The Undersea Adventures of the Little Jellyfish (JELLYFISH)
“Why are you staring at me?”
Shen Jixiao had been spacing out for too long. Tang You reached out a tentacle to touch the merman’s forehead—no fever. But he wasn’t sure if the other’s mind was clear. Mermen had low body temperatures, and fever was most likely to cloud their thoughts.
He then pulled out a blue fruit from who-knows-where—one he had taken from the banquet.
It was a type of fruit grown in damp caves, cultivated specifically by mermaids. The fruit was about half the size of a palm, oval-shaped, and when bitten into, a milky-white juice would burst out. It had a peculiar texture, giving a carnivorous satisfaction when eaten, making it a favorite among mermaids.
He had noticed Shen Jixiao seemed to like it yesterday, so he grabbed two more before leaving.
Now, he stuffed one into the merman’s hand as a form of comfort.
He could sense that Shen Jixiao was still awkward. The merman wasn’t familiar with his own kind and even kept his distance from other mermaids. But that was normal—adapting to a new place always took time. After all, this fish had only just returned to the sea not long ago.
“I’m sorry,” Shen Jixiao suddenly said. “I might not be fully awake yet.”
“Your psychic energy issue was just resolved—it’s normal to feel tired.” The little jellyfish didn’t mind the other’s odd behavior and even offered some comfort. “There’s nothing urgent to do today. If you don’t feel like exploring, you can even go back and take another nap.”
“Mm.”
“Honestly, you nearly scared me to death last night.” Now that the merman seemed completely fine, the little jellyfish hugged his tentacles, half-complaining and half-concerned. “Your nightmares were so intense, and you had a fever. I was afraid you’d turn yourself into a braised fish.”
Shen Jixiao forced a smile, adjusting his mindset before casually asking, “Do you even know what braised fish looks like?”
There's no fire underwater, so food is eaten in its natural state or prepared using special methods—mostly mixing and grinding, then shaping into balls or pastries.
"I don't know." The little jellyfish's voice was oddly confident. "But I’ve heard other fish say that disobedient fish get caught and turned into braised fish."
Shen Jixiao had no words. He tapped the little jellyfish’s head lightly.
The melancholy of shattered illusions quickly dissipated under the jellyfish’s lively and adorable antics. Suppressing the wandering thoughts in his mind, he steadied himself and tried to focus on the present. "Am I disobedient?"
"Then be obedient. Ask Qingbo about the mermaids’s psychic energy issues these next few days, so you don’t run into problems from lacking basic fish knowledge."
"Alright." The merman lowered his lashes, veiling his sapphire-like eyes. "I happen to have a lot of questions to ask."
……
Shen Jixiao appeared to be a perfectly healthy merman now. The mermaids had extensive experience with psychic energy issues, and the little jellyfish trusted their methods would handle everything without a hitch.
So, he tugged along the slightly sullen merman, intending to explore.
They had actually seen these things yesterday, but Shen Jixiao had claimed he wasn’t interested, so they hadn’t played.
Mermaid incubation was slow, with celebrations for new hatchlings held only once every few years. Close neighbors would come to join the festivities, bringing blessings and gifts. The host family would decorate the venue, prepare return gifts and feasts, and even set up plenty of games for the young mermaids to enjoy.
Most of the players were either young mermaids or mer-couples who hadn’t experienced many large gatherings. The older mermaids were busy with other preparations—mainly for the evening’s ritual.
After spending a day here, the little jellyfish and Shen Jixiao had made some observations. The mermaids of the Stival settlement mostly had two scale colors: cyan and silver. Any other colors were almost certainly visitors who had come for the hatching celebration.
Everyone exchanged greeting gifts.
Mermaids also tended to stick together in groups. For instance, they noticed that cyan-scaled mermaids often got along well with coral-red ones, while lake-blue mermaids clustered with orange-scaled ones. Shen Jixiao searched around but couldn’t find anyone with a similar coloration to his. There were silvers, blues, purples—but none with his particular blend.
He did run into a few mermaids who, upon greeting him, complimented his scales, saying they were as vibrant as a newborn’s, and asked how he maintained them.
Shen Jixiao: "..." They’re just newly grown. As new as they get.
