Controlled Experiment Chapter 70

Two Missing One – 20

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Du Yusheng untied the rope and leaned against the back of the locomotive, panting heavily.

In fact, he had already united the rope earlier. At the police academy, if nothing else, Du Yusheng had become quite adept at lock-picking and escaping restraints. He was glad that Jing Mo hadn't taken his profession seriously, or rather, hadn't taken him seriously at all, so he had overlooked this point.

At that critical moment just now, Du Yusheng hadn't dared to act rashly.

Otherwise, there would have been three possible outcomes:

Wang Zhe would be dead.

Or he himself would be dead.

Or they'd both be dead.

Whichever it was, Du Yusheng didn't want to see it.

The old man who was supposed to be dead had come back to life, he couldn't afford not to cherish life.

The only thing he could do was cut off the light source.

Before coming in, Du Yusheng looked around. It was a completely lightproof warehouse, and the overhead lamp was the only source of light. Cutting it off was equivalent to covering a person's eyes. Jing Mo hadn't received any training in this area, Du Yusheng was confident he had the upper hand here. It was better than having someone grip him by his lifeline.

"Du Yusheng, can you really tell the two of us apart?"

Jing Mo's voice echoed hollowly through the space.

Du Yusheng widened his eyes, scanning all around in search of the voice's direction.

Without a weapon in hand, only a broken rope, Du Yusheng didn't dare to act rashly.

Besides, why hasn't Li Yao spoken?

Du Yusheng cursed and shouted, "Li Yao, have you fucking gone mute?!"

In the darkness, their voices rang out especially clear and loud.

Du Yusheng quietly shifted his feet, slowly approaching the spot where Jing Mo's voice had come from just moments before.

Unfortunately, he struck nothing but air.

"Jing Mo, you're playing hide and seek with me at a time like this?" Du Yusheng moved while keeping a close eye on his surroundings, then continued, "You've killed so many people, do you really think you're going to walk away from this? That illness of yours, isn't it just a form of retribution? The tragedies of your youth aren't a good enough excuse for what you've become. Everyone's life is different, what matters is the path you choose. And you chose the path of death, do you get that? Of course, that's all just high-minded talk, and few people can actually live up to it, I know I can't. But I'll give you this, I think you're quite impressive. If I were in your shoes, I probably wouldn't have done any better."

Du Yusheng felt like he'd walked a full circle around the warehouse and still hadn't found either of them.

After finishing what he had to say, a flicker of panic rose in Du Yusheng.

Jing Mo is too ruthless in his actions, he won't do something else, will he?

"Du Yusheng, there's a gun on the ground, you can pick it up."

Jing Mo's voice was neither loud nor soft, and it moved very slowly. Judging by the sound, it didn't seem far from where he was. Du Yusheng took a deep breath and tilted his head, feeling his way forward.

"I suddenly thought of something quite interesting. Before we came in, I told Wang Zhe that unless I died here, I would never let him walk out alive." Jing Mo's laughter gradually faded. "There's a gun on the ground, with only one bullet, what will you choose?"

Du Yusheng felt that something was off about what Jing Mo had said. His eyes and hands swept the floor continuously. He didn't know whether Jing Mo was telling the truth or not. If it was true, then he'd have a weapon in hand, and his odds of survival would improve greatly.

Almost the moment his hand gripped the gun, Du Yusheng felt a coarse rope tighten around his neck.

Then, the light came on.

He saw two identical faces standing one on either side of him, and a rope tightly wound around his neck. The one holding the rope was Wang Zhe.

"... Don't... don't blame me..." Wang Zhe's hands were trembling violently, and sweat poured from his fingertips. "He... he untied me... he told me to kill you. Don't... don't blame me. Really, I don't want to. You can't blame me... I'm scared... I've never killed anyone... don't force me... don't..."

Du Yusheng froze for a moment, then abruptly clenched the gun that held just a single bullet.

Looking at the two identical faces in front of him, he suddenly understood the meaning of Jing Mo's words.

With one bullet, Jing Mo wanted to see what he would choose.

If he killed Jing Mo, Wang Zhe would live, Li Yao would live, and he himself would live.

If he killed Li Yao, Wang Zhe would die, and whether he would survive remained uncertain.

