Chapter 5 — Sword God Appears

After three days and three nights of wandering through mountains and forests, crossing rivers and wading streams, Bach Trinh finally arrived at the gate of Lang Uyen citadel just as it was late afternoon. His legs were used to walking long distances, but his heart felt strangely uneasy, as if an invisible string was pulling him closer to something inevitable. He did not know Dieu Vy's face, only knew the name of the pharmacy that Ky Van Son had written in the letter, so as soon as he entered the city, he immediately asked for directions to Dong Street, where Nhan Tam Duong pharmacy was located.

But when he arrived, the pharmacy had closed earlier than usual, the wooden sign hanging to one side as if there had been a disturbance. Bach Trinh stood in front of the door, carefully observing the small traces on the ground: a few strange footprints imprinted on the thin layer of dust, not the usual footsteps of passersby, but the footsteps of a martial arts practitioner, deliberately walking lightly but still leaving a mark that could not be completely hidden from the eyes of an experienced swordsman.

The feeling of insecurity in his heart became more and more obvious. He asked an old woman selling goods nearby, and learned that the pharmacy owner often closed later to deliver medicine to a few patient families at the end of the street, and at this time she was probably on her way back. Bach Trinh thanked the old woman, immediately followed the path leading to the end of the street that she pointed out. His steps became faster, the premonition of someone who had faced countless dangers told him that time was running out.

At that time, not far away, Dieu Vy was walking quickly on the deserted road leading home, holding an empty medicine basket that she had just delivered to the family at the end of the street. The sky was dark, the last sunset light was fading behind the mossy tiled roofs, leaving a light gray color covering the entire small street. She walked faster, remembering Aunt Ngoc Hien's advice about avoiding going out alone at dusk, silently blaming herself for staying too long at the patient's house.

Suddenly, from a dark alley on the side of the road, three figures in gray clothes quietly walked out, blocking her path. Dieu Vy jumped back in surprise, her heart pounding, her instincts told her that these were the people who had been following her all these days. She was about to turn around and run away, but another figure appeared behind her, blocking her retreat, leaving her surrounded on all four sides.

"Girl," one of the group spoke up, his voice cold and emotionless, "this has nothing to do with you, you're just keeping something that shouldn't be kept. Be obedient so we can handle it neatly to save you the pain." Having finished speaking, he pulled out a short knife, the glistening steel reflecting the remaining light of the sunset.

Dieu Vy panicked, backed up against the wall, the medicine basket in her hand fell to the ground, the medicinal packages scattered. She had never studied martial arts, only knew a few simple self-defense moves that Aunt Ngoc Hien taught her to defend herself, and was absolutely no match for the four well-trained assassins surrounding her. She closed her eyes, preparing herself for the worst, muttering an unconscious prayer.

Just as the nearest assassin's blade swung up, preparing to strike, a figure came from somewhere as fast as the wind, a harsh "clang" sound rang out as metal collided with metal. Bach Trinh appeared promptly, the sword in his hand just blocked the fatal knife blow, pushing the assassin back a few steps, standing between Dieu Vy and the four attackers.

"Who is it?" one of the assassins asked, his voice a bit wary when he realized that the swordsmanship of the person who had just appeared was not ordinary. Bach Trinh did not answer, just silently stood in a defensive position, his eyes swept over the four enemies, assessing their strength in just a split second with the eyes of a person who had experienced hundreds of life and death battles. These were professionally trained assassins, well coordinated, but still far behind what he faced in his youth.

In that short moment, Bach Trinh immediately realized that these were the people who had been following Dieu Vy all these days, the type of assassins trained to act in the dark, strike decisively and then retreat before being discovered. The way they coordinated the raid, the way they chose the time to attack when it was just dark and the street was deserted, all showed that this was not an ordinary group of petty robbers, but an organized, disciplined organization, and more importantly, had a very clear purpose aimed at the girl trembling behind him.

