In this chapter, we learn more about the underworld, and what it's like to be in it. We learn that the underworld isn't for the dead, but for the living. It's just like the rest of the world, except that the living don't have to worry about finding the dead. The only thing that worries the living is that they're going to have to deal with the porcupine and the kid. The porcupine head guy is super annoying, and he's not the only one in the world who's uncomfortable in the mountain air. The mountain air contains a lot of "miasma" , which means that people breathe in a lot more miasma than they do in their bodies. This is why the porcupine guy is so annoying. He's an uninvited guest, and that's why the other guys are all freaking out. The problem is that once a person's soul leaves his or her body, that soul becomes an empty shell. That's what the reapers do.