The Undersea Adventures of the Little Jellyfish (JELLYFISH)
The little jellyfish slept inside his jar.
He had lost too much water and needed to rehydrate. Drinking one or two coconuts wasn’t enough—he had to soak in seawater to recover.
This was the downside of unstable transformation magic; it could fail at any moment due to unexpected circumstances.
When he woke up, the mage who had been hiding among the crowd disguised as an ordinary merchant had already been dealt with. The merman wasn’t in the room, and neither was Ji Yan.
It was quiet as the servants wouldn’t dare disturb him.
The little jellyfish opened the window and saw that it was still afternoon. He shook the water off his body and noticed clean clothes and a towel on the table—prepared for him by the merman.
After drying himself off and clumsily changing, he tentatively began wandering around the lord’s manor.
He walked slowly and barely spoke. The servants lowered their heads and avoided him whenever they saw him. Tang You sensed fear in them—but he didn’t understand why they were afraid of him.
The little jellyfish didn’t know that many mages on land were known for their eccentric temperaments. Just like how a high-level mage, living comfortably, would disguise himself as a vendor, Tang You’s silence and slow gait were mistaken as part of a mage’s peculiar nature.
Tang You just wanted to find the merman.
Unexpectedly, he discovered a room in the manor filled with the small animals he had rescued, all chirping and chattering.
He stepped inside and stayed there for a while until he heard footsteps approaching.
“Merman.”
“It’s me.” Shen Jixiao pushed the door open. “The ones that could be saved have been released. Some were beyond help—I had them buried.”
“Mm.”
“These are the ones that can’t be released.” Shen Jixiao pointed to some of the animals on the ground. “Some are injured, some are too young to survive on their own, and others are domesticated species that wouldn’t last even if set free.”
Tang You crouched down.
A small, fragile, and fluffy creature curled up into a ball, no larger than the palm of his hand. Unlike marine animals, land-dwelling creatures seemed to favor a coat of soft fur.
He gently picked one up—so soft and warm.
"Is this a baby rabbit?"
"Mhm," Shen Jixiao replied. "About a month old, maybe?"
"It says it feels much better now. Walking on the metal cage floor was hurting its feet," Tang You set the little rabbit down. "This one says it's overheating. This one has a strained wing... it hurts."
"I'll have someone take care of them until we find people willing to treat them well or until they're old enough to be released."
"Thank you, merman."
"It's nothing."
Tang You spoke very seriously, "No, I really appreciate it. Suddenly burdening you with so many children—raising them will be hard. But it's okay, I’ve already told them they can consider you their father."
Shen Jixiao: "..."
A row of question marks practically shot out from the top of his head, his soul nearly leaving his body in shock: "Huh?!"
"If you're going to take care of them, doesn’t that make you their parent? Even if the species are different, everyone’s happy. Nature has cases of cross-species fostering too," the little jellyfish said so naturally, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "They’ll all work hard to be independent, right?"
"Chirp!" "Squeak!" "Meow!"
Even the little turtle stretched out a flipper and lifting its head a beat later to slap the water’s surface.
"What about you?" After a long silence, Xiao Shen still felt like he was dreaming. "You saved them. Shouldn’t you be the one raising them?"
"I do have some," Tang You widened his eyes. "I have plenty of little darlings too. I wouldn’t let you shoulder everything alone."
Shen Jixiao then asked, "You can understand what they’re saying?"
"Just establish a mental link, like the one between you and me." The little jellyfish sensed the merman releasing his psychic energy and gently reminded him, "Control your power. Their consciousness cores are very fragile—even a tiny bit of your energy could destroy them. You have to be as gentle as possible. Like the morning breeze earlier, don’t pressure them."
Just like nature.
Shen Jixiao realized his psychic energy wasn’t as naturally soft as the jellyfish’s, but with enough practice, he could compress it into harmless strands.
He carefully extended his energy and finally heard the voices of the little animals.
"Dad!" "Daddy!" "Daddy chirp!"
The merman was now genuinely on the verge of passing out.
He took two steps back, overwhelmed by an unprecedented sense of dread—an indescribable pressure.
Now he was a father without even realizing it.
"Little jellyfish..." he uttered weakly, "They all seem to be calling me. What about yours?"
Misery loves company—surely the little jellyfish should share this burden with him.
"Boss!" A series of odd pattering sounds. "Boss! Boss!"
Dozens of large white geese rushed in, swarming around Tang You with such single-minded enthusiasm that even Shen Jixiao was pushed aside: "Honk honk honk! Boss, you’re back, boss!"
Shen Jixiao: "..."
It seemed these were the "little darlings" Tang You had mentioned—the ones he was responsible for.
He glanced outside and, sure enough, saw many terrified humans—not only the helpless servants at a loss with the geese but also esteemed guests who had come to visit the city lord. And... the city lord himself, his clothes torn to shreds and his face turning from green to black.
He saw fear, confusion, hatred, curiosity—all kinds of gazes.
The envoys from the Southern Kingdom had already arrived.
