The impact on the shell felt significant even underwater. In his deep sleep, Deng Xi dreamed that the Little Mute caught a hundred fish for him and told him that the “deal” was not over just because he had provided them. The little mermaid was happily eating his fish when suddenly, the ocean trembled. A tsunami rose instantly, crashing down with overwhelming force. The dead fish in Deng Xi’s mouth suddenly came back to life, frantically flapping tail fins that consisted only of bone.
His food jumped from his mouth into the bottomless sea, then abruptly leaped back out. The fish bones grew larger and larger before his eyes, opening blood-red maws and charging straight at Deng Xi along with the rushing tsunami.
“Don’t eat me!”
Deng Xi woke up with a start, propping up his upper body. Thump! Because he rose too suddenly, his head hit the top of the shell. He clutched his forehead, sitting dazed and in pain for a while until the lingering shock of the nightmare faded.
Deng Xi let out a sigh of relief and rubbed his head. Fearing he might wake the silver-tailed merman, he opened the shell very gently. The first thing he saw was the empty seaweed bed on the opposite shell.
Previously, there were times when the Little Mute woke up earlier than him; usually, the silver-tail would sit at the cave entrance and wait for him to wake. Deng Xi habitually turned his gaze to the mouth of the cave. “Little Mute! Good morning! I just had a very, very scary nightmare”
The cave entrance was empty.
Deng Xi tilted his head in confusion. “Little Mute?”
He looked left and right, scanning the entire cave, but saw no sign of that familiar bright silver. Panic instantly set in, and he swam out of the shell. He didn’t know if the Little Mute’s illness had been cured; if he went out on his own, he might not even find his way home.
Only after leaving the shell did Deng Xi realize something was wrong. His nose twitched as he sniffed the water; he smelled a faint scent of blood. But he was fine and uninjured.
Is it the Little Mute’s blood?
Deng Xi’s heart constricted. He closed his eyes to pinpoint the source of the scent. Because it had been diluted by the sea, the smell was very faint. Following his keen senses, he swam slowly until his hand touched the back of his own shell. With a clack, he pressed down hard.
Deng Xi opened his eyes to a massive smear of blood. The back of the rose-pink shell was covered in mottled, dried bloodstains. His blue eyes shrank in horror. He touched a finger to the stain; it came away smeared with gore.
His mind raced with terrifying possibilities. The first thing he thought of was his own past experience—how, because he hadn’t closed his shell, a deep-sea serpent had smelled him and tried to drag him away as a food reserve. Had an unknown sea creature sneaked in while the Little Mute was sick and dragged him away?
But he hadn’t heard anything. No sound of fighting, no sound of injury, no sound of him being dragged away.
Had he slept too soundly?
The bruise on his forehead from hitting the shell suddenly throbbed with a sharp pain—a pain so intense he could barely breathe. He thought, almost suffocating: How could I have heard nothing?
With a flick of his blue tail, Deng Xi followed the residual scent of blood out of the cave. There was still time; there had to be time. That day, the Little Mute had found him. This time, he could find the Little Mute back.
Just wait for me.
Deng Xi didn’t swim very fast because the scent of blood was so faint; he had to distinguish it with extreme care. He swam through region after region, weaving through countless coral reefs, until he broke the surface. The golden-haired, blue-tailed mermaid paused on the water, looking blankly at a behemoth in the distance.
What was that?
On the distant sea floated a black object larger than a whale. It was stationary, with several black figures climbing on it. They had no tails; from the waist down, they split into two parts, but they were strangely agile. After flipping onto the large black object, they leaned over and dragged something from the sea.
It was a giant net, denser than tangled seaweed. The first thing pulled from the water was a familiar flash of silver. The unconscious silver merman lay motionless, encased in the giant net. Blood dripped from the netting one drop at a time, cruelly staining the water below.
Deng Xi’s eyes widened. It was the missing Little Mute. His Little Mute had been captured.
Deng Xi had never swum so fast. His blue tail flicked with frantic speed toward the giant black object. Every time, he was the one rushing toward the Little Mute in danger.
Don’t hurt him. Don’t take him away.
A mermaid’s tail isn’t that long. No matter how hard Deng Xi swam, he couldn’t keep up with the speed of the black giant. He could only watch helplessly as the distance between him and the silver-tail grew further and further. Finally, the silver flash shrank to a mere dot and was pulled into the black behemoth.
Deng Xi didn’t know who they were or what that thing was. He knew nothing, but he understood one thing: if he didn’t catch up today, he might never see his Little Mute again. The silver-tail would likely be harmed by them, dying alone in some corner, his bones never returning to the sea.
That was too pitiful.