Or, he could make it simple, just deal with Wang Zhe.

Du Yusheng suddenly laughed. He counted on his fingers and came to a realisation.

Gripping the gun tightly, he looked at the people in front of him.

Once he pulled the trigger, Du Yusheng would never know which one had died or which one had survived.

The rope around his neck gradually tightened. Although Wang Zhe hesitated behind him, his cowardice might ultimately lead him to choose a path of no return.

Du Yusheng laughed and said, "I finally get it now. Even though I have a bullet in my hand, the choice isn't mine, and besides, I'm in this situation right now..." Du Yusheng glanced at the rope around his neck and shook his head helplessly, "Is this the real or fake Monkey King?"

Behind him, Wang Zhe was still trembling weakly. All his life, he'd only experienced corporate battles, he'd never seen anything like this.

He couldn't even get a full sentence out properly, just the word "I" alone took him half a day to say.

Du Yusheng rubbed the gun in his hands, eyes narrowed as he stared at the two people in front of him.

"If you ask me, twins are brilliant, even their own mother can't tell them apart." Du Yusheng lowered his head slightly, glancing at the pair. He truly wished Li Yao would give him some sort of signal at this moment, anything, but for some reason, there wasn't even a cough. Li Yao was a stable person, the fact that he wasn't moving at all now could only mean that Jing Mo still had another weapon in hand, something capable of threatening everyone's life here. Du Yusheng thought of a bomb.

But those two identical faces really gave him nothing to go on. Jing Mo had made a good point, those memories he had shared with Li Yao, maybe they hadn't all been with "Li Yao".

Du Yusheng tilted his head slightly to glance at Wang Zhe behind him, then chuckled and said, "Which one do you think I should pick? If I choose the wrong one, are you going to tighten that rope immediately? That's a hell of a lot of pressure on me. Why don't we wait a bit instead? Let me interview you, Wang Zhe. As the last person alive in the photo, do you have any life insights? Do you regret cheating back then, causing someone to lose all their money, even their child? Have you ever regretted it?"

"......"

Wang Zhe clearly hadn't expected the topic to land on him. He froze for a moment and looked down at the rope in his hands, thinking.

One of the twins in front of them suddenly shook his head.

"You people have never regretted it, have you?"

The other person with an identical face took a step forward, looked at Wang Zhe, and followed up: "If you're used to living in a villa, would you still be able to adapt to living in a thatched cottage?"

The tone, the voice, even the expressions, they were nearly indistinguishable.

Du Yusheng had no way of telling them apart.

"You might as well change the question," one of them looked at Du Yusheng and said, "Ask him if he would be willing to go back to his old life if given the chance."

Du Yusheng rubbed his hands together and looked up at the overhead light, then back at the two identical faces in front of him.

He elbowed Wang Zhe in the ribs and pressed again, "I asked you a question, you'd better answer truthfully. Let's be clear, at this point, lying is pointless."

Wang Zhe opened his mouth, then shook his head in anguish.

"How could I possibly go back?!" As though screaming out all his fear, his voice rang out especially loud as he cried, "How could I possibly go back?! You can't blame me for this. He had a gambling problem, we were just there playing with him. He could've stopped, he could've said he didn't want to play any more. He was desperate to turn things around, you can't blame us! It's not like I made him put his kids on the line. And anyway, with a father like that, that kid would've been better off lost. Look at you, you've grown up now, haven't you? Otherwise, you might not even be alive today. You can only blame your dad for dragging us into this, why did he have to involve us, why?!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Du Yusheng laughed. "Listen to yourself, does that sound like anything a human being would say? So what, you still think you're some sort of saint, is that it? Do you have any idea how massive the consequences of your one bastard act were? Can you see it now?"

One of the twins shook his head and looked at Wang Zhe. "Do you have a family? Children?"

The other smiled and said, "How about I sell them too? Then it'll be fair."

Du Yusheng pressed his lips together, eyes flicking back and forth between the two identical faces.

Then he looked up at the light source above.

He thought he knew which one it was now, not because of how they spoke, but because Li Yao had something on him.

"Don't force me!" Wang Zhe suddenly shouted.

Wang Zhe's emotions had spun out of control, and the rope around his neck abruptly tightened, jerking Du Yusheng so hard he gagged.

