Controlled Experiment Chapter 28

Game of Death – 4

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Li Yao had two surgeries scheduled today, and both were cardiac valve repairs.

The patients were quite young, and the procedures were challenging. As he stood in front of the mirror, Li Yao mentally rehearsed each step of the operation over and over.

He hadn't slept at all the previous night, only dozing off briefly in the car on the way back with Zhuang Hao. That morning, he had downed two sachets of coffee, and the water used hadn't even exceeded fifty millilitres. The highly concentrated caffeine had at least cleared his head a little.

Looking at the two dark circles under his eyes in the mirror, Li Yao sighed. To be honest, yesterday's experience on the deserted island had shaken him far more than he had expected. He hadn't thought Jing Mo would truly go down the path he had always claimed he would, seeing it through to the bitter end.

But there was one thing Li Yao couldn't understand.

There had been three corpses on the island. The earliest time of death was nearly four years ago, and the most recent not more than a year ago. The middleman had served as Jing Mo's killing tool. In other words, the people killed by the middleman had also died within that time frame. Three people in four years, that was a slow pace.

But now? Luo Daheng had died a month ago, and Chen Xin had been murdered just last night. Four years for three deaths, and now two people within the space of two months. Given Jing Mo's intelligence, if he had truly decided to move against that group of people, he would have done so according to his own rhythm. So why had that rhythm suddenly sped up?

Li Yao couldn't figure it out.

Staring at his reflection in the mirror, a deeply unsettling thought suddenly crossed his mind.

Jing Mo might be dying.

And if that were the case, everything started to make sense; why he was in such a rush, and why he was striking one after another.

At that thought, the scrubbing brush slipped from Li Yao's hand and landed in the sink with a splash, spraying droplets onto the mirror in front of him. His heart was in disarray. Leaning on the edge of the sink, he panted, his breathing unsteady. It took quite a while before Li Yao finally looked down at the green surgical gown he was wearing and came back to his senses. But there was one thing he could be sure of: Jing Mo must truly hate him. That was the only reason why he would point all the evidence of his murders in Li Yao's direction.

Li Yao rubbed his fingers under the running water.

Then he picked up the brush beside him, dipped it in antiseptic soap, and began scrubbing his hands again.

By the third round, a nurse entered the room. Li Yao didn't recognise her, she must have been a new girl doing her placement.

"Dr Li." The trainee nurse clutched the small notebook in her hands a little too tightly, looking somewhat nervous. "There are two officers from the public security bureau outside, they said they want to ask you about bed twenty-five, Chen Xin."

Chen Xin? Upon hearing the name, Li Yao feigned confusion and turned to look at the nurse.

"What's happened to him?"

The nurse's grip on her notebook tightened even more.

"He... dead."

Li Yao's hand paused mid-scrub. New staff were often timid and fearful when it came to death. He offered the girl a few words of reassurance.

Leaving aside the cause of Chen Xin's death, Li Yao had worked at the hospital for years. He had saved countless lives, but there had also been many he was powerless to save, some who were already beyond help by the time they arrived. When it came to death, Li Yao had become more or less numb.

Seeing that Li Yao had no intention of going out, the nurse gave a little nudge of her mouth before adding, "... They're urging you to come." The "they" referred to Du Yusheng and Xiao Bai.

Li Yao picked up a sterile towel and began drying the droplets on his forearms. Looking the trainee nurse in the eyes, he gave her a brief smile.

"There's a patient in the operating room now, and I've got another valve repair next." He tossed the towel into the clinical waste bin and added, "Go tell them that if they're confident enough to perform both surgeries, I'll happily switch places with them."

=========

"He really said that?"

The temperature in the hospital corridor wasn't high, but Du Yusheng felt even colder after hearing those words. He sniffed and asked again, "That's exactly what he said?"

The trainee nurse was new and hadn't yet learned how to phrase things delicately. All she could do was repeat what Li Yao had said, word for word.

But in truth, Du Yusheng hadn't intended to disturb someone mid-surgery. He understood the stakes, this was about human lives, and delays couldn't be afforded. He just wanted the nurse to pass on a message, to tell Li Yao he was waiting outside.

Still, the nurse was too earnest. As Du Yusheng stood there, his mind buzzed with thoughts of the warm soy milk he'd had that morning.

"Aiyo, don't make me go in again." The trainee nurse's nose had turned a little red. "Dr Li isn't usually like that, I don't know what's got into him today."

