Chapter 101: The Disappeared Person – The Strange Village

“My child…”

“Why won’t you listen? Don’t go near that forest! Why do you insist on going?!”

As Sang Chu stepped out of the house, she was greeted by the heart-wrenching cries of a woman. She paused for a moment, only to be pushed forward by the large albatross behind her.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

A woman in a flower-patterned dress hurried outside, and Sang Chu jogged to catch up. What they saw was a young woman clutching her own child’s body, sobbing and wailing in despair.

The woman in the flowered dress walked over to Lin Mei, glanced at the child on the ground, and her face instantly turned pale. “What… what happened? Didn’t we say that as long as we hung the demon banners, the monster wouldn’t come near the village?”

The young woman cried, “It’s all your fault! You believed him, and now my child is gone!”

Overcome with grief, the woman suddenly let go of her child and lunged at Lin Mei, hands wrapping tightly around her neck.

A group of people rushed to pull her away, but this village was strange—there were only women and children!

The grief-stricken woman was incredibly strong, and no one could stop her. Lin Mei’s face grew paler as her breathing became more labored. At that moment, Sang Chu dashed behind the woman and delivered a swift karate chop, knocking her out cleanly.

The woman collapsed into Sang Chu’s arms, and someone quickly supported Lin Mei. “Sister Mei, are you alright?”

Lin Mei, weak and breathless, replied, “I’m fine, I’m fine. Young lady, could you help carry Linlin home? Everyone else, please… please…”

She couldn’t finish her sentence, her expression filled with sorrow as she looked at the pale, lifeless child on the ground. “Take her… Xiaoxiao too, take her home.”

Now was clearly not the time to discuss what had happened. Sang Chu said nothing, simply carried the unconscious woman and followed the heavy-hearted, red-eyed villagers back into the village.

Inside the village, every house had demon banners hanging at the door, and even inside, white cloths were draped everywhere. Clearly, these banners weren’t very effective.

Sang Chu followed the group to a house, where an old woman sat at the door with a cane, her eyes seemingly blind.

Hearing people approach, the old woman struggled to her feet, voice trembling with urgency. “Is… is Xiaoxiao back?”

Sang Chu didn’t answer, and the woman beside her couldn’t hold back her tears, though she tried hard not to let the old woman notice.

“Auntie, yes, Linlin fainted. I’ll take her in first…”

Before she could finish, Lin Mei stepped forward. “Auntie, I’ll help Xiaoxiao home.”

At those words, the old woman at the door couldn’t hold back any longer. Tears streamed down her face as she choked out, “Home… home, as long as she’s home, that’s good, that’s good…”

Sang Chu never thought returning home could feel so heavy. Hearing the old woman’s words, she felt as if something was blocking her chest, making it hard to breathe.

Suddenly, Tu You tugged at Sang Chu’s sleeve and whispered in her ear, “A-Chu, that child’s body looks a little strange!”

“What?”

Sang Chu followed Tu You’s pointing finger. The child’s body did look a bit odd—how to describe it? It seemed a little… empty?

Even after she laid the woman down on the bed, Sang Chu’s mind was still on the child’s body. She had seen many corpses since the apocalypse, but none had ever felt as hollow and lifeless as that child’s.

The old woman followed Sang Chu quietly. Seeing Sang Chu remain silent, she finally spoke, “Young lady, thank you for helping my daughter. She’s had a hard life. If she did anything wrong, I apologize on her behalf. Please, don’t blame her.”

The old woman already knew about her daughter’s outburst, but she hadn’t realized the person attacked was Lin Mei. That’s why she followed Sang Chu to apologize.

Sang Chu turned to look at the stooped, gray-haired old woman, but didn’t mention what had happened. Since no one else brought it up, she decided not to either.

“I’m fine, granny. Don’t worry.”

“You’re not from our village, are you?”

The old woman might have been blind, but her hearing was sharp. She groped her way to the bed and sat down beside her daughter. Though her voice trembled with sobs, she had managed to calm herself.

