Standing Next To You-Chapter 417: Strange Illness

Grandma Pei met her gaze, and in that moment, she knew Bei Sangyun was telling the truth.

The Young Master had made a mistake. He should never have kept this from her.

They were each other’s half, indeed.

She nodded and promised, "Alright."

Bei Sangyun turned the knob and entered the room.

Her steps were heavy as she approached the bed.

There, Fei Chuan lay weakly with his eyes closed. It looked like he was sleeping, but the slight frown on his face showed he wasn’t resting well.

A narrow tube was inserted into his arm, delivering blood through his veins.

Doctor Jang, who had been resting nearby, noticed their presence and stood up to greet them. But Bei Sangyun’s eyes were fixed on Fei Chuan.

In the four and a half days she was gone, Fei Chuan had lost a lot of weight. He was so pale that one could see the veins beneath his thin, almost translucent skin.

Bei Sangyun reached out and gently held his hand, her own hand trembling.

She could barely feel any flesh, only bones.

Her eyes welled up.

How had he deteriorated so much in just four days?

Bei Sangyun held back her tears and swallowed the lump in her throat. In a hoarse voice, she asked, "How is he?"

"His condition has stabilized for now. He needed a blood transfusion because he lost far more blood than anyone should. But this is only a temporary measure. He needs to stop vomiting blood. However, given how frequently he’s been coughing it up, I’m afraid it might happen again in the next few days."

Bei Sangyun wiped away the tears that had escaped.

To continuously cough up blood, he must be in immense pain, even if he was unconscious.

"...Please, Doctor Jang, do everything you can to cure him. Whatever you need, I’ll provide it. Just make him well."

"That... I wish I could promise that to you. I’m not the only doctor working on his condition. There are teams both here and abroad researching it. But we can’t find a cure for an unknown illness; we can only offer temporary medications and treatments," Doctor Jang replied, his voice filled with hopelessness.

"Add more teams then. I’ll sponsor you," Bei Sangyun insisted, her determination unwavering.

But even though Doctor Jang desperately wanted to cure Fei Chuan, he knew this wasn’t something that could be easily solved.

"We’re already exerting every effort. But as you suggest, I’ll add more teams to the research. However, I can’t guarantee success," Doctor Jang hesitated before continuing, "...And this might be out of context, but... I don’t think this is something that can be cured by medical expertise alone."

Bei Sangyun refused to accept any answer except a promise to cure Fei Chuan. To her, everything else sounded like excuses.

She looked at Fei Chuan. The hollowness in his face broke her heart. "It doesn’t matter. I just want all your time and effort devoted to studying his illness."

Doctor Jang nodded. That, he could do.

"Then, will you now tell me what this strange illness Fei Chuan has?" Bei Sangyun glanced at Doctor Jang and Grandma Pei. "How did he get it? And how did it relapse?"

"This is a long story. How about you eat first and freshen up? Afterward, I’ll tell you everything. The Young Master would surely want you well-fed before anything else," Grandma Pei suggested.

She hoped Bei Sangyun would agree. Seeing her rush here without eating anything broke her heart.

Besides washing up would help the latter calm her mind and heart.

Bei Sangyun glanced at Fei Chuan. She closed her eyes and nodded. She knew she had to take care of herself to care for him.

After a quick meal and shower, Bei Sangyun returned to Fei Chuan’s room. There, Grandma Pei and Doctor Jang began to tell her about Fei Chuan’s illness.

As Grandma Pei had said, it was a long story that began on the day Fei Chuan was born.

.....

The Fei family had always invited a monk to bless the children of the firstborn son. Since Fei Chuan was the product of the union between the Chuan and Fei families—whom was as different as fire and water but both prestigious—he held a privileged status than any of his cousins.

As such, he was given the honor of having his fate read by the great monk whom both families deeply respected.

Grandma Pei still remembered that day vividly.

It was chaotic. A heavy storm raged that night, preventing them from bringing the Madame to the hospital. Fortunately, the Fei family was prepared; they had a doctor and a room on standby for such emergencies.

The delivery was difficult, lasting nine hours before the baby’s first cry was heard.

