Controlled Experiment Chapter 56

Two Missing One – 6

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Li Yao slowly lit a cigarette and held it between his fingers.

His smoking was a novelty to Qi Lei, who couldn't help leaning against the car door to appreciate it for a moment.

Before long, Qi Lei reached out to stop Li Yao from taking a drag. "Back when we were abroad, I never saw you smoke. Seeing you light up now and then, why does it feel so strange?"

"Strange?" Li Yao gave a small smile, looking at his own face in the rearview mirror. "Someone once told me that when I smoke, I look just like Jing Mo. Didn't you want to meet him? I'm letting you see what he looks like."

Qi Lei suddenly laughed.

He reached over and patted Li Yao's shoulder.

"You know, you were really something overseas back then, working with others to take down your drug lord foster father, leaving no one behind and cleaning up everything thoroughly. Did a brilliant job." Qi Lei gave him a thumbs-up, teasing, "Sometimes when I think back on it, it still feels fucking satisfying."

Li Yao glanced at Qi Lei but didn't say anything and simply stubbed out the cigarette in his hand.

Qi Lei looked at the side of Li Yao's face and smiled.

He knew what was going through Li Yao's mind.

"Actually, some things you don't need to worry about so much." For once, Qi Lei didn't lounge lazily, he sat up straight and looked at Li Yao. "The one who got thrown away back then, it wasn't you, it was Jing Mo. You've told me before, he was timid and cowardly from a young age, raise your voice a bit and he'd be scared out of his wits. In your father's eyes, he was just a useless piece of trash. Whether he lived or died, he wasn't worth as much as the cigarette in your dad's hand, so your dad chose to cast him away. But then..." Qi Lei looked into Li Yao's eyes. "But you two looked exactly the same, and you were the elder brother, so you walked that road in his place. You made what you believed at the time was the right choice, leaving your younger brother behind."

Li Yao stared at the stubbed-out cigarette. He suddenly regretted putting it out so soon.

Qi Lei slapped away Li Yao's fingers that were reaching for another cigarette, then continued, "Really, don't dwell on it so much. You may look identical, but in the end, you're still two different people. No one can live another person's life. You, even if you were left behind, would never have become him. And he, even if he had been cast away, would never have become who you are now. Li Yao, everyone's born with a hand of cards. How you play them, how you lay them out, is your own choice. Others might interfere along the way, but they don't get to decide how it ends."

Li Yao gazed at the crowds and traffic outside the car window and took a deep breath.

When he received the news that Jing Mo was still alive, Li Yao was still overseas, engaged in the final showdown with the drug lord deep in the jungle.

Like everyone else, Li Yao also believed that his younger brother had long been dead.

The person who passed the news to Li Yao through a middleman was Zhuang Hao.

Zhuang Hao was someone who knew very well how to protect himself. The fact that he had survived this long, holding onto so much information without incident, proved that he had his own unique methods. No one could do anything about him. For someone like that to suddenly send out a signal to you, Li Yao understood that Zhuang Hao must have encountered something that genuinely threatened his life, forcing him to seek help from others.

And that matter was that Zhuang Hao had drawn a death card, he had to kill Old Master Du.

As it happened, it was also because of this opportunity that Li Yao met Du Yusheng for the first time.

The first time meeting Du Yusheng wasn't a very good time.

Back then, Du Yusheng had been sitting in Director Er's office, on that dark-coloured sofa. On the coffee table opposite him were a few cups of lukewarm water. The visitors had been there a long time, yet no one had moved a muscle. Du Yusheng's hands were clenched tightly over his face, his teeth were gritted, and he was holding back his tears, but the redness in his eyes betrayed everything he was feeling.

He was dressed impeccably, wore an expensive watch, was clearly a pampered young master, and had a remarkably handsome face.

He sat quietly for a long time with his face covered, until Director Er walked over and patted him on the shoulder, offering a few words of comfort. Du Yusheng, however, didn't say a single word.

Li Yao had been standing just outside the door, watching him. Du Yusheng was extremely good-looking, that was Li Yao's first real impression of him.

Which meant that Li Yao had known of Du Yusheng far earlier than Du Yusheng had known him.

It was all a circle, going round and round, always returning to the beginning.