The four assassins exchanged glances, then rushed forward simultaneously, attacking from four different directions in a carefully practiced formation. Bach Trinh gently closed his eyes for a short moment, feeling the surrounding air, then the sword in his hand suddenly turned into a stream of wind, flexibly rotating between four directions of attack, each sword strike accurate to every inch, without wasting any superfluous force. As soon as the left blade hit his temple, it was swept aside with a short round of swords. Before the sound of steel clashing could end, his heel had already turned half a circle, his body gliding low to avoid a horizontal slash from behind, the hem of his shirt flapping like a bird's wings amid a whirlwind of dust rising from the ground. The four assassins' breathing became more and more rapid, but Bach Trinh still kept his breathing unusually steady, as if the entire battle was just a familiar sword practice he had repeated thousands of times in the early morning mist of Tuyet Phong Coc.

This was Hidden Wind Sword Technique, the sword technique of Tang Phong Mon, which had been sleeping in his hands for eighteen years but had never really been forgotten. Each move that seemed to have been lost over time now returned automatically, as smoothly as if it had never been interrupted for a single day. In just a few rounds, the two assassins were hit in a vital point, collapsed to the ground, their weapons flying away.

The remaining two men realized the unfavorable situation, quickly withdrew their weapons and retreated. One of them pulled out a small pipe and blew a sharp whistle that tore through the quiet space of the evening. That was the emergency retreat signal that the Ghost Police Department still used when encountering an opponent that is far beyond their expectations. All four men, including the two who had just been acupunctured by their accomplices, quickly disappeared into the darkness of the alleys in the city, leaving Bach Trinh standing silently in the middle of the deserted street, the sword still shaking slightly in his hand from the aftershocks of the short battle.

Dieu Vy was still standing close to the wall, her whole body trembling because she had just experienced a near-death moment. She looked up at the man who had just saved her. In the dim light of sunset, she only saw a somewhat austere face but his eyes exuded an unusual calmness, unlike anyone she had ever met in her life.

"Are you okay?" Bach Trinh asked, his voice was warm but somewhat reserved, as if he himself was not used to having to talk to strangers after many years of living in seclusion. Dieu Vy nodded repeatedly, still in shock, stammering: "Thank you so much, my benefactor for helping me. If it weren't for my benefactor, perhaps this young lady would have..." She didn't finish her sentence, just bowed her head very low to show her gratitude.

Bach Trinh looked at her, his hand holding the medicine package suddenly stopped midway, his fingers clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white. This was Thanh Phong's daughter, the child he once held in his arms when she was a baby. Now she had become a mature young woman, carrying familiar features that resemble the shadow of her deceased father, especially her bright and determined eyes. He felt a lump in his throat, wanting to tell her his true identity, wanting to hug her and apologize for being late for the past eighteen years, but in the end he just remained silent, suppressing all those emotions to the bottom of his heart.

"Nothing," he simply replied, his voice still distant. "You should go home now, this place isn't safe to stand in for long." Having said that, he bent down to help her pick up a few packets of medicine left on the ground, giving them back to her with both hands, a polite gesture but still keeping a certain distance.

Dieu Vy received the medicine basket and raised her head to ask more about the identity of this mysterious benefactor, but when she looked up, the man had quietly taken a few steps back, his eyes still observing the surroundings warily as if on guard against attackers who could return at any time. "You go home quickly," he added, his voice a bit hasty, "I will follow behind to make sure you get home safely."

Dieu Vy, even though she still had many questions in her heart, also understood that this was not the right time to question her, so she nodded, bowed and walked quickly towards the pharmacy, occasionally looking back, she could still see the silhouette of a man in a cotton shirt quietly following a short distance behind, like a silent shadow protecting her in the falling night.

All the way home, Dieu Vy kept thinking about the fight she had just witnessed. She had never seen anyone strike so quickly and accurately, each sword strike seemed light but carried power that completely overwhelmed the four armed attackers in their hands. In the mind of a girl who was only used to weighing and measuring medicinal herbs, that image was both scary and made her feel a strange peace of mind, as if her instincts told her that man would never let her be in danger once he struck once. Arriving at the beginning of the alley, she looked back one last time, just in time to see the shadow of the cloth disappearing behind the corner of the wall, and wondered why a stranger would risk his life for her like that, as if there had been a debt of gratitude between the two of them before they knew each other.