The Undersea Adventures of the Little Jellyfish (JELLYFISH)
Could a jellyfish live for eighteen years?
"That storm eighteen years ago was the greatest I’ve ever experienced," Grandma Clam began her tale. "Even here in the shallows, the impact was immense. Countless coral branches were broken, and even shells anchored to the reefs were torn loose."
"We almost thought the end had come."
Perhaps because it had been so long since they last heard Grandma Clam’s stories, the yellow-striped blue-and-purple zebrafish, the brown leafy seahorse hiding in the seaweed, the brilliantly patterned yet spiny butterflyfish, and the dwarf gobies nestled in the crevices all quieted down while swimming slowly around the edges.
Even the nearby sea anemones turned slightly, their tentacles orienting toward the clam. The family of orange-and-white clownfish nestled within listened silently.
"Even long after the storm passed, the coral reefs never fully regained their former prosperity," Grandmother Clam reminisced. "It took us ten years to rebuild."
None of the little fish or shrimp present had lived for ten years, so they knew nothing of those past events.
And ordinary storms rarely affected the ocean floor so deeply.
"How long did the storm last?" asked a sea anemone.
Grandma Clam: "Half a month. Back then, I truly thought we were doomed. For fifteen days, not a single ray of sunlight reached us. The water grew murkier and murkier, waterspouts came twice, and the reef became a lifeless wasteland."
Clownfish: "What’s a waterspout?"
Tang You, who had drifted back at some point—still wearing his seaweed wreath—answered, "Some tornadoes over the sea are so powerful they can suck water into the sky. They’re terrifying. If a waterspout comes, unlucky little creatures like us—small fish, shrimp, or jellyfish—can get swept up and carried away by the wind. Few survive."
For the shallows, it had undoubtedly been a dark time.
Shen Jixiao silently recalled that the storm’s impact on land had been even worse. During the same period, multiple coastal cities suffered severe flooding, countless ships that hadn’t returned to port were destroyed with their crews, and even docked vessels sustained heavy damage.
There were even reports of large fishing boats being lifted into the sky by the storm and smashing into houses.
The most terrifying part was that the catastrophic storm had arrived without warning, as if the heavens themselves had unleashed their wrath. To this day, some still believed it had been divine punishment.
The Tarlik sank on the third day of the storm, just as it was returning to port and got swept directly into the reef zone. More chaos ensued afterward, but Shen Jixiao wasn’t entirely clear on the details—many things were only discovered later when researching the incident.
—At the time, he had been drowning, was rescued, and then lay gravely ill in a coma for two whole months.
But then, abruptly, the storm ended.
This became another piece of evidence for the "wrath of the gods" theory. It had begun without reason and ended without warning, as if an unseen deity had pulled the plug, unleashing the rains, and when the time came, plugged the hole again, putting an end to the disaster.
The mermaid was lost in his memories.
"Fish hearts trembled with fear..." Grandma Clam said. "Do you know about the red-striped scallops?"
"No," all the fish present shook their heads.
"They’re a type of scallop with red stripes, a brown base color, and three to four red lines on each shell. Because of that storm, they all migrated away and still haven’t returned."
"The timing of the storm was rather unfortunate, disrupting the breeding cycles of many creatures. Eggs that had been clinging to rocks either died or were swept away by the currents. That year was painful enough, but the next year, with so few new lives, the suffering only continued."
Grandma Clam sighed. "Thankfully, it’s all in the past now."
Hearing this, the clownfish family couldn’t help but dart into their anemone, glancing at the eggs they were guarding. They kept swimming around them to ensure the water flow remained oxygen-rich. Now, with another breeding season underway, the ocean floor was once again dotted with the pink bubbles of romance.
Many fish preferred to lay their eggs in seaweed or rock crevices, and octopuses were much the same. Countless small creatures only reproduce once in their lifetime and die soon after bringing forth new life.
The storm had wiped out a large portion of the next generation in one fell swoop, dealing a devastating blow.
"The little mermaid mentioned a shipwreck in the neighboring waters, but I truly didn’t know about it. I’ve spent my entire life in this coral reef and am only aware of the happenings within this tiny patch."
"In those days of the storm, I used my psychic energy externally for the first time," Grandma Clam said softly. "Like this—creating a thin protective shell."
Her psychic energy, as gentle as her voice, gathered into a sphere in the water, perfectly enveloping the little jellyfish as if encasing it in a bubble.
The jellyfish exclaimed, "Wow!"
"I used this thin shell to protect a few nearby coral clusters. It’s a shame I never took my psychic energy seriously before. Even after living so long, I still don’t know how to use it well—I could only protect so little."
"That’s already amazing," Tang You poked the bubble. "Your psychic energy has a very interesting quality."
His own psychic energy could hardly do anything except for being unusually abundant—mostly just good for lifting objects, like a soft mass of water. Grandma Clam’s, on the other hand, was dense and firm, forming a thin shell that wouldn’t shatter.
