I Really Am A Villain
Ch. 418 - Tree of Forgetfulness

“Sure,” Xu Zimo nodded and said with a faint smile.

The old woman froze for a moment, then quickly reacted.

She lifted the cloth covering the cart and took out a bluish-green fruit.

The fruit was only about the size of a fist, and completely transparent.

It looked like a sapphire-blue piece of amber, very beautiful.

Xu Zimo took the fruit and swallowed it in one bite.

Seeing him eat it, the old woman showed a kind smile.

She covered the cart again and prepared to leave.

However, Xu Zimo stepped on the cart and grinned at the old woman.

“Tastes good. Give me another.”

“Each person can only eat one,” the old woman replied calmly.

“What if I insist on having another?” Xu Zimo asked with a faint smile.

The old woman glanced coldly at him but didn’t respond. She lowered her head and pushed the cart again.

Seeing this, Xu Zimo chuckled and pulled out the strange leaves blown to him earlier.

He looked at the old woman and asked, “Did you drop something?”

She glanced at Xu Zimo, then gave a strange look at the leaves and rasped, “Never seen them.”

“How could that be? Didn’t these fall from you just now?” Xu Zimo smiled.

Hearing this, the old woman’s pupils suddenly shrank.

Her right arm withered instantly, turning into a tree branch that shot at Xu Zimo like lightning.

Xu Zimo waved his hand and caught the incoming branch, snapping it with force.

With a crack, the branch broke into several pieces. The old woman’s face twisted in rage.

She glared at Xu Zimo as her body began to undergo a dramatic transformation.

Her entire body rapidly withered.

Both arms and legs turned into countless branches, and her torso transformed into a tree trunk.

She kept growing larger.

First, she filled the entire street, then continued expanding, toppling nearby buildings.

A shrill, piercing scream came from the tree’s body.

The disturbance quickly drew the attention of Carefree City’s residents.

“What is that thing?”

“A tree demon?”

The townsfolk shouted in shock.

“Run, everyone! That tree demon wants to destroy the city!”

People grouped together and ran out of their homes in panic.

Cultivators in the city also rushed over, surrounding the tree demon from all sides.

The entire city fell into chaos as people fled in every direction.

Xu Zimo looked into the distance and saw three figures flying toward him.

The two on the sides seemed like guards.

The one in the middle was a burly man.

He wore a white vest, had a tall, muscular frame with bulging muscles.

He had short hair, and a noticeable scar across his right cheek.

Power from the Empyrean Meridian Realm radiated around him.

“That’s the City Lord of Carefree City!” someone shouted nearby.

“The City Lord is here! We’re saved!”

Everyone looked up as the scar-faced man stopped in front of the massive tree.

The City Lord of Carefree looked at the scene before him.

The dead tree had grown over a hundred meters tall, and its branches stretched across the street.

Countless buildings were being crushed under the thrashing branches.

The City Lord frowned slightly and said to the two people beside him, “Evacuate the citizens first. I’ll handle the rest.”

The two nodded quickly and got to work.

...

When the dead tree grew to several hundred meters, it finally stopped.

It had countless branches flailing in the air.

Its bark was brown, and the leaves were oval-shaped, bright green, and covered in barbs.

The tree let out a high-pitched scream that tore through the silent sky.

Dozens of thick branches came crashing down at Xu Zimo.

Xu Zimo frowned slightly as he watched, then remembered a certain legend.

Especially when he saw the fruits growing on the tree, exactly like the one the old woman had given him earlier.

The same kind of fruit that people in the city often said caused memory loss.

That made Xu Zimo even more certain of the legend he had heard.

It was said that on the Primordial Heartlands, there was a river called the River of Forgetfulness.

Its waters flowed from one end of the sky to the other, passing through space and time.

The river was blue, reflecting the sky and dyeing half the heavens.

The ancient river had no fixed location, hidden in the void, surviving epoch after epoch.

Its gentle flow seemed to echo the countless rise and fall of civilizations it had witnessed.

It was said that drinking from the river would cause one to forget.

So many who had suffered great losses or despair, who had lost all hope, searched for the River of Forgetfulness.

Hoping to forget memories that hurt too much.

But the river was too mysterious.

People only heard stories about it, and very few had ever found it.

It was said that beside the river, there was a tree.

The Tree of Forgetfulness, the only living thing near that vast and mysterious river.

The Tree of Forgetfulness absorbed water from the River of Forgetfulness and grew fruits called Forgetfulness Fruits.

Eating one would also make someone lose their memory.

But unlike the river, which allowed a person to choose what to forget, the fruit would make someone lose all of their memories entirely.

...

Looking at the massive tree before him, Xu Zimo confirmed his guess.

This was the Tree of Forgetfulness, and the fruit he had eaten earlier was the Forgetfulness Fruit.

But Xu Zimo wasn’t afraid of losing his memory, his True Fate World had neutralized the laws contained in the fruit.

Branches from the Tree of Forgetfulness rained down like thunder.

Each branch was several dozen meters thick.

They carried a terrifying aura, wildly slashing like demons or ghosts.

Xu Zimo didn’t dodge, letting them strike him head-on.

His defense was already at its peak. As long as he wasn’t instantly obliterated, the Tree of Life within him would quickly heal him.

“Be careful!” shouted the City Lord of Carefree, seeing Xu Zimo surrounded.

Loud explosions rang out.

The ground beneath Carefree City split apart with countless cracks, like a giant spiderweb.

Dust flew, and buildings crumbled one by one.

When the dust settled and the City Lord looked down again, Xu Zimo stood unharmed.

He stood at the very center.

Cracks in the ground spread outward in all directions from where he stood.

“You’re not hurt?” the City Lord quickly landed in front of Xu Zimo.

Xu Zimo turned and looked at him.

The City Lord quickly explained, “Don’t be afraid. I’m the lord of this city.”