Controlled Experiment Chapter 66

Two Missing One – 16

---

This countryside guesthouse originally belonged to Li Yao. Back then, the place was nothing but wasteland, far from the city centre, tucked between two provinces, and thoroughly unappealing, so Li Yao bought it. After several twists and turns, it eventually ended up in Qi Lei's hands.

Although Qi Lei had always held high standards for his clothes and appearance, his aesthetic sense was, frankly, limited. A perfectly good piece of land had been transformed into a rustic farmhouse. Still, he was rather pleased with himself. Whenever he grew tired of staying in the city, he would retreat here for a few days.

He called for someone to bring Du Yusheng a fresh bathrobe and toiletries. The guesthouse might belong to Qi Lei, but the staff were people Li Yao had left here long ago, people he trusted. There weren't many of them, just a handful, mainly to keep an eye on the property, tidy up, and ensure the water and electricity stayed on.

Watching Du Yusheng disappear from sight, Qi Lei ran a hand through his hair and turned to walk over to Li Yao.

Li Yao was still drinking tea. In truth, from the moment Du Yusheng had stepped into the guesthouse, Li Yao's gaze hadn't once left him, right up until he vanished from view.

Qi Lei jerked his chin.

"I've brought him," he said.

Li Yao nodded. He had meant to thank him, but Qi Lei shook his head and looked away.

Li Yao smiled faintly and looked around. "Back then, to stop this place from falling into disrepair, I left a few people behind to take care of it. Strange how this courtyard's changed hands so many times, and yet now it's yours, and still the same people are here?"

Qi Lei shrugged helplessly. "When it comes to your things, I can't bring myself to throw anything away."

Qi Lei had never felt the need to hide anything when it came to Li Yao. He looked toward the building where Du Yusheng was bathing. A faint light had started glowing from within, quickly casting the silhouette of a man showering against the wall.

Qi Lei chuckled quietly and shook his head.

He pulled a phone from his pocket and turned to Li Yao. "I brought the man, and I brought the thing too."

The phone in Qi Lei's hand belonged to Du Yusheng.

He told the staff who delivered the toiletries and clothes to "bring it along" while they were at it.

Naturally, this had been Li Yao's idea.

Li Yao nodded. "Just leave it on the table, I'll return it to him later."

Qi Lei raised an eyebrow and gave him a crooked grin. Pointing in the direction of the shower, he said, "Is it worth it for you to do this?"

Li Yao gazed off into the distance without replying.

Qi Lei went on, "Aren't you afraid you'll end up getting yourself killed over this?"

Li Yao said, "Actually, twins are quite strange. We come into this world together, but we don't necessarily leave it together. We come together, yet we might leave alone. The starting point of our lives is the same, but the endpoint could be worlds apart."

Li Yao looked at Qi Lei and smiled. "Sometimes I think we're quite alike. I was never a good person to begin with. If I were him, I wouldn't have waited this long, I might have killed everyone in that photo from the very start."

Qi Lei stared at Li Yao's face for a long time without speaking.

He rubbed his fingers together, picked up the cup of tea on the table, which had long gone cold, and took a large gulp.

In this season, liquids cooled quickly outdoors. The chilled tea sliding down his throat was far from pleasant, and a shiver ran through him.

Qi Lei said, "Don't talk to me like that." He slowly set the cup down and continued, "I've never met your brother, but I feel like, he must look exactly like you just did."

Li Yao gave a faint smile and shook his head when he heard this, saying nothing more.

Soon, the phone belonging to Du Yusheng on the table trembled.

A message had come through.

Just a single line.

"Where is he? Tell me, Du Yusheng."

=========

When Du Yusheng turned on the tap, he found himself wondering how long it had been since he'd had a proper shower. A week? Two? No wonder that Qi prick had looked so disgusted.

It wasn't as though Du Yusheng had never let himself go, back when he was on surveillance duty at a grassroots level, he'd gone weeks without even stepping outside.

