Chapter 11: The Jellyfish Makes Trouble

This was the first time Wen Chu had ever touched Xiu’s tail.

The moment Wen Chu landed on his shoulder, Xiu’s entire body tensed up. He then felt his overreaction was a dead giveaway and forced himself to endure it.

The jellyfish was cool and clingy, landing softly on his shoulder and whispering a soft apology into his ear.

“Are you angry because I braided your hair? Or because I was dreaming? I can braid myself—”

The youth’s voice fell upon his ear, and Xiu’s heart trembled for no reason.

Before Wen Chu could finish his pitiful apology, he felt his vision go dark.

Xiu had stuffed him directly into a shell and snapped it shut.

“Go to sleep and stop talking nonsense,” Xiu said, tapping the shell.

With the jellyfish out of sight, the strange trembling in his heart finally subsided for a moment.

Wen Chu curled up inside the shell.

He felt that Xiu might be truly angry this time, so he stopped struggling and replied weakly, “Okay…”

Even though he had locked the jellyfish away and could no longer see it, Xiu grew even more agitated upon hearing Wen Chu’s dejected voice.

He finally swam a short distance away, keeping a three-meter gap between himself and the shell holding Wen Chu, before speaking. “Sleep. We have to travel again tomorrow. If you behave, I’ll let you kiss me.”

Wen Chu gave a listless response, curled into a small ball inside the shell.

Kissing Xiu to extend his lifespan was the entire reason he clung to him, but now that Xiu had offered it himself, Wen Chu couldn’t feel happy.

Why? Wasn’t extending his life value enough? Or was it because the shell was too cold and hard?

Wen Chu extended a tentacle to probe the soft seaweed beneath him.

It really wasn’t that hard.

But he was still unhappy, even though he could get a kiss from Xiu tomorrow.

Wen Chu realized he still wanted to become lovers with Xiu.

It had nothing to do with the mission. It was just that if they were lovers, he could justifiably stick to Xiu and sleep with him.

He wanted to stay by Xiu’s side forever.

---

Three days later.

It was evening again. Under the setting sun, the golden-haired merman was entangled with a massive jellyfish.

It could now be considered a large jellyfish, at least a fifth of the merman’s size. With its tentacles spread, it could envelop the merman’s entire upper body.

“Kissing” a jellyfish like this forced Xiu to proactively extend the tip of his tongue for Wen Chu to consume, to prevent the clumsy jellyfish from actually piercing his throat.

But actively feeding Wen Chu wasn’t much better.

The jellyfish had too many tentacles. They clung to his body, and even though Wen Chu was always careful not to sting him, the countless sticky, suctioning caresses were enough to throw Xiu into utter disarray.

He almost frantically moved his tail to avoid the jellyfish’s tentacles, which forced him to offer up his chest instead.

Wen Chu could now absorb life value from two places at once.

【Remaining Lifespan: 21 days, 1 hour, 31 minutes】

Wen Chu glanced at the lifespan on his panel.

The system seemed determined to let him realize on his own what a fanciful idea “becoming lovers with Xiu” was, and it rarely appeared on its own initiative anymore.

Especially when he was kissing Xiu, Wen Chu had tried several times to ask the system if he could go deeper, but the system remained silent.

It was as if it couldn’t bear to watch.

“I’ve had enough,” Wen Chu said, obediently releasing Xiu and reporting, “I now have twenty-one days and one hour of life value. Do you want me to heal you?”

For the past three days, Xiu had been traveling with him and the narwhal every morning and feeding him alone in the evening.

Wen Chu couldn’t tell if Xiu had calmed down or not, and the system wouldn’t tell him. He could only be very obedient and careful while feeding on Xiu.

It had taken him three whole days to gain five days of life value, meaning he had just grown a little larger.

“No need.”

Xiu’s breathing was a bit ragged. He looked at Wen Chu, hesitating.

Just now, when the jellyfish had suddenly grown larger and its fine tentacles had wrapped tightly around him, Xiu almost thought he would be excessively consumed by Wen Chu.

But Wen Chu was the same as always, as obedient as a puppy, letting him go after getting just enough to sustain his life.

So obedient it was… unsettling.

And yet, when they first met, he had been so rude and caused so much trouble.

As Xiu thought this, waiting for the unnatural reaction of his scales to subside, he couldn’t help but laugh at himself.

What was he even thinking? Wasn’t Wen Chu causing him trouble right now?

This almost unspeakable feeding method, and those invasive jellyfish tentacles…

If Wen Chu grew any bigger, he would really have to seriously consider the safety of his fishtail.

Wen Chu, completely ignorant of merman mating rituals, let out an “Oh,” then suddenly said, “By the way, I’ve gotten bigger. I can’t fit in the shell anymore.”

