The chapter opens with the narrator asking why he is back in the village. He tells us that the baby is hungry, and that communication with the outside world is consuming a lot of his power. The baby is a "spirit grass" . The narrator explains that he doesn't feed the baby on fertilizer, but on "spirit qi" , which is the energy stored in the body by the body's internal organs. He explains that his birth steals the spirit qi from the baby, and he needs to practice harder with the baby. A few days later, the narrator feels overwhelmed with the "handbook of ancient demons." The words in the book are "creepy" and "as creepy" as "tadpoles." The narrator feels that he is "integrated with the spirit-qi" and that his mind is soaring to the "endless void." He tells the narrator to stay focused on the leaf and let it fall. He says that he made it at his first attempt. He is amazed that there actually is a set of techniques that can manipulate plants. The chapter ends with a description of the village's "haunted" inhabitants.