"Excuse me, have any of you seen mermaids with scales like mine?" he asked the enthusiastic group.
"Nope. We’re a pretty remote settlement—maybe the royal city has mermaids like you." Once again, Shen Jixiao heard mention of the royal city. "Hey, after the ceremony, wanna join us for dancing?"
Yesterday, Shen Jixiao had refused all such invitations.
He still had no leads on his lineage, and his scale color didn’t seem to yield any clues either… Well, it made sense. He was heavily mixed-blood, so some variation in color was perfectly normal.
Lost in thought, he barely noticed the decorations around the settlement.
Tang You, on the other hand, was fascinated by everything—especially the little games set up. When he saw that the prizes were pearls, he could hardly swim straight.
"I really want one..."
"Want to try?"
"Together?" Tang You asked.
"No, thanks." Shen Jixiao wasn't particularly interested in the games. "You go ahead."
To add some excitement, participating in the mini-games required a small fee—their universal currency being small, uniformly white seashells. Each guest had one free chance to collect them, receiving twenty shells in total, with underage mermaids getting double that amount.
Since the little jellyfish wanted to play, Shen Jixiao collected his own twenty shells and handed them over for him to enjoy.
The nearest game was a ring toss, floating about a meter above a ceramic pot. The goal was to drop a conch shell into the mouth of the pot. The conch shells were irregularly shaped—pointed at one end and wider at the other—and water resistance made them fall unevenly rather than straight down. The pot's opening was barely larger than the little jellyfish himself, making it quite a challenge.
Tang You lined up behind a young mermaid. He was so tiny that when he exchanged one seashell for ten conch shells, the silver-scaled mermaid managing the game grew concerned. "Are you sure you can handle them? I can hold onto them for you," she offered kindly.
"Of course I can!" Tang You replied.
His psychic abilities made lifting a dozen conch shells effortless.
"Amazing, amazing!" The silver mermaid enthusiastically clapped her hands in encouragement.
"Hmph!"
The little jellyfish could even encase each conch shell in a transparent, bubble-like film and string them together to float in a line.
"Just remember, no cheating during the game—no using psychic powers," she reminded him.
"I know." Tang You naturally wouldn’t break the rules.
Floating above the pot, he carefully aimed the pointed end of a conch shell toward the opening. After adjusting his position for a while, he released his psychic grip.
The descent wasn’t too fast, but slow enough for everyone to clearly track the shell’s path. The little jellyfish watched intently, and the surrounding mermaids fell silent while holding their breath to avoid disturbing the water and affecting the game.
—Clink.
The seashell teetered on the edge of the pot's opening, swaying precariously, but ultimately failed to fall in.
The little jellyfish sighed, "So close, just a tiny bit more."
He could feel someone's gaze on him—Tang You was quite accustomed to such attention. After all, jellyfish like him were rare, standing out like a shimmering strawberry candy wherever he went. Whenever a mermaid cast a curious glance his way, he would always look back and wave a tiny tentacle in greeting.
But this time, the gaze lingered far longer than mere curiosity.
The little jellyfish already had a guess as to who it was.
He turned around, waving his tiny tentacles, and saw the brilliantly scaled fish leaning against the coral, with his arms crossed.
The faint glow of a luminous pearl cast an ethereal light over his features, his expression unreadable—perhaps weary, or something else entirely. Though the details were unclear, the little jellyfish was certain the other was watching him. Shen Jixiao was undeniably a striking mermaid. Even if you encountered a hundred mermaids at once, your eyes would still be drawn to him first.
Maybe it was his eyes—blue wasn’t an unusual color in the ocean, but Shen Jixiao’s eyes were exceptionally bright. They weren’t entirely transparent or crystal-clear, yet they held an undeniable vitality.
The only flaw, perhaps, was that this mermaid rarely smiled.
Most sea creatures Tang You encountered were cheerful by nature, their joy and sorrow fleeting,and emotions expressed openly—laughing heartily or crying loudly but Shen Jixiao was different. This fish kept everything bottled up, never relaxing even when he smiled. One might think he was cultivating pearls of emotion in his chest.
