Beneath the Dome, Sin within Sins - Chapter 70 - The Invitation

Just as I was seething with anger, the man suddenly grinned. In the cold moonlight, the Bandaged Man’s smile carried a mixture of desolation and eeriness-three parts haunting, seven parts sinister. In short, it was downright creepy.

I swallowed hard, utterly clueless about what this Bandaged Man was up to.

Frowning, I slightly lowered my voice, took two steps forward, and demanded, “What are you trying to do?”

Fortunately, the windows at the police station were open, otherwise, I couldn’t be sure if the people outside would hear what I said.

Hearing my question, the Bandaged Man’s grin widened. At the sight of that smile, I instinctively furrowed my brows.

A smile, such a beautiful expression, but on this man, why did it seem so terrifying?

“Lu Ying, the show has already begun! How many times have I told you to stay out of it? Why do you insist on poking your nose where it doesn’t belong?”

His voice, old and hoarse, felt as though it were pulled directly from his throat. I could almost hear the rasp of his vocal cords-grating and venomous.

For a moment, I was reminded of Voldemort from J.K. Rowling¹‘s novels. In the movies, Voldemort’s voice had that same chilling quality. The first time I heard it, it nearly scared me to death.

“What exactly are you planning?!”

“Purifying this filthy world, Lu Ying. This world has already become rotten!”

How eerily familiar these words were!

Isn’t this the kind of thing that the cult’s Holy Lord was always preaching?

A name hovered unspoken on the tip of my tongue-could it be that the person in front of me was Jiang Wu?!

But then, I quickly dismissed the idea. It couldn’t possibly be Jiang Wu. The first time I encountered the Bandaged Man, Jiang Wu hadn’t even escaped from prison yet.

Which could only mean one thing: this Bandaged Man was somehow tied to the experiments involving enhancement drugs!

As I began to cautiously frame my hypothesis in my mind, the Bandaged Man spoke again: “You’re the perfect test subject, so it’s best if you don’t get involved. Heaven always shows mercy to perfection.”

As expected, he was indeed connected to the enhancement drug experiments. Being the sole survivor, I could only deduce that this person must have been one of the researchers!

Frowning slightly, I said, “So you really are connected to the enhancement agent experiments!”

“Not just connected,” he sneered, “but deeply involved!”

“Who are you, really?! And what the hell do you want?!” I leaned against the windowsill in agitation, gripping the frame so tightly that my fingers began to bleed without me even noticing.

At that moment, the Bandaged Man let out an eerie chuckle, a “heh-heh” sound that chilled me to the bone. After he had laughed to his heart’s content, he finally spoke in his creaky, wind-up-clock-like voice: “I’m going to reshuffle the world. As for who I am, you’ll find out once the new world is built.”

“A new world? What new world?!”

“You’ll see when the dawn breaks. The new world is asleep for now, but it’s going to wake up soon.”

Having dropped this ominous declaration, the Bandaged Man turned as if to leave.

My instincts screamed at me not to let this man get away. Just as I was about to call out to Su Mo and the others, the Bandaged Man suddenly spun around, raising a gun and pointing it in a specific direction.

Startled, I froze for a second. Following the direction of the gun’s muzzle, I saw that the barrel of the weapon was aimed squarely at Su Mo’s head.

Smiling faintly, the Bandaged Man placed a finger to his lips, signaling for me to stay silent. That small gesture made my hair stand on end.

His intention couldn’t have been clearer: if I dared make a sound, he would blow Su Mo’s brains out.

And yet, as terrifying as this was, it wasn’t the thing that shocked me the most. What truly left me stunned was that, in an unexpected twist, he suddenly twirled the gun in his hand and turned the muzzle toward his own temple!

Seeing this, my initial shock was swiftly replaced by a malicious hope that he might actually pull the trigger.

As wrong as it might seem, I couldn’t help but think that if this Bandaged Man were to die, the world would undoubtedly be a much safer place.

“You’re probably thinking that if I die, the world will finally be at peace, aren’t you?”

The Bandaged Man spoke again, interrupting my thoughts as if he had plucked them straight from my mind.

Caught off guard, my expression briefly faltered, but since he had already read me like a book, there was no use hiding it anymore.

“Yeah, I am. But would you really let yourself die?”

“Of course not. The world hasn’t been reshuffled yet. Who’d be willing to die before that?”

As he spoke, the Bandaged Man suddenly pointed the gun at me again. This time, I watched helplessly as he pulled the trigger!

Instinctively, I shut my eyes tightly. However, no gunshot rang out, no pain followed. After waiting for what felt like forever, I cautiously opened my eyes, only to find that the Bandaged Man had vanished.

The gun he had been holding was now lodged in the window screen. At the gun’s muzzle was a bright red rose, pinned in place. Beneath it hung a small note. The words scrawled on it sent a chill down my spine:

“Director Su’s little kitty, we’ll meet again!”

I stared, shaken, at the bizarre sight in front of me and realized I had just been toyed with by the Bandaged Man.

And… little kitty? What on earth was that supposed to mean? Was this Bandaged Man some kind of pervert? Yes! That had to be it-he was definitely a twisted freak!

Just as I was getting ready to collect the prop gun, a lazy voice drifted into my ears. “Lu Ying, what are you doing up so late?”

It was too late to hide it now-when I turned my head, I saw Su Mo standing there, his face frozen in an expression of utter disbelief.

—

Su Mo was now seated at his desk in the office, rhythmically tapping one hand against its surface while frowning deeply. It was his signature habit whenever he was lost in thought.

Meanwhile, Lu Xun was casually leaning back in his chair, legs crossed, watching the situation unfold with an annoying smirk on his face. Just looking at him made my blood boil.

And then there was me, standing in front of Su Mo’s desk like a criminal awaiting judgment, my face dark with unease.

“Senior, don’t you think you owe us an explanation for all this?” Su Mo asked, his tone sharp.

“I… I can explain,” I stammered.

Even though Su Mo was younger than me and often acted overly impulsive, I had to admit-when he was angry, he had a commanding presence that was almost worthy of his title as director. Maybe I had been wrong about him all along. Perhaps it wasn’t about the higher-ups angling for a scapegoat. Su Mo’s aura alone could’ve earned him this position-he could absolutely hold his ground in any situation.

“Then explain!” Su Mo snapped impatiently.

Left with no other choice, I spilled everything about the Bandaged Man, recounting every detail I could. Of course, I conveniently left out certain parts-like the Bandaged Man’s warning about not getting involved in matters tied to me.

When I finished, Su Mo didn’t say a word. The silence was almost tangible, thickening the atmosphere until it became unbearably awkward.

After a brief pause, Lu Xun cleared his throat and said, “I’ll just… step out to use the restroom.”

Footnote:

1. K. Rowling(J.K.罗琳):J.K. Rowling is a renowned British author, best known for her “Harry Potter” series of novels. Voldemort is the main antagonist in the series, known for his evil nature and powerful magical abilities.