Perhaps it was because he was just a little jellyfish, 98% water, while Grandma Clam’s body was encased in an incredibly hard calcium shell.
"So cool..." The zebra fish swam closer, circling the little bubble. "When will we be able to do something like this?"
Grandma Clam's voice suddenly turned serious: "I taught you all before, but clearly you didn't study properly. You must practice diligently and work hard."
"Eep..." The little fish scattered with flicks of their tails.
And so, the tiny bubble finally landed in Shen Jixiao's hand—the one holding the little jellyfish was especially beautiful, reminding him of a glass wind chime on land. When the wind blew, the colored beads inside would sway, much like the little jellyfish's constant swimming.
The shell of this psychic energy was thin yet resilient, and it could even change shape freely.
"Impressive," Shen Jixiao suddenly said. "You shouldn't blame yourself. It's already rare to be able to protect oneself when disaster strikes, yet you still had the energy to protect others. I think all the creatures you've shielded must be very grateful to you."
His mentor had once told him that feeling empathy for the weak—beginning to pity, rage, grieve, and protect beyond one's own interests—was a sign of someone on the path to sainthood.
Clearly, Grandma Clam had no obligation to protect other small creatures. Moreover, from the memories he had glimpsed in the conch pearl, twenty years ago, she had been quite lazy in practicing psychic energy and had never crafted a psychic shell before. It was her desire to protect others that had unlocked this potential.
Grandma Clam smiled and dissolved the thin psychic shell. "Perhaps."
"Can I learn from you how to make this kind of shell?" The little jellyfish pressed a few of its tentacles together, rubbing them. "I want to protect myself too."
"Of course. All these years, I've been very grateful for the pearls you helped me engrave. I take them out to look at them every few days."
Tang You: "Oh, that was nothing really..."
"May I ask where you learned to use psychic energy?"
Listening to the two sea creatures exchange their experiences with psychic energy projection, Shen Jixiao finally voiced the question that had long puzzled him.
This time, it was Grandma Clam who seemed confused. "Little merman, don't you know? Psychic energy projection is an innate gift of the mermaids. They were the ones who spread the methods of practicing it. I learned it because a mermaid visited a century ago."
Shen Jixiao: "..." He hadn't known.
If not for the tail he had, he really wouldn't have believed he had mermaid blood.
But then again, Grandma Clam had practiced for a hundred years and only achieved this much psychic energy, whereas Tang You... his reserves were far greater than hers.
"Little jellyfish."
"Hmm?"
"Did you also learn your psychic energy from the mermaids?" Shen Jixiao asked. "How old... are you?"
"I forgot." The little jellyfish still said the same thing. "My memory isn't very good."
He learned things related to spiritual energy incredibly fast, easily crafting several thin shells without being confined to just circular shapes.
Once Tang You mastered this, he immediately went off to play with the shrimp and crabs—he wanted to mold himself a King Crab Gundam to pilot.
Shen Jixiao wanted to learn too, but unfortunately, he didn’t even grasp the basics. He had no choice but to sit beside Grandma Clam and listen to some foundational knowledge.
As she spoke, Grandma Clam suddenly said, "Oh dear… I’m getting old, and my memory isn’t what it used to be."
Shen Jixiao: "What?"
"The storm lasted half a month. Just when I couldn’t hold on any longer to maintain the thin shell, I suddenly felt an immense yet gentle surge of spiritual energy. It swept across the ocean, boundless and vast. Wherever it passed, the currents strangely calmed, giving me a moment to catch my breath. After that, the storm ended."
Shen Jixiao: "Do you still remember the fluctuations of that spiritual energy?"
"I remember." Grandma Clamshell used her own spiritual energy to simulate the sensation she had felt back then.
Shen Jixiao’s heart gave a heavy thud.
It was strange… Even though it was just a fluctuation of spiritual energy, it instantly reminded him of that person—especially the moment they had gazed at each other through countless bubbles, when the other had swum toward him.
His heart began to race uncontrollably, his blood pumping faster and his pupils dilating slightly.
This was the first time in years that he had sensed traces of that person elsewhere.
"I’m too weak. My spiritual energy isn’t even as much as the little jellyfish’s." Grandma Clam ended the simulation. "But upon closer comparison, the fluctuations of this spiritual energy are somewhat similar to the little jellyfish’s."
Shen Jixiao wasn’t sensitive enough to perceive the nuances of spiritual energy—he relied entirely on instinct. He paused. "Similar?"
"Similar." Grandma Clam said with certainty. "The first half is completely different, but the latter half is practically identical. Thinking about it, perhaps that immense spiritual energy back then belonged to a giant jellyfish. I’d love to meet him. He saved us. Without that spiritual energy calming the currents, I definitely wouldn’t have held on."
The mermaid couldn’t help but glance at the little jellyfish.
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