Beneath the Dome, Sin within Sins - Chapter 69 - The Second Corpse

A few harsh words from Su Mo left the driver utterly speechless. I knew Su Mo was getting impatient, but no matter how urgent the situation was, there was no need to act like a rabid dog snapping at everyone!

Eventually, I couldn’t stand it anymore and stepped in, saying, “Alright, Su Mo, stop scaring him.”

“What do you mean scaring him? I’m just following procedure!”

I patted Su Mo on the shoulder and offered an apologetic smile to the driver. “Don’t take it too seriously. My friend here just has a bit of a sharp tongue.”

But it seemed my words didn’t register with the driver at all. He was already terrified by what Su Mo had said. “Officer, I swear I’m not the murderer! I was just passing through! I thought this area was remote, and fewer drivers would dare come here, so I figured I could earn a bit more by coming. How could I have known I’d come across something like this?

“Besides, it’s not like I wanted to see something like this! And as soon as I saw it, I called the police right away! I promise, I’ll never come here again! I swear!”

Looking at the driver swearing up and down, I couldn’t help but sigh internally. It seemed Su Mo really went too far this time, completely scaring the poor guy out of his wits.

Su Mo, however, must’ve been used to scenes like this or had simply grown numb to them. With a wave of his hand, a few police officers quickly approached.

The driver-a simple, honest man-was so frightened by this that he collapsed onto the ground.

“Officer, it’s really not me! I swear I’m not the murderer!”

Su Mo frowned and said, “Even if you’re not the murderer, you still need to go to the station and give a statement. Don’t worry, if this has nothing to do with you, we won’t trouble you any further. Just hurry up-give your statement and then you can go home!”

Hearing this, the driver’s expression finally softened. He followed one of the officers and left. As for his car, another person was assigned to drive it back.

After the driver left, our group headed into the greenbelt. Along the way, Lu Che asked, “Su Mo, you were so harsh on that driver earlier. Is it because you noticed something suspicious and think he might be the murderer?”

Su Mo shook his head and explained, “No, I was just scaring him a bit. If he really were the murderer…”

“No amount of scaring would make a difference,” Lu Xun interrupted.

Hearing this, Su Mo immediately looked displeased. “Hey, hey, hey! Lu Xun, what’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m just stating the facts,” Lu Xun replied indifferently. “If someone can maintain their composure and even call the police after committing murder, they must have an exceptionally strong psyche. If your intimidation tactics worked on them, that would be suspicious in itself.”

Su Mo seemed ready to argue further, but I stopped him decisively because, by this point, we had already reached the victim.

I put on a pair of gloves we had prepared earlier and began inspecting the body. After a quick preliminary examination, I sighed and said, “This is troublesome. It looks like we’re dealing with a serial murder case.”

By now, the sky was beginning to brighten. After instructing others to transport the corpse back to the forensic pathology lab, we returned to the police station. Having stayed up all night, we were all extremely exhausted. However, going home at this hour wasn’t exactly practical, so we decided to catch some rest on the sofas in the conference room.

As for my sister, Lu Che-well, unlike us big guys, she couldn’t just crash anywhere. So I encouraged her to go home and get some proper rest. To my surprise, that little brat told me she’d just sleep in the forensic pathology lab.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure how others might respond, but I was completely dumbfounded.

“What’s with that reaction?” Lu Che said, clearly annoyed.

I swallowed hard and asked, “You’re sure you want to sleep in the forensic pathology lab?”

“I’m sure! Why not? Is there a problem?”

“Well… there aren’t any beds in there.”

“Nonsense! There’s the autopsy table. I can just sleep on that!”

“But… but the autopsy table is…”

Before I could finish my sentence, Lu Che had already disappeared through the door.

It was only then that Su Mo, seemingly realizing something, said, “Wait a second… that autopsy table isn’t-it’s for dissecting corpses, isn’t it?”

“You’ll get used to it,” Lu Xun remarked casually before rolling over to sleep.

As for me, watching Lu Xun fall asleep so easily, I suddenly began to understand why he had become Lu Che’s partner. It all made sense now.

Su Mo and I exchanged a glance, then each found a spot to rest.

The sofa in the police station was terribly uncomfortable-nowhere near as nice as the one at home-but under these circumstances, I wasn’t in a position to complain.

At first, I was exhausted and thought I’d fall asleep instantly. Yet, the moment my head touched the sofa, my sleepiness evaporated on the spot.

Unable to fall asleep no matter how I tossed and turned, I eventually gave up. I sat up, leaned back against the sofa, and began mulling over the case.

This case was complex-so complex and bizarre that it immediately reminded me of the bandaged man.

Could this really be their doing again?

If that was the case, then it was crossing the line. They’d sworn to me not to drag me into their business. And yet here they were, committing murders all over the place, practically forcing me to get involved.

If they truly didn’t want me involved, then they should behave-stay out of trouble, refrain from committing any crimes, and everything would be perfectly fine, wouldn’t it?

I wasn’t the bandaged man, so their thoughts and motives were completely beyond my comprehension. But one thing I was certain of-there had to be something wrong with that bandaged man’s brain.

As I thought about the bandaged man, his shadow filled my mind, consuming all my thoughts. The more I thought about it, the more certain I became that he was behind this mess.

It was while grappling with this thought that I caught something out of the corner of my eye. Through the conference room’s glass walls, I noticed what appeared to be a figure clinging to the window.

But when I focused on it, I wasn’t so certain. It didn’t quite seem like a person. Then again, at that moment, I couldn’t really confirm anything-I was so sleep-deprived that my vision was starting to blur.

Determined to find out whether what I’d seen was real or just a trick of my tired eyes, I stood up and left the office, making my way toward the window.

When I finally got a good look at the figure outside the window, my breath caught, and I nearly cried out-bandaged man! I couldn’t believe it! It was him again!

I wanted to call out to Su Mo and the others for help, but before I could, I clamped my mouth shut. As I was about to shout, the figure outside the window slowly raised a gun, pointing the dark barrel directly at my head without warning.

I was frozen, caught completely off guard…

Swallowing hard, I slowly raised my hands in surrender. Let me be clear: this wasn’t because I was scared-okay, maybe a little-but mostly because it was obviously a case of “the strong subduing the weak” right now. As the saying goes, a wise man knows when to bend and when to stand tall. If I managed to survive, there’d be plenty of time to settle this score later-twofold!

Seeing me raise my hands, the bandaged man nodded in apparent satisfaction. And then, he… gave me the middle finger.

What the-?!

What kind of nonsense was this?!

What a blatant insult! If you’ve got the guts, put the gun down and see how I’ll handle you!