Violating a Sequence taboo

After eating his fill, Qin Mao felt even weaker.

His constitution was now only a little better than an ordinary person's.

His supernatural abilities were like a candle guttering in the wind, barely usable.

"I didn't expect the cost of breaking a taboo to be ongoing... it gets worse the longer I keep violating it."

It wasn't a simple yes or no, but a linear progression.

He had a feeling that if he ate another full meal, he would become no different from an ordinary person.

As for what would happen if he kept eating, and whether he would become even weaker than an ordinary person... he didn't know, nor did he have any interest in finding out.

Time flew, and the sun sank toward dusk.

That evening, an old man in his sixties or seventies boarded Qin Mao's ship.

With white hair and a white beard, he stood at the bow, looked around, and beckoned to Qin Mao.

"Heh, young Qin, I've got something important to tell you."

The old man spoke with a Guanzhong accent. Qin Mao frowned; he didn't know this man.

In the apocalypse, the elderly and children were the quickest to die.

This old man looked frail and decrepit. It was hard to imagine how he had survived this long.

Still, he brought the old man to the Captain's Quarters.

"Young Qin, that really felt good! Those two little bastards this afternoon made me so mad. I was minding my own business, fishing, and they came right up and kicked over my bucket..."

After asking for details, he learned that the old man was named Zhong Baoguo and lived aboard the [Yaximu]. They had once been on the same ship, which was why he knew Qin Mao.

He was also the unfortunate fisherman whose bucket Red Scarf had kicked over that afternoon.

The old man had been rambling ever since he came in, telling Qin Mao about his life aboard the ship before moving on to days long past...

"Is this the important thing you wanted to tell me?"

"Ah, this memory of mine! No, no!"

He slapped his forehead and stopped himself, then leaned close to Qin Mao with a secretive air. "Young Qin, that pretty girlfriend of yours is no good! You'd better watch out!"

"Really?" Qin Mao feigned surprise and began fishing for information. "I think she's quite nice."

Sure enough, the old man took the bait and slapped his thigh anxiously.

"Bah! Nice, my foot! While you were gone, he'd already hooked up with that fellow called Zhou Hao! Once, while I was sorting my fishing rods, I overheard her talking about killing someone. Then the very next day, I heard you were dead..."

"Really? What else did you hear?" Qin Mao sat up in his crude wooden chair, putting on a "shocked" expression.

"Nothing else..."

"I saw her coming to your ship to see you today. I think you're an upright young man, a good lad, and I was afraid she'd hurt you again, so I came to warn you."

"Anyway, there's something mighty strange about that girl. Every day, she secretly puts a little plastic bottle on the mast, and the next day, as soon as the sun comes up, she drinks the water inside. Mighty strange..."

The old man shook his head and sighed, casting several looks at Qin Mao before lightly pounding his back and heading outside.

Qin Mao turned the old man's goodwill over in his mind. Rationally speaking, he trusted no one now.

In the apocalypse, trusting people casually only meant dying sooner.

Especially those who were still alive three months into the apocalypse-not one was simple, let alone an elderly man, one of those most likely to die.

He took out a bottle of water and pressed it into Zhong Baoguo's hand.

"Whatever the case, thank you for telling me all this!"

Zhong Baoguo's expression stiffened, and he firmly pushed the water back. From those large, age-spotted hands, little more than skin and bone, Qin Mao sensed a trace of anger.

"What do you take this old man for? I just don't want you dying without knowing why, not because I want something out of it!"

Zhong Baoguo turned and headed out.

Qin Mao wasn't embarrassed. He smiled as he saw him off. "All right, that was presumptuous of me. Mr. Zhong, how old are you? You must be sixty?"

"Sixty? I'm ninety-seven! If my great-grandson hadn't died, he'd be your age!"

He waved away Qin Mao's offer of support, struggled over the gunwale, and returned to the Yaximu.

Qin Mao remained where he was, utterly stunned.

Soon, night fell.

The Jade Moon bathed the sea. In the green moonlight, the Eerie Coconut's mainmast shuddered twice, its leaves rustling.