Xiu had the narwhal carry the small shell nest he made along their journey. It was currently sitting at their resting spot.

Xiu raised an eyebrow, looking at Wen Chu without an immediate reply.

So it finally begins? After being well-behaved for three days, is he finally going to make an outrageous request?

Unexpectedly, Wen Chu said, “Can I sleep outside the shell?”

Taking in Xiu’s astonished expression, Wen Chu slowly wrapped his tentacles around the merman’s lean waist, as if silently weaving an invisible net.

“It’s not actually that uncomfortable. I can sleep by myself,” Wen Chu said.

There are many ways to act pitiful. Only the most inept would directly say “I’m so pitiful.”

Wen Chu carefully controlled his tentacles, avoiding Xiu’s fishtail.

He could sense Xiu’s avoidance of that area and naturally wouldn’t provoke him at a time like this.

He told you he was smart.

So, he’d been playing pitiful for three days. Had Xiu calmed down yet?

QAQ

He would never braid Xiu’s hair randomly again.

---

Night fell.

Xiu glanced several times at the jellyfish sleeping not far away.

Normally, a jellyfish that grew too large would only be terrifying. But now, Wen Chu had grown far beyond the size of a normal jellyfish, and not only did Xiu not find him scary, but he increasingly felt…

This fellow was pitifully obedient.

The jellyfish was curled into a ball, sleeping quietly near him. The hard, bleached coral poked a large dent into its translucent body.

It looked exceptionally easy to knead and squish.

Have I been a little too harsh with Wen Chu?

Xiu couldn’t help but recall what he had said three days ago and the rough way he had shoved Wen Chu into the shell. A wave of guilt washed over him.

Maybe I should talk to him properly tomorrow? As long as Wen Chu doesn’t get any more absurd ideas about becoming my lover, there’s no need for me to be so fierce with a jellyfish.

Leaving a jellyfish like Wen Chu to sleep outside alone wasn’t very safe either.

Having found his excuse, Xiu faced Wen Chu’s direction and drifted into a deep sleep.

But Wen Chu wasn’t asleep.

He was pondering what was so special about Xiu’s fishtail that it couldn’t be touched.

He had deliberately avoided it earlier to not anger Xiu, but thinking about it alone now, Wen Chu felt something was off.

When they first kissed, it seemed like Xiu always kept his fishtail curled up.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with Xiu’s tail; Wen Chu had seen the merman swim gracefully through the sea with his beautiful, powerful tail countless times. So, curling his tail could only be to hide something.

Hide what?

Wen Chu carefully opened his eyes and saw Xiu facing him.

The golden-haired merman slept nearby, his pale platinum lashes lowered. He was clearly asleep.

Wen Chu, after three full days of good behavior, was driven by curiosity to carefully approach Xiu.

Xiu had only forbidden him from sleeping with him, not from touching his tail.

One step, two steps…

To avoid making a splash, Wen Chu crept forward slowly.

A single tentacle was the first to touch Xiu’s caudal fin.

This was the first time Wen Chu had ever touched Xiu’s tail.

The merman’s fin was like blue silk, thin and cool to the touch. The cold made Wen Chu want to pull his tentacle back, but he accidentally brushed against the fin’s edge.

The tip of that tentacle was sliced clean off by the thin, sharp fin.

The next moment, his tentacle regenerated at an unnaturally fast speed.

Accustomed to his rapid recovery, Wen Chu looked at the small, transparent piece of tentacle that had fallen among the coral, feeling troubled.

He wanted to destroy the evidence of his misdeed.

But the tentacle piece was in a crevice of the coral, right next to Xiu’s tail. Retrieving it would inevitably disturb the sleeping merman.

Forget it. Xiu probably won’t notice such a tiny piece.

Wen Chu paid no mind to the minor incident of having his tentacle severed and turned his attention to more carefully touching the blue scales above the fin.

The merman’s scales were also sharp, but cool and smooth.

It was another cold surface, but compared to the coral reef, Wen Chu preferred Xiu’s tail.

Even though Xiu’s tail could cut him, just like Xiu himself, who was fierce and didn’t seem to like him that much.

But he was the first person to listen to him, the first to patiently explain things to him.

Xiu was good to him, and he liked Xiu.

Wen Chu carefully added another tentacle, slowly draping himself over the tip of Xiu’s tail.

He didn’t cause the slightest ripple, and Xiu showed no sign of waking.

Wen Chu breathed a sigh of relief. But he was a bit too big, and the tip of the tail couldn’t hold him, so he shifted a little higher.

This shift brought him to just below Xiu’s lower abdomen.

