The Undersea Adventures of the Little Jellyfish (JELLYFISH)
"Shen Jixiao—"
Tang You examined the scroll in Shen Jixiao’s hands. The magic-drawn patterns remained vivid despite the passage of time. He could see the intricate spell circuits and, beside them, an illustration:
A merman.
Little Jellyfish: ?
He wasn’t particularly literate when it came to human script—by all accounts, he was practically illiterate—but he could understand images. The parchment clearly depicted a merman.
"Shen Jixiao, what is this?" Tang You asked. "You said these papers record nearly lost magic."
"I’m looking at it now." The merman’s expression darkened. Under the eerie glow, his blue eyes deepened. Though he recognized every word on the scroll, their meaning eluded him. "This is a forbidden spell."
"Forbidden spell?"
"In modern times, certain magics that come at a grievous cost and violate humanity are termed forbidden arts. It's said the royal library has collected two to three hundred such forbidden arts, compiled into volumes accessible only with special authorization. Any ordinary mage caught using forbidden magic is immediately thrown into the dungeons and severely punished." Shen Jixiao's voice tightened slightly. "But I've never seen a forbidden art like this before."
The monster could catch up to them at any moment, so they swam and talked at the same time.
"The scroll describes a technique—Chimera... fusing different bodies together and using a mermaid as the base."
Chimera, a creature from ancient mythology, was said to be composed of a lion, a serpent, and a goat. Over time, the term evolved to represent any spliced being. Shen Jixiao had thought such things existed only in myths.
But the little jellyfish didn’t find it all that extraordinary.
"So humans call this Chimera..." Sensing Shen Jixiao’s strange look, Tang You explained, "A friend of mine once encountered this kind of magic. Some species have body parts naturally more suited to mana flow, so people capture them, cut out those parts, and turn them into tools. Some predators even specialize in hunting just those specific parts."
"For a while, the hunting was especially rampant—until one day, a person with fins was thrown into the sea. That’s when my friend learned that the land-dwellers had invented a magic to fuse other species’ body parts onto themselves, supposedly to better perform certain specialized spells."
Shen Jixiao glanced at his own tail, lost in thought.
"Mermaids aren’t Chimeras," Tang You added, noticing his movement. "Mermaids have existed for over a thousand years."
And even longer before that?
"Besides, Chimeras can’t reproduce," Tang You reassured him. "Mermaids raise their young and nurture them until adulthood."
Shen Jixiao: "..."
For some reason, the mermaid grew even quieter.
"Is that monster a Chimera?" The little jellyfish pondered. "It has anglerfish traits—a huge maw, using light as bait—and the lower jaw looks like a shark’s, though I can’t tell if it’s a lemon shark or a ghost shark..."
"But isn’t Chimera magic supposed to make you stronger?" Tang You sounded puzzled. "Why would anyone..."
Sew two legs onto themselves?
"This isn’t an ordinary forbidden art," Shen Jixiao said. "Most forbidden spells are extremely complex, requiring days just to gather the materials. But this Chimera... it’s simple. Too simple."
"All you have to do is consume the mana-rich parts of the required materials while circulating your mana pathways... and the body will transform on its own."
Tang You: "So it’s just ‘start with a mouth, evolve by eating’?"
"..."
That did seem to be the case.
Shen Jixiao rubbed his temples. "But the scroll doesn’t mention the side effects. Simple, powerful magic like this usually comes with severe drawbacks. That monster seems to have completely lost its mind.”
Yet questions remained.
In theory, deep-sea creatures might use magic, but they shouldn’t be able to read these scrolls, let alone employ a human-invented forbidden art like Chimera.
So the first to use this forbidden art... must have been a human.
However, in the process of the chimera's birth, the human part was too weak and increasingly unable to dominate. Now, only two useless legs remain hanging at its sides. Perhaps in a few more years, even these legs will be completely absorbed and discarded.
Shen Jixiao began to ponder. Was this forbidden art already in use before someone boarded the ship and triggered such a phenomenon after sinking into the sea? Or was it that as the ship was about to sink, someone used the forbidden art to survive?
Somehow, he thought of that person.
In his memory, the young man who saved him was like a moon that had fallen into the depths of the sea, possessing a power to calm everything amidst the chaos. He was so composed, as if certain the raging sea would not harm him, never once showing signs of choking or suffocation from start to finish.
He was so beautiful, so strong. Over the years, Shen Jixiao had never given up on training himself, yet he could never attain that level of serene detachment.
And he was probably already dead.
Become the moon in the water, the flower in the mirror—an illusion he tried but failed to grasp.
Shen Jixiao had long known that this search would most likely end in failure. What he should really be doing was scouring the remaining treasures in Tarlik. But he came anyway.
Originally, he had steeled himself to find bones, but now he saw a chimera—one fused with a human—an ugly, frenzied, utterly irrational creature.
In the darkness, the merman's lips curled slightly, devoid of any mirth.
It was hard for him not to overthink.
Tang You thought Shen Jixiao was still bothered by the mermaid illustration on the scroll. He flicked his tentacle and said, "Mermaids really aren't chimeras... Shen Jixiao, let's hurry and leave. I can feel my pearl getting closer. The monster seems to have picked up my pearl and is coming toward us—fast."
"Okay."
……
Truth be told, escaping relied entirely on the mermaid's powerful tail strokes.
