Controlled Experiment Chapter 59

Two Missing One – 9

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When Li Yao rushed over, Du Yusheng was sitting quietly in the car.

It looked as though he had been sitting in the front passenger seat for quite some time. He hadn't moved at all, his vacant eyes fixed on the lifeless man who had fallen onto the windshield. The blood had already begun to congeal and dry, clinging tightly to the glass.

Du Yusheng was gripping his phone tightly in his hand, which showed dozens of missed calls.

When Li Yao arrived, his phone was still ringing.

After quite a while, he finally saw Du Yusheng blankly pick up the call.

"Xu Yuan is dead, the murderer fled," Du Yusheng chuckled and said to the person on the phone. "You guys can come, the one who fled, he's dead now, he's here with me."

Li Yao stopped the car and slowly approached Du Yusheng.

Even as he got closer, Du Yusheng still didn't say a word, as though he hadn't seen Li Yao at all.

Li Yao softly called his name a couple of times. The other man didn't respond.

Left with no choice, Li Yao sighed, opened the driver's side door, and sat down.

Right in front of the two of them was the body that had fallen on the car. Only minutes ago, this man had been alive, now he lay dead right there. Li Yao looked at the corpse, then at Du Yusheng, who was still in the same position.

He had never seen Du Yusheng look so defeated before.

In Li Yao's eyes, Du Yusheng had always been someone persistent, full of sunshine, an idiot, perhaps, but occasionally quick-witted too. And now, there was not a trace of expression on Du Yusheng's face. He sat as still as a statue, so silent he seemed almost non-existent.

Li Yao sat there for several minutes, but Du Yusheng still didn't move.

They couldn't just ignore the body in front of them, so Li Yao had no choice but to take out his phone, he was going to call the police.

"No need," Du Yusheng said softly. "I've already called the police... the highway police, they won't get here that fast."

His voice was utterly exhausted. Li Yao looked at Du Yusheng's face, he still wasn't looking at him. Even his breathing seemed steeped in weariness.

"... Du Yusheng..."

Li Yao called his name softly.

Du Yusheng froze, then suddenly smiled.

He looked at Li Yao.

"I finally understand," Du Yusheng turned his head and smiled. "I finally understand what a 'controlled experiment' really is. And I finally understand why sometimes you don't seem like yourself, but like someone else entirely. I get it now, it's because you, Li Yao, are two people. You and him, apart from the experimental conditions, you're identical. A lot of things that never made sense to me before now do. Including so many things about you that couldn't be explained, I understand them all now. Li Yao, you've got a fucking hard heart."

As if he could no longer hold it in, Du Yusheng swung his fist and landed it hard on that face he had once liked so much.

One punch after another.

Li Yao didn't fight back, he took the two punches square on.

Du Yusheng didn't hold back in the slightest, pinning him down firmly in the driver's seat.

"I've wanted to do this for ages," Du Yusheng laughed. "I've wanted to punch you in the face like this for a long time. Li Yao, at first I told myself, if you ever dared to lie to me, I'd kill you. But when the moment really came, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I treated you like this, how did you treat me? Huh?"

Still unable to bear it, Du Yusheng looked at the corner of Lai Yao's mouth, then averted his gaze and withdrew the arm that had been pressing on his neck.

As if defeated, Du Yusheng shook his head helplessly and forced a bitter smile.

"I'm sorry."

He heard Li Yao say softly.

Du Yusheng swore under his breath, "Fuck," then turned his head away and slammed it heavily against the window.

Li Yao reached out, as if to touch Du Yusheng, but just before his hand made contact, he drew it back. He looked at the man on the windshield.

"You met him, didn't you?"

He was, of course, referring to Jing Mo.

Du Yusheng nodded and let out a long sigh. "I feel like I must've seen him more than once, he even asked me if the two of you looked alike."

Li Yao frowned and tilted his head slightly, wiping at the corner of his mouth. "... He brought you here?"

Nodding again, Du Yusheng, utterly exhausted, wiped a hand across his face. "I thought it was you..."

Seeing Li Yao again now, Du Yusheng couldn't quite describe how he felt.

Clearly, it was a face I liked very much at first sight, clearly, it was a person I wanted to touch the most. Why is it that now, with him so close to me, I can't see through him? How long have I been played by him?

Was it from the very beginning?

Since Jing Mo left, Du Yusheng had been going over it in his mind, wondering exactly when it all began.

When had the two brothers started to make a fool of me?

But regardless of when it began, there was one thing Du Yusheng felt sure he had said right.

"My patience can only take me so far."

"Li Yao," Du Yusheng turned his head to look at Li Yao and asked, "did both of you just see me as some fucking idiot all along?"

These past few days have seen the first drop in temperature after a long spell of bright sunshine. Recently, the weather had been swinging unpredictably; one day, people were wearing wool coats, and the next, they had to switch to heavy down jackets overnight. When Li Yao got in the car, he had clearly shut the door tight, yet even now he could still feel the wind creeping in.

It chilled him straight through the chest.

Li Yao scratched his brow.

"We were separated when we were very young," Li Yao said, shaking his head. "I even thought he was dead for a while..."

"That's enough."

