Controlled Experiment Chapter 60

Two Missing One – 10

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"So, Brother Yu, what you're saying is..." Xiao Bai scratched his face and looked somewhat awkwardly at Du Yusheng. "You're saying that you were lured to that abandoned psychiatric hospital by someone who claimed to be Li Yao's friend?"

Du Yusheng nodded.

Xiao Bai smacked his lips, scratched his head, and said, "So this person claiming to be Li Yao's friend was driving Li Yao's car, found you at the rest area, and then took you to that abandoned psychiatric hospital, am I understanding it correctly, Brother Yu?"

Du Yusheng, propping his chin on his hand, nodded again without denying it.

"..." Xiao Bai took a deep breath. "Let's set everything else aside for a moment. Brother Yu, can you tell me how a complete stranger managed to get you to believe him? You know what the penalty is for giving false testimony, right?"

Du Yusheng yawned and smiled. "He said... he said Li Yao was waiting for me just ahead, and I believed him."

Xiao Bai nodded and pulled a face that clearly meant "you're unbelievable", then slammed the table in the interrogation room heavily. He braced his hands on the surface, bloodshot eyes fixed on Du Yusheng. "Brother Yu, this guy took you to an abandoned psychiatric hospital, and by some incredible coincidence, Zhao Hang just happened to fall from above the hospital, straight onto Li Yao's windshield. And not only that, this so-called friend of Li Yao's managed to get away without a scratch. Brother Yu... I can't explain this away."

Xiao Bai looked deadly serious, but Du Yusheng didn't seem the least bit bothered. He sat back with one leg crossed over the other, casually watching Xiao Bai.

Xiao Bai tossed the report notebook in front of Du Yusheng with a heavy thud, shrugged helplessly, and said, "Brother Yu, why don't you tell me how to write this up?"

Du Yusheng shook his head and smiled. "Write whatever you want. I'm suspended right now, remember, whatever you say goes."

"Fine." Xiao Bai nodded and slapped the table. "Then give me the name of this so-called friend of Li Yao's, his physical description, and tell me exactly, word for word, what happened between you and Li Yao before Zhao Hang died."

Looking at the expression on Xiao Bai's face, Du Yusheng pushed the notebook in front of him aside.

"Xu Yuan is dead?"

Xiao Bai nodded. "Strangled in the airport washroom."

"... Then the people in the photo..."

"There's only one left," Xiao Bai replied, looking at Du Yusheng. "That last one, we've got someone on him twenty-four hours a day, nothing else will happen."

Du Yusheng rubbed his fingers together and said, "As soon as you locked onto the suspect Zhao Hang, he ended up dead, didn't he?"

Xiao Bai hummed in confirmation.

"Very similar to the one who killed Chen Xin," Du Yusheng said, scratching the tip of his nose. "Just found them and they're dead, one after the other."

"Brother Yu..." Xiao Bai interrupted him, "you need to tell me exactly what happened. The death of Zhao Liang was already connected to you, and now there's another one. I think it's either that the real killer is targeting you, or you are the killer."

Du Yusheng held up one finger and waved it in front of Xiao Bai.

"There's only one person left in the photo, and in the end, the killer will be killed too," Du Yusheng blinked and said. "Then what if I make the first move and kill the remaining person?"

Xiao Bai froze.

Du Yusheng went on, "If I kill the last one, will I die too?"

Xiao Bai looked at Du Yusheng and didn't know what to say, because in his eyes, Xiao Bai could see that Du Yusheng wasn't joking.

Surely not...

Surely he isn't really planning to go through with it?

=========

After a mentally exhausting back-and-forth, Du Yusheng left the interrogation room, and the first thing he saw was Li Yao sitting not far away.

To be honest, after being apart for just a while, seeing him again made Du Yusheng feel a bit uneasy.

Because the two of them looked far too alike, so alike that if they didn't explain it themselves, Du Yusheng would have a hard time telling them apart.

Li Yao looked the same as usual, sitting quietly with both hands properly placed on his knees, old-fashioned yet refined. He was staring fixedly at a single point, and when Du Yusheng followed his gaze, he realised Li Yao was looking into a mirror.

He was making eye contact with the person in the reflection.

The person in the mirror had a faint purplish bruise at the corner of his mouth, with a crusted trace of blood still clinging to it.

He still couldn't bring himself to be cruel.

Du Yusheng walked over and coughed gently.

Li Yao didn't seem to notice and stayed in the same posture. Annoyed, Du Yusheng kicked his shoe. Only then did Li Yao react, turning his head and lifting his gaze to give Du Yusheng a faint smile.

Du Yusheng froze.

Looking at him now, the two of them really weren't completely identical, at the very least, the other one would never smile like that.

"..." Li Yao softly asked, "Are you okay?"

Are you okay, who the fuck is he asking?

Du Yusheng hadn't intended to respond to Li Yao, but his eyes inadvertently caught sight of the corner of the man's mouth.

Looking down at his own shoes, he casually averted his gaze and asked, "Does it hurt?" Du Yusheng added, "Your face..."

Li Yao instinctively touched the corner of his mouth and shook his head, saying, "It's all right."

Du Yusheng plonked himself down beside him, staring fixedly at the bruise on Li Yao's mouth. One of his hands rose involuntarily and pressed down hard on it. He only lowered his hand when he saw Li Yao's mouth twitch from the pain.

Clearly, it hurt so much that his lips twitched, but he didn't make a sound.

Du Yusheng couldn't help pressing down a few more times.

Li Yao didn't avoid it, letting Du Yusheng press on it.

Only when fresh blood began to seep from the corner of his mouth did Du Yusheng finally let go.