But this time felt different. Even though Li Yao hadn't given him any clear explanation for everything that was happening, Du Yusheng still didn't want him to see him in such a state.

After he'd finished washing, Du Yusheng looked at the gaudy, eye-catching clothes laid out by the door. He hesitated for quite a while, then gave in and put on the flashy shirt and pants.

When he opened the door, the cold wind outside rushed in, instantly dispersing all the warmth from the room. The first thing Du Yusheng did was search for his phone, he patted down the clothes he'd changed out of, then the new ones he was wearing. No sign of it.

Du Yusheng panicked a little.

Still in his flip-flops, he stepped outside without thinking.

That guy, Qi Lei, was nowhere to be seen. Under the trellis, only Li Yao remained. He still sat there in the same manner, with a transparent teapot in front of him.

Li Yao looked up at Du Yusheng. 

The man was wearing a brightly coloured floral jacket, with matching shorts that reached his knees and were equally garish in pattern. On his feet were a pair of beach flip-flops. Du Yusheng frowned; slung over one shoulder was a pink-and-white striped towel in a colour scheme straight out of the last century.

It was a look beyond description. Li Yao couldn't even bring himself to raise his eyes for a second glance.

Yet the man himself didn't seem the least bit aware of anything wrong.

Du Yusheng strode up the steps in a few long strides.

He glanced towards the inner room and asked, "Where's that Qi Lei guy? And where's my phone?"

Li Yao looked up at Du Yusheng, his hair still dripping with water, and he didn't say anything. In this weather, not drying one's hair was a quick route to catching a cold. He went back inside, fetched a thick blue towel, and tossed it over Du Yusheng's head, pressing down hard and rubbing it into his hair.

"Let go," Du Yusheng broke free and growled. "I fucking knew that bastard was up to no good. I'm asking you, where is he? And where the hell is my phone?"

Li Yao looked at Du Yusheng, then stepped back into the room and brought out his phone, placing it down on the side.

"Qi Lei's a cautious man, he was afraid you might be a plant, so he had a quick look through your phone, he didn't do anything else. Don't overthink it." 

Li Yao explained.

Du Yusheng gave a cold snort and picked up the phone to flick through it. He was mildly relieved he'd already deleted everything, both the things he'd meant to do and the things he hadn't, before he left.

His hair was still dripping wet. Du Yusheng stuffed the phone into his pocket and gave his head a rough rub with the towel Li Yao had thrown him.

Glancing at Lai Yao, he said, "That idiot said you're wanted?"

Lai Yao didn't say anything and sighed.

Du Yusheng chuckled. "Seems like the two of us are in pretty similar situations. I intentionally left behind a watch at the crime scene, one that could only belong to me, and now the whole team's tearing the city apart looking for me."

Li Yao said, "Wang Zhe, is he in your hands? You want to lure him out?"

Du Yusheng clicked his tongue. "Shouldn't you be asking me whether I really killed him? You've got that much faith in me?"

Li Yao glanced at Du Yusheng's bare wrist and replied, "There was no body found at the scene. I'm guessing you fed the media a false lead, and they ran with it."

"There's only one reason you'd do that." Li Yao picked up his cup of cold tea and took a sip. "You're using the media to tell Jing Mo that the last person in the photo, Wang Zhe, is likely already dead. And from Jing Mo's perspective, the most likely person to have killed Wang Zhe, besides himself, is you."

"I'm not familiar with your brother, I can't find him," Du Yusheng shrugged and said, "The only solution I can think of is to have him come find me."

"So, has he come for you?"

Du Yusheng tightened his grip on the phone and gave another nonchalant shrug. "Maybe the two of us will be seeing each other very soon."

At that thought, Du Yusheng suddenly laughed and scratched the bridge of his prominent nose. "The fact that you're wanted is definitely related to him. It seems he's determined to pin all the deaths on you. With you two looking so alike, there's really nothing you can do."

Du Yusheng helplessly scratched his head.

Raising his eyes to look at Li Yao, he continued, "So why did you send that idiot to find me and ask me to come here? What exactly do you want?"

