The boatman was utterly triumphant, as if he had the winning ticket in hand. He behaved as if they were the victorious ones, provoking Skinny Waist, whose temper was already foul, to the point of shooting up in anger, slapping the old man's face with a backhand and sneering, "Scram with your damned River God, trying to scare us, huh? If you've got the guts, call that River God out!"
Skinny Waist had intended to kill the man, but Second Master Gong stopped him, "A cautious man will sail a ship for ten thousand years, we'll talk after we reach the shore…"
"Shore? You're not getting to the shore… The River God is already here…"
The boatman laughed with a sense of control, annoying Second Master Gong, who was about to give the other side a taste of his own medicine..
Ah!