Don’t go. Wait for me.
Deng Xi swam through countless turbulent currents. His physical strength began to deplete rapidly. His tail grew sore, and every movement of his gills was an exhausting effort. But he didn’t give up. His blue eyes filled with tears, which rolled down one by one, mixing with the seawater on his cheeks.
For this mermaid crying on the surface, his tears were finally not hidden by the sea, but in this terrifyingly large ocean, Deng Xi was all alone. Still, no one saw him weeping.
Almost there. Just a little more.
A spark of hope flashed in Deng Xi’s blue eyes.
Interstellar cruise ships had undergone thousands of years of upgrades; their speed was unfathomable. Yet Deng Xi was almost catching up. He was within reach; he flicked his tail.
But the cruise ship had reached its destination. Its speed increased again, pulling a long distance away from the small tail chasing behind.
“Wind speed and direction are suitable” “Speed has reached maximum” “Fuel is preparing” “Countdown”
The Adjutant gave the order: “Launch.”
Interstellar era cruise ships can do more than travel on the sea; they can transform into starship pods, using fuel thrust to leave the atmosphere and rendezvous with waiting starships in space.
The sedatives might not work on the Admiral for long. Only the specialized medical cabins on the starship could soothe his berserk mental strength. Even though the Adjutant was terrified the Admiral might break free and destroy the entire ship, he remained calm and professional. He had handled this kind of emergency countless times.
The countdown ended. The starship pod launched from the sea in an instant.
The hope within Deng Xi’s reach shattered completely. He watched as the black object suddenly accelerated, carrying the Little Mute further and further away. Suddenly, just like in his nightmare, the entire sea trembled, and a massive tsunami rose. The black object, like the fish bones in his dream, opened a “maw” and swallowed his Little Mute before soaring into the sky.
The little mermaid looked up blankly, wondering if he was still dreaming. Otherwise, how could he see so many strange sights? Perhaps the Little Mute was just outside his shell, waiting for him to wake up.
It must be fake. My Little Mute wasn’t taken away.
Deng Xi closed his eyes, tears rolling from his lids, then carefully opened them again. Nothing had changed. Before him was still the empty sea and the horizon he could never touch.
The sky was so high, so vast. No matter how Deng Xi flicked his tail or leaped from the water, he could not fly. He was just a little mermaid who knew nothing and understood nothing. No matter how high he leaped, he only crashed back into the sea, the pain worsening each time.
Deng Xi didn’t know that the distance between him and the silver-tail was the distance between two eras. This primitive blue planet had nothing but an ocean for him to play in, but the vast starry sky was a world he had never set foot in a world of high technology he could never understand.
He could only gaze futilely at the blue sky. Never before had he realized so clearly that he might never see his only kinsman again. The ocean was left with only one little mermaid once more. No one would listen to him speak, sleep beside him, swim with him, or eat happily with him every day.
It was all gone.
Deng Xi finally couldn’t help but crumple his face, looking up and stifling his cries in his throat. Tears flowed down, wetting his already damp golden hair before silently disappearing into the sea. The chattering little mermaid’s grief became as silent as the ocean, for there was no one left to listen.
So tired.
The exhaustion of his physical overexertion enveloped him like a nightmare. He was dragged down into the sea, closing his eyes and sinking further and further until he rested on the seabed thousands of meters down. Deng Xi curled into a small ball, clutching his tail, and remained motionless for a very long time.
It wasn’t until night fell and the ocean returned to darkness that the curled blue tail moved slightly. Exhausted from crying, Deng Xi propped himself up stiffly, looking around and rubbing his eyes. He didn’t know where he had swum. Seeing the unfamiliar seabed, he realized he might not even find his way back to his nest tonight.
There was no “silver” to lead the way anymore.
Deng Xi swam aimlessly for a few moments before closing his eyes in resignation. A mermaid’s call rose without warning a low, light sonic wave that spread through the sea. This special call could only be heard by specific species. Deng Xi’s call successfully reached a blue whale’s blubber layer and then its middle ear.
The blue whale’s response came quickly. Following the sound, it found Deng Xi, who was dazing silently on the seabed.
Mermaids can sensitively perceive the emotions of all things, and creatures that have established a link with a mermaid can also perceive the mermaid’s emotions. Sensing Deng Xi’s deep sorrow, the blue whale nudged the blue tail with its head. The whale’s strength was “small,” but Deng Xi was still bumped a short distance.
The whale let out a low, apologetic cry.
Deng Xi swam back and lay on the whale’s back, covering his eyes with his arm. His voice was very soft. “Big Whale, I’m lost. Can you take me back to my nest?”