Tang You couldn’t move quickly on his own and had to rely on his psychic abilities to let the mermaid pull him along. But his psychic powers allowed him to swiftly scout the path ahead, eliminating the need for slow exploration with illumination spells—effectively acting as the mermaid’s navigation system.
The pitch-black, seemingly endless interior of the ship felt like a world unto itself.
A mermaid and a jellyfish swam and swam, with unsettling noises occasionally echoing behind them.
Even without looking back, they could sense the oppressive presence of the monster.
Shen Jixiao’s tail strokes were still somewhat clumsy—nowhere near as fast as the monster’s full-speed charge.
"What do we do, what do we do…" The little jellyfish was frantic.
He could vaguely make out the gaping maw chasing them, as if it might snap shut at any moment, swallowing both him and the mermaid whole and turning them into parts of the chimera. "This path is a dead end. The exit at the end is too small—you won’t be able to swim through."
For some reason, Shen Jixiao had chosen this long but ultimately impassable route earlier.
"Tang You," the mermaid suddenly spoke.
"What?"
"Get ready. I’m going to stop."
"But you haven’t slowed down at all!"
Just as Tang You thought Shen Jixiao was about to crash into the wall and become a flattened mermaid, Shen Jixiao extended his arms, adjusted his posture, and—while slamming into the wall—hurled the little jellyfish and the pearls through a narrow crevice in the structure.
BOOM—
The wall collapsed.
The little jellyfish, tossed out, watched helplessly as the already narrow gap was completely filled with rubble. A few perfectly round pearls tumbled uncontrollably alongside him.
"Shen Jixiao!"
In that instant, Tang You unleashed his psychic energy to its fullest extent, abandoning all self-protection.
An invisible force spread like a net, enveloping the sunken ship and seeping inward. The mithril layers obstructed him, but Tang You refused to give up, relentlessly using his psychic power to scoop up debris and fling it outward.
"Stupid mermaid!" Tang You cursed as he dug. "I wouldn’t have been eaten!"
"Why did you throw me out?!"
He was the one who should have been the prey. The little jellyfish fumed.
Once he found the mermaid again, he was absolutely going to slap him twice—what an idiot.
After what felt like an eternity of digging, the little jellyfish finally caught sight of a shimmering silver-blue tail.
"Shen Jixiao! Shen Jixiao!" In one swift motion, he used his psychic power to lift all the rubble—wood, metal beams, and even the mermaid—hauling him out. "Are you okay?"
Some of the mermaid’s beautiful scales had been torn off, drifting through the water like scattered stardust. Shen Jixiao waved a hand dismissively. "I’m fine."
He really wasn’t badly hurt—the chimera hadn’t bitten him, though some scales had been scraped off, and there were a few shallow cuts on his upper body.
The commotion had attracted sharks, drawn by the scent of blood and growing restless.
Tang You used his psychic energy to keep the sharks at bay. He meticulously inspected the mermaid’s body and only sighing in relief once he confirmed the injuries were only superficial.
Forgetting all about the slaps he’d planned earlier, he gently ruffled Shen Jixiao’s hair with his psychic power. "Why are you so dumb? Didn’t I tell you to run first if something happened? You’ve lost so many scales."
Shen Jixiao didn’t seem bothered by his missing scales and even smiled. "The chimera’s hurt too."
He had timed it perfectly—collapsing the ship himself to ensure the rubble would crush the monster.
"Stupid mermaid." Tang You was furious. "You’re happy just because the chimera got hurt? And you’re still smiling!"
The mermaid didn’t bother hiding his joy.
Shen Jixiao rarely smiled. When he did, his eyes would curve slightly.
His features were already soft to begin with, and when he smiled, the intimidating sense of distance vanished completely, transforming him into a traditionally beautiful mermaid.
"Since I was little, my sense of smell has been very sharp," he said. "I’ve forgotten what that person looked like, but I still remember the scent of his blood from back then. Even though I didn’t understand at the time why I could smell things underwater."
"The Chimera’s blood smells nothing like his."
At first, Tang You didn’t quite understand and almost thought the mermaid had been knocked silly by the rock. But after listening for a while, it clicked: "You suspect your savior turned into the Chimera."
"Mm."
Tang You didn’t know what to say. If it were true, it would indeed be tragic. "Luckily, he isn’t."
"I can’t be sure either," the mermaid suddenly added, taking a turn. "After all, it’s been eighteen years. The Chimera’s blood has fused with too many species—who knows if the original scent is still there."
"Ah…" Tang You was already starting to feel sad for the mermaid. "Then what do we do…"
But the mermaid’s smile didn’t fade.
Slowly, he extended his bleeding right hand, revealing a rusted chain lying in his palm.
"But I found this."
"What is it?"
"Something I dug out from the Chimera. It’s a human item, once used as an identification tag for boarding ships." Shen Jixiao fiddled with the tag. "That’s how I confirmed the Chimera isn’t him."
Tang You: "…"
He was genuinely happy for the mermaid, but…
"Mermaid, look up."
Tang You gave the mermaid’s head a sharp tap with his psychic energy.
"Stupid mermaid, talking in half-truths and making me worry," the little jellyfish was so mad he was practically turning red. "And you actually dared to dig something out of the Chimera? Your arm is bleeding so much, and you’re still smiling!"
"Now hold out your hand and let me stop the bleeding!"
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