"Don't force me! I'll kill him, and then... then I'll kill every last one of you! Go on, do it! Kill him! Once I've killed him, I'll be free! We'll all be free! Aren't you a cop? Then do it! Kill him, kill him, or I'll kill you! Just do it!"

Wang Zhe's body was trembling nonstop and his grip was tightening. Du Yusheng slowly raised the gun in his hand. Just one bullet, he had almost no margin for error.

Du Yusheng took a deep breath, then kicked backwards with all his strength. In one fluid motion, he brushed his fingers along his collar and, faster than anyone could react, slashed through the rope at his neck. Then he rose to his feet, planted one foot firmly on Wang Zhe's shoulder, pressed a blade tightly to his carotid artery, and levelled the gun squarely at Li Yao and Jing Mo.

Du Yusheng had moved with such speed that no one could see where the blade had come from.

He lifted the blade in his hand with a touch of smugness, pressing his foot down harder on Wang Zhe. Du Yusheng grinned. "Remember that scalpel you gave me? I've kept it on me this whole time, just waiting for the chance to cut a hole in you and see if your heart still beats." Du Yusheng didn't even know which of the two he was speaking to. Pressing his lips together, he lifted his chin and said, "It's not exactly convenient to carry, so I modified it and sewed it into the collar. Turns out it came in handy. Jing Mo, did you really think I was a fucking idiot?"

Du Yusheng narrowed his eyes and smiled at the light source above.

Then he raised the gun again, aiming it directly at the man in front of him. "Jing Mo, do you really think you're untouchable?"

Jing Mo looked at Du Yusheng, then suddenly lowered his head and laughed.

Every one of Du Yusheng's choices had gone beyond his expectations.

Jing Mo turned to Li Yao and said, "You two said the exact same thing."

Staring down the barrel of the gun pointed at him, Jing Mo continued, "You both said that if you were me, you might not have done any better. But that's a false proposition, you'll never be me, and I'll never get another life to live." Jing Mo looked at Du Yusheng and asked, "How did you figure it out? Even that bastard couldn't tell me and my brother apart."

"I don't want to tell you."

Du Yusheng raised his chin, keeping his foot firmly on Wang Zhe. The blade in his hand lowered slightly, deepening its pressure, and he looked down and said to Wang Zhe, "Weren't you just saying you wanted to kill me? Didn't you have a lot to say?" Looking up at Jing Mo, Du Yusheng smiled and said, "So, should I shoot you now, using this one and only bullet to close the case?"

"Yes," Jing Mo nodded.

"I also think this is particularly effortless." Du Yusheng scratched his head and said helplessly, "Then can you give me the bomb timer for this warehouse?"

Jing Mo curled his lips into a grin. "How did you figure it out?"

Du Yusheng pointed at Li Yao. "Because I think there's a reason why he hasn't made a move all this time. Your brother... he's someone who thinks deeply about things. When I cut the power just now, I noticed that there were mines planted under the seats in the train carriage. Jing Mo, you've got a pitch-black heart, you wanted me to shoot you dead, then you'd hit the switch and we'd all accompany each other on the road to the underworld, right?"

Jing Mo tilted his head and pointed at Wang Zhe. "If he doesn't die, I won't be satisfied. There's still one left."

It's hopeless.

Du Yusheng shrugged. "If you hand over the timer, I might consider your request. Even if he doesn't die, he can spend the rest of his life rotting in prison, it's not much different from death. This person has committed sins and must pay for them. You say you just want him dead, but why drag the rest of us down with him? And besides, your brother's here too, isn't he? Aren't you still counting on him to take the blame for you? Jing Mo, I don't care how long you'll live, but you need to understand that once you're dead, that's it. Death is easy, I could shoot and it would be over in seconds. But staying alive, that's the hardest thing. Letting Wang Zhe live is the greatest punishment you could give him."

Du Yusheng swallowed hard, looking at Jing Mo.

He hoped his words might have some effect.

The smile on Jing Mo's face slowly faded. Without the forced grin, Jing Mo looked like a completely different person.

"Talking to him like this is useless. Brother, don't you want to save him?" "Li Yao" slowly took out a simple timer from his pocket and waved it in front of Du Yusheng, grinning broadly, "This thing is in my hands. So what's the point of telling Li Yao these things?"