Du Yusheng looked at Li Yao and laughed. "I don't want to hear about how painful his childhood was, I don't care at all about his psychological journey. I only care about you! Li Yao, you still haven't answered me. Did the two of you really think I was some fucking idiot? That just because I liked you, you could do whatever you pleased without consequences? That you didn't have to care how it affected me? Starting from Luo Daheng, all the way to Xu Yuan now, Li Yao, how many things have you done that I don't know about? Do you dare to say them one by one? Li Yao..." Du Yusheng jabbed a finger hard against his own chest for Li Yao to see, "Li Yao, what exactly do you have in here?"

Li Yao frowned, he didn't know what to say to Du Yusheng.

He had imagined so many times what it would be like if Du Yusheng ever learned the truth one day.

But Li Yao hadn't expected that day to come so soon, and so bluntly.

"There are seven people in the photo," Li Yao drew a deep breath and said, "Just as you thought, Jing Mo wants to kill them one by one. He hates those seven people, hates them for ruining his life. But Jing Mo never kills people himself, he chooses a middleman to do it for him, then he kills the middleman. These middlemen are mostly heavy criminals who have just been released from prison, or people who can't pay off their debts to loan sharks, or those with murder cases on their records. They are all people with a long history of criminal records, and once they're dead, there's no way to investigate. Luo Daheng wasn't the first case, and Xu Yuan won't be the last."

Li Yao took out his phone and looked at the group photo.

"The message you received worked the same way, seven numbers, one to seven. Like a box, you only find out what's inside once you choose it. Maybe it tells you to kill the person in the photo, maybe it was an empty room, or maybe nothing at all. The money doubles with each round. For people like them, no one can resist that kind of temptation. A human life means nothing compared to money, and besides, they carry more than one life on their shoulders"

Du Yusheng stared at Li Yao, his eyes bloodshot, his fingers tapping constantly on the car window.

"... He's killing people, this is murder," Du Yusheng stressed.

Li Yao let out a soft laugh.

"To be honest, I really thought he was dead for a while," Li Yao said. "Do you remember the first time you met me? At that time, Luo Daheng died, and I appeared in the surveillance footage from before his death. You showed me the surveillance footage, and that's when I realised that the person in the footage wasn't me, but him. That was also the first time I saw him after I grew up."

Du Yusheng slammed his fists against the seat in front of him.

"Even if you have a thousand reasons, he is still killing people."

Li Yao looked at Du Yusheng, but didn't say anything in defence.

Du Yusheng licked the corner of his mouth and said, "I really do feel like a fucking idiot. Li Yao, the police will be here soon, have you thought about what you're going to say?"

"... I can't say anything."

Du Yusheng froze.

"I can't say anything," Li Yao repeated.

Du Yusheng said, "Your brother is killing people."

"How can you prove that?" Li Yao lifted his head to look at Du Yusheng.

"... What do you mean, prove it?" Du Yusheng asked. "What are you trying to say?"

"How are you going to prove that Jing Mo is still alive?"

Du Yusheng was stunned by the question, to the point where he didn't react for a few seconds.

"How are you going to prove he's still alive?" Li Yao repeated. "In everyone's eyes, he's already dead, he doesn't exist."

"Bullshit!" Du Yusheng cursed. "He just fucking brought me here!"

"... What if you're lying?" said Li Yao.

Du Yusheng was suddenly at a loss.

Li Yao was absolutely right.

Many people can see Du Yusheng's feelings for Li Yao. Even if they don't know what those feelings are, to outsiders, the relationship between the two can at least be described as friendship. If Du Yusheng were to tell others right now that Li Yao has a twin brother, and that both of them were Jing Wen's sons, setting aside the fact that they were Jing Wen's sons, even just the notion of them being twin brothers would likely be met with disbelief, just as Li Yao predicted. It's like if you've been an only child for many years, then suddenly someone comes out and tells others that you actually have a twin brother and that this twin brother has gone and committed murder, it's just absurd.

"Some people might think that you're covering for me, which is why you suddenly mentioned someone who looks exactly like me."

Li Yao pointed inside the car and said, "Jing Mo is a person who has no traceable life, he's used my name to do many things. The car he took from the parking lot that day, the car you're sitting in now, even the half-built residential building where you met Zhao Liang that day, were all bought in my name by him. If you go to the police now and tell the truth, there can only be one outcome."

Du Yusheng looked at Li Yao and said with a small smile, "The result is that you get taken away, while Jing Mo remains free."

Li Yao nodded. "Or if we're lucky, people will find out about Jing Mo and go after him. A year and a half, or even more, but in the end? Maybe even when he dies, you still won't be able to find him. Jing Mo absolutely has the ability to make sure none of you can find him."

Du Yusheng lit a cigarette.

Looking at Li Yao through the smoke of his cigarette, Du Yusheng suddenly felt that this feeling was quite nice.

He could tell that Li Yao was showing weakness.

Du Yusheng smiled faintly. "After saying all that, Li Yao, are you asking me for help?"

Scratching his head, Du Yusheng lazily took a drag of his cigarette.

"Or maybe I could just tell them it was you, Li Yao, who did all this?"

Li Yao froze.

Du Yusheng went on, "Li Yao, this isn't the only thing you need to explain to me. Let's have a proper talk."

He suddenly found himself missing that golden scalpel Li Yao had given him. Tilting his head, Du Yusheng stared at Li Yao's chest, wondering if he might be able to carve out a piece of flesh with that blade.

‿︵‿︵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 22, 2025 by Angel

Edited: August 5, 2025 by Angel