=========

Nearly three hours later, Li Yao finally arrived at the location mentioned in Du Yusheng's message.

Rather than calling it a dust-covered wasteland, Li Yao preferred to describe it as an abandoned residence.

Though whether it even qualified as a residence was debatable, it was crumbling to bits. The area surrounding it was completely desolate, with only this one abrupt, solitary house standing there. And oddly enough, it was the only one, a single-storey structure. Driving in from the other direction, Li Yao had observed the villages and landscape along the way, and by his estimation, the nearest village must have been at least a dozen kilometres away. In other words, there wasn't a soul around.

In this vast emptiness, this lone building stood out sharply.

It looked as though no one had lived there in years, even the windows on the outside were shattered.

Li Yao didn't rush inside. Instead, he surveyed the surroundings first.

Apart from a patch of indistinct vegetation behind the building, there was almost nothing, just a scattering of tree stumps among the tall weeds.

No car. No people. Not even the faintest trace of human presence.

Li Yao felt something was off. This wasn't what he had expected.

He double-checked the coordinates several times, and only after confirming them beyond doubt did he lift one foot and approach the solitary house.

The house was old, and it was only when he got closer that he realised it was even older than he thought. As Li Yao touched the wooden door panel, he paused for a moment. It appeared this house had been built by its owner, the tree stumps behind the house had likely been used as the timber for its construction.

Although it is a house built by hand, the craftsmanship of the builders is quite good, with each structure fitting perfectly and finely.

Gently pushing the door open, the first thing that hit him was the dust from inside.

It seemed nothing inside had been touched for quite some time, as even a small step stirred up the thick layer of dust on the floor, leaving clear footprints behind.

It was a one-bedroom house.

Anywhere someone walked, they would leave a trail. The footprints Li Yao left were undoubtedly the first on the ground, confirming that so far, he was the only person to have entered.

So why had Du Yusheng received coordinates to an empty house?

That didn't align with Jing Mo's character.

Li Yao stepped into the living room. There wasn't much furniture, just a simple table and a couple of chairs. From this, it was clear the owner had led a very solitary life, likely alone. The nearest village was over ten kilometres away. Li Yao suddenly found himself wondering who could have lived in a place like this.

The bedroom was right next to the living room, and its layout was similar. Aside from a necessary bed and chair, there was nothing else.

Still empty.

Li Yao found it odd and turned to step out and make a phone call.

Then, he saw a picture frame placed on the chair.

Or rather, it wasn't exactly a frame, it was just a photograph, its surface obscured by a thick layer of dust, making it impossible to see the image clearly.

Li Yao used his sleeve to brush the dust away, he was quite curious about who lived here.

This was a very interesting photo; it was a composite photo made by cutting two photos in half and stitching them together. Li Yao patiently cleaned it, bit by bit, until his own face emerged from it.

This stitched-together photo was of him and Jing Mo.

Looking at the bizarre picture, a chill crept across Li Yao's palms.

Now he understood why Du Yusheng had been sent those coordinates, this had once been where Jing Mo had lived.

Now that he knew who the owner was, Li Yao stood in the centre of the living room, and all at once, Jing Mo's life seemed to piece itself back together before him. He had built a house here all by himself, got up alone each morning, dressed in front of a mirror, washed up alone, ate alone, stood outside bored and alone, then went to bed, again alone. This cycle repeated endlessly. Perhaps at times he even spoke to himself, or to the photograph. With nothing and no one, not knowing what he was supposed to do, nor what he even could do.

Li Yao thought that during those days when Jing Mo had been considered "dead," Jing Mo lived like this on his own.

No one knew he was alive. No one knew who he was.

Li Yao stood quietly in the living room, taking in everything around him, yet his chest felt unusually tight and sore. That photo he had found in the bedroom, Li Yao carefully took it out and put it in his pocket. It was shameful, really. They were twins, and yet they didn't even have a proper photo together where both their faces were visible. Even appearing in a photo had to happen in this way.

Wiping his face, Li Yao stepped out of the house.

There was no doubt that it was an empty house.

And nothing like what he had expected.

Before coming, Li Yao had prepared himself for any unexpected outcome. Yet now, there was nothing, just an empty house.

If Du Yusheng had come here, he would have seen nothing except that spliced-together photograph.

