Beneath the Dome, Sin within Sins

There were no external injuries on the head, and the only noticeable wound on his body was the two small punctures on his neck…

I found it hard to imagine where exactly these two punctures came from. If some sharp object had pierced them, it didn’t seem likely-it would be too much of a coincidence for these two punctures to be perfectly level and aligned on the same horizontal line.

If they were indeed caused by some tool, then this was extremely bizarre. Unless the murderer has some kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder, it’s impossible for them to have been this precise.

Moreover, these two punctures were remarkably uniform. I ended up measuring them with a tool-the outside shapes were perfect circles, even the diameters were identical.

It almost felt like some kind of specialized instrument was used for this.

Frowning, I pondered the situation for a long time. Though I couldn’t figure out what kind of tool it might be, an iconic figure from Western TV dramas popped into my mind-vampires!

As soon as this thought surfaced, I found it ridiculous. If vampires truly existed, cases like this one would definitely be considered textbook examples. Surely, I would have heard of them by now.

But if not vampires, then what else could it be?

I thought long and hard until finally, another possibility came to mind. There’s a medical condition called porphyria-a blood disorder that’s considered one of the top ten rare diseases in medicine.

I haven’t seen anyone with this illness in real life, but according to books, people with porphyria are highly sensitive to light and cannot produce an essential protein component-heme. This disease also affects the skin and nervous system. In critical situations, blood transfusions might be necessary. Essentially, the symptoms of this condition can be summed up in a few words: vampire disease.

There are no actual vampires in this world-only “vampire disease.” And those afflicted by it might, under certain circumstances, resort to consuming human blood.

With this thought in mind, I called my sister in the laboratory to give her a quick heads-up before heading off to find Su Mo. When I arrived, Su Mo and Lu Xun were reviewing the cases from recent years in search of connections.

Seeing me approach, Su Mo immediately stood up, walked over, and asked, “So? Did you find anything?”

I shook my head and said, “I did find something, but it’s so bizarre that I’m worried you might not believe it.”

As soon as he heard the words “found something,” Su Mo completely ignored the rest of what I said. His face lit up with excitement, and he exclaimed, “Quick, tell me! What did you discover?”

So, under Su Mo’s eager anticipation, I shared my thoughts from earlier.

After hearing what I said, Su Mo paused for a moment before responding, “Senior, I understand you’re eager to solve the case, but you can’t jump to the conclusion that the victim was a vampire just because their blood was drained.”

His reply didn’t surprise me at all. After all, while porphyria patients do exist, I’ve never heard of a patient who actually went around drinking human blood.

Still, even if this is an unlikely theory, I feel it’s necessary to investigate. Just because something isn’t documented doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

Plus, the two small punctures on the victim’s neck could very well have been caused by some kind of blood-draining instrument, so this theory can’t be entirely dismissed.

However, Su Mo’s attitude was dismissive. He didn’t believe a word I said and even seemed to think I was joking.

I wanted to try convincing Su Mo further. After all, how could all the blood in someone’s body disappear completely in such a short time after death? To be honest, if something this bizarre could happen, then anything more far-fetched might not be impossible-it could just be something we don’t know about yet.

While the debate between Su Mo and me grew more heated, Lu Xun stepped out of his office, giving us a curious glance. “You two have been arguing for a while now. What’s going on?” he asked.

Su Mo took the initiative to tell Lu Xun about my theory. After listening, Lu Xun let out a chuckle.

I was already frustrated by Su Mo’s disbelief, and now Lu Xun’s laugh felt like the final insult. I instantly felt humiliated and snapped, “What’s so funny? My theory is based on something logical. Besides, when working a case, we can’t overlook any possibility-especially one as plausible as this!”

Lu Xun coughed lightly and said, “I’m not laughing because I find your theory ridiculous. The reason I laughed is because it’s rare to see someone as cautious as Lu-Ge entertain such an unusual idea. It’s unexpected, that’s all.”

“Are you saying you also think Senior’s theory is impossible?” Su Mo asked.

Lu Xun shook his head. “I never said that. You know, this world is vast, and there’s no shortage of strange phenomena. We know far too little about it. When it comes to working a case, rather than being constrained by rules and limitations, I believe we should dare to make bold assumptions and then carefully verify them.”

Something about that line felt oddly familiar.

Then it hit me-Lu Xun had said the exact same thing during the heart removal case. Back then, I had mocked him for having such an unusual theory!

It’s true what they say about karma. What goes around truly does come back around-this time in the form of poetic justice!

“Lu Xun, are you saying this because Lu Ying is going to be your future brother-in-law?” Su Mo asked, clearly a little displeased.

Lu Xun smiled helplessly and replied, “You’re overthinking it. I’m the kind of person who supports reason, not relationships.”

After saying this, Lu Xun headed to the break room, leaving Su Mo and me standing there, exchanging looks.

“Senior, even though Lu Xun said that, I still think it’s a bit far-fetched,” Su Mo muttered.

I patted Su Mo on the shoulder and said, “It is a bit out there, but in our line of work, we’ve got to investigate every angle thoroughly.”

After saying this, I withdrew my hand and was about to head over to the forensic pathology lab when I noticed Lu Che, wearing a white coat, hurrying toward us.

“Is that Lu Che?” Su Mo asked.

I nodded, and the two of us walked up to meet her together.

“What’s the matter? Why are you rushing around? Did you discover something?” I asked as soon as we got close.

But before I could finish my question, I noticed the look of fear in Lu Che’s eyes.

The connection between siblings and her expression immediately made me realize something was wrong. I furrowed my brows slightly and asked in a serious tone, “Che, what’s going on?”

“Brother, I figured out who the epidermal debris belongs to!” she said, her voice trembling.

Hearing this, my heart leaped with excitement. Identifying the source was great news! As long as the debris didn’t belong to the victim, it could help us pin down the prime suspect. This would undoubtedly be a breakthrough in the case.

“Who is it? Just say it already!” Su Mo blurted out impatiently, clearly on edge from Lu Che’s delay.

Lu Che looked at me, then at Su Mo, and replied hesitantly, “You’re not going to want to know.”

Her words left both Su Mo and me stunned. Not want to know? What kind of statement was that? This case had been our top priority since the beginning.

And it wasn’t just any case-it was so bizarre and perplexing that we had no choice but to handle it with the utmost seriousness.

Yet, at this pivotal moment, Lu Che was telling us we wouldn’t want to know who the murderer was? That had to be some kind of joke!