I Really Am A Villain

Xu Zimo stopped walking and looked at Ji Jiuning with a half-smile.

“The Northern Fox is in this village,” Ji Jiuning said.

“Did you just sense it now, or did you already know when we first entered?” Xu Zimo asked.

“Nothing can escape Young Master Xu’s eyes,” Ji Jiuning replied with a light laugh. “But that woman, Seven Kills…”

“What you shouldn’t know, don’t ask,” Xu Zimo interrupted her coldly.

Ji Jiuning nodded slightly and began searching the village. She walked through several streets, stepping over the corpses of the whitewood trees, the green blood in the air still heavy with a sickly sweetness. Eventually, she stopped before a whitewood grove.

There were thousands of whitewood trees growing there. Unlike those within the village, these had no sentience; they were newly grown and still in the process of nurturing their spirits.

Above each tree hung an amber-like sphere, dull yellow and translucent. Inside these orbs, consciousness was slowly forming, just like fruit waiting to ripen. Once mature, they would fall and gain intelligence. This was likely how Whitewood Village had continued to reproduce and grow.

“Dig,” Ji Jiuning said, stopping in front of an open clearing.

She stomped down hard, the ground splitting beneath her feet. With her right palm striking the earth, the soil shattered, and a deep pit formed. Damp earth flew into the air, bringing with it piles of white bones and half-rotted corpses.

Ji Jiuning’s sharp eyes scanned the heap of remains.

“They’ve been hunting other beings, using the nutrients from their corpses to nurture the trees’ intelligence,” Ji Jiuning said coolly. “This village isn’t exactly innocent.”

As she spoke, a sense of foreboding rose in her. It was becoming clear that the previous Northern Hill disciple who had entered this place must have died here.

The more they unearthed, the more corpses appeared, piling into a small mountain of death. And as if disturbed by the desecration, something deep within the grove stirred.

From the shadows came low growls and the rustling of leaves, the sound spreading from all directions.

“Careful!” Xu Zimo shouted.

The words had barely left his mouth when countless vines shot up from beneath the fallen leaves, lashing toward them like living whips.

The two spun through the air, narrowly avoiding the onslaught. Ji Jiuning shouted sharply, stepping on several vines while gripping others in her hands.

“Leave this place,” came a weary, aged voice from deep within the grove.

“Who are you?” Ji Jiuning demanded.

“Whitewood Village has already been slaughtered,” the old voice replied calmly. “Let there at least be some remnants.”

“We didn’t come to destroy,” Ji Jiuning said quickly. “We’re looking for one body, the corpse of the Northern Fox.”

The old voice went silent for a long while. Then the earth began to tremble violently. The surrounding whitewood trees swayed, and a towering tree, thousands of meters tall, rose from the ground.

It had grayish whiskers like an ancient sage, and its massive form loomed over them, as if it were the sky itself.

A thick vine suddenly descended from above, smashing into the ground and stirring the air into chaos. From the crack that followed, a massive fox skeleton slowly rose from the depths.

“It’s from the Northern Hill,” Ji Jiuning said excitedly.

The enormous skeleton was hurled before her, and the old voice spoke again.

“Take it and leave.”

Ji Jiuning gazed at the bones before her, though the flesh had long decayed, the pale, jade-like skeleton radiated a chilling aura that marked it unmistakably as belonging to the Northern Fox.

She raised both hands, releasing waves of violet energy mixed with white spiritual light that drifted over the bones.

With her eyes closed, she seemed to be sensing something. After a moment, her eyes snapped open.

“Found it. Demon Realm, open!”

Her clasped hands tore apart, and the very air before her split open like a wound. Fierce demonic winds howled, carrying sand and dust as the space fractured apart.

From within that rift, a black box slowly emerged.

“Go,” Ji Jiuning said, grabbing the box and sprinting out of the grove.

They fled from the Whitewood Village. Not long after, the ancient whitewood tree released countless green vines, sealing the entire area beneath its canopy, forbidding anyone from entering again.

“This is it,” Ji Jiuning said, opening the box. Inside were two items. A map made of beast hide and a demon core, the Northern Fox’s demon core.

Without expression, she pocketed the demon core and handed the map to Xu Zimo.

Since the Northern Fox’s core was useless to him, Xu Zimo didn’t contest it. He unfolded the map. Though well preserved, it was clearly aged and partly decayed.

“This marks Whitewood Village,” Ji Jiuning said, instantly recognizing their location.

Xu Zimo nodded. He traced the map with his finger and then looked toward the horizon.

“Up ahead is the Demonic Tower.”

On the map, a tall black tower stood ominously, beside which was a short note, “The place of sealing for the Demon’s Four Limbs.”

Xu Zimo rolled up the map. “Let’s go.”

“The Demonic Tower lies near the boundary,” Ji Jiuning warned. “We don’t know who else might be there. Why not head to the Hell Sea instead? It’s at the center of this battlefield, everyone will gather there eventually.”

Xu Zimo shook his head.

Indeed, the four demon towers were marked at the borders of the land, but curiosity stirred within him. He wanted to know what the Tower truly was, and what the White Emperor’s purpose for it might be.

So, he had to see it for himself.

Ji Jiuning followed behind. They traveled for a while, walking on air, until at last a towering spire came into view, piercing the heavens, shrouded in a suffocating miasma.

The very sky above it was blotted out by the demonic haze.

“What a strong aura of evil,” Ji Jiuning murmured.

“Let’s take a look,” Xu Zimo said.

When they reached the base of the tower, they saw its many levels covered in black mist. Within that darkness, faint streams of purple energy drifted upward, rising from the first floor all the way to the top.

“Let me out… let me out…” A hoarse, desperate voice echoed again and again from within.

“Look, there’s someone on top!” Ji Jiuning cried, pointing upward.

Xu Zimo followed her gaze.

A red figure sat cross-legged atop the spire, absorbing the swirling black energy into his body. His long hair, coiled like serpents, framed a pale face with dark eyes and violet lips.

“It’s the Ghost Prince,” Xu Zimo said quietly. “A man from Sinful Abyss God Realm.”