In the few seconds they locked eyes, Tang You even tried to recall the last time Shen Jixiao had smiled—probably when he had given him a gift. Aside from receiving presents… the only other time was when he had dealt with the monster in the sunken ship, flashing a brief but sharp grin.
The little jellyfish pondered: He didn’t know if other mermaids enjoyed fighting, but he suspected not.
Still, none of this stopped him from believing Shen Jixiao was a good mermaid. He stretched out his tentacles, waving them as widely as possible. He knew the other would see. His voice was laced with laughter, as he called out loudly, "Shen Jixiao, if you want to play, come join us!"
Instantly, a crowd of mermaids followed his gesture, their eyes landing on the strikingly beautiful figure lurking in the shadows of the corner.
"Wow! It’s the pretty mermaid brother!" A young green-scaled mermaid raised a hand. "Brother, do you want to play too?"
Noticing Shen Jixiao had no shells in hand, the little one hesitated before opening his small palm to show off his own collection. "Brother, if you lose all your shells, I can give you one… no, two. But no more than that."
"Come play with us!" the other young mermaids chimed in.
Shen Jixiao had never in his life been swarmed by so many little ones, while the instigator—the little jellyfish—hid to the side while giggling quietly, clearly amused by his flustered predicament.
"Pretty mermaid, pretty mermaid," he wiggled his tiny tentacles. "Brother, hurry up and come play!"
Shen Jixiao: "…"
Sometimes, there was just no dealing with certain animated strawberry gummies—hundreds of years old and still calling him "brother."
He was just a bit tired—his eyes kept seeing double, making it hard to focus, and his mind was constantly distracted by thoughts of that person. Besides, he was already an adult merman and had little interest in childish games.
But since things had come to this…
He swam over.
The little jellyfish very naturally shared half of his seashells with him.
Shen Jixiao: "Is it really okay for me to cut in like this?"
Little Jellyfish & Little Mermaid: "No problem at all!"
At a height of one meter, the little jellyfish and mermaid had to swim upward to reach it, but for him, it was just a matter of stretching his arm.
He took aim, aligned it with the opening of the pot, and let go of his fingers.
The seashell wobbled as it fell and miraculously landed inside.
"So amazing, so amazing! Big brother is so good!"
The little jellyfish also cheered, "Big brother is amazing!" making Shen Jixiao glance back in surprise.
Being called "big brother" by a jellyfish who was at least two hundred years old was enough to unsettle any mermaid.
The little mermaids chattered excitedly, seemingly brimming with endless energy. Their large, clear eyes and round like pearls, were fixed unwaveringly on Shen Jixiao and the little seashell in his hand as he tossed in the second one.
The little jellyfish had given him five seashells, and he had successfully thrown in four—enough to claim a prize.
Tang You tried to pat his own head: "How come I can't get any in…"
Out of five throws, he had only landed one. Combined with Shen Jixiao's four, they had five in total—enough to win a small blue fruit as a reward.
Regardless, the little jellyfish was quite happy. He took the blue fruit and pressed it into Shen Jixiao's palm: "Here, this is your prize."
Amid the applause of the little mermaids, they moved on to the next game.
They were all simple, no-skill-required games—tossing pebbles, guessing shells, blowing bubbles, quick quizzes. By the end, the forty seashells they started with hadn’t decreased—they had multiplied.
Over a hundred seashells jingled in a small pouch, a sight that filled them with satisfaction.
The little jellyfish noticed something.
Shen Jixiao was a very strange merman. He claimed to have no interest in these little games, yet once he started playing, he became incredibly serious and determined to win. Except for the quick quizzes on undersea trivia, which he wasn’t great at, he excelled at everything else.
The little jellyfish almost suspected Shen Jixiao was cheating.
But first, Shen Jixiao wasn’t using any psychic abilities, and second, these were just simple games—cheating would be absurd.
Staring blankly at the pouches full of seashells and prizes, the little jellyfish was utterly confused.
—If he hadn’t lost so many times, they would have had even more seashells.
But it was enough now—they could exchange them for a big prize.
They arrived at the prize redemption area together.
"Impressive," the mermaid in charge praised. "What would you two like to exchange for?"