Shen Jixiao, however, remained composed. "Tang You, play with them for a while. If you get tired, go back to your room. You can ask the servants for food. I have some matters to attend to."
"Okay," the little jellyfish wobbled to his feet with a snow-white long-tailed tit perched on his head, round and plump like a ball of dough. He grasped Shen Jixiao's hand, his eyes sincere. "Good luck, merman."
"Mhm."
"Daddy, good luck, chirp!" The long-tailed tit also looked at him earnestly.
"..."
The merman exploded.
He hurried away. "Tonight... tonight, I have something for you to do."
...
By the time the merman returned, it was already very late. Tang You was sprawled on the table while hugging his jar, waiting for him—so long that he was nearly asleep.
Just as he was drifting off, the merman pushed the door open and shoved an extremely thick book into the little jellyfish's hands. "Don't sleep. We're going to study for a while."
"Mmm..." The little jellyfish drowsily opened his eyes but didn't recognize the words on the page.
He was even more illiterate—he didn't know a single human character.
Compared to written words, he preferred information transmitted directly into his mind—it was much faster that way.
The little jellyfish stared at the thick, brick-like book the merman called a "dictionary," along with the paper, ink, and brush.
After just ten minutes of studying, his head began to spin.
"Merman, please..."
The little jellyfish softened his voice while tugging at the merman's sleeve.
On the table were black tea and tempting pastries, but he no longer wanted to sit there. He clenched his fingers into fists, trying to pull away again and again, only for the merman to grab his wrist and press it back onto the table.
"Merman, I'll do anything, just not..."
"No."
Shen Jixiao coldly refused him.
"Little jellyfish, didn't you say you wanted to learn human knowledge? Human language and writing are essential parts of that." Shen Jixiao took Tang You's fingers and guided him to hold the brush properly for practice. "Just try. Give it a try."
Tang You strongly suspected Xiao Shen was getting back at him for calling the merman illiterate earlier that day.
He did want to learn human knowledge, but his speech was halting, his fingers refused to cooperate, and even holding the brush correctly felt like a chore—now he disliked human anatomy. Jellyfish were better; their tentacles were much more convenient.
"In a few days, I'll take you to see human spellbooks. But before that, you need to learn basic characters. Come on, little jellyfish, I know you can do it."
Of course, Xiao Shen didn't mention that, in theory, these lessons were supposed to take years. "Wouldn't it be a shame if we went to the library and you couldn't read a single word in the spellbooks?"
"Study hard. I'll check on you later." Shen Jixiao placed a stack of paper on the table.
The moment he heard there would be a check later, the little jellyfish wanted to transform back into his true form and hide in his jar forever.
His brain bubbled furiously as he pressed a hand onto the practice sheets.
A few seconds later.
"Merman..."
Shen Jixiao turned back to find the stack of papers on the table dripping wet, completely soaked.
The culprit gazed up at him with watery eyes.
"Please..." Tang You didn't even extend his hands, instead retracting them into the sleeves of his pajamas and curling up into a ball. "I'll do anything except calligraphy practice."
He shook his head vigorously, tilting it to one side as water trickled from his ear. "See? My brain is full of water."
"..."
Shen Jixiao was momentarily at a loss for words, torn between exasperation and amusement.
"Fine," he suddenly severed their mental link. "Next, we'll practice speaking. No cheating with telepathy. We'll learn human language—it won't take long."
"Mmm..." The little jellyfish made incoherent babbling sounds.
"Speak."
"Spe...ak?"
The jellyfish's speech was always halting and stuttered, making Shen Jixiao worry there might be a structural issue. "Open your mouth. Let me check your throat."
Despite having no formal medical training, his tone was so authoritative that Tang You obediently opened wide. "Ah..."
Tilting his head up, Shen Jixiao only needed to glance down to see the jellyfish's mouth.
Tang You's lips were lovely—plump and rosy, always well-hydrated and healthy-looking. When parted, his lips formed a perfect "O", revealing a trembling tongue pressed against his teeth and even the pink entrance of his throat.
He looked unbearably tender—the kind of jellyfish who would burst into tears from eating spicy food or being overfed.
For some reason, the merman's face suddenly flushed red. He averted his gaze and coughed lightly, as if to cover his reaction.
"Your tongue position is wrong."
"Huh?" Tang You made a confused sound.
What was wrong?
He genuinely didn’t know where a human's tongue was supposed to rest when speaking—whether curled or flat. He had no idea Shen Jixiao was just making it up—the merman himself had never formally studied linguistics and spoke fluently only because he’d grown up immersed in his native language.
Tang You grabbed Shen Jixiao’s left hand and placed it against his throat, then took the merman’s right hand and pressed it to his lips.
"Ah—"
The little jellyfish stared at him, only to find the merman’s gaze distant, as if lost in thought—so lost that his face was turning as red as braised fish. Annoyed, Tang You kicked his knee.
Even with such obvious hints, he still wouldn’t teach the correct tongue position?
...Did he even know it himself?
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