Pick up garbage in another world and bring it back to build infrastructure in the end times

"It rained heavily for several days straight, and the sky didn't clear up until the seventh day. His father couldn't wait any longer, so he went out to sea as soon as the rain stopped. But strangely, he came back! And he brought back a strange big fish."

When talking about this big fish, the old man's face was obviously filled with fear. Sang Chu asked, "What kind of big fish is it?"

"The golden fish is about the size of a seven or eight-year-old child. It has a beautiful face, small eyes, and willow-shaped eyebrows. Just one look at it and you'll think it's as beautiful as a fairy. But it's a fish!"

The old woman trembled all over, as if she had remembered something terrible. Sang Chu could only comfort her softly: "It's okay, grandma, she's not here now, don't be afraid. What happened next?"

The old man gasped heavily and spoke slowly, "At first, Xiao Liu's father was still conscious and wanted to send the fish back to the sea, but the people in the village seemed to be bewitched. Anyone who approached the fish would be beaten and driven away. Xiao Liu's father had no choice but to discuss with his mother to steal the fish out and send it back to the sea at night while everyone was asleep. But who knew..."

Sang Chu said quietly, "It's easier to invite a god than to send him away."

The old man looked up at Sang Chu and nodded. "Just as Old Liu was about to make his move, the fish spoke. Old Liu's wife told me that the fish's voice was so soft and gentle, it made your bones crack when you heard it. Not only Old Liu, but even she, a woman, couldn't stand it."

Sang Chu: "What did she say?"

The old man shook his head. "Old Liu's wife didn't say anything, but from that time on, the couple never thought of giving the fish away again. Old Liu even joined the group of men. Every night, the fish's room was bustling with activity."

The room hasn't stopped bustling?

Sang Chu and Tu You looked at each other. What did they hear? A fish, my God!

Sang Chu was speechless for a moment, then asked curiously, "Grandma, but, that's a, fish...right..."

"It was a fish, a mermaid. I don't know when she started to transform. She had a beautiful tail, soft and boneless hands, and her skin was very tender and white, just like a peeled egg. Every day, someone would carry her to the big rocks by the sea to bask in the sun. At that time, the men in the village were all obsessed with her like they had lost their souls. My son, who had just married, was also bewitched. He only knew how to circle around the mermaid every day. At home, there were only me, an old woman, my husband, and my daughter-in-law left."

Sang Chu: "Then, that child?"

She didn't want to ask this, as it would obviously be like rubbing salt into someone's wounds, but she still had to ask it clearly, otherwise, there would be no way to sort out the whole thing.

The old man lowered his head and said in a low voice, "It's my son's. His father was furious at the time and scolded him all over. He even tried to capture him and begged the mermaid. My old man begged, 'Great Mermaid, please let my son go. He just got married, and there's only him, an old man with a missing leg, and his almost blind old mother at home. He just got married, so please spare him and let him go home."

Sang Chu: "Will the mermaid let us go?"

The old man nodded. "My wife brought him back. I asked him the same thing. He said the mermaid only asked him why he had never been seen among these men. My wife said that his leg was broken in a shipwreck when he was out at sea. Since then, he has stayed at home and has lost interest in everything. If it weren't for his son not coming home, he wouldn't have gone to that place."

Sang Chu: "The mermaid probably wants to know why I didn't let myself be tempted."

"Well, my husband came back and told me that the mermaid's voice was soothing and made him want to possess her. But he already had one foot in the coffin, so this little bit of temptation was nothing. He just wanted to bring his son back. But even though he did come back, something was wrong."

Sang Chu: "How do you say that?"

The old man looked at Sang Chu vaguely and said slowly, "After my son came home, he started to like eating offal. He never ate offal before because he thought it was dirty and he always felt that no matter how he washed it, it would never be clean. But after he came back from the mermaid, he started to like eating offal. This was very wrong, but we couldn't do anything until something happened to Amei's family."

"Aunt Mei?"

"Well, Ah Mei has an only child. Although she and her husband dote on him, he is a good and capable person. He was admitted to a university in the city. Ah Mei knows about the strange things in the village, but she can't stop it. She wants to prevent her son from coming back, fearing that he will be seduced by the mermaid.

But who knew that the news arrived too late, and he and his classmates returned to the village early. Ah Mei was terrified, fearing that something might happen to her only son, so she rushed to the town that night to stop them from returning home. However, as fate would have it, they had already returned home and even fell in love with the mermaid at first sight.

Sang Chu blinked his eyes, feeling that the accident the old man described might not be that simple.

"and after?"

The old man said, "Those college students insisted that the villagers had imprisoned and insulted her and wanted to rescue her. Those men had already reached a consensus and would not allow outsiders to interfere in their affairs. As soon as a disagreement occurred, those college students and the village men started fighting. No one tried to stop them, but it was useless. In the end, some were killed and some were injured. When Ah Mei returned, all she saw was her son's body lying on the ground."

"She was furious. She turned and walked into the kitchen and got a kitchen knife, intending to chop the mermaid. She thought the mermaid was the culprit, but her husband stopped her and she was almost killed by him. It was the mermaid who saved her."

Hearing this, Sang Chu was shocked: "The mermaid saved her?"

The old man nodded. "The mermaid said she doesn't like people who kill people. Since Ah Mei doesn't like her, just throw her out. And those dead people can't stay in the village. Those men have long regarded her as an imperial decree. How could they disobey? He directly threw the half-dead Ah Mei out and even left his own son's body outside without a care."

The more Sang Chu listened, the more she felt something was wrong. Why was this mermaid different from the fish monsters she knew?

"Then how did Aunt Mei come back? And what about these exorcism banners?"

The old man said, "After Ah Mei, all the women and children in the village were driven out. But one day, Ah Mei returned, bringing with her a monk dressed in lama robes. The monk said that we had encountered a fish demon. She wanted to be born through human essence. Once she left the fish demon's body, she would become a terrifying monster. Then, everyone would die at her hands."