Du Yusheng's mind exploded with a deafening roar.

Wrong!

It turns out Jing Mo was actually Li Yao, and Li Yao was actually Jing Mo.

Without giving Du Yusheng a chance to react, Li Yao, who Du Yusheng had originally mistaken for Jing Mo, snatched the gun from in front of him. Then, without hesitation, he wrapped his arm around Jing Mo's frail shoulders and almost dragged him directly into the train carriage. After that, Li Yao closed the carriage door with a bang.

"Don't come in!" Li Yao shouted. "Stay outside and don't move!"

The train's door was built to be especially secure, and the glass was double-layered, sealed and soundproof. Once Li Yao shut it, it was as though two worlds had been completely cut off.

The whole sequence of movements had drained Jing Mo's energy. He leaned weakly against the door, looking at his brother.

His pale lips curled into a smile as he said, "Brother, you want to save them?" Jing Mo strained to look through the glass at Du Yusheng, who was outside, baring his teeth and clawing. "Are you trying to save him, or them? I can understand saving him, but the other one..."

"......"

Li Yao didn't say anything, he simply looked at his younger brother with a calm expression.

"Du Yusheng's an interesting person. Persistent, yet... stubborn," Jing Mo said with a smile. "If I'd had his life... could I have lived as freely as he does, stubbornly like someone, believe in someone..." Jing Mo shook his head. "That's how much I hate these people."

Li Yao lowered his head, the corners of his eyes reddening slightly.

"Sometimes I really regret it," Li Yao said. "I regret that I didn't have the ability to come back, that I made the decision for you back then."

"Don't cry."

Jing Mo looked at the redness in the corners of Li Yao's eyes, and something stirred in him. This person was the only one in the world who shared his blood. Strangely, he found himself reluctant.

Slowly, he pulled the timer out of his pocket and took a deep breath. "Brother, you have to remember to put up a tombstone for me and give me money to spend during festivals. I want flowers and fruit too, I don't want everyone else to have nice things while my place is all empty, otherwise, I might be bullied by wild ghosts. Even if you don't have time, you should find someone else to at least sweep the dust for me. Don't try to fool me with newspapers either, I'll be laughed at by the neighbours. I'm afraid of the cold, so remember to come and clean up when it snows in winter. In summer, I'm afraid of the heat, so remember to buy an air conditioner and send it over. My life has gone by too quickly, so quickly that it ended before I even had a chance to experience it. Don't you think that's a premature death?"

"......" Li Yao shook his head. "It's not too late for you to regret now."

Jing Mo shook his head weakly and said, "Even if I did manage to walk out of here, I wouldn't live much longer. But I have just one wish, can you help me...?"

Li Yao glanced at Wang Zhe, who was still struggling outside the window, then looked up at the ceiling and let out a heavy sigh.

Jing Mo smiled faintly.

"Actually... why do twins have to be separated?" Jing Mo slowly took out the timer and threw it on the ground, laughing, "Brother, you have no idea how much I missed you."

=========

Du Yusheng was dragged out by Xiao Bai, who had just rushed to the scene.

Xiao Bai swore that he had never exerted so much effort before.

In his words, Brother Yu was like a tree growing out of the warehouse floor, it took all his strength to uproot him.

By the time he hauled Du Yusheng out of the warehouse, Xiao Bai was nearly exhausted to the point of collapse.

Du Yusheng couldn't remember much of what happened next, he only remembered Xiao Bai dragging him out, shoving him into a car, and locking the doors. No matter what he did, he couldn't get out of the car. Then he heard a thunderous blast from inside the car, a sound so loud it seemed to pierce straight through his eardrums, making him feel as if he'd gone deaf.

Then the warehouse door was opened, and the smoke inside dispersed with the wind. After that, people came and went, and finally, an ambulance arrived. Du Yusheng couldn't do anything inside the car, only banging on the door and shouting, watching as a body was carried out on a stretcher. He wanted to widen his eyes to see who it was, but the smoke was too thick and he couldn't see anything clearly. Du Yusheng mechanically wiped the glass inside the car, knowing full well that no amount of cleaning would help, yet still he wiped mechanically.

... He can't die.

That was probably the last coherent thought in Du Yusheng's mind before everything blanked out.