Du Yusheng scratched his face, curiosity getting the better of him, "What's he usually like then?"

The nurse thought for a moment. "He's really lovely. He's kind to everyone and doesn't talk much, but always smiles when he sees you, really gentle."

The nurse practically radiated pink bubbles. Du Yusheng rubbed his nose and thought, The man you are all swooning over, I had dinner with him last night, slept in his bed, and this morning he even bought me breakfast. Compared to you, my sense of superiority is off the charts.

Thinking of breakfast reminded Du Yusheng of something.

"What time did Li Yao arrive at the hospital this morning?"

The trainee nurse flipped through the little notebook in her hand.

"Handover's usually at nine, but this morning, Dr Li came in really early." She thought for a moment and said, "Anyway, he was already in the office before handover started."

A question mark formed in Du Yusheng's mind. The fact that he had arrived early, either it meant he was uncomfortable staying under the same roof as me, or it had something to do with Chen Xin. If it was the latter, Du Yusheng scratched at his face, could Li Yao have had time to commit the crime? He tried hard to recall everything that had happened the previous night.

Just then, Xiao Bai walked over holding a cup of coffee and nudged Du Yusheng with his elbow.

"Brother Yu, have a drink," Xiao Bai said. "They're still in surgery, we've got time to wait."

Looking at Xiao Bai's face, drawn from a sleepless night, Du Yusheng was tempted to ask, Do you know Li Yao? What's your relationship with him? But the words stuck in his throat. Instead, he took the cup of coffee Xiao Bai handed him and took a sip. The coffee was bitter, but Xiao Bai had added milk from somewhere and the whole thing tasted cloyingly sweet, masking all the bitterness.

Seeing the change in Du Yusheng's expression, Xiao Bai quickly added, "Don't worry, Brother Yu, I've got nothing but loyalty to you."

Du Yusheng didn't say anything else and downed the sickly sweet coffee in one go.

Xiao Bai looked at Du Yusheng's face and smiled.

The task Li Yao had given Xiao Bai back then had been simple, just one thing.

Protect Du Yusheng.

So Xiao Bai had given him all the sugar and milk sachets he had.

That said, Du Yusheng assumed it was his involvement in the Luo Daheng case that had brought him into contact with Li Yao, and that from there, Li Yao had taken an interest in him. But in Xiao Bai's eyes, Li Yao was someone exceptionally skilled at disguising himself. He might have started earlier than Du Yusheng, at the very least, Xiao Bai had been transferred to Du Yusheng's side before the Luo Daheng case had even begun. But Li Yao was simply too good at pretending. So much so that, had Xiao Bai not known from the outset, he might never have seen through it.

Because he had drunk too many milk sachets, a ring of froth had formed at the corners of Du Yusheng's mouth. He was dabbing at it with a tissue when Xiao Bai, looking at his face, smiled slightly.

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He had told the other to wait, but Li Yao hadn't expected the wait to last until nightfall.

The surgery had proved even more complicated than expected, with quite a few unforeseen complications cropping up along the way.

By the time Li Yao took off his surgical gown, his entire back was soaked in sweat. A gust of wind drifted past and chilled him to the bone.

Stepping on the foot switch by the door, Li Yao pulled off his gloves and walked out of the operating room.

It always got dark early in winter. Li Yao looked out at the black sky beyond the window, then glanced at the clock on the wall, it was already seven o'clock. From ten in the morning until seven in the evening, surely Du Yusheng hadn't waited that long?

Li Yao opened his locker, stared at the small mirror inside, and sighed.

After not sleeping all night and not eating anything all day, Li Yao was utterly exhausted.

A table full of food sat in the break room. It was a routine in the surgical department, meals were delivered in advance, to be eaten whenever there was time. Li Yao bent down and pulled out the box with his name on it. The nurses had ordered wontons for him today. He had no idea how many times they'd been reheated, anyway, they were stone-cold now.

Doctors tended to have two organs tougher than most people's.

One was the bladder. The other was the stomach.

Li Yao stared at the soft yellow light inside the microwave as his wontons spun around with a steady hum.

After eating the wontons and getting changed, he left the operating room, only to find, to his surprise, that Du Yusheng wasn't waiting outside. Li Yao stood staring at the now-empty hallway, suddenly feeling rather out of sorts. But when he returned to his office, Du Yusheng was there, wrapped in his coat and sitting inside.

He had a book open, one of Li Yao's professional texts, leafing through it idly. Further up on the desk sat a steaming bowl of beef noodles.

