Beneath the Dome, Sin within Sins - Chapter 72 - The Helper

On the way to the parking lot, Lu Xun said with a smile, “Your relationship with Su Mo is much better than I imagined.”

I sighed and replied, “If I had known, I wouldn’t have told him about that incident. Looking back now, keeping it to myself probably would’ve saved me a lot of trouble.”

Hearing my words, Lu Xun chuckled lightly. “Don’t say that. Director Su means well. You have no idea-after you got into trouble last time, Su Mo almost lost it. What you mean to him is definitely different from what others do.”

I couldn’t argue with that. It was true-my relationship with Su Mo was indeed closer than with anyone else. Maybe it was because we were schoolmates, or maybe it was the bond we formed through all the pranks and mischief during our school days.

I sighed deeply again and said, “Even so, what he did this time was really over the line. I’m not a child anymore. How could I still be foolish enough to get myself into trouble?”

“But when you went undercover last time, you got injured pretty badly. And don’t forget the time before that-if Su Mo had been just a bit later, your heart could’ve ended up as a specimen in that laboratory,” Lu Xun remarked casually.

His words left me momentarily speechless. Admittedly, I had been careless on a few occasions before. But this time, nothing had even happened yet! What gave Su Mo the right to think I’d mess up again?

When Lu Xun pulled up to the entrance of my apartment complex, he didn’t rush to let me out. Instead, he continued, “Lu-Ge, you’d better listen to Su Mo on this one. That bandaged man is seriously troublesome. Besides, if he had truly wanted to take your life last night, you wouldn’t be here now.”

“Even so, you guys can’t handle this on your own. And as for that corpse, I want to examine it personally.”

“Lu-Ge, just leave it to Che. You should stay home and keep out of trouble,” Lu Xun said with finality.

After saying his piece, he motioned for me to get out of the car. I didn’t argue further. It seemed this time I’d have to investigate behind Su Mo’s back. As for that corpse? Well, I couldn’t deny how curious it made me.

After returning home, I gave Lu Che a call. She sounded surprised when she picked up. “Brother! I thought you were out? Su Mo told me you weren’t part of this case anymore. What’s going on?”

From Lu Che’s reaction, I could tell that Su Mo hadn’t informed her about the real situation. He was likely trying to keep her from worrying about me, so he chose to hide the truth.

That worked to my advantage. I quickly came up with a little white lie. “I noticed something wasn’t right, so I backed out to investigate secretly. Lu Xun and Su Mo can’t know about this.”

“Why not?” she asked, confused.

“Because it’s better to proceed without alerting the enemy. They’re in the shadows; we’re out in the open. If I go underground, it levels the playing field-it’s just another strategy, don’t you think?”

Lu Che seemed to come around after my explanation. “Ah, I see now! You really are amazing, brother-so smart and forward-thinking. So, what do you need from me today?”

“The corpse discovered yesterday. I want you to perform the autopsy yourself.”

“Hm? Why me?”

“Because I suspect it might involve a virus.”

“What makes you think that?”

“I initially suspected it was caused by someone with porphyria. But after giving it more thought, it doesn’t add up. Sure, porphyria is also called ‘vampire disease,’ but vampires don’t actually exist in this world. And the puncture wounds on the victim’s neck? They don’t look like traditional injuries. They’re more consistent with something made by a device.”

“But brother, don’t you care about the victim, Zhao Dekai? Based on the data, his death was a long time ago.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “If he’s been dead this long, there’s no reason to get caught up in it. Spending time on a corpse won’t lead us anywhere.”

“But my instincts are telling me that Zhao Dekai is connected to this case.”

To be fair, I knew for a fact that Zhao Dekai was connected. But I didn’t want Lu Che getting any deeper into this mess, so I intentionally tried to steer the conversation away. Still, you should never underestimate a woman’s intuition.

What’s more, ever since I encountered that bandaged man, I had a gut feeling that this case might somehow tie back to the mutant incident from the past. After all, the bandaged man seemed to have some link to that factory.

“Even if Zhao Dekai is involved, that’s not something you need to worry about. Your focus should be on figuring out what caused their blood to disappear. And if possible, I want you to develop an antidote. I’ve got a strong feeling this isn’t going to end easily.”

Lu Che fell silent for a moment, then responded decisively, “Alright, I’ll devote myself to the research. Don’t worry, brother-I’ll uncover what’s behind all this!”

After hanging up the phone, I couldn’t shake off what Lu Che had said about Zhao Dekai. His death definitely wasn’t as simple as it seemed.

With this on my mind, I decided to call Tang Xin. When she picked up, I could hear the sound of a TV playing in the background. Curious, I glanced at the time and asked, “You’re not at work today?”

“Nope. Why? What’s up?”

“I need your help with something.”

Tang Xin went silent for a moment, then replied cautiously, “You’re not planning on making me go into a bar again, are you? Let me just tell you right now, I’m not doing it. I’m still traumatized from last time. I had no idea there could be so many creeps in this world.”

Her response made me chuckle. “Relax, this time it’s about Chengyuan Pharmaceutical Factory.”

The moment I said that, I could hear Tang Xin’s loud voice yelling in the background, “Bigo! I have to step out for something-don’t forget to put in a leave request for me when you get to work!”

After that, she turned her attention back to me. “Where are you? I’ll come find you.”

I told her the name of a café nearby, quickly changed into a fresh outfit, and hopped on my bike to head over there.

By the time I arrived, Tang Xin was already waiting for me.

Feeling a little guilty for making her wait, I offered her a sheepish smile as I approached. But when I glanced at my watch, my guilt quickly faded. With a hint of exasperation, I said, “You’re way too early!”

“It’s fine. Anyway, did you find out anything about the mastermind?” she asked, getting straight to the point.

I shook my head and proceeded to fill her in on the entire vampire case. Once I finished, Tang Xin sat quietly for a long moment before finally asking, “So you’re suspecting a virus?”

I nodded. “Exactly. The whole mutant situation from before still haunts me to this day. And I’m afraid what’s happening now might be directly linked to those people.”