When consciousness returned, Du Yusheng was in a hospital.

He didn't remember how he ended up in the hospital, didn't remember whether he followed the ambulance or was driven there by Xiao Bai, didn't remember what the doctor said after he arrived, didn't remember what he said. All he remembered was his fingers trembling until the words "in surgery" faded away.

The scalpel he had snapped and modified was still clutched tightly in his hand.

Although Li Yao has done some really messed-up things, Du Yusheng now realised that he didn't want anything bad to happen to him. So, the idea of using a scalpel to cut open his chest and watch his heart beat was all just talk. He'd never actually do it.

Du Yusheng realised he couldn't bring himself to do it.

He sat there with his face buried in his hands, waiting for the doctor to come out.

Du Yusheng could barely remember when Xiao Bai arrived, or perhaps he'd been there from the start and had never left.

"How is the person inside?" Xiao Bai, who was closest, spoke first.

The doctor pulled off his mask and replied, "Multiple fractures all over the body, but fortunately, no vital organs were harmed, so there's no life-threatening..."

"... How many people?"

Du Yusheng cut off the doctor's words and said, "How many people are inside, which one is it?"

Xiao Bai felt that his condition was off, so he quickly exchanged a few brief words with the doctor before pulling Du Yusheng aside.

"He still needs to be observed overnight, but after tonight, he'll be fine," Xiao Bai said reassuringly. "You heard the doctor, it's nothing serious, his life's been saved."

Du Yusheng felt something was off, so he grabbed Xiao Bai by the collar and repeated, "How many people are inside, which one is it?"

Xiao Bai struggled until his feet were back on the ground.

"One." Xiao Bai held up a single finger. "Just one person. There was also a burnt, mangled corpse on site, blown to bits by the bomb."

"Who is it? Tell me who it is!"

Du Yusheng's eyes were red, his grip nearly tearing Xiao Bai's collar apart.

"I don't know." Xiao Bai shook his head helplessly and pointed at the operating room. "All ten of his fingerprints were destroyed, so we can only wait until he wakes up."

Du Yusheng froze for a moment, the thing he feared the most had happened.

It was the first time Xiao Bai had ever seen Du Yusheng like this.

To say he was dishevelled wasn't quite right, it was more like he'd been drained of all energy, walking as if he was floating. Maybe everything that had happened over the past few days was too much for Du Yusheng to process, but his red eyes made Xiao Bai almost think he was a different person. To make Du Yusheng become like this...

Xiao Bai glanced at the operating room and let out a long sigh, shaking his head.

He really hoped that the person inside was the one Du Yusheng wanted it to be.

The first thing Du Yusheng did after returning home was take all the black-and-white photographs of the old man in his room and burn them.

To this day, he still didn't know how Li Yao had managed to keep the old man convincingly dead all this time. The man was ridiculously tight-lipped, not even under suspicion had he let slip a single word. Du Yusheng scratched his head, watching the photographs turn to ash on the ground. He picked up his phone, wondering whether he should call the old lady.

But as he held the phone, Du Yusheng suddenly paused. A thought occurred to him, Maybe the old lady has known the old man was alive all along.

Otherwise, what kind of wife is that carefree when her husband has vanished without a trace, neither alive nor dead? Who else could trot around the globe on holiday, buying luxury goods without a care?

In the end, it turned out that the biggest fool was him.

Du Yusheng sighed and pulled a photo out of the drawer.

It was the photo he'd found tucked inside a book at Luo Yang's place.

At that time, he also wondered why the same person had to take two photos. Back then, he even suspected whether Luo Yang intended to kill Li Yao. Now that he thought about it, the other photo was of Jing Mo. And then there was the time when they found crucial evidence of Luo Yang's crime, the folded page of nitroglycerin. That book had also been touched by Li Yao. Perhaps he had already roughly guessed what his brother had done back then, but the subtle hints he gave him were not fully understood.

No one had imagined that Li Yao had a twin brother.

If they had, Du Yusheng wouldn't have taken such a long and winding road to get here.

The stack of photos gradually turned to ash.

Du Yusheng rubbed his temples.

What had caught his attention in the beginning was that email.

The one about a controlled experiment.

Two identical children.