Was Jing Mo trying to tell Du Yusheng that he is one of the twins?

Li Yao couldn't make sense of it.

If the death card isn't in Du Yusheng's hands, then someone else must have drawn it.

But who?

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Li Yao glanced at the screen, it was Qi Lei.

"Hello?"

"Li Yao?" Qi Lei sounded like he was yawning. A few seconds later, he drawled slowly, "Li Yao, just like you said, nothing on my end. What about you? Don't tell me you've run into your brother? Or someone dead? Hurry up and send me a picture, let me see if you two really do look exactly the same."

"......" Li Yao replied, "There's nothing on my side."

Qi Lei paused for a moment.

He hadn't expected that either.

Soon, Qi Lei came to his senses.

"What the fuck? Li Yao, something's not right." Qi Lei suddenly sped up his speech. "I don't know exactly how your game works, but if the death card's not with Du Yusheng, then someone else has drawn it."

Li Yao nodded. "That's what I was thinking too."

Could it really be just to make Du Yusheng see that spliced photo?

Li Yao rubbed his fingers and sat back in the car.

Then, in the rearview mirror, he saw Du Yusheng's car slowly pulling up.

It looked like a new vehicle, Li Yao hadn't seen it before.

There was still a bandage wrapped around Du Yusheng's head. His emotions were always written clearly across his face, and now it was anxiety. Li Yao watched him park the car nearby, and then open the door and limp toward him.

Seeing him like that, Li Yao couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. He opened the car door and stepped out.

"... Didn't we agree I'd come in your place?" Li Yao said.

Du Yusheng had only just recovered from a serious accident, and after driving for several hours, his body was struggling to cope. He leaned against the car door, panting heavily.

"I couldn't rest easy with you coming here alone," Du Yusheng said with a faint smile. "I originally wanted to come with you, but I didn't expect you to leave in such a hurry. Do you have any idea how fast I was driving on the way here? I was more worried about you than if something had happened to me. My heart felt like it was stuck in my throat the whole time, it was only when I saw you sitting safely in the car that I finally relaxed."

Li Yao opened the trunk and took out a bottle of mineral water, handing it to him. "You ran out of the hospital? Didn't the nurses try to stop you?"

"Who can stop me?" Du Yusheng laughed, taking the bottle from Li Yao and gulping it down.

The house stood just metres away, and Du Yusheng lifted his chin towards it. "Anything?"

Li Yao shook his head. "Nothing."

Du Yusheng let out a mocking laugh, testing Li Yao. "Is this a fucking joke? Dragged me all the way out here for nothing, what do you think this person's really trying to do?"

Li Yao didn't say anything.

Looking at Li Yao, Du Yusheng frowned. "And Li Yao..."

He'd meant to ask about the visit to Boss Lu, but just then, Du Yusheng's phone vibrated.

It was a call from Qin Yan.

Du Yusheng glanced at Li Yao, then turned away and walked a few steps to take the call.

"Hello? Qin Yan?"

"Du Yusheng, where the hell have you gone?" Qin Yan shouted. "Who said you could leave? Are you not afraid of being found dead in a ditch?"

Du Yusheng licked the corner of his mouth and replied with a grin, "Tch, I just went out for a little stroll, I'll be back soon. What, you went to the hospital looking for me?"

Qin Yan took a deep breath and then said, "Du Yusheng, Xu Yuan is dead."

Du Yusheng froze, and his head buzzed like it had exploded.

"He just got off the plane. Before the team could even reach him, someone strangled him in the airport washroom."

Xu Yuan is dead?

Du Yusheng hung up and turned to look at Li Yao.

"Xu Yuan's dead," Du Yusheng said. "There's only one person left alive in the photo now."

Li Yao didn't respond. He felt the phone in his pocket vibrate, it seemed a message had come through, but he didn't take it out to check.

At the same time, Du Yusheng also received a message.

Li Yao guessed they must have received the same one.

"Next round is about to begin."

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Author's Note:

What is the younger brother trying to do, hmm?

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Angel: Hey everyone! I've decided to take next week off, as I'm flying home with just my laptop and I felt that it was a good time to take a rest. I'll see you guys again on September 1st!

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

Translated: June 20, 2025 by Angel

Edited: July 29, 2025 by Angel