Outside the delivery room, the great monk they had invited had arrived. He took a long look at the baby, who was wrapped in a blanket.

The great monk remained silent for so long that Head Master Fei and those with him hardly dared to breathe.

Finally, the monk sighed.

"...This child is not destined to live long."

His words struck like thunder, leaving everyone present in shock. Head Master Fei couldn’t believe it and reacted violently, demanding an explanation.

"Two dragons cannot live under the same sky. Even if the heavens are overturned, only one can remain."

After uttering these cryptic words, the great monk shook his head and left.

His words of doom caused the fragile connection between the Chuan and Fei families—which was recently strengthened by marriage—to begin crumbling once again.

Head Master Fei refused to accept the monk’s prophecy and publicly declared that the Fei family would no longer require his services.

Fei Chuan grew up healthy and brilliant for the first five years of his life. The words of the great monk gradually faded into the past, unspoken and seemingly forgotten.

The Fei family continuously celebrated the young heir’s brilliance. Fei Chuan’s intelligence and maturity at such a young age made other families envious. The young heir showed so much potential that no one doubted the Fei family would soon rise to new heights.

But all of that was lost on one fateful day.

Fei Chuan suddenly fell ill, and the sickness lingered for an entire week.

At first, it seemed like a simple fever. But by the third day, he began coughing up blood. He would vomit blood every hour, leaving anyone who saw him fearing the worst.

The Fei family couldn’t afford to lose their brilliant heir, so they did everything in their power to save him. However, despite hiring renowned doctors from both within the country and abroad, no one could diagnose Fei Chuan’s illness.

It had appeared so suddenly and without warning, leaving everyone in despair.

The doctors could only deliver the grim news: they should prepare for the worst.

In that moment of desperation, everyone remembered the great monk’s prophecy from five years ago.

That he was not destined to live long.

Head Master Fei, too desperate to accept defeat, humbled himself and begged the great monk to return.

"...I don’t know what Head Master Fei and the great monk discussed, but two days after the monk’s visit, the Young Master’s condition stabilized. He recovered. However, his illness relapsed the next month. It happened so often that everyone began to lose hope for him. Even his mother and father eventually gave up on the Young Master," Grandma Pei reminisced, her eyes filled with sadness.

"Eventually, after his mother passed away, even Head Master Fei gave up, and he was sent away. I don’t know if the heavens took pity on us, but since we arrived in River Village, he has only fallen ill once—and that was the day you left. As for the rest, you know the story," Grandma Pei continued.

Bei Sangyun remained silent the entire time.

So this was what Doctor Jang meant when he said it might be something beyond a doctor’s ability to heal.

This was too bizarre to believe.

"...Did you believe it?" Bei Sangyun asked Grandma Pei and Doctor Jang. "...Did you really believe Fei Chuan has a short life because of what the monk said?"

"I am a man of science, so initially, I didn’t believe it. However, after years of studying his illness, I’m beginning to question my own knowledge. Perhaps there are things we can’t explain. And this... might be one of them," Doctor Jang answered in a low voice, seemingly resigned to the mysterious nature of the illness.

Bei Sangyun fell silent again.

She wanted to refute Doctor Jang, to tell him with confidence that there was no such thing as a cursed fate. That as long as he didn’t give up, Fei Chuan could be cured.

However, she too had experienced the unexplainable and had no right to dismiss it. Because she knew it did exist.

She closed her eyes to calm her mind and organize her thoughts.

Was she fighting an unexplainable force? And if so, how could they win?

Suddenly, a thought occurred to her.

In her previous life, Fei Chuan hadn’t succumbed to his illness as the great monk had predicted. He hadn’t died young.

In fact, he had lived longer than she did. She remembered that near the end of his life, Grandma Pei had once urged him to go to the States for treatment because a new method to treat his illness had been discovered.

So, contrary to what the great monk had said, Fei Chuan wasn’t destined to die young.

He would live. And the cure for his illness would be found in the years to come.

Bei Sangyun opened her eyes, her gaze becoming even more determined. "He will be cured. So don’t give up on him."