There is a mermaid race in the East China Sea, protected by the Dragon King of the East China Sea—yes, there is a Dragon King in this era.
It's unknown how many mythical figures exist in this world, but it seems they can't interfere in human affairs at will. Even the Dragon King of the East Sea only made a cameo appearance, telling the protagonists that the villain's lackey stole his treasured artifacts and entrusting them to retrieve them.
Chao Xi originally lived in the East China Sea, but when he was a child, he sneaked out to play and accidentally swam too far away. He couldn't find his way back and ended up wandering outside.
Looking back at everything that happened afterward, it's hard to say whether he was lucky or unlucky.
His social anxiety transcends race; after getting lost, he dared not ask other fish for directions, swimming aimlessly based on instinct, which resulted in him getting further and further away from home.
When he met Xiao Xuan, he was a stray fish. Because he couldn't find a home, after his curiosity about land was aroused, he instinctively turned his fish tail into legs and came ashore.
From an outsider's perspective, Di Xiu suspected that Xiao Xuan had ulterior motives.
He was once an emperor of the human world, and later became a demon, a first-rate demon. He has lived from ancient times to the present, so he must know about the existence of the East Sea Mermaid Clan.
He chatted with Chaoxi in a seemingly gentle manner, but when Chaoxi asked, he did not tell him where his home was.
Wen Shi is a sword spirit; theoretically, as long as the sword exists, he can live forever. Even if Xiao Xuan is a great demon, his life is finite. Given his obsession with the former, he cannot tolerate this unequal disparity in lifespan.
According to mermaid legends, eating a mermaid's heart grants immortality. However, if the mermaid does not offer her heart willingly, she will become the most malevolent curse, eternally haunting the person who ate it.
001 was almost convinced by Di Xiu, but then this guy said it was just a guess and there was no evidence.
...
Tide has three mission requirements: First, to see his home and loved ones one last time—if they are still alive; second, to make the main villain wish he were dead; and third, to never send his heart away again and to live a good life.
He could not return, but he still hoped to see his beautiful homeland, now blurred in his memory, one last time.
When Di Xiu arrived, Xiao Xuan had just left, and Chao Xi was debating whether to go ashore. There were still three years before he encountered the main villain and four years before his death. It seemed that he could complete the mission with ease.
But the reality is that every second is a countdown to failure.
After learning about the timeline, Di Xiu rushed to the East Blue, only to find that the mermaids' homeland had been completely destroyed.
Large swaths of coral were dying, and the ground was littered with the corpses of marine life and a hazy, demonic aura. The mermaids could no longer maintain their spiritual energy shield and were on the verge of collapse.
Mermaids are pure in nature, making them the darlings of the ocean. They are born with immortality and generally have exceptional talent for cultivation, but they cannot be contaminated in the slightest.
Unfortunately, human development over the past century has been rapid, causing damage to the entire ecological environment, including the vast ocean. In addition, some unscrupulous person secretly planted demonic seeds underwater, and they just happened to be planted in the territory of the mermaids.
When the demon seed matured, it immediately poisoned a group of mermaids, with the fragile little mermaids being the first to die.
A demon seed is an energy crystal that a demon creates using its own magic. It's called a seed, but it's more like a bomb with an uncertain countdown.
The strongest mermaid chieftain attempted to purify it, but his strength was inferior to that of the monster that produced the demon seed. He failed and suffered a backlash, dying on the spot.
—There's a 50% chance it's not Xiao Xuan; the demonic aura is different.
When Di Xiu arrived, the other stubborn merfolk who refused to leave were already half-dead, some even belly up.
In modern times, when rare herbs and medicines are scarce, even the Dragon King couldn't save them from their situation.
—At the time of the incident, the Dragon King was not present, and it is suspected that he was deliberately lured away.
In this timeline, all the mermaids should have died in the end, because the Dragon King of the East Sea smelled the mermaid scent on Xiao Xuan and accused him of killing the last mermaid and wiping out the mermaid race.
Di Xiu had Wu Ji deal with the demonic energy and demonic seeds, but the injuries on the mermaids were a major problem.
Even with a panacea, it wouldn't save these fifty-odd fish; we could only try diluting it.
He used up his last dose of the medicine in the last world, and after returning to the transit station, he replenished three doses, which he has now poured into the water tank.
He first caught ten mermaids and put them in. After seeing that it was effective, he gradually caught the rest of the mermaids. Today is the last batch.
The mermaids were so big that Emperor Xiu guessed that if they could transform into humans, they should also be able to transform into fish. Sure enough, they saved a lot of space.
Three doses of medicine certainly won't fully restore them, but they'll be better off as much as they can, at least giving Di Xiu time to improve his strength and find a solution.
The third task is not difficult; even the original owner of this body would not make the same mistake twice.
If the second task were to kill the main villain directly, Di Xiu could have easily wiped him out with Wuji right now. But since he was caught between life and death, he had to honestly accumulate his strength.
The first task... the original owner probably wouldn't want to see a dilapidated home.
...
Haishi Village is mostly inhabited by elderly villagers, so it's rare to see an outsider, especially a young man, who is a rare sight for everyone.
After learning that he was raising a bunch of sick fish, they came to visit. Pointing to the pitiful mermaids living in the tank, they said that they were not good-looking and would not live long, but they still offered up their ancestral fish food.
The mermaids, who didn't want to eat the fish food, reluctantly ate it under Di Xiu's indifferent gaze, after failing to politely offer it to each other. They then found it tasted quite good.
Di Xiu is a man who sometimes responds better to kindness than force. Seeing how these elderly people cared for him like a seriously ill patient and even offered advice on how to take care of the sick fish, he accepted their kindness.
When he went to the county to buy things, he would often bring back some daily necessities for them. Later, he taught them chess, poker, and mahjong to play and pass the time.
He always gets a lot of attention on the street, and there are plenty of people taking pictures of him. 001 was worried that Xiao Xuan really wanted the mermaid's heart, so she helped delete all the videos that had been taken of him.
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