There was even a bit of red smeared on his fingertips. Du Yusheng wiped it off roughly on his clothes and muttered, "Now it's not okay any more."

Li Yao noticed how Du Yusheng deliberately turned away and suddenly smiled.

"It's fine," Li Yao said politely. "Just wipe it off."

He heard Du Yusheng curse, "Fuck."

After all, the police station was not a place for conversation. Du Yusheng walked outside, phone in hand. Li Yao didn't say a word and just followed behind him.

Both Jing Mo's and Li Yao's cars had been retained at the station as evidence.

It was late at night, no taxis were likely to pass by here, and the last bus had gone long ago. There were practically no means of transport. Short of walking to the next, slightly busier street to flag something down, Du Yusheng couldn't think of any other solution.

Du Yusheng turned back and glanced at Li Yao, who was following close behind.

"Li Yao, how the hell did you manage to walk out of the bureau unscathed?" Du Yusheng asked, the realisation dawning on him belatedly. "What, you'd prepared some flawless story? Or have you got your arms so deep inside the bureau they're touching the fucking foundations?"

There was a bit of distance between the two of them, and Li Yao quickened his steps to catch up.

"I didn't prepare anything," Li Yao said. "I just told the truth. When I arrived there, you were already in the car, and Zhao Hang was already dead. These are all facts, no need to make anything up."

Look at how composed he is, Du Yusheng sneered.

"So I was the only one busting my ass in there?" The anger bubbled back up in Du Yusheng's chest. "Did you plan all that too? Li Yao, how many more things are you hiding from me?"

Li Yao shook his head.

Du Yusheng held up a finger and gestured for him to stop.

"I'm more and more convinced now that you and your brother have been putting on a double act, stringing me along for your own amusement." Du Yusheng rubbed his fingers together. "There are still many things I don't understand, like how you suddenly appeared in my life, like why my dad died even though he wasn't in the photo, like why you suddenly became the son of an arms dealer, like whether you were involved in what your brother did, like... like why I am so..."

Du Yusheng pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I know I wasn't cut out for this line of work in the first place. If my dad hadn't died so suddenly, I wouldn't have gone begging Director Er to transfer me over." Du Yusheng looked up at Li Yao, there was something unreadable in his eyes. He shook his head and said helplessly, "There are still so many things I can't figure out. Give me some time. Until then, Li Yao, I won't be trusting you any more."

I won't be trusting you any more.

Li Yao looked at Du Yusheng, his chest tightening painfully.

"I'm going to use what little intelligence I have left..." Du Yusheng tilted his head and gave Li Yao a faint smile, "to do something I actually want to do."

At the street corner, a taxi finally appeared with its vacancy light on.

Du Yusheng raised a hand to hail it.

"Li Yao, even though I still like you, even though I still want to see your face," Du Yusheng shook his head, "I just can't trust you any more."

Du Yusheng repeated himself, then shut the car door without the slightest hesitation.

He thought to himself, This game isn't over yet.

Since we're going to play, let's play big.

=========

When Du Yusheng arrived at the club, He Shen was sitting in a private room. He had just raised his glass to his lips but hadn't even taken a sip before Du Yusheng's sudden appearance startled him.

"Fuck," He Shen swore. "What are you doing here?"

To He Shen, Du Yusheng was basically a debt collector these days. Whenever he showed up, it was either to ask him to investigate someone, check coordinates, or crack some code. He used to think Du Yusheng was quite interesting, a friend you could mess around with, indulging in a life of extravagance. But now? These days he was practically handing out daily IQ tests.

Du Yusheng didn't bother being polite. He waved away a few of the drinking buddies He Shen had called in for company, then dropped himself onto the sofa and snatched the glass from He Shen's hand, downing it in one go.

He Shen froze.

"Fuck," he swore. "Coming here just to eat and drink for free, is that it?"

Du Yusheng's eyes flicked to the watch on He Shen's wrist, the one he'd given him.

"Who got you that watch, such impeccable taste?"

He Shen cursed, "Bastard,"  then yanked his hand back. "Go on then, what is it this time? You've got me traumatised at this point. If it weren't for all those days we spent drinking and having fun, I'd have blocked you already."

Since He Shen had already called it out, there was no need for Du Yusheng to beat around the bush.

He simply pulled out his phone and placed it on the table.

The message notifications he'd been receiving most frequently these days were anonymous texts.

Du Yusheng casually opened a message, pointed at the anonymous sender of it, and said, "Can you help me trace this terminal?"

He Shen rubbed his eyes.

"You want to know the sender's location?" He Shen had let his hair grow out recently and now had it tied into a trendy little knot at the back, it was quite eye-catching. Du Yusheng gave it a fleeting glance, mildly irritated, while He Shen explained, "That's not really doable. Usually, this kind of terminal goes through a proxy, you won't get any useful info out of it, or even if it's not a proxy, it still won't be the actual terminal address, it's all virtual. What are you trying to do?"

Du Yusheng waved a hand.

"I know that." He took a sip from the glass He Shen had refilled. "That's not what I want. I just thought, since it can send me messages, can I send one back? Like... if I send a message to this terminal, will it receive it?"

He Shen scratched his nose, gave Du Yusheng another long look, then glanced down at the phone. After thinking it over for a bit, he nodded. "It's possible they'll get your message. Also possible they won't."

Du Yusheng looked down at the table. "Then I'll bet on them receiving it."

He Shen blinked at him. "What exactly are you trying to do?"

Du Yusheng raised an eyebrow. "Just send them one line in English."

"Welcome to my game."

‿︵‿︵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