Beneath the Dome, Sin within Sins - Chapter 100 - Mental Illness

I could completely understand my sister’s extreme reaction because, truth be told, I really did make her worry.

At this moment, Lu Xun let out a sigh and said, “Lu-Ge, no matter what, Che is just worried about you. Please don’t blame her.”

“Don’t worry. I would never blame my sister. Besides, she’s my sister-how could I ever blame her? But…” I reflexively touched my cheek and said, “To be honest, though, that slap really hurt!”

“Well then, Lu-Ge, if everything is fine here, I’d like to go check on Che. Between the two of you, I honestly care more about her.”

“What you said is really hurtful, but considering how hurriedly my sister left, it’s probably a good idea for you to check on her. To be honest, I’m worried about her myself right now.”

After saying this, Lu Xun turned and left. Tang Xin and Bigo chatted with me briefly before also taking their leave, leaving just me and Su Mo in the ward.

What was strange, though, was that Su Mo didn’t say a word. He just sat on the empty bed next to me, staring off into space as if lost in thought.

Since Su Mo wasn’t speaking, I started feeling bored, so I decided to break the silence. “What’s wrong? Why haven’t you said a word since you got here?”

Su Mo raised his head and glanced at me, his gaze unusually unsettling. I had initially planned to say more, but when I saw his expression, I promptly decided to shut up. Su Mo looked really angry.

After a long while, Su Mo finally spoke. “Senior, do you think just because your health has improved, you don’t need to tell me anything anymore, no matter what happens?”

Seeing Su Mo so serious, I couldn’t help but let out an awkward laugh. “Wha-what are you even talking about?”

“Senior, I’ve told you before: if anything happens, you must let me know. But now? You’re off doing things on your own again.”

“I…”

When it came to the bandaged man, I didn’t want to tell anyone, especially not the authorities. Somehow, I had a nagging feeling that the Chengyuan Pharmaceutical Factory incident had a lot to do with me. Everything had gone so smoothly back then-so smoothly that it was almost terrifying to think about.

“Senior, what could possibly be so important that you can’t talk about it?”

Su Mo’s tone was agitated, and the way he looked at me made me uneasy, as if he might strangle me if I didn’t tell him the truth.

Finally, I took a deep breath, pulled out my phone, and showed Su Mo the email I had received. After reading it, he frowned and said, “This has to be a prank!”

Hearing this, I shook my head helplessly. “If it were just a prank, that would be great. Do you know what I saw today? I saw the bandaged man.”

The moment I said this, Su Mo practically blurted out, “Impossible! That guy was sentenced to death! He’s long dead!”

“But I really saw him-at the end of the hallway. If you don’t believe me, go check the surveillance footage. Once you see it, you’ll understand.”

Su Mo looked like he wanted to argue further, but seeing how determined I was, he eventually stood up and walked out.

About half an hour later, Lu Che walked in through the door. She looked utterly exhausted.

As soon as I saw Lu Che, the soreness on half of my face became more apparent. “Che, this time it’s my fault. Don’t hold it against me.”

Lu Che shook her head and asked, “Brother, how have you been feeling emotionally lately?”

Her sudden question caught me off guard. What’s with this girl? Why is she suddenly concerned about my emotional state? Could it be because of that slap earlier? Is she worried I might take it too hard?

Thinking this, I quickly tried to reassure her. “Don’t worry, your big brother is in good spirits! I won’t let a slap like that get me down.”

After hearing this, Lu Che sighed, walked over to my side, and said, “Brother, I’m asking seriously-since coming back, have you noticed any issues with your mental health? For example, trouble sleeping or frequent insomnia?”

I shook my head. Her line of questioning completely baffled me, and I had no idea what her purpose was in asking this.

“Che, what’s going on? Just say it-stop beating around the bush.”

“Brother, we suspect you might have a mental illness.”

“Huh? Where did you even get the courage to say something like that?”

“Brother! Stop joking around! I’m being serious! After Su Mo stepped out earlier, he told me about your situation. At the time, we believed what you said completely, so we went to check the surveillance footage.”

“And then?” I asked nervously.

“There is no ‘and then.’ From start to finish, the surveillance footage only shows you-there was no bandaged man at all.”

“Impossible!”

I rejected my sister’s claim without a moment’s hesitation. I clearly saw it with my own eyes. How could he not be there? The bandaged man’s grotesque smile still lingered vividly in my mind. How could he not exist?

Seeing how unwilling I was to believe her, Lu Che grew anxious. “Brother! We have no reason to lie to you! The bandaged man was a high-profile criminal, and he’s dead. At first, we didn’t believe you either, but you’re always so meticulous and precise with your words, so we went to check the footage ourselves. There really wasn’t any bandaged man!”

“Impossible!”

I sat up in bed and threw back the covers, determined to check for myself. If I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t be able to rest.

Seeing me about to get out of bed, Lu Che panicked. She pressed her hands down firmly on my shoulders and said, “Brother! Why won’t you believe what I’m telling you?”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you-I just think you didn’t look closely enough.”

As I spoke, I was about to get up, but at that moment, Su Mo’s voice came from the doorway. “Senior, there’s no need to get up. I brought it over-you can see for yourself.”

With that, Su Mo tossed a laptop onto my bed. I grabbed it hastily and booted it up to check the footage.

But no matter how I looked, in the hallway where I supposedly saw him, there was only me-just me, all alone. From the moment I entered that floor, it showed me seriously looking for something. The footage was almost laughable, but thinking about it more deeply gave me chills.

In the video, I was performing a one-man show, acting completely bizarre. The place where I claimed to have seen the bandaged man was entirely empty-there wasn’t even a trace of him. By the end, I was on the verge of jumping off, like someone deranged. It wasn’t until someone knocked me unconscious that the strange scene finally ended.

To make sure I hadn’t missed anything, I rewound and reviewed the video multiple times. But no matter how carefully I looked, the conclusion was always the same.

“Senior, do you believe it now?” Su Mo asked.