Any higher and he would reach Xiu’s unscaled waist, and touching that would surely wake him.

Wen Chu stopped there. He had touched enough scales and hadn’t found anything special. He was just about to quietly retreat.

Just then, he suddenly felt a wave of warmth.

A few of his tentacles had suddenly sunk into a gap between the scales.

【Lifespan +24h】
【Remaining Lifespan: 21 days, 20 hours, 18 minutes】

What was that? Why did my lifespan suddenly increase?

The soft warmth sent a jolt through Wen Chu. Caught off guard by the system pop-up, the entire jellyfish shot upright, which gave him a clear view of what had just consumed his tentacles.

It was a scale just below Xiu’s lower abdomen.

The scale had been pressed open just slightly, enough for a few slender tentacles to pass through, revealing a hint of an almost imperceptible pink interior.

Wen Chu didn’t understand what was happening, but his instincts screamed that it was not good. He frantically tried to pull his tentacles out.

At that moment, Xiu seemed to sense the strangeness at his tail even in his sleep. His tail twitched slightly, trying to shake off the uncomfortable sensation.

Wen Chu grew even more nervous.

He no longer cared if he woke Xiu. With a “swoosh,” the entire jellyfish shot away, diving back into the shell and curling into a ball.

“What was that…” Wen Chu hugged himself with his tentacles, curling up again.

This time, even though he was exposed to the deep sea, Wen Chu didn’t feel cold. He felt like he was about to be cooked.

What was that spot? Why was it… so soft?

Wen Chu recalled that hint of pink amidst the blue scales and banged his head against the coral reef.

He thought he had broken Xiu’s scale.

Should he play dumb tomorrow or confess and hope for leniency?

Xiu was already angry about the hair-braiding incident. If he found out Wen Chu had broken his scale, would he really abandon him?

Wen Chu’s mind raced with anxious thoughts, completely unaware that he was now missing several tentacles.

Meanwhile, on the merman’s sharp, azure fishtail, scattered next to the re-closed cloaca, lay several of Wen Chu’s tentacles, severed by the scales during his hasty escape.

---

The next morning.

Xiu was once again startled awake by a titillating dream of being entangled with the jellyfish.

This dream was more advanced. Last time, his scales were just pried open. This time, he dreamt of how the jellyfish had explored inside his scales.

It can’t be Wen Chu again—

Xiu recalled the jellyfish’s pitiful appearance last night and quickly scanned his chest.

It was bare. There were no ambiguous marks, nor was there a clingy jellyfish lying on it.

Xiu let out a sigh of relief.

He flicked his tail, about to swim up, when his peripheral vision caught sight of a crystalline, transparent, thread-like object falling off his tail.

Xiu casually caught one. When he saw what was in his hand, his mind went blank with a buzz.

It was one of Wen Chu’s tentacles.

The end of the tentacle had a clean cut, a cut Xiu was all too familiar with—his scales or caudal fin could cause such a wound.

Xiu quickly swam back to where he had been sleeping. In the crevices of the coral reef, dozens of tentacles lay quietly, every single one of them with the same flat cut, as if sliced by a sharp object.

It was obvious. Last night, a certain jellyfish had paid a visit to his tail, been stupid enough to have several tentacles sheared off by it, and then fled in such a hurry that it forgot to destroy the evidence.

Xiu laughed in exasperation.

He finally understood why he was having those weird dreams again.

The scale of his cloaca had only been pried open a tiny slit, and Wen Chu had retreated so quickly that it had long since closed up. Xiu only thought Wen Chu had wrapped around his tail, completely unaware that Wen Chu had accidentally done something far more outrageous.

But the current situation was enough to enrage him.

“Wen. Chu.”

Holding the tentacle, Xiu, in his anger, didn’t think twice and directly fished the drowsy jellyfish out of its sleep.

The jellyfish was a limp puddle in its sleep, only waking up when Xiu picked it up and shook it. Its voice was drowsy. “…Xiu?”

If one listened closely, there was an unmistakable hint of guilt.

With a cold face, Xiu held the severed tentacle up to Wen Chu’s face.

“Aren’t you going to explain this?”

Wen Chu felt even more guilty.

He thought Xiu had found the tentacle he lost in the coral last night and tried to defend himself. “I didn’t sleep with you, I just touched your tail a little…”

Xiu sneered, “I think you have too many tentacles and are just looking to die.”

“Didn’t you feel any pain when they were being cut off? You still had to press closer, determined to have all your tentacles sheared off before you learned your lesson?”

Xiu couldn’t even tell if he was angry because Wen Chu had broken his promise, or because Wen Chu didn’t even realize he’d been hurt.

