Controlled Experiment Chapter 58

Two Missing One – 8

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In fact, apart from his own brother, Du Yusheng was the first person Jing Mo was ever interested in.

He found this person fascinating.

That was the impression he'd had from their very first meeting.

Jing Mo was fond of Du Yusheng's kind of appearance. He had the face of someone intelligent, looked as though he'd been through countless battles, yet was, at heart, a pure-hearted little virgin who liked his brother, Li Yao, but harboured suspicion towards him at the same time, and he couldn't help being drawn in. Jing Mo had never believed in any of that bullshit about liking someone, he was someone who lacked all forms of emotional depth. He was curious: if all the evidence pointed to Li Yao, what would Du Yusheng do? Would he still like him?

That line of thought was his starting point, and Jing Mo considered it deeply immature.

Du Yusheng was simply too interesting a person, Jing Mo couldn't bear to let him go so easily.

So much so that, later on, he very much wanted to destroy Du Yusheng.

Seeing him together with his brother made him deeply uncomfortable.

From a young age, Jing Mo had been a timid and cowardly boy. Although he and his brother shared the same face, their personalities couldn't have been more different. Their father had been a complete bastard, utterly lacking in affection, and the things he'd done in front of the two of them were more appalling than murder or arson. His other brothers were no different. Sometimes, Jing Mo even felt that he ranked lower than the family dog. Jing Mo had always been afraid. Every time, it was his brother who stood in front of him, shielding him, while he did nothing but cry behind him. As long as his brother was there, he never had to take responsibility for anything, because his brother would protect him.

Twins were never meant to be separated.

But when, one day, that protection vanished from his side, the blow for Jing Mo was utterly devastating.

In the beginning, when his brother had first disappeared, the thing Jing Mo did most often was cry. But fists were the best remedy for tears. After being beaten enough times, Jing Mo never cried again.

He had always believed his brother would come back.

Would return just as before, to protect him.

So much so that, even after being toyed with for so long by a paedophile, Jing Mo still clung to that hope.

Stranded on a deserted island.

At the beginning, perhaps Jing Mo had thought it was a terrible thing. Back then, the thing he did most often each day was lean by the shore, staring into the distance over and over again. He hoped his father might regain some shred of humanity, might sail over and pick him up. More than that, he hoped that the person who looked exactly like him would appear and pull him out of the abyss.

Whether it was being molested, or loneliness...

Jing Mo gradually began to feel that having an island all to himself wasn't such a bad thing.

At least it meant he didn't have to deal with anyone.

Having a dog was a great comfort, it was better than a person.

Jing Mo built himself a shelter to keep out the wind and rain. With that, it wasn't quite so cold when it rained.

Sometimes, Jing Mo would even talk to the dog. Being alone was unbearably lonely, but with a dog, he had someone to sleep beside, someone to chat to. Even if one day he caught some illness and died there, Jing Mo felt that wouldn't be so bad.

Later.

Later, someone ordered Jing Mo to shoot the dog dead. Jing Mo couldn't bring himself to do it, so that person shot the dog in front of him.

The very last bit of hope.

That was when he finally understood, his brother wasn't coming back.

Rather than coming back, he hoped that Li Yao would die.

They say parallel universes exist, that in the same moment, there's another version of you, living a completely different life. Perhaps they become the version you most wish you could be, living the kind of life you could never even touch in this one.

Isn't Li Yao exactly that?

So, Brother, it's better to be dead.

Jing Mo often thought, Murder can't be blamed on me, it's because you are all too superfluous.

In the end, the person Jing Mo hated most was the one who looked exactly like himself.

Obviously, we're the same, so why did our paths turn out so different?

You.

Are my controlled experiment.

=========

Jing Mo tilted his head, glancing at Du Yusheng sitting in the passenger seat. The latter was eating the last few packs of sausages they had bought. Perhaps finding them salty, he took a sip of water every now and then.

Du Yusheng returned the look, chewing as he asked, "Aren't you hungry? You've been driving for ages."

Jing Mo didn't say anything and shook his head with a smile.

Du Yusheng finished the last of the sausages, tossed the wrapper into a plastic bag and set it aside. The road ahead was growing more and more unfamiliar, completely different from the direction they'd taken earlier. Du Yusheng started to feel that something was off.

He asked, "How much further is it? Where exactly are we going?"

Jing Mo pressed the car horn and replied with a smile, "Almost there, almost there."

Twenty minutes later, the car finally came to a stop.

Du Yusheng bent forward and peered out of the window. It was an abandoned hospital.

At first, Du Yusheng didn't notice, but as he got closer, he saw the hospital's name faintly printed at the entrance. Du Yusheng had a vague recollection of it, this used to be a psychiatric hospital. Later, a new facility was built and the hospital relocated, leaving the old site to sit unused. Its location was remote, so developers weren't interested, and it had been sitting empty like this for years.

