Top Dupe CH 092 Between You And Me, There’s No Final Chapter Part 2

A dim lamp hung from the ceiling of the cabin, the coals in the stove crackled, and a deer head mount adorned the wall above the fireplace. Wen Yuchi lay on a rocking chair draped in animal fur.

Wen Yuchi slowly came to, his head pounding as though it would explode. He pounded his head with his fist, and pain shot up his back. Reaching behind him, he found what felt like a bandage. The pain made him fully alert.

Feeling carefully, he suspected someone had made a small incision in his back, then stitched it up.

What in the world was going on?

As he tried to stand, he realized a chain was fastened to his ankle, less than a meter long, with the other end embedded firmly in the ground.

And in the chair opposite him lay Lu Pingfeng!

Lu Pingfeng’s head was turned to the side, sound asleep, his arms dangling off the chair, and his ankle was also chained.

Wen Yuchi looked around and saw that, besides the two of them, the cabin seemed empty.

“Mr. Lu! Mr. Lu! Lu Pingfeng!” Wen Yuchi tried to move closer to Lu Pingfeng but was pulled back by the chain.

He picked up a stick from the ground and threw it at Lu Pingfeng.

Hit on the head, Lu Pingfeng frowned and finally opened his eyes.

“Tsss—” The first thing Lu Pingfeng did upon waking was touch his own back, indicating he had a wound just like Wen Yuchi.

“Hah, Mr. Bigshot Artist, I thought you were dead.” Wen Yuchi breathed a slight sigh of relief.

“Where are we? How did I end up here?” Lu Pingfeng asked, rubbing his temples.

“Who knows? I got in a cab back to the station for some overtime work, dozed off for no reason, and woke up in this hellhole. What about you?”

“Captain Zhao showed me a photo of the Song of the Evening and I realized it was a forgery. He asked me to go to your station to verify it in person.”

“So? You don’t even take cabs. How’d you get caught?” Wen Yuchi asked.

“My driver was taking me, but I smelled something strange and fell asleep.” Lu Pingfeng’s frown deepened, apparently suffering from a headache as well.

Wen Yuchi leaned back into his chair and started to lazily rock, saying, “Looks like you’re in the same boat as me. I’m guessing the fake Song of the Evening Captain Zhao found triggered the killer. Keep digging, and we’ll find a lead on the serial murders. Or maybe we did something that spooked the mastermind.”

Lu Pingfeng glanced at Wen Yuchi, rubbing the wound on his back, and said helplessly, “I can’t believe how calm you are. Aren’t you afraid of being silenced?”

“Whoever went to such lengths to bring you and me here isn’t planning to kill us right away, right?”

“So, what’s the point?” Lu Pingfeng asked.

At that moment, the cabin door opened, and a gust of wind caused the firelight in the fireplace to dim and then flare back up.

Against the light, someone entered with stiff strides.

It was Lu Pingfeng’s driver, his face pale and eyes full of fear.

“Old Han? You’re here too? What’s going on?” Lu Pingfeng’s brows furrowed.

Old Han trembled as he pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, with a printed message. He read it aloud mechanically.

“Lu Pingfeng, you’ve disappointed me deeply. When your paintings lost their deadly allure, filled instead with vulgar colors, you lost my devotion and affection. I created you, yet you wish to escape my control, so I must remind you of your true nature—death will always be your theme.”

Wen Yuchi sat up straight, his expression shifting from casual to serious. “What are you babbling about? Who created whom?”

“You have 24 hours: either kill my mediocre heirs or kill the man who caused you to lose your faith in death—Wen Yuchi.”

Wen Yuchi looked incredulous, pointing to himself. “Me? Making Lu Pingfeng lose his faith in death? That’s some halo!”

“Let me enjoy this final feast. If you win, you’ll become my sole heir. If you lose, then you’ll join my collection of death.”

After reading the paper, Old Han, full of terror, threw two keys between Wen Yuchi and Lu Pingfeng, then started shouting into the cabin, “I’ve done what you asked! I don’t want to die! This has nothing to do with me! Let me live; I want to go home! I want to go home!”