In fact, the sender of that email should be Jing Mo. He wanted him to shift all his attention to Li Yao, to suspect him, even to investigate him. And Jing Mo had succeeded. He hadn't just suspected Li Yao, he'd ended up falling in love with him. It was a dead end from the start. Once he'd stepped into it, there was no way out.

And then came the new victims.

Which led to a game of death.

Du Yusheng lit a cigarette and slowly exhaled a ring of smoke.

The flames cast a red glow over his face.

It was also because of this murder game that he ended up crossing paths with Jing Mo. Jing Mo's method of killing was very strange, he never personally killed the people in the photos. He always used the people in the game to kill them, and then he killed the people in the game. This was a very good cover. Jing Mo had some connection with the people in the photos, but he had no connection with those in the game. In fact, within the game, they didn't even know each other's names or appearances.

Perhaps that was exactly why Jing Mo had managed to stay undetected for so long.

Wait. Du Yusheng suddenly realised a problem.

Everyone else is dead, so why is Luo Yang still alive?

Given Jing Mo's personality, he wouldn't have left anyone behind, so why is Luo Yang still alive?

Or, has he been kept alive because he still has some use?

Du Yusheng rubbed his fingers together, thinking he was overthinking things.

Back then, all his questions had centred around Li Yao.

He'd thought that if he could unravel the mystery around Li Yao, everything else would fall into place.

As his cigarette burned to the end, Du Yusheng remembered that it was because of that suspicion of him that he'd investigated him so thoroughly.

A strange circle, indeed.

According to Qi Lei, it was Li Yao who chose him back then, so what about now? After going in circles, it seemed like everything had returned to the starting point. Perhaps if Li Yao hadn't made that choice back then, he himself wouldn't have been dragged into all of this, wouldn't have become the person he is now. When all was said and done, Du Yusheng felt the origin of everything lay with Li Yao.

But where is Li Yao now?

Du Yusheng rubbed his chin, picked up his teacup from the side, and poured it over the flame.

He watched as the fire in the brazier slowly died down.

Du Yusheng stubbed out his cigarette and stood up, thinking he should probably take a shower.

Perhaps when he went to the hospital tomorrow, that person would be awake, and then Li Yao would return.

After showering, Du Yusheng glanced at the time and saw that it was still early. He pulled a blanket over himself and curled up on the sofa.

The scalpel lay on the coffee table. Du Yusheng looked at it for a moment, then pulled the blanket up and stopped thinking altogether.

Just before falling asleep, Du Yusheng thought, Li Yao, if you're going to die, then at least do it cleanly. That way, I can move on and find someone else. Don't die in some messy way that leaves me thinking about you.

=========

Du Yusheng was woken by a call from Xiao Bai.

He felt like he hadn't slept that deeply in ages, so much so that when his phone started ringing, Du Yusheng thought he was dreaming.

Groping around for his phone, Du Yusheng answered with a groggy "Hello," his voice thick with sleep.

"... Brother Yu."

Xiao Bai's voice sounded a bit strange.

Du Yusheng frowned and said, "Just get to the point. You know what I want to hear."

Xiao Bai gave a dry laugh and said, "That Wang Zhe, as soon as we brought him in, he started confessing. It was so easy, we hardly had to ask anything ourselves. He told us everything about how he cheated and harmed people in the past. Now he's been taken inside and is waiting to be sentenced. I don't know if this counts as fraud, and how the sentencing will be arranged is still pending. However, perhaps if he hires a famous lawyer, there might be a possibility of being acquitted."

Du Yusheng didn't reply

He wasn't interested in that.

Xiao Bai sighed and finally got to the point. "That person just woke up. Brother Yu, you know this case, we have to interrogate him immediately. We're in the hospital room, taking advantage of his clear consciousness to ask some important questions."

"... What do you mean by 'that person'?" A bad feeling struck Du Yusheng, he instantly sat up from the sofa and asked, "Who is he?"

"We asked him a few general questions about the case," Xiao Bai carefully chose his words. "He said his name is Jing Mo, that he's Jing Wen's son, and a twin brother to Li Yao. He identified Li Yao as the true mastermind behind all the cases. He has a recording, and we found evidence related to the case in Li Yao's house. We also discovered many properties and vehicles that had not been previously investigated, including the abandoned building where you almost died at the crime scene. Jing Mo said he tried to talk Li Yao out of it, but Li Yao wouldn't listen, he held a grudge against those people and wanted them dead. Jing Mo also said he doesn't officially exist, so there were many things he couldn't prevent in time. But, well, as you know, that's just his version of the story. For specific details, we will have to wait until he is in a better state to continue."

