The Undersea Adventures of the Little Jellyfish (JELLYFISH)
Shen Jixiao was a step too late but still managed to take in the full scene.
It was a… giant sea turtle. No, "giant" didn’t even begin to describe it—it was practically a small island.
It had been slumbering on the ocean floor for who knew how long as its back was now covered in reefs and a miniature ecosystem. In the brief moment it was exposed to the air, he saw tiny fish flopping about, starfish and sea urchins playing dead, coral polyps fainting from shock, and limp seaweed sprawled between the rocks.
The sea snake’s tail curled in on itself, and the once-fluffy sea anemones shrank into tight balls. The creatures at the edges fared slightly better, struggling to leap back into the sea, while those in the middle could only inch their way toward the nearest puddles.
Sand and silt cascaded down the turtle’s back, and the seawater pouring off its body was nearly forming a small waterfall.
Holding onto his fish tail, Shen Jixiao surveyed the situation and realized they were at the edge of the turtle’s shell. With a bit of effort, they could still hop their way out.
The problem was, the little jellyfish couldn’t stay out of water for long. He’d have to move it along with some water—though he could technically use his psychic abilities, the jellyfish seemed utterly terrified. With a pitiful "owoo," it turned into a soul-departed jellyfish, leaving behind nothing but an empty jellyfish candy shell.
Just as the mermaid was pondering how to escape, the sea turtle beneath them stirred.
Having taken in enough air at the surface, it began to sink back into the depths.
The descent was so swift that water surged in from all directions, sweeping even the firmly anchored rocks off the turtle’s back. Screams rose and fell as the creatures on the turtle’s back finally got their water—only for it to become a disaster. Some poor little fish were slammed against the rocks by the rushing currents and immediately blacked out.
In such a crisis, the mermaid could only focus on saving himself. Gripping the sturdiest rock nearby, he held his breath and shut his eyes. The violent currents stung his gills and mouth, and even when he forced his eyes open, all he saw was a turbulent rush of water filled with countless bubbles.
"Little jellyfish!" He opened his mouth to call out, only to be silenced by the seawater. His tail slammed into a rock, causing unbearable pain—he had no idea how many scales he’d lost.
But Shen Jixiao didn’t have time to care.
He couldn’t find the little jellyfish anymore.
In such fierce currents, something as light as the jellyfish had probably been swept away long ago. And with its delicate body, he feared it might have crashed into rocks—or worse, collided with the sea urchins also caught in the whirlpool, turning into a skewered jellyfish.
Even if it hadn’t met with danger… at this rate, he might never find the little jellyfish again.
He had already prepared himself for their parting in a few days—he would return to land to deal with the mountain of unresolved issues, while the jellyfish would continue its journey, venturing far and wide, while recording every sight along the way in its pearl.
He had already braced himself for goodbye. But faced with this sudden turn of events and the thought of never seeing the little jellyfish again filled him with an indescribable urgency.
Gritting his teeth, his fingers, which had been tightly gripping the rock, loosened slightly.
Maybe… if he let go now and allowed the current to sweep him away, he’d end up in the same place as the jellyfish.
Even if he might collide with something unknown in the turbulent currents...
Just as he decided to let go, a faint voice suddenly came from behind: "Merman..."
"Little Jelly, mmm—!" Shen Jixiao's face lit up with joy as he opened his mouth, then immediately shut it again.
It turned out that the little jellyfish had been using its psychic energy to tie itself to his tail all along, which was why it hadn't been swept away by the current. And because his entire body had been under impact, he hadn't noticed this slight anomaly on his tail.
They had established a psychic link.
"As long as you're okay," Shen Jixiao said.
"Mmm..." The little jellyfish's voice sounded somewhat exhausted, likely due to the use of psychic energy.
But Shen Jixiao thought again: the little jellyfish had an immense reserve of psychic energy. Simply tying itself to him shouldn't have left it this drained—had it been frightened out of its wits?
Soon, his question was answered.
A gentle wave of psychic energy radiated outward from the little jellyfish.
The reckless boulders were halted, the currents were soothed, and the creatures that hadn't yet been scattered or had already been flung away were caught in the soft embrace of the psychic energy. Unconscious fish were gently placed aside, while sea urchins and other spiny fish received special attention to prevent them from harming others as they flew about.
It was continuously constructing thin layers of psychic shells.
Whenever one was shattered by the current, another would be formed, endlessly, until everything was calmed.
Shen Jixiao, who had only just stepped into the realm of psychic energy, couldn't perform such feats himself, but he could sense the immense power and effort required. He watched as layer after layer of psychic shells crumbled, and the little jellyfish, which had been responding to him earlier, now fell silent. Its terrifying reserve of psychic energy was being depleted at an alarming rate.
The little jellyfish's psychic energy enveloped the entire giant turtle.
For a fleeting moment, he even wanted to tell the little jellyfish to stop—that it wasn't necessary to sacrifice its own strength for so many small creatures. But he couldn't bring himself to say it.
Because he knew the little jellyfish would do it anyway.
Because there had once been such a fool in this world who had recklessly saved him from a sinking ship.