He then began to rummage frantically through the cabin, shouting madly, “Where… where is it, the antidote?! I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die!”

“Old Han, calm down. Did you take some kind of drug? Getting worked up like this will just speed up the effects of whatever it is!” Wen Yuchi called out, hoping the other man would calm down and get a clear grasp of the situation.

But Old Han didn't listen; he was almost ready to crawl into the fireplace to look for the antidote.

"No... Why is there no antidote?! They lied to me! Why did they lie to me?!"

Wen Yuchi and Lu Pingfeng both got up and searched their chairs, lifting the cushions and fur pads, but couldn't find the antidote Old Han mentioned.

Suddenly, Old Han collapsed to the ground, his body trembling violently.

"Damn!" Wen Yuchi lay on the ground, stretching his arm to reach for the key on the floor, while Lu Pingfeng stood calmly, watching Old Han's death throes with a deep gaze.

Wen Yuchi's ankle was almost cut from the restraints, but he finally hooked the key and unlocked himself.

He rushed to Old Han’s side. By then, Old Han was coughing up blood continuously and couldn’t even speak.

"Old Han, did you see who kidnapped us? How many of them are there? What are their intentions? Old Han! Old Han!"

Old Han turned his face, using his last bit of strength to lift his hand, pointing at Lu Pingfeng. His eyes suddenly widened, and then his hand fell down.

Wen Yuchi checked his pulse and then sat back, exhaling.

"Is he dead?" Lu Pingfeng turned slightly, looking into Old Han’s eyes as he spoke.

Wen Yuchi opened Old Han’s mouth and sniffed, but there was no distinctive smell, so he couldn’t determine the drug’s composition yet.

"Yes, he's dead." Wen Yuchi stood up and found a cloth to cover Old Han's body. "This is a warning from the mastermind, telling us to follow his rules. And this big boss believes he's the one who 'created' you. Seems like he's been silently watching you all these years."

As he spoke, Wen Yuchi bent down, picked up another key, and tossed it to Lu Pingfeng.

"You still dare to set me free? Did you forget Old Han pointed at me before he died?" Lu Pingfeng asked with a smile.

"Maybe he pointed at you because being your driver brought him bad luck, and he got dragged into this for no reason. Or maybe he wanted to tell you something, but you were standing too far away."

Lu Pingfeng unlocked the restraint on his ankle, then picked up a piece of paper from the floor, carefully going over the message on it.

Wen Yuchi wandered around the hunting cabin for a while but found no other useful clues or weapons—not even a small knife.

There were a few abandoned, poorly functioning animal traps, though.

"Aren't you supposed to blame me for being cold-hearted since Old Han’s death doesn’t bother me?" Lu Pingfeng said.

"Heh." Wen Yuchi stood in front of a stuffed deer, looking at it closely. "Your model dies, and you feel nothing. Your agent dies, and it doesn’t affect you. But if Old Han died and you suddenly cried out in distress, that would be strange. Besides… it was clear he wasn’t going to survive, even if you rushed to his side."

"I’m wondering why this person would think he 'created' me," Lu Pingfeng mused.

"Forget who created you. Think about why you may have offended your 'creator.'" Wen Yuchi took the paper and rubbed his chin. "Judging by his words, he only wants to see you depict death. Did he freak out because you painted something he didn’t like? 'Full of vulgar colors'... What's that supposed to mean?" Wen Yuchi asked.

Lu Pingfeng folded the paper, not answering directly. Instead, he said, "When you return, you can take your time and enjoy it."

"Are you sure I’ll even make it back?"

Lu Pingfeng didn't answer. Instead, he asked, "What do we do now? Wait here for Captain Zhao to notice we’re missing and come look for us, or go out and figure out where we are? And this so-called 'battle of the heirs' on the paper… Are they planning a 'battle royale'?"

Wen Yuchi continued to stare at the deer, then suddenly moved toward it, stood on his tiptoes, and pried out the deer’s eye.

Behind the deer’s eye was a camera.

