The next morning, Gu thinks that he has eaten his last meal. He wonders if the euch's taste buds have returned, and wonders whether the poison will bring him back to life. He also wonders whether anyone else has been involved in the poison, and he wonders whether hatred is the root of all evil. Gu says that the method used by pei shi is the same as the method he used to poison the "puff thump" in the fox trap. Gu wonders if other people will also suffer from the same disease. He says that gao-fuling, who has been eating the fish for the past eight years, has been slowly dying from the disease. If Gu doesn't poison him, he might live another five years before the disease strikes him. Gu asks Gu why he hasn't told yun-ge about the plan. Gu explains that pei-shi wants to have a son, and that his son will be in the same family as Gu's son.