The merman could feel the surroundings gradually calming. The little jellyfish had saved many creatures, but the psychic link between them was growing weaker. Among the merman community, he had learned much, including the absolute rule to never exhaust all of one's psychic energy at once—the consequences were dire. Even retaining the slightest amount made a world of difference compared to using it all up.
He could only extend more of his own psychic energy, attempting to mimic the little jellyfish by tying it to his side while maintaining the link.
The merman's psychic energy flowed slowly along the link toward the little jellyfish. They had done this once before in the merman community, and since the little jellyfish had no defenses against him, he could easily let his energy probe into its consciousness.
Even so, his psychic energy remained his own, distinctly separate from the little jellyfish's.
Shen Jixiao gritted his teeth.
He, too, let go completely, even deliberately erasing the unique traits of his own psychic energy to blend it as seamlessly as possible with the little jellyfish's, giving and taking freely.
...
When Tang You woke up, he had no idea how much time had passed.
He was so exhausted he didn't even want to lift a single tentacle.
But surprisingly, some of his psychic energy remained—he had thought he would use it all up.
The little jellyfish perked up, trembling as it checked its surroundings, only to humbly realize it was still in a small puddle—about ten square meters in size, roughly equivalent to ten tiny ponds.
It was probably still on the back of that giant sea turtle. But as for their current location, that was harder to say. The little jellyfish looked up but didn’t see the sky—only a dark, hollow space, with occasional droplets falling and producing very distinct echoes, as if they were inside some kind of cave.
A cavern… with air?
It pondered but didn’t have the extra mental energy to explore the extent of this cave.
The luckiest thing was that the mermaid was still by its side, also lying in this small puddle. Clearly, the puddle wasn’t big enough for the large mermaid to fully submerge—his tail was in the water, while his upper body leaned against a rock. His beautiful tail had lost quite a few scales, and there were numerous scratches on his body.
The little jellyfish swam over to the mermaid in its most primitive swimming style and checked for signs of life before finally letting out a sigh of relief.
He was probably just unconscious.
Aside from mental exhaustion—just like the jellyfish—he only had some minor external injuries.
The little jellyfish couldn’t help but recall its last memory before passing out.
Honestly, it hadn’t even been able to maintain the mental link with the mermaid anymore, but just as it was about to let go, the mermaid’s mental energy reached out, firmly holding on. It could sense everything, but it simply didn’t have the strength to respond.
The mermaid had sent his mental energy over. The jellyfish had no defenses against him, and neither did the mermaid. Tang You had originally thought to borrow just a little of the mermaid’s energy to complete the barrier’s construction, but the subsequent drain was unexpectedly massive. Without thinking, it had followed the mental link and delved into the mermaid’s inner world.
Had it touched the core of his consciousness?
Maybe even his entire mental world.
But at the time, neither of them had the luxury to dwell on it—they just wanted to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. Their mental energies had fused tightly together, which felt somewhat strange, because mental energy, consciousness, and the core were all deeply private things—even more intimate than memories. They were the most fundamental aspects of a living being’s existence. And if one grasped the core, they practically held the other’s life in their hands.
Tang You stared blankly at Shen Jixiao. He knew that even if his own core were destroyed, he wouldn’t die, so he usually acted recklessly. But what about the mermaid? If he had harbored even a hint of malice, the mermaid could have died…
He still remembered how guarded the mermaid had been when they first met, constantly on high alert.
The tiny jellyfish couldn’t help but tuck its tentacles inside itself, nibbling nervously.
So when Shen Jixiao finally woke up, what he saw was the little jellyfish, using its remaining mental energy to carefully tend to his wounds. The jellyfish held a clump of seaweed, crushing it with a clean rock to extract its juices, then tremblingly lifted it to apply to his injuries.
It was so focused that it didn’t even notice the mermaid had woken up.
Only when the cool seaweed pressed against the mermaid’s waist did Shen Jixiao twitch his tail slightly and finally catch the jellyfish’s attention.
Looking into the mermaid’s deep blue eyes and the faint crimson in his right one as the seal was on the verge of collapse, and the small cuts on his face—
Tang You pressed the seaweed onto the mermaid’s waist and burst into tears.
"Stupid mermaid—!"
Shen Jixiao: "..."
"I'm not dead."
He had no idea what the little jellyfish was so upset about, so he stubbornly propped himself up. "And I'm not seriously hurt either. Where are we now?"
"I don’t know... maybe, maybe in an unknown cave. Sometimes there are places like this in the deep sea." The little jellyfish sobbed intermittently. "I’m so glad you’re okay. I was afraid—afraid I might accidentally use up all your mental energy, break the seal, and damage your brain, turning you into an idiot forever. Waaah..."
Shen Jixiao: "..." All this worry was for him—did the little jellyfish not spare a single thought for its own mental energy?
After a long pause, he sighed faintly and instinctively reached out to pat the jellyfish’s head. "I’m afraid you’ll use up your own mental energy, you silly jellyfish."
The little jellyfish lifted a tentacle, then lowered it again. "You’re patting me again..."
"Sorry." The merman suddenly remembered what was inside that little head.
"It’s fine." The jellyfish pressed its cool, tiny head into the merman’s palm. "Today, you can pat me as much as you want. Go ahead, pat to your heart’s content!"
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