"If I’m not mistaken, someone here loves the theme of death even more than you do." Wen Yuchi’s expression turned cold as he threw the eye to Lu Pingfeng. "Someone's watching us like a live show."

Wen Yuchi returned to Old Han's body, unbuttoning his clothes.

"Are you going to examine him barehanded?"

"Of course not. That would damage the body and hinder future autopsies." Wen Yuchi turned Old Han over, uncovering a blood-soaked bandage on his back. Removing it revealed a stitched wound.

The wound was slightly raised, as if something was inside.

Wen Yuchi used the key to cut the stitches and removed a small thumb-sized container.

He unscrewed the container, revealing a tiny pill inside.

"The antidote he wanted may have been on him all along."

Wen Yuchi put the antidote back in the container, then pocketed it.

"We have something on our backs, too."

"But I suspect it’s someone else’s antidote. And nowhere in your 'game instructions' does it say we’re poisoned."

"Someone else might come for the antidote on our backs and kill us."

At that moment, footsteps approached outside the hunting cabin.

Lu Pingfeng's expression sharpened, and he quickly pulled Wen Yuchi with him to hide behind the door.

Wen Yuchi felt his hand covering his mouth, holding his breath.

The door creaked open, and Wen Yuchi instinctively turned his head, noticing a man walking in. When he saw the two empty chairs, he frowned.

The man held a knife, its cold glint flashing past Wen Yuchi’s eyes, forcing him to turn his head into Lu Pingfeng’s chest.

The man didn’t expect them to be hiding behind the door. Instead, his attention was drawn to Old Han’s body on the ground. He flipped Old Han over, and seeing the exposed bandage, his face darkened. "Damn, the antidote’s gone!"

If he turned around, he would see Lu Pingfeng and Wen Yuchi, but the distance was also close enough for them to make a dash out the door.

But if they wanted to understand what was going on, they had to get information from this guy.

Lu Pingfeng signaled Wen Yuchi, then slowly released him and carefully approached the man.

The man was still searching Old Han’s pockets, hoping he had retrieved the antidote himself.

Lu Pingfeng’s steps were light, but when his shadow appeared in front of the man, he was immediately alerted and stabbed toward Lu Pingfeng with the knife.

What he didn’t expect was that Wen Yuchi would come from the other side, grabbing a rusty iron cup from the table and smashing it against the man’s head.

The cup wasn’t as effective as a brick, but it was enough to distract the man, allowing Lu Pingfeng to grab his wrist and twist it, forcing him to drop the knife.

Wen Yuchi quickly caught the knife, turning it and pressing it against the man’s throat.

"If you want to live, behave."

They then tied the man to the rocking chair and locked him up.

"Speak. Who are you? What’s going on? Where are we?" Lu Pingfeng demanded coldly.

The man looked at them, laughing bitterly. "Who would’ve thought—you two are the prey and don’t even know the situation!"

Wen Yuchi closed his eyes, recalling recent case developments, and then pointed at the man. "You… you look like Zhuang Jie’s nephew, named Li something..."

"Yes, I’m Zhuang Jie’s nephew, Li Heng! I got a message saying my uncle was near death, so I rushed to the hospital, with a car arranged to pick me up downstairs. But as soon as I got in, I blacked out, and when I woke up, I was on this island!"

"An island? This is an island?"

"Yes."

"Besides us, who else is on this island?" Wen Yuchi asked.

"I guess... everyone who could inherit my uncle’s estate! I’ve seen another cousin and a niece..."

"When you came in, you immediately checked Old Han's back. Why?" Wen Yuchi motioned toward Old Han.

"Because I was told I was poisoned. The poison would take effect in 24 hours, and I need the antidote on your backs to survive."

Wen Yuchi laughed, tapping the man’s face with the knife. "Is it only our antidote you want? We have a 'game manual' too. We're just asking to see if yours is the same."

Hearing this, Li Heng’s face went pale, and after a long pause, he swallowed and said, "We’re also required to kill all other heirs or... kill the forensic expert named Wen Yuchi. My uncle will only take one person off this island."