Standing Next To You-Chapter 529: Her Decision

Standing in front of the modest temple once again, memories of her previous visit flooded her mind.

Bei Xingyun didn’t believe in superstitions, fate, or destiny. She looked down on monks like these—those who claimed to "read" people’s fates based on heaven’s nonsense.

However, she couldn’t shake the feeling in her heart. She had lived as "Emily," forgetting her past and origins, leading a carefree and happy life. But even though this was the life she had wished for, something deep inside her told her that everything wasn’t right.

Yet, she wanted this life. She would trade everything—her past self, her mother, and even her child—just to keep it.

The wooden gate suddenly creaked open, revealing the old monk. He did not seem surprised.

"I had a feeling I would see you again one of these days."

"Then do you know why I’ve come here?"

The old monk widened the gate. "Perhaps because of the reading I did for you and your friend four years ago."

Bei Xingyun’s gaze turned solemn. "You only read my friend’s fate. Not mine."

"I did. But your fates are intertwined. You are borrowing the life that was supposed to be hers, aren’t you?"

Bei Xingyun swallowed hard. She had never mentioned anything about borrowing Chuan Xingyun’s name. So how did this monk know? Had they been investigated beforehand?

She was skeptical, yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that the monk might still have answers to the questions that had been haunting her.

"Let’s say I did borrow ’her’ life. Then... would she get it back from me?"

The monk studied her. "Although fate is decided from the start, it can still change through an individual’s will. If the things around you change because of your actions, then there is a chance your fate will change as well."

Bei Xingyun didn’t get a direct answer. Instead, she felt even more confused. "What do you mean? Will she take it back from me or not?"

"The wheels of fate turn according to your choices. The decision will be entirely yours."

Bei Xingyun hesitated. Did this mean that if she wanted to continue living as "Emily," she could remain "Emily" forever?

But what about her friend? What would happen to Chuan Yinji?

"If... I continue to live her life, what will happen to my friend?"

"A stolen life... The life that was meant to be yours will become hers. And hers will become yours."

Bei Xingyun felt her entire being tremble. The old monk’s words confirmed the thoughts that had been haunting her all along.

It wasn’t Chuan Yinji’s child that started all the bad luck. It all began the moment she started living as Emily.

No. This isn’t the truth. This monk... he’s lying. How could he possibly know all of this?

"You should keep your child close," the monk suddenly said, snapping Bei Xingyun out of her thoughts.

Her eyes widened. She had never mentioned that she had a child. "Did you investigate me?"

"Poor children." The monk’s gaze seemed to fix on something beyond her—something she couldn’t see. "They will inherit this fate, live in agony, and face death twice." He then looked directly at Bei Xingyun. "Two dragons cannot live under the same sky. They will consume each other... until only one remains."

"...I... I don’t understand." How had her child become involved in this?

"Make sure those children never meet. But I fear avoiding fate will be difficult."

"Why can’t they meet?" Then Bei Xingyun realized she was asking the wrong question. The most urgent matter wasn’t the children—it was her sick friend and the identity she had taken.

"Earlier... you said my life would have been my friend’s if I hadn’t stolen it. What if I don’t want to return it? What will happen to her? Can’t we both just... live happily?"

"Your friend has already made her choice. She chose to give birth to the one who bears the dragon’s fate. And so did you." The old monk stood up. "Our session has ended. Please make a donation to the temple."

"Wait." Bei Xingyun still didn’t have the answers she needed. What would happen to her? What would happen to Chuan Yinji? "You’ve only given me riddles. I want a real answer. A solution."

The old monk turned his gaze to the horizon. The sky was deep blue, seemingly boundless.

"Have you ever heard the cry of a mermaid?"

"What?"

"When the time comes, tell your child what happened here today. She will understand. That is as far as my reading goes."

"Wait—"

But this time, the old monk closed the wooden gate.

Bei Xingyun remained standing there, frustration and confusion swirling inside her. Every answer had led back to the children.