The little jellyfish looked up and saw the shelves filled with smooth purple pearls, delicate shell necklaces, blue coral rings, stylish seaweed skirts… all sorts of things. There were even options like "hugs" and "blown kisses," though he wasn’t sure how those worked.
After a moment’s thought, he handed over his seashells: "I’d like the coral ring."
"Exchange for that pearl," Shen Jixiao said at the same time.
"Huh?" Tang You looked at him.
Shen Jixiao also gave him a puzzled look. He remembered the little jellyfish had played these games specifically for the pearl among the prizes—his love for pearls was obvious to everyone. Why was he suddenly not choosing it now?
"You don’t want the pearl anymore?" he asked.
Tang You: "I do want them... but you won all these shells yourself. I'd like to exchange them for something useful to you. This specially crafted coral bracelet has calming properties—it seems perfect for you. And coral is quite beautiful too, isn't it?"
Shen Jixiao was taken aback.
"Let's get the pearl instead," he said. "Consider it my gift to you."
The mermaid managing the rewards weighed the bag in her hand before turning to fetch the items from the shelf then placing both the coral bracelet and the pearl into Shen Jixiao's palm. "Did it ever occur to you that with the number of shells you two have, you could actually redeem both prizes?"
"Really?" The little jellyfish instantly brightened, spinning in place before swimming over to Shen Jixiao's palm and hugging the pearl as it settled down. "Shen Jixiao, you're amazing."
With so many people around, using telepathy wasn't an option, and a big hug was out of the question. So the little jellyfish wrapped its tentacles around the mermaid's finger instead, giving him a small embrace.
Then it happily clung to the pearl, lost in its own joy.
The coral bracelet was meant to be worn around the wrist. As soon as it was slipped on, a faint trace of spiritual energy could be felt emanating from the greenish coral, seeping into the skin and soothing restless emotions. But the effect was so minimal that it was practically useless to him—only offering psychological comfort.
From that perspective, the coral bracelet did serve a purpose.
It had calmed him down.
Ever since earlier, Shen Jixiao had been lost in thought. His vision was still blurry and occasionally doubling, but the phantom of that person no longer appeared.
He had even entertained some absurd notions, the kind found in fantastical tales—like that person being reborn after death, reincarnated as a tiny jellyfish, or the jellyfish cultivating into a spirit and taking human form... But upon closer reflection, none of it made logical sense.
The jellyfish was just a jellyfish, its life trajectory traceable. So many friends knew it, and everything about the mermaid clan confirmed its experiences were real. Compared to the honest and adorable little jellyfish, Shen Jixiao suddenly realized that the person he was searching for was not only an unattainable reflection in water but also a shroud of mist—he wasn’t even sure of their species anymore. What if they were some kind of shapeshifter?
And what about the hallucinations? Could he have mistaken something else for a person?
If reincarnation were possible, it should have been the little jellyfish reborn as a human. But then again, the jellyfish was just a jellyfish—it had never shown any signs of turning human, nor did it seem particularly interested in doing so.
Shen Jixiao couldn’t make sense of it, and a vague unease lingered.
Only now did he understand what had been troubling him—he feared that all this might reveal the little jellyfish wasn’t the sweet, lovable strawberry gummy he thought it was. He had never encountered such a wonderful creature before, and that made him apprehensive.
Even if it affected him, Shen Jixiao didn’t want the little jellyfish to be burdened by his troubles.
...
After playing to their hearts' content, they went for dinner and then waited for the sacrificial ceremony to begin.
"What are they sacrificing?" Shen Jixiao asked.
"Ancestors," the little jellyfish replied. "Honestly, I told you to ask more about mermaid customs. Even I’ve been asking around these past two days—aren’t you curious at all?"
Tang You had come to realize that Shen Jixiao seemed completely uninterested in integrating into the mermaid community. If he truly saw this as a homecoming, he should have been actively reaching out to learn about mermaid culture and striving to become part of their society over the past few days. Yet, Shen Jixiao either swam around aimlessly or simply zoned out—aside from playing games with him, he hardly ever took the initiative.
It was as if he had already convinced himself that he could never fit in here, so he didn’t even bother trying from the start.
Tang You puffed up in frustration—he had no idea that the mermaids had never intended to settle permanently in the ocean depths.
