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A killer who spent years hiding in plain sight inside one of China's most powerful gaming empires has finally faced justice.

Chinese authorities executed Xu Yao on May 21, a man convicted of systematically poisoning his own boss, billionaire Lin Qi, the visionary founder of Shanghai-based Yoozoo Games and the driving force behind Netflix's blockbuster adaptation of "The Three-Body Problem." Local media reported the news Tuesday, and Lin's company confirmed the execution on Chinese social media platform Weibo.

The motive: betrayal over a billion-dollar deal

The story begins with ambition and ends with murder. Xu, who served as head of a Yoozoo Games subsidiary, played a key role in helping Lin secure the coveted Netflix adaptation rights for Liu Cixin's legendary sci-fi trilogy. But instead of being rewarded, Xu was sidelined by the very man he had helped elevate.

That perceived betrayal, sources say, lit the fuse.

In a calculated act of revenge, Xu spent hundreds of thousands of yuan (tens of thousands of dollars) purchasing highly toxic substances online, including alpha-amanitin, a lethal compound naturally occurring in some of the world's deadliest poisonous mushrooms.

A chilling method: poison hidden in plain sight

What makes the case especially sinister is the sophistication of the scheme. Xu did not strike in a moment of rage. He disguised the deadly poisons as probiotic pills and concealed them inside coffee capsules, water containers, and whiskey bottles items casually shared among colleagues in an office setting.

The Hollywood Reporter, citing local media, reported that Lin was ultimately brought down by a cup of poisoned tea.

Lin was rushed to a hospital in December 2020. He died just days later. He was only 39 years old.

Several other employees at the company also fell ill after unknowingly consuming the contaminated products, but they survived.

"Justice has ultimately been served"

Xu was convicted in 2024 after a lengthy legal process. Following the execution, Yoozoo Games released a statement on Weibo that was equal parts relief and grief.

"Recently, the case concerning Mr. Lin Qi, the founder of Three-Body Universe, has finally reached its conclusion, and justice has ultimately been served," the company wrote.

"All of us at the company are deeply grateful for the upholding of justice," it added.

The Shanghai High People's Court did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The empire Lin Qi left behind

Lin was no ordinary businessman. At the time of his death, he ranked No. 870 among China's wealthiest entrepreneurs, with a net worth of 6.8 billion yuan (approximately $1 billion), according to the Hurun Report, which tracks China's richest individuals.

His company held the film and television adaptation rights to "The Three-Body Problem," the first book in Liu Cixin's celebrated sci-fi trilogy. The series has been translated into more than 40 languages and inspired a sprawling industry of movies, video games, books, magazines, and cultural exhibits across China.

Liu Cixin himself made history as the first Chinese author to win the Hugo Award, science fiction's most prestigious honor. Netflix's "3 Body Problem" series, released in 2024, brought the story to a massive global audience and introduced an entirely new generation of readers to the franchise.

A farewell that still resonates

When Lin died in December 2020, his company posted a raw, emotional goodbye on its official Weibo page that captured the grief felt across the industry.

"Goodbye youth," it read, followed by a vow: "We will be together, continue to be kind, continue to believe in goodness, and continue the fight against all that is bad."

With Xu Yao's execution, that promise, made in the shadow of tragedy, has now been answered.