Speaking to this point he shook his head with a mischievous smile on his face; but did not continue. “Then how did he use it?” Guo Jing asked.
With a straight face Zhou Botong said, “That old monk said, ‘You catch the bug, pry open its mouth and feed just a little bit of this concoction to its mouth. If it didn’t die, then you can come to the old monk again.’ The customer was mad, he said, ‘If I can catch the bug, I can pinch it dead with my fingers, why would I need your effective concoction?’ To which the old monk replied, ‘Of course, I have never said you can’t pinch it dead, have I?’”
Guo Jing, Hong Qigong, Ouyang Feng uncle and nephew, along with everybody who listened to Zhou Botong were all burst in laugher. “My concoction is somewhat different than those of the old monk,” Ouyang Feng said with a smile.
“I don’t see much difference,” Zhou Botong said.
Ouyang Feng pointed his finger to the sea and said, “Well, just take a look.”
The shark which was fed with the venom went belly up, of course; and seven, eight other sharks were having a feeding frenzy over it, that in a short time it became another pile of bones; sank to the bottom of the ocean. The strange thing was that the seven, eight sharks which ate their comrade’s flesh were also gone belly up not too long afterwards. Each dead shark was immediately eaten by another flock of sharks, which, in turn, also went belly up in the water. One shark killed ten others, ten sharks killed a hundred, a hundred killed a thousand; not too long the sea was full with dead sharks floating around. The remainder of the sharks were not too many, but they were still feeding on their dead comrades, so a while later the sea became calm, no more sharks left alive.
Hong Qigong, Zhou Botong and Guo Jing saw this chilling scene their faces paled. Hong Qigong sighed and said, “Old poison, Old poison, your evil plan is truly evil; only a small amount of poison from your two snakes is extremely deathly.”
Ouyang Feng chuckled and looked at Zhou Botong with a smug expression. Zhou Botong rubbed his hands and stomped his foot, pulling his beard and hair randomly. As far as everybody could see, the sea surface was full of dead sharks with their white belly upward, floating and fluctuating on the waves.
“Looking at these many white bellies makes my tummy sick; thinking that these many sharks were killed by the Old Poison’s venom, also makes my tummy sick,” Zhou Botong said, “Old Poison, you need to watch out, once the ‘hai long wang’ [dragon king of the sea] found out, he is going to send his shrimp army and crab generals to deal with you.” Ouyang Feng simply smiled without saying anything.
“Feng Xiong, little brother is unclear about something, I beg you to explain it to me,” Hong Qigong said.
“I don’t dare,” Ouyang Feng replied.
“It was only a small cup of venom, even if the poison was extremely deathly, how could it kill thousands of sharks?” Hong Qigong asked.
Ouyang Feng laughed, “This type of venom is very special,” he explained, “As soon as it entered the blood, the blood became poisonous. If this blood enters another shark’s system, that second shark’s entire blood would also be poisonous. Just imagine the amount of venom increased a hundredfold. Each dead shark would multiply that amount another hundredfold; very soon you’ll have an infinite amount of venom to kill forever.”
“That is called perpetual killing,” Hong Qigong commented.
“Exactly,” Ouyang Feng replied. “Little brother’s title is ‘Western Poison’; if my skill in using poison is somewhat lacking, then I’m afraid I’m not worthy to hold that title.”
While they were still talking the rest of the sharks were already dead. Other smaller fish were also gone; if not being eaten by the sharks, then they had already run away; so the sea was eerily calm.
“Quickly sail away! Quickly sail away! The air here is too thick with poison,” Hong Qigong urged.
Ouyang Feng gave his signal and the boat moved full speed forward; the triangle shaped sails were all raised up. With the wind coming from the south they were heading northwest.
“The Old Poison really sells effective concoction to get rid of bedbugs,” Zhou Botong said. “What do you want me to do?”
“I’d like to welcome the three of you in my cabin first,” Ouyang Feng said, “You need to change into dry clothes, eat something, and then take a rest. About the bet, it won’t be too late to talk about later.”
Zhou Botong was really impatient, “That won’t do, that won’t do!” he called out, “Just say it! You won’t gain anything by waiting. If the Old Urchin dies of suffocation, then it will be your loss for not telling me what you want.”
Ouyang Feng smiled, “In that case, Botong Xiong, please come with me.”