"The mermaids don’t worship any deities. Our rituals are mainly to honor our ancestors. You already know about the Mermaid Palace and the clan leader, right?"
Shen Jixiao nodded.
"The healthy hatching of young mermaids requires the power of protection, which comes from the strength of our ancestors. When a mermaid dies, their spiritual energy returns to the palace, merging with this protective force to safeguard the next generation," Tang You explained. "That’s why kinship ties are so strong among mermaids—we honor our ancestors and cherish our children."
"I see."
The ritual was about to begin.
Since they weren’t part of the main family, both he and the little jellyfish remained outside the ancestral hall. Only members of the Stival lineage were allowed inside, with those of purer bloodlines positioned closer to the center.
As Qingbo activated the formation within the hall, every mermaid present felt a gentle energy wash over them.
It was like being watched over by a familiar yet distant elder—someone who reached out to pat your head and ask kindly about your well-being, their warmth so profound it could bring a mermaid to tears.
No command was given, yet all the mermaids fell silent as they turned toward the center of the hall.
They bowed their heads, placed their hands over their hearts, and closed their eyes.
Shen Jixiao followed suit.
This was his first time experiencing it.
Qingbo’s voice echoed from within as she recited prayers, thanking the ancestors for their protection. This segment would last about half an hour, after which the ritual to awaken the younglings would begin.
It was only today that Shen Jixiao learned what mermaid hatching truly required. If someone were to steal an egg and keep it away from the mermaid environment, it would be nearly impossible for the hatchling to survive.
Even if it did hatch, the unbroken spiritual shell would lead to countless problems—frailty, illness, depleted spiritual energy, and ultimately, an early death.
Perhaps it was the soothing ancestral energy enveloping them now that made Shen Jixiao suddenly think of his own wretched father.
His father was a… well, a complete and utter human—a down-and-out noble with neither power nor land, having squandered the family fortune, leaving behind nothing but a hollow title.
And after the royal family’s decline, even that title became worthless.
So the man packed his bags on a whim and became a wandering bard—Shen Jixiao could tell his father wasn’t the responsible type. If not for the constraints of his noble title, he probably would’ve taken to the road as a bard much earlier.
But when Shen Jixiao was very young, he had actually quite liked his father—the man told him he had hatched from an egg, that it had taken a very, very long time.
Back then, Shen Jixiao didn’t understand much, and most kids around him had their own wild origin stories—found in a trash heap, gifted by the king, or even "suddenly dropped out after too much drinking". So he thought it was nice that his father had been willing to hatch him.
Until he learned about human anatomy and understood how reproduction worked, he took his textbook back to ask his drunken father.
"My boy," his father rummaged through a drawer and pulled out an eggshell. "This really is your egg."
Shen Jixiao, around ten years old at the time: "...That's so fake."
He looked at the person completely drunk before him, then at the eggshells in the drawer.
Pure white shells and thin as paper—he had never seen such eggs before. Based on his limited knowledge at the time, eggshells only brought to mind chicken or duck eggs, or the smooth, sturdy shells of bird eggs.
The fragments in the drawer, when pieced together, formed an oval shape—so soft and fragile, they had to be fake.
He couldn’t help but wonder: What about his mother?
He had never seen her. Even in the ridiculous little hatching story his bastard of a father had spun, there was no trace of her.
He had assumed it was because his family had fallen from grace, his father was a scoundrel, and his mother had run away—and he still believed that now.
Until later, just before he came of age, his wandering father sent a letter back home. It said his mother was a mermaid, that he was a hybrid, and that he might turn into a fish once he reached adulthood.
Shen Jixiao was speechless. He had nearly drowned before—if he were a fish, how could that happen?
Then he noticed scales beginning to grow along his waist and abdomen.
Now, suddenly recalling these old memories, Shen Jixiao felt a faint sense of bewilderment. Even now, he still didn’t know who his mother really was, how his bastard father had managed to woo a mermaid, or where she had gone after giving birth to him.
He had even more questions. If hatching was so difficult for mermaids, had his father truly incubated him? Or was it just another boastful lie?