"What should I do?" she muttered, lost and uncertain.

.....

Inside the temple, the old monk returned to his humble abode. Incense was burning, its faint aroma filling the air. Another monk sat nearby, engrossed in his own readings. The old monk waited patiently for him to finish.

When the other monk finally opened his eyes, he spoke in a low voice. "...I received the same reading. This should be the first cycle."

The old monk settled in front of him. "You had the chance to tell that family the ’solution’ when they had called for you."

"And what do you expect me to say to them, fellow Daoist? That they must kill a child barely a few months old so that the boy may live and reign over the sky?" The younger monk lit another stick of incense, his expression unreadable. "Those prestigious families are merciless. If they must, they will kill that child—after all, the baby was born of lowly origins."

".....Maybe this is why the heavens chose you to read the signs instead of me. You have a kinder heart." The old monk picked up his prayer beads, rolling them between his fingers. "But two cycles... How much change will they bring to this world? Will it be for good... or for ruin? What if one desperate strategy only leads to an even worse one? Like the myth of—"

"The mermaid’s cry."

The younger monk finished his sentence, his solemn gaze meeting the old monk’s. "I am well aware. I only pray that they do not meet the same fate as the legend."

His eyes lingered on the curling tendrils of incense smoke. "Perhaps the second cycle will break the curse of that myth."

"Or they may become the myth itself," the old monk murmured. He let out a weary sigh. "I am too old. This body of mine will not last long enough to see what fate has in store for them. I was not chosen to witness the end of their story. That task will fall to you, Daoist Xi."

The younger monk smiled faintly. "I only hope I will be able to guide them when they come."

Silence fell between them, and the room filled with the drifting smoke of burning incense.

.....

Bei Xingyun did not completely believe the old monk’s words. But she also couldn’t forget them.

Before leaving the country, she visited Chuan Yinji one last time. Seeing her grow thinner, her mental state deteriorate, and the crazed look in her eyes—so terrifying that even the maids avoided her—sent shivers down Bei Xingyun’s spine.

The monk’s words flooded back to her.

If she hadn’t stolen Chuan Yinji’s life, would she have ended up like this? Betrayed by her husband, cast aside for the woman he had cheated with, stripped of her reputation and beauty, and left to spiral into madness? Would that have been her fate?

No. She refused to accept such a life.

She was happy living as Emily, even if it was a lie.

So in the end, she said nothing to Chuan Yinji. As she made her way out, she encountered a beautiful little boy.

Bei Xingyun immediately recognized whose child he was. He had Chuan Yinji’s striking eyes and delicate lips. But something about him was different from other children his age.

His gaze was empty. Cold. Even she couldn’t see through him.

"Uhm... Hi." Bei Xingyun spoke awkwardly. She didn’t know how to face this child. Looking at him reminded her of her own child. They were of similar age, and surely... her child must be just as adorable.

She pushed those thoughts away. She was no longer that woman. She was Emily.

"Are you... my mom’s friend?" His baby voice was soft, carrying the faint scent of milk.

"Yes, I am."

"...She’s normal today because of you. Can you come more often?"

Bei Xingyun paused. She avoided his gaze, which seemed to pierce straight through her.

"...I can’t. I live far away."

The beautiful boy stared at her in silence. Bei Xingyun couldn’t bear it any longer. Forcing a smile, she said, "I have to go. Take care of your mother for me, please."

Then she left in a hurry, as if running away from something.

Since that day, Bei Xingyun paid particular attention to any news about Chuan Yinji and her child.

Half a year after her departure, Chuan Yinji died. The official cause of death was reported as a heart attack.

When the news reached her, Bei Xingyun severed all ties with Country C. She stopped writing to Grandma Bei and never returned again.

The real Emily was gone. And so, this identity was now hers.

She had chosen to stay as Emily. She had to live as Emily.

Even though, every night, she suffered nightmares—dreams where Chuan Yinji stared at her, accusing her, blaming her for the life she had stolen.