“No, I’m just passing through. I accidentally entered that forest and was rescued by Aunt Mei. Granny, can you tell me what’s going on with that forest?”

The old woman’s face flashed with fear for a moment, but when she heard Sang Chu was rescued by Lin Mei, she relaxed a little.

“There’s a man-eating monster in that forest, child. Don’t ever go near it again.”

Sang Chu had already guessed as much. She quickly pulled up a chair and sat down, asking softly, “Granny, can you tell me what happened here?”

The old woman was silent for a long time, her unfocused eyes seeming to look right at Sang Chu. Even though she was blind, Sang Chu felt as if the old woman was staring straight through her, as if she could see everything.

After a long silence, just as Sang Chu thought she wouldn’t get an answer, the old woman finally spoke. “You must have noticed when you came in—there are only old people and children left in our village.”

“Yes, only women and children. What happened?”

The old woman took a deep breath. “It’s a long story. I remember that day, the sky was gloomy. The village chief told everyone not to go out to sea, afraid something might happen. But that boy from the Liu family, he was stubborn. His wife and child were in the hospital, and every day he didn’t go out to sea was a day without money. For others, maybe it wasn’t a big deal, but for him, it was life or death. The hospital bills were expensive.”

“He snuck out to sea behind everyone’s back and didn’t return until very late. His old mother didn’t worry at first, thinking he was at the hospital with his wife and child, so she didn’t pay attention. But when he still wasn’t back the next day, she realized something was wrong. Staying overnight at the hospital was rare—she knew he wouldn’t spend money on a hotel, and he always came home late at night. There had never been a time he didn’t come home.”

The old woman paused, and Sang Chu asked softly, “So how did you know he went out to sea?”

“The next morning, when he still hadn’t come back, someone thought to check his boat. Sure enough, it was gone. That’s when everyone realized he must have gone out to sea. But the waves were huge, and no one could go looking for him. We could only wait for the storm to pass and hope he’d come back alive, though deep down, we all knew he probably wouldn’t make it…”"

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

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**Chapter 102: The Disappeared Person – The Mermaid**

The rain poured heavily for days, only clearing up on the seventh day. Xiao Liu’s father couldn’t wait any longer. As soon as the rain stopped, he went out to sea. But strangely, when he returned, he brought back something very odd—a mermaid.

When recalling the mermaid, you could see the fear in the old woman’s eyes. Sang Chu gently asked, “What kind of mermaid was it?”

“A golden mermaid, about the size of a seven- or eight-year-old child. She looked like a beauty, with small eyes and willow-leaf eyebrows. Just one glance, and you’d think she was a fairy. But she was a mermaid!”

The old woman shivered, as if recalling something terrifying. Sang Chu could only try to comfort her, “It’s all right, Grandma. She’s not here now, so don’t be afraid. What happened next?”

The old woman took a deep breath and continued, “At first, Xiao Liu’s father was still clear-headed and wanted to return the mermaid to the sea. But everyone in the village seemed bewitched. Anyone who tried to get close to the mermaid was beaten or scolded. Xiao Liu’s father had no choice but to secretly plan with me to steal the mermaid away at night when everyone was asleep and return her to the sea. But who knew…”

Sang Chu murmured, “It’s easy to invite a god, but hard to send one away?”

The old woman glanced at Sang Chu and nodded. “When Old Liu was preparing to act, the mermaid spoke. Old Liu’s wife told me that the mermaid’s voice was so enchanting it made your bones go soft. Even as a woman, she couldn’t resist it.”

Sang Chu asked, “What did she say?”

The old woman shook her head. “Old Liu’s wife didn’t say. But from then on, the couple no longer wanted to send the mermaid away. Even Old Liu joined the group of men who guarded her. Every night, there was never a quiet moment in the mermaid’s room.”

Never a quiet moment in the room?

Sang Chu and Tu You exchanged glances, shocked. This was just a mermaid, for heaven’s sake!