As he pondered this, his forehead was lightly touched. He felt an embrace—gentle, as if someone had merely rested a hand on his shoulder before leaning down to press their lips against his forehead in a kiss whose meaning he couldn’t decipher.
Feminine. Maternal. Something he had never experienced before…
His heart pounded like never before, almost painfully so. The mental seal over his eyes, agitated by his turbulent emotions, grew unstable. His vision flickered between clarity and blur before finally dissolving into pure white, plunging him into momentary blindness.
Yet even in this state, he saw the phantom of a female mermaid. Like all the other visions, her face remained indistinct, but her tail was breathtaking—interwoven shades of blue-violet and silver, like a fallen galaxy, ethereal and dreamlike.
She looked like him.
No—he looked like her.
The ancestral mental energy receded like the tide. Shen Jixiao’s vision gradually returned to normal. He blinked, then opened his eyes again to find the little jellyfish floating before him.
“Shen Jixiao, are you okay?”
His eyes stung. He wiped them—and a pearl lay in his palm.
“……”
Was this… his tear?
He wiped again. More tiny pearls fell. He hadn’t shed these in years, yet this time, he didn’t feel the slightest bit of sorrow.
Tang You dabbed at his face for him. “It’s okay, it’s okay. There’s nothing embarrassing about it.”
Shen Jixiao: “……” He hadn’t thought it was embarrassing—until Tang You said so. Now, he burned with shame.
A grown mermaid in his twenties, shedding tiny pearls in public.
And under the watchful eyes of so many other mermaids.
Shen Jixiao’s tail wanted to dig into the seabed.
Then he turned his head—
The ground was littered with tiny pearls, glimmering, fresh and perfectly round.
Shen Jixiao: “……”
The little jellyfish had never witnessed such a spectacle. Since the earlier power had been the ancestral mermaid's mental energy—unrelated to him—he had only felt warmth, a healing force mending hidden wounds he hadn’t even noticed, as if soaking in soothing waters.
Then, after a while, he glanced to the side.
A steady drizzle of pearls.
The legends were true—mermaid tears really did turn into pearls, and in all colors. Though none were very large, they were flawlessly round and stunningly beautiful. Suddenly, the little jellyfish understood where mermaids got all their pearls.
He looked up and saw that even the fool of a mermaid had shed a tiny pearl.
Only at times like this did Shen Jixiao seem like an ordinary mermaid.
……
Death nurtured new life.
The celebration of birth was also a memorial for the departed.
The mermaids’s emotions came and went quickly—soon, they had shaken off the ancestral stirrings and were cheerfully preparing for the younglings’ awakening ceremony.
Mermaids from different settlements mingled, bustling about.
The little jellyfish and Shen Jixiao weren’t familiar with the proceedings. When they tried to help, Qingbo refused, telling them to rest instead.
So they stayed on the sidelines.
Shen Jixiao rubbed the coral bracelet on his wrist as he recalled the mermaid he had seen in the vision.
The little jellyfish, meanwhile, gathered pearls, wanting to record everything that had happened today. There had been too many new experiences.
First, he needed to etch the memory of winning prizes in games—playing with Shen Jixiao and the young mermaids.
Then the food—dishes at the banquet he had never seen before. Though he couldn’t eat them himself, the other mermaids seemed to enjoy them immensely.
After dinner, they briefly visited the grand hall, where a dance was underway. Countless beautiful mermaids swayed in the center, their shimmering scales dazzling. Unfortunately, as a jellyfish, he couldn’t dance—and neither could Shen Jixiao—so they didn’t join in.
Then came the pearl rain during the ritual…
“What are you recording?” Shen Jixiao’s voice suddenly reached him.
Tang You: “Just what happened today.”
“……” Shen Jixiao saw the scene of himself shedding tiny pearls and fell silent for a long moment before muttering, “Embarrassing.”
“How is it embarrassing? Being moved by your ancestors isn’t something to be ashamed of.” The little jellyfish didn’t see it that way.
“Wait.” He suddenly noticed something odd. “How did you know what I was recording? The pearl etching isn’t finished yet, and you didn’t use any mental or magical probing. You shouldn’t be able to see it.”
Shen Jixiao realized it too.