Du Yusheng was about to get out when Jing Mo reached out and stopped him.

He froze and glanced at the fingers resting on his arm.

"... Not getting out?"

Jing Mo shook his head and smiled. "Have all your injuries healed?"

Du Yusheng gave a small hum in response.

He looked at the Li Yao in front of him and didn't say anything, because he once again caught that faint scent of cologne on him and felt that sense of incongruity, stronger than ever before. It felt as if, this man wasn't Li Yao.

Jing Mo couldn't help but reach out and touch Du Yusheng's eyes.

"Your eyes are really beautiful." His fingers slid lightly down Du Yusheng's cheek. "And your face too. Very handsome. You really like him, don't you?"

Du Yusheng sat almost rigidly, staring motionlessly into Jing Mo's eyes.

Jing Mo suddenly smiled.

"For you, the first to die was your father, then Luo Daheng, then Chen Xin, and now Xu Yuan." Jing Mo lounged lazily in the car seat. He had already locked the doors, so Du Yusheng had no way of getting out. He chuckled. "There's only one person left in that photograph now. Du Yusheng, are you afraid? Do you want to know what the controlled experiment really is? Actually... the controlled experiment is right in front of you."

"A murder occurs, the killer is found, the killer dies, and then another murder happens, on and on in an endless cycle," Jing Mo laughed. "It's like an invisible chain, one person after another. Do you think it might be your turn next? That encounter with Zhao Liang, I arranged it, did you like it?"

Jing Mo suddenly leaned in towards Du Yusheng, bringing his lips close to his ear and exhaling lightly, whispering, "If I were to kill you right here and now, do you think anyone would know who did it?"

Du Yusheng's eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at Jing Mo's face.

He slowly uttered the other person's name: "... Li Yao..."

"Li Yao?" Jing Mo let out a giggle. "Wrong." He held up a finger and waved it in front of Du Yusheng's face. "Seven people, each corresponds to a different number. In every round, someone dies. Each round has a death card and a box. You won't know what's inside until you open it. If the prize in the first round is ten, the second round would be twenty, the third forty, doubling each time. Finding seven people in need of money is far too easy."

"But... they'll never actually get the money," Jing Mo coughed twice. "Because I'll kill them too. They all deserve to die, every last one of them. Since death is inevitable, what difference does it make whether it's sooner or later? Du Yusheng, do you know how much I've hated? I wanted to live properly too, just like all of you, but I never had that chance. We're the same. Do you really think he doesn't hate as well? But I don't need to tell you too much about this, he'll tell you everything himself."

Du Yusheng clenched his fists. He felt utterly deceived.

Jing Mo's tone was so calm, as though they were merely chatting.

It didn't sound like he was talking about life and death at all.

Jing Mo glanced down at the watch on his wrist, then looked up through the car window and said, "Do you want to look up?"

Du Yusheng seemed to sense something and stiffly bent forward to look outside.

Then he heard a loud thud.

He saw a strange man jump from the upper floor, landing with a sickening crash onto the windshield right in front of him.

A living man had fallen to his death from a building right before Du Yusheng's eyes. The man's blood began to seep through the gap in the window.

The man's face was pressed up against the windshield, staring at Du Yusheng.

Du Yusheng had seen that face before, he was one of the participants in the Huan Island murder case, and his name seemed to be Zhao Hang.

He twitched a few times, murmured something under his breath, and then moved no more.

Zhao Hang was dead.

"Li Yao! You fucking..."

Du Yusheng swung his fist, but Jing Mo was quicker. He grabbed Du Yusheng and clamped a hand tightly over his mouth.

As if he had exerted a lot of effort, Jing Mo took a few heavy breaths and coughed twice.

"Shh."

Jing Mo held up his index finger between them, "Guess why he died..."

Then he extended his hand.

"My name's not Li Yao," Jing Mo said with a smile. "We should be properly introduced, my surname is Jing."

Jing Mo adjusted the corner of his jacket, then reached out his hand in a formal manner.

Du Yusheng's expression froze at once.

He didn't even know which part of all this was hitting him harder.

Then he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket.

The incoming call displayed two words:

Li Yao.

Du Yusheng's mind exploded with a deafening roar.

He looked at Jing Mo.

If this man isn't Li Yao, then who is he...

Jing Mo was still smiling at him. This time, the smile was even more chilling.

"Li Yao..." Jing Mo laughed, "Don't we look exactly the same?"

In that instant, Du Yusheng finally understood the meaning of the controlled experiment.

You, are my perfect controlled experiment.

=========

Author's Note:

You, are my perfect controlled experiment.

‿︵‿︵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: June 21, 2025 by Angel

Edited: August 5, 2025 by Angel