Chapter 1: Prologue

"Dear investor friends, by the time you read this letter, I will have already gone abroad and, via a complex route, arrived at the place where I am to begin a new life. That is to say, every bit of your investment has gone down the drain. Still, I suggest that the moment you see this message, you report the case to your local economic crimes unit as quickly as possible. With a bit of luck, you might recover some of it.

The good news is that the company's other partner, Mr. Xiong, has not yet fled. He lives at Jinghua Garden, Building 2, Apartment 315, and his car is a BMW 7 Series with the license plate ending in 250. Let me quietly confide in you: this bastard is both vicious and stupid. Most of the funds were transferred away by him — he was the one who set up this whole scheme and even wanted to make me the scapegoat. It's just that I'm smarter than he is. I sincerely wish you success in recovering a portion of your losses."

Pang Yu set the message to send in 48 hours, then shut down the computer and dragged his suitcase to the office door. Suddenly remembering something, he turned back and walked over to his partner Mr. Xiong's desk. Beside the monitor sat a conspicuously placed, beautiful round goldfish bowl. Inside, two goldfish were still swimming cheerfully back and forth. These two goldfish were Old Xiong's favorites — they were said to have boosted his career luck.

Pang Yu gave a cold snort of laughter and casually swept the fish bowl aside. With a crash, it hit the floor and shattered to pieces, water splashing everywhere. The two fish, knowing calamity was upon them, flopped and thrashed wildly on the floor.

Pang Yu stomped on the two fish in a frenzy. "An accident, just an accident — I stepped on them by mistake. With that rotten nature of yours, you thought you could screw me over, make me the scapegoat? Are you as vicious as me? Your granny's ass."

He stomped until the two fish were gutted and pulped. Without even closing the office door, Pang Yu dragged his luggage into the elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor. The elevator began to move — just a short ride down from over thirty floors up. Pang Yu sat comfortably on his suitcase.

"I'm retiring from the jianghu. Finally, I can get some proper rest. Bad guys live long lives... Ah!"

The elevator suddenly went into free fall. The car shuddered violently, the floor indicator lights flickering rapidly as the car plummeted toward the bottom. From the elevator shaft rose Pang Yu's hoarse, desperate wail: "Don't be a bad guy! In your next life, be a good person!"