The Undersea Adventures of the Little Jellyfish (JELLYFISH)
The waters between islands were deeper. Over the past few days, the little jellyfish and the mermaid had encountered dolphins more than once. They lived in groups and were exceptionally lively. Sometimes, when swimming joyfully, they would leap out of the water in one swift motion, creating a playful spectacle on the sea’s surface.
After watching them several times, Shen Jixiao wanted to try leaping out of the water too.
The little jellyfish: “…Don’t take me with you.” The chubby jellyfish candy was still digesting yesterday’s meal.
The jellyfish silently detached from the mermaid’s body, letting go coldly. “I don’t want to jump out of the water.”
He had no interest in vigorous exercise—it was something jellyfish and their kind would never engage in. It would make him dizzy.
Shen Jixiao, however, excitedly flicked his tail before matching the dolphins’ speed as he surged diagonally upward and breaking the water’s surface before arcing back down in a parabolic dive.
Truth be told, it hurt a little. His body wasn’t as streamlined as a dolphin’s spindle shape, and his skin wasn’t as smooth, but it was incredibly fun.
The moment he breached the surface, he expanded his psychic senses fully, feeling the wind, the blue sky, and the countless dolphins around him that were all chirping joyfully as they swam and leaped alongside him. Their blowholes sprayed mist—not much, but at just the right angle, tiny rainbows could be seen, beautiful as if dancing in a fairyland.
Dolphins were creatures that dedicated their energy to play. Even if they weren’t hunting that day, they would still create bubbles and splashes in the water, simply for fun.
“Little jellyfish, little jellyfish!” Of course, they noticed the little jellyfish too. “You’re so cute!”
Tang You was overwhelmed by the dolphins’ high-speed movements and barely able to tell which one was speaking to him. “Thank you.”
He wrapped himself in a protective psychic shield.
“You’re really adorable—can I take a little taste?”
The little jellyfish: “No, no! I’m just a jellyfish, and I’m poisonous—”
Too late. The curious dolphin had already nudged forward, not intending to eat him—for them, it was probably more like a kiss—but its long snout bumped squarely against the little jellyfish’s psychic shell. Other dolphins saw this and rushed over to join the fun, resulting in the little jellyfish being batted around like a ball.
It didn’t hurt him, but Tang You felt like his digestive and reproductive glands were being thoroughly shaken.
“Mermaid—!” he called out.
Shen Jixiao leaped from the water, creating a splash far larger than the dolphins’, startling the curious onlookers away in an instant. He scooped up the little jellyfish nestled in his psychic shield and, without stopping, sped out of the dolphins’ play area at top speed.
Only then did the little jellyfish finally relax.
"That's terrifying. Mermaid, aren't you tired?"
Shen Jixiao shook his head.
This level of activity was manageable for him, and physical exercise was also a way to train his mental energy. His current mental state was due to an imbalance between the two energies. Strengthening his body or appropriately expending mental energy would help him adapt sooner.
After intense exercise, the mermaid was warmer than usual and his muscles were engorged with blood, every part of him adjusted to its optimal state.
The little jellyfish released its mental energy and touched the mermaid's arm. "So full of vitality..."
They soon continued forward, encountering another creature near a small island along the way—a slow-moving sea turtle.
Unlike land turtles, their limbs had evolved into paddle-like shapes, perfectly suited for swimming, with their front limbs much longer than their hind ones, primarily relying on the front limbs to propel themselves forward. Their shells were extremely hard—once fully grown, few fish in the ocean could threaten them—and their beaks were sharp enough that attacking them might result in a painful bite.
Shen Jixiao had never seen such large turtles before and paused to observe them as they passed. "So many sea turtles—are they social creatures?"
"No," the little jellyfish answered. "They must be entering their breeding season and are preparing to come ashore. Sea turtles are the kind of creatures that return to the same spot at the same time every year to reproduce, as if by agreement. Thousands of them will lay their eggs in the same place, and countless baby turtles will hatch later."
Shen Jixiao noticed the little jellyfish hiding behind him. "What's wrong?"
"Though I have a few sea turtle friends... sea turtles actually eat jellyfish." Tang You silently reinforced his defenses. "They're really impressive—not only can they eat harmless jellyfish like me, but even the most venomous ones are no problem for them."
"It's so strange... it's not like we're particularly nutritious."
Shen Jixiao looked at him and a rather intrusive thought surfacing in his mind: I think I know why.
The little jellyfish just looked too delicious. Even someone like him, who absolutely despised sweets, couldn't help but think of translucent strawberry-filled gummies every time he saw the little jellyfish—and then feel an urge to take a bite.
What flavor would the little jellyfish be?
Seeing the mermaid lost in thought, Tang You poked him once, then again. "What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing at all," Shen Jixiao replied without changing his expression, smoothly changing the subject. "Look, there’s a moving clump of seaweed over there."
Sure enough, Tang You's attention was diverted. Following the mermaid's gaze, he spotted a brown mass of seaweed with two "paddles" underneath—upon closer inspection, it was clearly a large sea turtle with a clump of seaweed on its back.
