[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-really-am-a-villain":3,"chapter-i-really-am-a-villain-i-really-am-a-villain-chapter-1239":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","I Really Am A Villain",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1434014,1885,"Chapter 1239 - The One Behind The Curtain","i-really-am-a-villain-chapter-1239",1239,"\u003Cp>“I have no plans to marry, Elder. You don’t need to say any more,” Xu Zimo said with a smile, waving his hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The elder chuckled, clinking his cup against Xu Zimo’s once again. “Tell me, young man, how’s the wine?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Excellent,” Xu Zimo nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Our village is called Forgetful Village because of this very wine,” the elder said, smiling strangely. “It’s called Forgetful Wine.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh?” Xu Zimo raised a brow. “Does it make one lose their memory after drinking it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How do you feel right now?” the elder asked, standing up slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Nothing out of the ordinary,” Xu Zimo replied calmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The elder frowned slightly. Suddenly, countless branches erupted from the ground beneath Xu Zimo’s feet, wrapping around him and binding him in place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who exactly are you?” the elders demanded, stepping back cautiously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Zimo gave a faint smile. “Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He flexed slightly, and with sheer physical strength alone, shattered the bindings of branches around him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When I first arrived, I thought you were all Dryads who’d cultivated into human form,” he said evenly. “But now, you reek of decay. Judging by that stench, you’ve been dead for quite some time.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Take him down first!” the leading elder snapped coldly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In that instant, the two massive ginseng trees at the village entrance began to twist and turn. The entire village started to shift, transforming into a living labyrinth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone inside, the women, the elders, the trees, turned into pitch-black trunks radiating dense death energy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The once vibrant forest was now nothing but dead soil. The air grew cold. Tombstones began to burst from the earth, one after another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire place had turned into an extension of the God Valley of Buried Souls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crows cawed above, and the rotting trees around him began to move, growing legs and charging toward Xu Zimo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Zimo frowned slightly. The Primal Dao of Fire flickered to life in his hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fire, the natural enemy of wood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A torrent of flame roared forth, sweeping through the air and engulfing the earth in a blazing inferno.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The trees crackled and exploded under the heat, filling the air with hissing and popping sounds. A cold, wailing wind blew through the ruins, sounding eerily like the cries of the dead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Seems someone doesn’t want me here,” Xu Zimo said with a smirk, scanning the surroundings. “In that case, I’ll carve out a bloody path myself.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The aura of his blade surged outward. Shadow Tyrant appeared in his hand, resting easily against his shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he unleashed his blade intent, he didn’t bother to restrain it. Everything within his line of sight was instantly reduced to nothingness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ahead, skeletal arms clawed their way out from beneath the tombstones, and bone-white figures began to rise one after another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dead trees sprouted legs and gathered into formation, weaving themselves into a massive, foul-smelling array filled with ghostly figures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Zimo sneered. “Just a pack of rabble.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The flames spread from him in all directions, devouring everything within several miles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, he tossed the Traceless Compass into the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The compass spun rapidly, its markings of the Eight Trigrams shifting continuously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A moment later, a radiant path opened up in the sky, its light shining across the darkened valley.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From an outside perspective, it looked as if divine light had pierced the cursed land.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But from Xu Zimo’s view, his mind had entered a state of absolute clarity. His eyes could now perceive the workings of fate itself, the omens of fortune and calamity glowing before him in ever-changing colors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each hue represented a different destiny: great misfortune, or great blessing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Zimo smiled faintly. With this compass, at least he wouldn’t lose his way in the God Valley of Buried Souls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He followed the path of good fortune, the Traceless Compass hovering above his head as his blade aura swept outward, covering thousands of miles and shaking the heavens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Deep within the God Valley of Buried Souls, in a hidden underground lair, raucous laughter echoed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Below the cavern throne were countless bone demons, cheering and drinking wildly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the throne sat a gigantic rat, its body covered in yellow fur, its face narrow and vicious. It held a huge piece of cheese in its mouth, snoring loudly as it slept, blowing bubbles the size of boulders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The white bone imps beneath him were making merry, shouting and laughing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Our God Valley of Buried Souls is one of the great Forbidden Lands of the Ghost God Heaven!” one of the skeletons bragged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s right! Even if a Grand Emperor came here, he’d have to bow to us!” another cackled proudly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We may not be much in the outside world, but here, this is the realm of the dead! Our realm!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Shh, keep your voice down,” one hissed. “You’ll wake the king. Then you’ll really be in trouble.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Whose turn is it to guard the entrance today?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I think it was Bone Elder’s shift. But it’s been a while… maybe he’s caught something big?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The skeletons laughed among themselves, until one came stumbling in, shouting frantically.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord! My lord! Something terrible has happened!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The massive rat stirred, the bubbles at its mouth bursting with a pop. It opened its sharp eyes irritably, grabbed the panicked skeleton by the neck, and lifted him up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You woke this king’s nap. Has the sky fallen?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“N-not quite,” the skeleton stammered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before it could finish, there was a slap, the rat swatted it across the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The sky hasn’t fallen, so what are you screeching about?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s an intruder, my lord!” the skeleton cried. “A terrifying one! He’s slaughtering everything in his path, he’s nearly reached the main cavern!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What about the guards?” the rat demanded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Dead, my lord! Killed with a single strike. Bone King is the only one still holding him off!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A bunch of useless fools,” the rat growled, rising from its throne. Its obese body shook as it moved, making the ground tremble beneath each step.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Come! Let’s see who dares disturb this king’s slumber!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a wave of his claw, the rat led an army of skeleton demons toward the entrance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the Forest of Bones, the cold wind howled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tombstones jutted from the ground, and the sound of shattering bones echoed faintly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Zimo stood before a towering figure, the Bone King. Its entire body was composed of razor-sharp bones, each one gleaming like a blade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Zimo swung Shadow Tyrant. A thunderous explosion followed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Bone King was cleaved in half, but almost immediately, the shattered bones reassembled themselves, restoring its form.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In this place, you can’t kill me,” the Bone King laughed. “The Valley is filled with bones. I’ll never run out.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is that so?” Xu Zimo said quietly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He raised his blade toward the sky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thunder answered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A pillar of lightning crashed down, splitting the heavens like the wrath of the gods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It engulfed the Bone King completely, and screams tore through the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You! You wield fire, not lightning! How, how is this possible!?” the Bone King howled.\u003C\u002Fp>",1185,"2026-06-06T01:07:12.426Z",1,"novelbin.me","34a8297a39b66d6baf79eb4cdd58a1b7407844160264afe274cbe147319139a1","i-really-am-a-villain-chapter-1240","i-really-am-a-villain-chapter-1238",1822,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-really-am-a-villain-cover.jpg"]