Perhaps it was both. In any case, the sight of this weak, sickly jellyfish just infuriated him.

A stupid jellyfish with zero sense of crisis.

Wen Chu said weakly, “I didn’t feel it. I can’t feel pain.”

Wen Chu’s words were like a bucket of cold water, dousing Xiu’s fire in an instant. He was speechless.

…Wen Chu had no sense of pain.

Which meant Wen Chu probably didn’t even realize he was injured.

And here he was, throwing a fit over it, which now seemed completely unreasonable.

At this moment, Wen Chu was still racking his brain, desperately trying to figure out how to appease Xiu.

He knew he was in the wrong, especially when he thought about how his tentacles had been accidentally eaten by Xiu’s scale last night, which made him feel even guiltier. After thinking for a long time about how to compensate him, he obediently offered his remaining tentacles to Xiu.

“Don’t be angry. You can eat me.”

He was bigger now. If Xiu wanted to make him into cold-dressed jellyfish, he could chop off half and have a full meal.

Even Xiu’s scales wanted to eat his tentacles, so Xiu must want to eat him too, right?

Wen Chu looked uneasily at the suddenly silent merman.

Xiu was quiet for a moment, then suddenly asked an out-of-the-blue question. “You really don’t have a sense of pain?”

Wen Chu nodded. “The doctor said I don’t.”

The jellyfish had so many tentacles that when they were all presented like this, Xiu found it difficult to even spot where Wen Chu had been injured.

He looked down at the jellyfish for a while, then let out a cool laugh. “It’s good you don’t feel pain. Otherwise, a jellyfish like you would cry for half a day over a single prick.”

“Stay away from my tail from now on. If you come near it again, I’ll chop off all your tentacles.”

With that, Xiu released Wen Chu, seeming to drop the matter.

He never once mentioned the scale that could be pried open.

Wen Chu didn’t know that Xiu hadn’t found out. He didn’t dare to ask, and just assumed that his offer to be eaten had shown his sincerity and appeased him.

He quietly stayed beside Xiu, pretending to be good.

Xiu casually squeezed the jellyfish, looked at its empty stomach, and finally relented, seeing that Wen Chu would faint from hunger.

“It’s still early. I’ll take you to find something to eat first, and find you a new nest while I’m at it.”

“Okay!” Wen Chu’s tone brightened, seeing that Xiu wasn’t going to hold him accountable. “The seaweed has no taste. Can I eat that kind of shellfish from before? I can spare ten hours of life value to revive the coral now. I can even give you a new flower.”

“No. Don’t waste your life value, and I don’t need a flower,” Xiu said coolly. “You’re a jellyfish. If you die, you’ll just dissolve into a puddle of water. You can’t even be buried. Don’t use your life value so carelessly when you’re this weak. Be more careful.”

As he spoke, Xiu turned and swam towards the surface, showing no intention of letting Wen Chu perch on his shoulder.

Wen Chu pushed himself along with his tentacles to catch up, saying thoughtfully, “That’s perfect, then. You won’t have to bury me. You work so hard running around burying so many fish every day. If my death is that convenient, I won’t cause you any trouble.”

Xiu: …

Did Wen Chu even know what a morbid joke he was telling?

Seeing Xiu’s silence, Wen Chu continued to approach him, trying to sneakily climb back onto his shoulder.

However, the moment the tip of his tentacle touched Xiu’s shoulder, it was flicked away again.

The merman dodged his tentacle almost as a reflex, stopping abruptly in the water.

Then, Xiu realized his reaction had been a bit too strong. He pressed his lips together and said, “Don’t touch me.”

Wen Chu retracted his flicked tentacle and tried his old trick of playing pitiful. “That hurt.”

Xiu stopped.

Wen Chu’s eyes lit up.

Xiu looked down at him and asked coolly, “Didn’t you say you don’t feel pain?”

Wen Chu: 0.0

Oops.

Xiu felt that something was increasingly off. He continued with a humorless smile, “And if you don’t feel pain, how did you decide the coral and the shell were too uncomfortable for you?”

Wen Chu: …

Wen Chu: “I can explain.”

Xiu crossed his arms, looking at him. “Explain. I’m listening.”

---

Author’s Note:

• According to current research, it cannot be confirmed that jellyfish have absolutely no sense of pain, only that it’s highly likely they don’t. I’ve taken some creative liberties here, so please don’t be misled by me.
  
• Jinjiang was bugged today, and the chapter summaries became garbled text. It seems to be randomly picking unlucky ones to mess up. If you can’t see the chapter summary, don’t worry, just wait for it to be fixed. I’m busy these next few days, but if it’s not fixed after I’m done, I’ll come back and fix it manually.