Though sea turtles weren’t particularly slow swimmers, their movements were steady, their lives lacking any real excitement. Yet their thick, broad shells made perfect habitats, often hosting other marine life that clung to their backs, treating them like mobile mini-islands, hitching rides to enjoy sunlight and food from different parts of the ocean.
Some sea turtles disliked having things on their backs, while others simply didn’t care—some even benefited from the camouflage, occasionally luring small fish and shrimp right to their mouths for an easy meal.
"It's just some seaweed, it doesn't bother them. A few days of sunbathing on the shore will take care of it," Tang You said. "Some things are much more troublesome... once they latch on, they're impossible to get rid of."
Shen Jixiao: "What?"
"Ah..." Tang You had already spotted it. "That kind."
It was an elderly sea turtle, noticeably larger than the others around it, with deeper markings on its shell. Its front flippers moved leisurely through the water, yet it seemed to struggle slightly.
Depending on the species, sea turtles have different shell patterns, but this one's was almost indiscernible. Its back was densely covered with unidentifiable organisms—something like barnacles, but unlike the typical two-shelled structure, these were more like pits, each with a small hole in the center of the protrusion. Faint movements could be seen inside the holes.
Mermaids disliked such things; seeing them inevitably made one imagine them growing on their own skin. He rubbed his arm. "Looks familiar...?"
He had once gathered food near the reefs, where some shellfish clung to the rocks. Among them was something resembling what grew on the turtle's back.
"Barnacles. They resemble shellfish but aren't actually related," Tang You sighed. "They're a type of animal, extending their cirri like coral polyps to catch debris in the ocean. In a way, they eat the same things I do."
"But they're actually closer to crabs—they just prefer to settle in one place and never move for their entire lives. Sea turtles swim slowly and can't easily clean their backs, so barnacles sometimes grow on them. Other large creatures, like whales, can suffer from this too."
Strange creatures.
Shen Jixiao couldn't fathom how crabs and barnacles could be similar.
The elderly turtle clearly disliked the barnacles on its shell. He watched as it repeatedly tried to scrape itself against the rocks by the shore. The turtle's back was too large—banging against the reef not only hurt but was also futile. Such scraping couldn't possibly remove the barnacles.
Shen Jixiao noticed Tang You secretly using a bit of psychic energy to chip off a sharp piece of rock from the reef, helping to pry the barnacles off the turtle. It wasn't easy, but it worked somewhat. Soon, the turtle's back was left with uneven patches of grayish-white where the barnacles had been.
Even after removing the parasitic barnacles, the turtle's shell would never return to its original clean and beautiful state.
"Thank you," the turtle said, well aware of the assistance. Its gaze swept around before settling on the mermaid and the little jellyfish lingering nearby. "They've been bothering me for a long time."
This was a psychic sea turtle, and a powerful one at that.
Shen Jixiao remembered the little jellyfish mentioning that sea turtles sometimes ate jellyfish, so he subtly shielded Tang You. Fortunately, the elderly and gentle giant had no interest in a bite-sized strawberry jellyfish. The mermaid waved at the turtle and swam away with the jellyfish in tow.
They left the island.
Along the way, they encountered many sea turtles heading toward the island—all adults rushing ashore to breed. Against the tide of turtles, they swam deeper into the ocean.
For an unknown amount of time, the mermaid had been swimming until he decided to take a break and surface for a few breaths of air. Suddenly, the little jellyfish clung to him nervously.
"Shen Jixiao, there's something down there!"
"What?"
Bolder than the little jellyfish, he immediately released his psychic energy to probe the depths of the ocean. Sure enough, he sensed an unimaginably massive presence—so vast that his psychic reach couldn't even trace its edges at first.
A whale?
He vaguely considered the idea. Whales were the largest sea creatures he knew of.
But whales rarely appeared in areas surrounded by islands. Their enormous size made them prone to stranding when the tide receded near land.
The little jellyfish chimed in, "It's not a whale. There's no way a whale would be here."
The mermaid immediately decided to leave the area with the little jellyfish.
But it was already too late.
The unknown entity from the deep sea slowly rose toward them. The first things the little jellyfish and the mermaid saw were jagged rocks and seaweed—as if an entire section of the seabed had lifted. A few schools of fish darted around in panic, bewildered by the sudden movement of their home.
Even at his fastest speed, the mermaid couldn't escape its range.
He found himself encircled by rocks and nearly pushed above the water's surface. Fortunately, the uneven surfaces of the stones had trapped small pools of water—otherwise, the little jellyfish would have been exposed to the open air.
"What is this?" the mermaid wondered.
The little jellyfish trembled in the shallow pool. His psychic senses were more refined than Shen Jixiao's, allowing him to grasp the full picture sooner. "It's... it's a sea turtle... Oh my, how could there be such a gigantic sea turtle?"
"Waaah—" The little jellyfish let out a mournful cry while clinging tightly to the mermaid's tail. "Oh great Turtle God, please don't use me as a toothpick!"
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