"Oh, a sense of mission!" I sneered.
The Dog Trainer explained, "There are three main gods in Indian mythology. Lord Brahma is responsible for creation, Shiva is responsible for destruction, and Vishnu is the God of protection. From this, you can see that creation, destruction and protection are the cornerstones of this world. If someone creates and maintains it, someone will inevitably destroy it. No matter how you advertise justice, you can't deny the fact that it is human greed and evil, not kindness and justice, that push history forward."
With zero tolerance of his fallacies, I said, "You’ve brainwashed others for too long, and in the process, you’ve brainwashed yourself. Have you seen those burning buildings outside? Every store is a home that a person has spent half his life running, but now they’ve been so easily destroyed by you. And here you are with these sarcastic words, pretending as if their deaths are worthwhile. What if this happened to you?"
"The law of the jungle is the way of the world,” he replied. “Song Yang, you have a sentimental heart, which is good, but it also restrains your talents. You could’ve been so much better!"
"Be a scum of society like you?" I grew sick of his viewpoint. "Have you heard of a story? A teacher asked his student to find a man with great ability. When his student went to the market, he saw a crazy donkey breaking all the jars. The student thought it would take a lot of time to create a jar, but the donkey destroyed so many at once. Hence, it was much more capable than the man who created the jars, so the student took the donkey back. However, he was lectured by his teacher upon returning. Destruction is always simpler than creation and maintenance. No matter how you advertise your misguided beliefs, it seems to me that it’s all fig leaves. You’re no different from the donkey in the story. You’re just a criminal!"
There was a trace of humiliation in the Dog Trainer's eyes as he argued, "Real destruction is art!"
I couldn’t be bothered to continue speaking to him. There was a fire raging in my heart at the moment. If I had the choice to start over, I would’ve killed him the very first time I saw him.
Sightly past eleven o'clock, we arrived at the underground parking of the airport. The SWAT officers jumped out of the vehicle and escorted the Dog Trainer to the waiting room, which was a great shame for all of us.
Just as I took a step forward, I stopped. "What's the matter?" asked Xiaotao.
Looking around, I wondered out loud, "There are four SWAT officers in each vehicle but why are there seventeen people?"
The SWAT team usually wore masks during an operation, so we couldn’t see their faces. Sun Tiger immediately shouted, "Take off your masks at once!"
As soon as the words fell from his lips, two smoke bombs appeared from one of the SWAT officers' sleeves. The others pulled out their gas masks in panic. But a slight inhalation of the gas was enough to make us weak all over so we crumbled limply to the ground.
"Since you can't administer justice, then justice will be presided over by me," the "SWAT officer" said in a gloomy voice.
My eyes widened in disbelief. This was a voice I would never forget–it was my grandfather’s murderer!
The Dog Trainer screamed, "W-why are you here!"
But like the rest of us, he couldn't move. He tried crawling forward, but it was in vain.
The Blade Master slowly pulled out a thin, sharp dagger from his sleeve. It was almost transparent like ice. "Dog Trainer... or I should call you Liu Juncheng. You have sinned and God has sent me to eradicate you,” came the gloomy voice.
The Dog Trainer's calmness was completely shattered. "Traitor! You traitor!” he screamed. “The organization will not spare you."
The Blade Master pulled the Dog Trainer up and dragged him behind a pillar. "Stop!" yelled Sun Tiger.
I gritted my teeth, desperately crawling forwards, one centimeter at a time. With a muffled moan, the Dog Trainer came out from behind the pillar like a drunk, then fell to the ground. Like the previous victims, his face was an unnatural bright red, his eyes wide open, and his entire body without any wounds.
The Blade Master walked out with something bloody in his hand. Perhaps it was just my imagination, but the Dog Trainer's heart seemed to beat.
I didn't care about the Dog Trainer's life at the moment. I just wanted to know who the Blade Master was. "Stop..." I shouted with all my strength.
Turning around, the Blade Master cast a meaningful look in my direction. "Song Yang, you’ve grown up!"
"Why kill my grandfather?!"
"My blade never hurts the innocent. I killed Song Zhaolin for the same reason I killed this dog."
His words were like a bullet tearing through my chest. Tears slid down my cheeks, though I was unaware I was crying. "You’re lying!” I shouted. “My grandfather was a good man!"
"Song Yang, a person's position in life determines what he believes. You may not believe what I say now, but one day you will understand what sort of scum your amiable and respectable grandfather was. We will meet again soon!"
With that, he walked away despite my ceaseless cries.
We lay there for a long time until the airport security found us.
The security guards thought we were suffering from gas poisoning and asked Sun Tiger if he should call an ambulance, to which Sun Tiger agreed immediately. There were still hundreds of criminals in the streets of Nanjiang City and we had the opportunity to apprehend them.
The events that transpired later that night remained vague in my memory, though the words of the Blade Master hit me like a heavy hammer on the heart.
That night, Nanjiang City got little sleep. All the armed police and SWAT teams were dispatched. The leaders of the municipal party personally took the lead in the frontlines, searching the streets for the Dog Trainer’s remaining subordinates.
When the first rays of the sun baptised the streets, we saw Nanjiang City gradually recover from the damage. The SWAT team held crying children in their arms to comfort them while the mayor personally fed the injured with water, and the leaders went house to house to account for the losses.
That was the night we truly witnessed the terror of crime and care from the government.
Xiaotao and I stood outside the station and watched the police bring the criminals in batches. "Looks like we won this battle,” sighed Xiaotao. “But in fact, we suffered an utter defeat!"
I remained silent.
"Are you still thinking about it?” asked Xiaotao. “That man's words are one-sided, so don't take them seriously. "
"How can my grandfather be the same as the Dog Trainer?” I muttered. “How can that be?!"
Right then, Sun Tiger appeared and sighed, "What a long night!"
"Director Sun, what’s the plan?" queried Xiaotao.
"According to the current conservative estimates, nearly a hundred people were injured in Nanjiang City last night. Dozens of fires and break-ins caused nearly a hundred million worth of property damage. The detention room and detention center are overcrowded,” summarized Sun Tiger. “Now that the state of public security is as such, what can I do as the director? Take responsibility and resign, of course! But before that, I have something important to tell you..."
After a pause, Sun Tiger added gravely, "I’ve just received a phone call from the Ministry of Public Security. My superiors have officially issued special instructions to crack down on these evil forces. We will never bow down or compromise with terrorist organizations. And we must protect the people and their property. The entire police force is prepared for an all-out war with the Jiangbei Daggers!”