Kuang Ye: “…” A flash of sharpness quickly passed through his eyes, followed by a hint of concern. He handed Mu Wan the towel. “Go wash up first. There’s some of my old clothes in the closet. You can wear them for now, and I’ll bring you some new clothes tomorrow.”

These clothes were originally brought over to create the illusion of daily life, but he hadn’t expected to use them on the very first day.

Mu Wan then realized her hair was a bit messy, her clothes were wrinkled, and she smelled of alcohol after coming out of the bar. Her face flushed with embarrassment, and she hastily explained, “I wasn’t like that because of you earlier.”

Kuang Ye smiled. “I know, don’t worry. The bad guy’s already been caught.”

Hearing those comforting words, Mu Wan’s face flushed even more. She quickly took the towel and went into the bathroom.

—

After Mu Wan went to take a shower, Kuang Ye’s smile faded. He opened his phone’s photo album, found the identity information of the man from the bar he had secretly photographed, and sent it to a private investigator he knew.

Check if this person has any criminal history.

In less than ten minutes, a new email appeared in his inbox. Kuang Ye opened it.

The man’s name was Zhou Yong, a nouveau riche in S City who had become wealthy due to property demolitions. He had a vocational school education and lived a luxurious life, squandering his wealth. Two years ago, he drugged and raped several innocent women in a bar. The case was reported, but it was dropped due to lack of evidence. A year ago, he was involved in a “pick-up” incident outside a bar, and the woman was severely injured, but his family used their connections and money to suppress it.

Kuang Ye’s expression darkened.

His Wan Wan almost fell into the hands of such scum. No wonder he wasn’t afraid when he heard the police would be called. It turns out he had done this before and believed that even if something happened, his family would protect him.

Find the women he harmed before. I’ll pay for their lawyer fees to sue him, and give each of them 100,000 yuan as compensation. I want him locked up for at least twenty years.

Got it!

Kuang Ye shut off his phone and threw it aside. He lay back on the couch, his face weary and darker than the members of his base had ever seen.

Luckily, Wan Wan was fine.

If she hadn’t been, he didn’t know what he would have done. He would never forget that eight years ago, it was Mu Wan who pulled him back from the edge of life and death.

—

Eight years ago, S City, Night.

“Don’t let him escape!”

In a remote rural town, a bustling underground gambling den, a shout echoed out as a thin, bloodied young man sprinted out. Behind him were countless gangsters wielding machetes, covered in tattoos, looking menacing.

The young man moved quickly, dodging their attempts to capture him, his fists clenched and his eyes burning with a fierce light.

Wife, I’ve just been unlucky lately. I’ll turn it around, I swear I’ll turn it around. A hundred thousand, I lost a hundred thousand. If I don’t pay them back, they’ll cut off my hands and legs.

[Let’s send our son to the casino, after all, following us is just a life of hardship. At least in the casino, he won’t have to worry about food and drink.]

[Why not? He’s not my biological son. My son is in the Kuang family, and he has to rot and die in this mud.]

He was very happy. He was not the biological son of that scoundrel of a father. That kind of person who, when drunk, would beat him to death, and who would spend all his school fees on gambling, how could such a person be his father?

He had fled almost the entire night. The young boy hid in a livestock transport truck and left that nightmare of a place. Probably because of the injuries on his body, the harsh conditions in the truck caused an infection, and he developed a high fever. Fortunately, it was a truck heading to S City.

The boy dragged his exhausted and heavy body, clinging to the illusion of a family he hoped for, using that hope to keep him going. After much struggle, he finally arrived at the address he had painstakingly acquired. And there, in that luxurious villa, the boy saw Kuang Shuyu for the first time—the person who had exchanged lives with him.

He was dressed in a custom-made suit, his face elegant, his posture upright, polite like a prince—completely different from him. It was Kuang Shuyu’s birthday that day. It was also his.

He had rehearsed everything he wanted to say, but in the end, he couldn’t bring the words to his lips. This little prince, falling into the hands of his foster father, would probably be reduced to nothing, not even bones.

That was what he thought. Then, he left.

He couldn’t go back to that home, and he couldn’t go back to the other. His high fever and worsening injuries caused him to collapse on the road to the villa halfway up the mountain. It was winter. The sky was dark, and the wind was cold. He tried to get up, but his body wouldn’t move.

He wanted to live, even if it meant living in the mud, being trampled like a stone on the side of the road. He just wanted to live. But his body was so uncooperative.

Just when he thought he was going to die and regretted being so kind earlier, a pair of hands helped him up. A girl’s voice sounded alarmed.

“Uncle Liu, hurry up! Someone’s passed out here!”

—

If he had known that even if he returned, the Kuang family wouldn’t have driven Kuang Shuyu away, he would never have pretended to be so kind. Now an adult, 23-year-old Kuang Ye thought about it this way.