cloth in the dark mountains and valleys; it was hung solemnly in the house, like a silent witness to a long journey from darkness to light, from hatred to love, completely closing the story of a sword that was once hidden behind a deserted mountain, and then finally found the most worthy reason to once again shine in life.

Every spring, when the apricot trees planted in Vong Soul Alley begin to bloom with brilliant yellow colors throughout the canyon, Bach Trinh and Dieu Vy return there together, bringing with them the scent of flowers and remembrance, and sometimes even the small children following, being told the story of their grandfather, of a knight who lived and died for a great cause, and of a sword god who learned to let go of the past to welcome a new life, complete and free of hatred. From then on, the martial world continued to circulate that story as a valuable lesson about tolerance, about how no matter how heavy the past is, people always have the right to choose a brighter future for themselves.