Sang Chu hesitated, then gossiped, “Grandma, but… she was a mermaid, right?”

“Yes, a beautiful mermaid. I don’t know when it started, but her tail was very pretty, her hands delicate and boneless, her skin pale and tender, just like a freshly peeled egg. Every day, there was a line of men waiting to carry her to the big rock by the sea. At that time, the men of the village seemed to lose their souls, just staring at her. Even my old man, who hadn’t remarried for years, was bewitched. Every day, he only cared about the mermaid, leaving just me and my old companion at home.”

Sang Chu asked, “And the child?”

She hadn’t wanted to ask, since it was clearly a sensitive topic, but she needed to clarify the whole story.

The old woman lowered her head, her voice heavy. “It was my son. When his father realized what was happening, he dragged him home, even begging the mermaid. My old man pleaded, ‘Great mermaid, please let my son go. He’s married, and at home there’s only his crippled father and his nearly blind old mother. He’s finally married, please have mercy and let him come home.’”

Sang Chu asked, “Did the mermaid agree?”

The old woman nodded. “My old man brought him home. I asked him about it. He said the mermaid only said one thing: why wasn’t he like the other men? My old man said, years ago, he injured his leg at sea and had been lame ever since. Since then, he never had any interest in such things. If it weren’t for our son, he wouldn’t have gone there at all.”

Sang Chu said, “The mermaid probably wanted someone who couldn’t be tempted.”

“Yes, that’s right. My old man told me the mermaid’s voice was very pleasant, and she was very charming. But with one foot in the grave, temptation didn’t mean much to him. He just wanted to save our son, but our son was never quite right after that.”

Sang Chu asked, “How so?”

The old woman looked at Sang Chu meaningfully and slowly said, “After our son came home, he started to like eating raw fish. He never liked raw fish before—he thought it was fishy and couldn’t be cleaned well enough. But after being with the mermaid, he started craving it. It was strange, but there was nothing I could do. Then, something happened to Aunt Mei’s family.”

Sang Chu asked, “Aunt Mei?”

“Yes, Aunt Mei had a son. He was a good kid, did well in school, and even got into a university in the city. Aunt Mei knew about the strange things in the village, but she couldn’t stop them. She was afraid her son would also be tempted by the mermaid.

But who knew, the news came too late. Her son had already returned to the village with his classmates. Aunt Mei was terrified, afraid something would happen, so she rushed home at night to stop him. But fate had other plans—he had already returned home, and had even gotten involved with the mermaid.”

Sang Chu blinked, feeling that what the old woman called “something happened” was probably much worse than she let on.

“And then?” Sang Chu asked.

The old woman continued, “Those university students insisted that the villagers were imprisoning and abusing the mermaid and wanted to rescue her. But the men in the village had already become a united front. Outsiders couldn’t interfere. A fight broke out, and in the end, some died, some were injured. When Aunt Mei returned, she found her son’s body hanging from the beam.”

“She was so distraught that she grabbed a kitchen knife and tried to kill the mermaid, thinking she was the root of all evil. But her husband stopped her—she was nearly killed by him. It was the mermaid who saved her.”

Sang Chu was surprised. “The mermaid saved her?”

The old woman nodded. “The mermaid said she didn’t like people who didn’t want her. Since Aunt Mei didn’t want her, she threw her out, along with all the dead. The men had already treated her like a goddess, so there was no stopping them. The mermaid just threw the half-dead Aunt Mei and her son’s body outside and didn’t care anymore.”

The more Sang Chu listened, the more she felt something was off. This mermaid was nothing like the merfolk monsters she’d heard of before.

She asked, “So what happened to Aunt Mei after that? And what about those talismans?”

The old woman replied, “After Aunt Mei left, all the women and children in the village were driven out. But one day, Aunt Mei returned with a lama. The lama said, ‘What you’ve encountered is a mermaid spirit. She wants to use human essence to transform. Once she takes on the flesh of a mermaid spirit, she’ll become a terrifying monster. When that happens, everyone will die at her hands.’”

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