The whale gave another low response and began to swim. The little mermaid on its back became quiet again, his breathing sometimes light and sometimes heavy, accompanied by muffled whimpers. After a long, long time, he finally became silent. It seemed he had fallen asleep from exhaustion.
The blue whale moved slowly, fearing it might wake him. It swam until morning before reaching the sea region where it had originally brought Deng Xi.
The whale shook gently. Deng Xi slipped off its back and woke up in a daze. He had cried for too long yesterday; his head was throbbing. “Are we here?” His blue eyes curved slightly as he whispered his thanks. “Thank you, Big Whale.”
The whale nudged him and gave a low cry. You don’t have to smile if you’re not happy.
Deng Xi just touched the whale’s head and said quietly, “Wait for me, Big Whale. I’ll be right back.”
The nest was silent. The rose-pink shell still bore the bloodstains from yesterday. The old white shell was wide open, but the seaweed bed was empty.
Deng Xi picked through his things. He couldn’t move the two large shells. If he wanted to call the dolphins to push them, it would take a very long time. He touched his old shell where he had slept for so long and patted the new one he and the Little Mute had found together. He decided not to take them.
He also had a collection of treasures beautiful shells and conchs but there were too many. If he tried to carry them all, they would drop one by one as he swam. Finally, he chose the conch that could hear the sound of the waves it was the second most beautiful one and took it with him.
Before leaving, Deng Xi took one last look at the nest where he and the Little Mute had lived for so long. Just as he was about to flick his tail, something in the gloom flashed with light.
It was the fluorescent jellyfish. It quietly pulsed its long, transparent tentacles, slowly swimming to Deng Xi and brushing against his face. The light never went out, blinking gently in the dark, lightless cave. The clingy jellyfish seemed to sense something and gently touched Deng Xi’s damp eyelid with its tentacle.
It seemed to be saying silently: Don’t be sad. Remember to take me too.
Deng Xi blinked and promised, “I will.”
The jellyfish voluntarily wrapped itself around the mermaid’s fingertip. Deng Xi looked back one last time and left the abyss with only the jellyfish and a small conch. The blue whale was still waiting for him above.
Deng Xi sat on the whale’s back. “Big Whale, I had a treasure I liked very, very much. I brought him home and worked so hard to mend all the broken cracks on his body. But bad people stole him while he was sick. I can’t find him alone.”
Deng Xi thought: What if, after flying into the sky, he fell back down somewhere I can’t see? He had to look for him.
“Are you willing to go with me to find my accidentally lost treasure?”
The blue whale let out a low song that echoed through the entire sea. I am.
One thousand and eighty-two days later.
It takes nearly three years to swim around the Blue Planet once. Deng Xi didn’t know how many times he had cleaned the barnacles off the whale’s body. Without the silver-tail there, he had to pry them off bit by bit with a sharp shell. Now, the whale was perfectly clean.
Today, they stopped near a reef, returning to the sea where the undersea rift was located. The fluorescent jellyfish was kept in a small shell by Deng Xi. The whale swam fast, and the jellyfish’s tentacles were fragile; the tiny creature could vanish in the blink of an eye, so he had to be extremely careful.
Normal jellyfish live for 2–3 months, reaching up to two years at most, but fluorescent jellyfish can live forever. They can revert from a sexually mature stage back to a polyp stage, a cycle of eternal growth. Deng Xi was glad the one he found would never leave him.
They stayed in each sea region for at least three to five days. Deng Xi would search every inch. If he encountered dangerous creatures, the blue whale would protect him. The journey had been fraught with danger but without actual harm.
Until today, when he returned to the place where it all began.
Deng Xi didn’t hold much hope. He leaped into the water, patted the whale’s head, and touched the small shell where the jellyfish stayed. “I’ll be back soon.”
He dove into the water. Even though hope was bleak and he knew the silver-tail couldn’t be here, Deng Xi still swam back to the nest in the abyss. The seaweed had grown even denser. He pushed through it for a while before finding the cave entrance and swimming inside.
Because no creature had lived there for a long time, the clean nest was covered in moss and had become dirty. The blood on the rose-pink shell had turned into a dark, black stain. The two shells were wide open, just as they were when he left, their positions unchanged. Other than that, the nest was empty.
Deng Xi lowered his head in disappointment. He turned and swam back to the surface. On the boundless sea, a black dot suddenly appeared in the distance. It was likely a large sea creature. Yet, Deng Xi flicked his tail and swam toward that distant dot.
As the distance closed, the dot grew larger, and a clear outline emerged. Deng Xi’s eyes lit up, and he swam even faster.
It’s it! It’s the black giant that took the Little Mute!