Standing Next To You-Chapter 557: Is it all true?

The sky was starting to darken.

Assistant Cheng glanced at the horizon—it was long past sunset, yet they were still here, in this vast, desolate graveyard. This place was eerie enough on its own, being the resting place of the dead. But with his boss acting strangely, Assistant Cheng felt even more unsettled.

He glanced at the empty field. Was it really okay to leave him there alone?

Fei Chuan suddenly dropped to his knees, searching through the grass. Then, without warning, he froze as if bewitched. Assistant Cheng called out to him several times, but he remained motionless, his eyes wide, his usually stoic expression shaken—almost as if he had been struck by lightning.

Assistant Cheng followed his gaze to the ground, but there was nothing there—just grass and dirt. Was there something else he couldn’t see? ƒrēenovelkiss.com

In the end, his boss, in a hoarse voice, told him to leave him alone for a moment.

Although worried and confused, Assistant Cheng followed his instructions and returned to the car. Now, an entire day had passed, and yet his boss hadn’t returned.

Assistant Cheng checked on him multiple times from afar, but Fei Chuan remained on the ground, staring downward as if trying to solve some impossible puzzle.

What was he seeing?

Could it be that his boss was losing his mind?

Another two hours passed, and the sky had completely darkened. The sounds of insects filled the air, the wind grew colder, and darkness crept into every corner of this place.

There were no street lamps or lights in the field since this graveyard was still underdeveloped.

Assistant Cheng finally had enough. He took a flashlight from the trunk and made his way back to Fei Chuan.

There, he found Fei Chuan leaning against a tree, his gaze distant, lost in thought. He looked defeated, confused, and adrift, as if he had no idea what to do.

This was different from the hopeless Fei Chuan he had seen four years ago. Now, he looked even worse—like a man who had not only lost his memories but his very sense of self.

"Boss, it’s dark. We should head back now," Assistant Cheng said, breaking the silence.

Fei Chuan didn’t even squint at the light. In a rough voice, he asked, "Do you believe there is another life beyond this current one? A life where you exist and live differently, in another time?"

Assistant Cheng felt his heart grow heavy. His boss was not someone who believed in superstitions or the supernatural, yet here he was, asking such things. Something in this place must have shaken him to his core.

Assistant Cheng thought carefully before answering.

"...I’ve heard of parallel worlds. Some scientists say they’re real, while others dismiss them as mere imagination."

He switched off the flashlight. The only source of light vanished, plunging them into darkness.

Assistant Cheng glanced up at the sky. Above him, the vast expanse was filled with an infinite number of stars. Unlike this gloomy, lifeless place, the sky was vibrant and full of life.

"But the universe is vast, and we barely understand even a fraction of it. There are countless things we don’t know—like what lies beyond the farthest reaches of space."

He turned back to Fei Chuan. "Perhaps such worlds exist, or perhaps they don’t. But, Boss, isn’t the life you’re living now the most important thing? Whether or not other worlds exist doesn’t change that."

Fei Chuan smiled bitterly. "But what if... the other world you speak of affects the present?" He ran a hand through his hair, looking utterly lost. "What if you remember that other life—if you lived it, experienced it—and now you’re here, forced to carry all those memories? Wouldn’t that be confusing and devastating?"

Assistant Cheng was stunned. Experiencing another life... then suddenly living up in the present... What would that feel like?

Fei Chuan suddenly laughed, but his laughter sounded hollow. "Now, I don’t know what to believe anymore."

He stood up and left, his figure retreating into the night, his back steeped in desolation.

.....

It was well past midnight.

On the balcony, Fei Chuan sat on the ground, drinking wine as he gazed at the horizon. Tonight, the sky was clear, the moon shone brightly, and the stars illuminated the darkness.

It was a beautiful night, but Fei Chuan didn’t have the heart to appreciate it. On the contrary, his heart and mind were overwhelmed with heavy emotions.

The emotions from his dreams lingered vividly, refusing to fade. Now, they intertwined with his present heartache, weighing him down. His heart felt heavy, and his mind was in turmoil.

He drank straight from the bottle. Not far from him lay a necklace.

"I actually died once... and woke up to find myself eighteen again..."

Bei Sangyun’s words echoed in his mind.

When he first "saw" the image of the gravestone bearing her name, those words had replayed in his head. The memories of that day—ones he wished never to revisit—kept resurfacing.

She had confessed to him about her "previous life," her death, and her rebirth. It all sounded insane—no sane man would believe such a thing.

How could he believe it? When all he had ever received from her were lies?

Fei Chuan felt his heart burn with aching pain.

Was she really telling the truth?

Had that life truly existed?

The dreams he had... the images he saw... the gravestone... and what she said... was it all real?

His grip on the wine bottle loosened, and it slipped from his fingers, its contents spilling onto the ground. The aroma of wine filled the air. Fei Chuan clutched his chest, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

If it was all true... then the words he had spoken to her that day—

A searing pain shot through his heart, his eyes turning red with unshed tears.

—must have hurt her deeply. More deeply than he had ever imagined.

Under the moonlight, in the solitude of the balcony, the man curled up on the ground in silent agony, embracing his aching heart—just as he had once embraced the pain of that day, only now it felt even more unberable.