He had been spacing out and just glanced at the little jellyfish, when he saw flickering images. At the time, Tang You had been engrossed in etching memories, so he hadn’t wanted to interrupt—just kept watching until the pearl-shedding scene. Only now did it occur to him that what he had seen were some kind of phantom projections—real ones.
His eyes had pierced through the pearl, glimpsing the unfinished recording.
This wasn’t an illusion—the images were real, as Tang You’s words confirmed.
“It must be related to my mental energy,” Shen Jixiao said as he covered his one eye. “I’ll ask about it after the ceremony.”
The little jellyfish pulled out another pearl. “Can you see what’s inside this one? No magical probing allowed.”
The mermaid shook his head. “I don’t know how to use this ability.”
As they experimented, a strange mermaid suddenly appeared nearby.
A black-scaled mermaid.
Most mermaids had some scales on their humanoid halves, but his were unusually abundant.
Tiny, pitch-black scales climbed from his waist up to his neck, tracing his jawline before fanning out into a pattern like ink droplets on the right side of his face. The higher they went, the smaller they became, until near his eye, they resembled tiny triangular fans—like a teardrop mole at the corner of his eye.
Unlike the others, his demeanor was gloomy, making him stand out unfavorably amid the festivities.
He had appeared beside them like a specter, evoking the ghost sharks of the deep—where most mermaids brought to mind the vibrant hues of coral reef guppies.
The little jellyfish startled. “Ah! I’ve never seen a black mermaid before.”
Shen Jixiao had noticed his approach earlier and was wary. “May I ask who you are…?”
Though he hadn’t paid close attention, he had vaguely listened to the visiting mermaids' settlements, categorizing those he’d seen during the day. But he had no memory of a black mermaid.
The black mermaid’s face was pale, with dark circles under his eyes. His irises were black too, so his pitch-black pupils fixed unblinkingly on Shen Jixiao. “Your mental energy is unique.” His voice was dreamlike, almost floating.
“What?”
The stranger didn’t seem to find this intrusive. He circled Shen Jixiao while sniffing the currents. “I’m not mistaken. It’s yours.”
“I haven’t seen mental energy like yours in fifty years. Though the exact branch isn’t clear yet, with proper training, you could become an incredibly powerful mage.” The black mermaid grew almost fervent. “Young merman, you’re not from Stival, are you? This place isn’t right for you—their mental energy leans toward growth and healing. You… you should come to our settlement. We have knowledge far better suited to you.”
He seemed to read Shen Jixiao’s thoughts. “We can answer all your questions.”
The little jellyfish looked at the mermaid.
The mermaid followed his gaze to the little jellyfish.
Bolstered by Shen Jixiao’s presence, the little jellyfish puffed up—transforming from a soft gummy into a hard candy. “First, tell us—what is the nature of his mental energy?”
“Analysis. Perception. Prophecy.” The black mermaid pinpointed it precisely. “Your mental energy is still unstable, unformed. The path you take depends entirely on your choice—curses, medicine, poisons, control… Take me, for example. My trait is perception, but I’ve spent half my life studying curses.”
“That’s evil!” the little jellyfish shrieked.
“Evil?” The other seemed genuinely puzzled, his black eyes widening. “It’s not all for wrongdoing.”
“Were you really invited to this gathering and the newborn ceremony?” The little jellyfish voiced his doubts while subtly hiding behind Shen Jixiao, reverting to a trembling soft gummy. “Y-you—how could you bless the younglings like this…?”
“Curse them to a lifetime of happiness. Would that not suffice?”
Tang You: “……”
Shen Jixiao: “……”
Well. That settled that.
“Do you… want to learn?” The pink jellyfish clung to Shen Jixiao’s finger with a tentacle. “It’s your decision.”
Shen Jixiao remained silent.
“Ah.” But the black mermaid wasn’t done. He narrowed his eyes as he studied them, then lit up with sudden interest. “You, little jellyfish—you’re quite fascinating. This mental energy reserve… a thousand years’ worth?”
“Your mental energy flow is peculiar—segmented. Dead? No, that doesn’t fit… Stolen? Doesn’t seem malevolent. Grafted, perhaps…?” He muttered to himself before suddenly snapping back to attention. “Little jellyfish, did someone give you their mental energy?”
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