Du Yusheng didn't respond for a long while. In fact, he'd already guessed most of it by the time Xiao Bai had finished the first half of that speech.

He didn't quite know what to say.

The fingerprints had been destroyed, they had both witness testimony and physical evidence, and even the things sent to the police station had now proven useful. Du Yusheng found himself almost believing that it really had been Li Yao.

"Ahem..." Xiao Bai cleared his throat on the other end. "But Brother Yu, can you tell me, why the hell does Li Yao have a twin brother... Can you imagine how bizarre it feels to see someone with the exact same face claiming to be another person? I think this is fucking impossible. How does a person just appear out of nowhere?"

Du Yusheng let out a dry laugh and thought, That's exactly how I felt too.

Still, after a night's rest, Du Yusheng felt a little steadier, and Xiao Bai's words didn't throw him into a panic.

Du Yusheng stood up from his sofa, and something suddenly came to him.

"Did he say anything about having another illness? The kind that's terminal?"

Xiao Bai blinked on the other end of the line, then gave a nervous chuckle. "... Didn't the doctor already say he's out of danger? What other illness would he have?"

Ignoring him, Du Yusheng hung up the phone.

He dropped back down onto the sofa, covered his face with both hands, and burst out laughing.

He knew, it was Li Yao.

It had to be Li Yao.

He was the one who'd destroyed his fingerprints.

Du Yusheng cursed at the scalpel.

Suddenly, he couldn't wait to see that idiot.

He wanted to have a good chat with the idiot.

No, first he wanted to beat the crap out of him, then they could talk.

Start with the heart, then move to the body.

=========

That evening, Luo Yang received a visitor.

Life in prison was dull and boring.

Luo Yang no longer remembered how long he had been in this place, nor did he remember how much longer it would be before he could leave.

At first, he used to count the days, but later, he couldn't even be bothered.

He knew he was waiting for someone.

That night, that person finally arrived.

Luo Yang couldn't recall how long it had been since he last saw him.

His body was still wrapped in bandages, and he needed support to walk. He looked like someone who had just had surgery for multiple fractures, both exhausted and in pain.

He didn't quite look the same as in Luo Yang's memories.

It wasn't until the man lifted his head that Luo Yang felt it, he had come back.

Luo Yang could barely contain his excitement. His cuffed hands clenched tightly, his eyes full of surprise and joy.

"You came." Luo Yang was so excited that his breathing became rapid. His eyes curved with a smile as he said, "You finally came to find me."

The other man raised his head, still wearing that same indifferent expression.

It was the same as the time he told Luo Yang to kill his own father.

Luo Yang knew he shouldn't feel this way, but he couldn't resist being attracted to this person.

He wanted to do everything for him.

"... You still remember me..."

The man's voice was just like back then, calm and unhurried, with a neutral warmth that somehow settled softly against the chest.

Luo Yang nodded eagerly and said, "I miss you so much, I knew you would come, otherwise, I might have already hired a lawyer to get out. I know that once I get out, I will never find you or see you again."

The person with the fractures shook his head and smiled.

"Once you finish this task, you can leave here."

Luo Yang had been waiting for those exact words.

"Just say the word, I'll do anything for you, I can do anything for you, as long as you ask, I would even give you my life."

The man with the fractures lifted his hand, as if to caress him, and lightly touched the tip of his nose through the glass.

Luo Yang enjoyed being close to the glass.

His satisfaction was overflowing.

"In a few days, someone will be sent here," the man with the fractures extended his hand and said, "His surname is Wang, called Wang Zhe..."

The smile on Luo Yang's face slowly faded.

He seemed to have already guessed what this person he had been longing for wanted him to do.

=========

End

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Angel: I’m... mad. All that, for this. And I’m still mad about this ending even after coming back to edit it over a month later... What kind of closure is this?!?!

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

Translated: June 27, 2025 by Angel

Edited: August 11, 2025 by Angel