Only the small desk lamp was switched on in the office. Du Yusheng's eyesight wasn't great, he had his head tilted, leaning close under the lamp as he read word by word.

"I heard from the nurse you wanted to talk to me?" Li Yao cleared his throat.

As soon as Du Yusheng saw Li Yao come in, he leapt to his feet with a start.

He didn't rush to speak. Instead, he stood behind Li Yao and lifted the collar of Li Yao's white coat. Contrary to what he had expected, the back of the collar was completely blank, not a single letter on it. Du Yusheng thought to himself, Regardless of whether Li Yao is the murderer, as long as that white coat is still around, if it contains only one person's skin tissue, then the likelihood of Li Yao being connected to Chen Xin's death is very high. But if there is skin tissue from another person on it, then that individual is very likely the culprit.

However, this was a new white coat.

"Why don't you have a name on the back?" Du Yusheng frowned. "Don't you doctors usually like to have your names written on the back of the collar?"

Li Yao was a bit slow to react but then went, "Oh," as he fixed his collar and smiled at Du Yusheng. "I couldn't find my white coat this morning, so I just grabbed one without a name on it."

"Your clothes all get sent to the laundry, right?" Du Yusheng asked. "What day do they wash them?"

Li Yao pretended not to catch Du Yusheng's intention as he flipped through the calendar on his desk.

"We just throw them into the laundry bins in the corridor, then someone from the laundry room comes to pick them up. The washing day should be today, Monday, so it should already be in the wash." Li Yao added, "Why, is there something wrong with my clothes?"

Looks like they could only check the surveillance footage near the laundry bins in the corridor for any clues.

Du Yusheng sighed quietly, almost inaudibly.

The bowl of beef noodles on the desk was still steaming. Du Yusheng moved it closer to Li Yao.

"Eat it while it's hot," Du Yusheng smiled. "I've reheated it three times already, are you doctors all this hardworking?"

Li Yao had just eaten. He opened the disposable chopsticks and placed them on either side of the noodles but didn't touch the heap.

He looked up at Du Yusheng.

The office light was dim, and it seemed the owner had no intention of turning on another lamp. The desk lamp's illumination was limited to the area around the desk, while Du Yusheng sat on the sofa, unable to be seen clearly. He was only a dark shadowy shape, as if cloaked in darkness.

Even without seeing him properly, Li Yao could guess that he was being watched.

"Did you sleep well last night?" Li Yao asked.

The shadow nodded slightly.

"But you disappeared as soon as you woke up," Du Yusheng's voice carried a trace of resentment.

Li Yao smiled and said, "I don't know what you like to eat, breakfast was a bit simple."

"Not simple, not simple," Du Yusheng stood up and moved into the light. "I... I, well, the food was quite good."

Li Yao stirred the noodles with his chopsticks for a moment.

"You actually fell asleep halfway through dinner with me last night, so I had no choice but to send you back to my place," Li Yao said, shaking his head a little helplessly. "I thought you'd wake up after a short nap, but you slept so deeply. I even asked where your house keys were. You just replied once and fell asleep again."

His calm words dispelled all the doubts in Du Yusheng's mind.

Du Yusheng recalled that last night Li Yao had indeed asked him where his house keys were. At that time, Du Yusheng had subconsciously glanced at the clock on the wall, it was about eleven in the evening. In other words, Li Yao had no time to commit the crime. He woke up around six or seven in the morning, and Li Yao only started his shift at nine. Why would he go to the hospital so early? Or did he do something else instead of going to the hospital?

"You only started your shift at nine in the morning, right?" Du Yusheng asked. "You left pretty early, when I woke up, you were already gone."

Li Yao nodded. "I had to prepare for two surgeries today."

"You really didn't leave your home except to go to work in the morning?"

Li Yao sighed and put his chopsticks aside.

"You can check the surveillance for when I started my shift. You can track my license plate to see if I came to the hospital," Li Yao brought his face closer to the light and said, "You know best what I've been doing since last night until now. If you think it over more, you won't need to ask me."

Du Yusheng said quickly, "No, no."

He knew Li Yao was angry.

"Look, I'm just asking casually," Du Yusheng said. "I didn't even know you were with me."

Li Yao scratched his ear.

"I heard Chen Xin in bed twenty-five died. What, this has something to do with me too?"

Du Yusheng nodded. "This matter really does concern you. Someone wearing your white coat killed Chen Xin."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: May 30, 2025 by Angel

Edited: June 17, 2025 by Angel