Li Yao picked up the teapot and poured a cup of now-cold tea. "I really want to know, where is Wang Zhe? Can you tell me?"

Du Yusheng suddenly chuckled.

He'd thought Li Yao brought him over to ask something worthwhile, something that mattered. He hadn't expected it to be about this.

In the end, Du Yusheng overestimated Li Yao.

"Li Yao, is your heart made of stone?" Du Yusheng shook his head. "Do you think that just because I used to like you, you can walk all over me? Do you think everything I said was just idle talk?"

Still feeling unsatisfied, Du Yusheng added, "I even made excuses for you before. I thought that whether you were lying to me or using me, you must have your reasons, I mean, your brother has your exact face. But now I think, my eyesight must be failing, to have actually fallen for..."

"Fine." Du Yusheng put his hands on his hips. Li Yao remained silent, but Du Yusheng didn't give him the chance to speak and continued, "Fine, Li Yao." Du Yusheng nodded and said, "Let's make a deal. You tell me why my dad was killed by Jing Mo back then when he wasn't even in that photo, and why he was related to the controlled experiment?"

Li Yao suddenly stood up and stared at Du Yusheng.

Actually, he really wanted to defend himself a bit, to say something. Li Yao has always been someone who doesn't express his emotions well, a habit formed since childhood, but at this moment, he slightly regretted asking about Wang Zhe's whereabouts.

He didn't expect Du Yusheng to care. 

"To be honest, at first, I was quite clear about this matter." Du Yusheng said, "I thought your brother is your brother, and you are you, you have been apart for too long to be compared. I even told myself not to associate what happened to my dad with you... but now I feel like you two are the same. Li Yao, liking you is my own business, I don't expect you to reciprocate, but the way you treat me... it really makes me feel... unbearably miserable."

It was still early morning, and the sky was not yet fully light. The dim atmosphere made Li Yao's frown barely perceptible as he looked at the faint redness in Du Yusheng's eyes. He clenched his fist.

"Where is Wang Zhe?" Li Yao asked again.

Du Yusheng suddenly laughed. He turned to look at Li Yao and said, "I made myself very clear just now. If you explain my dad's death to me and clear up all my questions, then I'll tell you."

His gaze was too sincere. Li Yao turned around, facing away from Du Yusheng, and said quietly, "This isn't a multiple-choice question, it's a mandatory one." Li Yao took out his phone, speaking with the same calm detachment he had the first time they'd met. "I know the police aren't just looking for me, they're looking for you, too. You've got two options, either you tell me where Wang Zhe is, or I'll call the police and we can go together, and no one will ever find Jing Mo again."

"Li Yao!" Du Yusheng stormed over without hesitation and grabbed Li Yao's collar in anger. He was angrier and more furious than he had ever been before.

"I'll count to three," Li Yao held his phone, staring straight at Du Yusheng.

"One."

"Li Yao, you motherfucker... what the hell are you..."

"Two."

"......"

"Three."

"In the garage of He Shen's villa in the suburbs, in the back seat of the Porsche."

After saying this, Du Yusheng's arm dropped powerlessly to his side as he stared at Li Yao.

Li Yao's phone had already been dialled, his thumb hovering over the call button as he looked at Du Yusheng.

Li Yao really wanted to reach out and touch Du Yusheng's half-dried hair.

Actually, Du Yusheng wasn't the type Li Yao likes. In fact, at first, he kinda hated him.

He hadn't expected things to turn out like this.

Li Yao smiled bitterly and shook his head.

He extended a finger and pointed at the distant street.

Then, Du Yusheng first saw the blue and red flashing lights, followed by the piercing sound of the siren.

In the distance, several police cars were making their way towards them.

Du Yusheng stared at Li Yao in a daze for a moment, saying in disbelief, "Li Yao, what the hell do you want to do?"

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter

Translator Notes

Angel: I swear, Li Yao, what are you doing?!?!

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

Translated: June 24, 2025 by Angel

Edited: August 5, 2025 by Angel