The Thousand-Faced Eerie Coconut opened its huge mouth and stared with eyes it didn't even have, gazing foolishly up at the moon like a lover looking at his beloved.

In the darkness, a figure furtively climbed aboard the Eerie Coconut, approached the mast, took out a sharp implement, and slit her wrist without hesitation.

Blood trickled onto the mast, and the coconut tree shook itself spiritedly.

Feeling the blood watering it, the Thousand-Faced Eerie Coconut emerged from its moon-gazing stupor and slowly lowered its head.

It was this kind person again.

"Ha... ha... ha..."

"Blood... blood... eat..."

The coconut opened its huge mouth and suddenly let out a shrill, piercing cackle over the silent, dark sea.

The person beneath the coconut tree was clearly badly startled by the noise. She stumbled back several steps, her skin crawling and her heart pounding.

Her towering peaks heaved violently.

Partly terrified by the sudden, horrifying laughter and partly believing she had been discovered, she immediately fled in panic.

As the strange sound rang out, everyone aboard the three large ships braced for an enemy.

"Run! Run!"

"An eerie! An unfamiliar eerie is here! Run!"

All the survivors jolted awake and huddled in their cabins, keeping their doors tightly shut and not daring to come out.

Only the three Transcendents came onto the decks, calling for the crews to raise anchor and set sail.

In the apocalypse, fleeing at the sight of eerie beings had become routine.

Even though most eerie beings preferred to remain on islands and wouldn't venture far out to sea.

Amid the panic, Qin Mao said awkwardly, "There's no eerie here! Um, let me explain..."

Once they understood where the strange laughter had come from, everyone turned resentful eyes toward the Eerie Coconut.

Ye Xuanyin said, "Look at that sinister ship of yours! What does any of it have to do with 'Divine Radiance'?!"

Yang Fan said, "Exactly!"

Yan Qi said, "Same here!"

In the end, Yang Fan helped him out of the predicament.

"Forget it. Everyone, go back to your cabins and sleep. I have a feeling we'll reach a small island around noon tomorrow. Get some rest so we can gather supplies ashore!"

With an apologetic smile, Qin Mao sent off the three who had come to demand an explanation. He went onto the deck, looked at the little bit of fresh blood dripping in the distance, then returned to rest.

He was thinking about what Zhong Baoguo had said.

"Early morning... water... a little fairy who drinks dew... could it be..."

Dawn came.

Today was Qin Mao's third day as a Sequence Transcendent.

As soon as he woke on his wooden bed, he noticed the change.

His Transcendent Power had fully recovered, and the weakness caused by breaking his taboo through overeating had vanished completely.

"One night... it took a whole night to recover..."

This incident had also sounded a warning bell for Qin Mao.

Being a Transcendent wasn't as wonderful as he had imagined. Along with power came all manner of strange restrictions and dangers.

Respect the supernatural. Stand in awe of the supernatural.

Qin Mao silently engraved those words in his heart.

Then he looked at the blanket covering him. Thin though it was, it lived up to its name as a system-upgraded "warm blanket." He hadn't felt cold at all beneath it during the night. It was extremely useful.

Finally, he took out [Just Verdict], examined it, and tried slowly pouring Transcendent Power into it.

Two silver skulls were currently engraved on the barrel, representing the two bullets left from before.

As Qin Mao poured his Transcendent Power into it, silver roses appeared and bloomed on the walnut barrel, finally stopping at five.

Five silver roses and two skulls together represented seven bullets, eerily beautiful and alluring-the maximum ammunition capacity of this old-fashioned single-barreled flintlock.

After a quick wash and a meal, the fleet began a new voyage.

"All ships-move out!"

Yang Fan stood at the bow, looking into the distance through an old-fashioned spyglass.

The Hope sounded a long blast of its horn and led the way, with the other three ships following on either side.

Qin Mao followed beside the Rose, the Ten-Thousand-Li Divine Radiance steering ahead with the help of the thousand-year-old eerie coconut's roots.

No one had expected how terrifying a shadow this ordinary trip ashore to gather supplies would cast over the fleet.