The monk and the monk's companion, chen, are disheveled because they have been living in the same place for so long. chen tells the monk that he and his companion have been here for about 20,000 years, and that they are the only ones who have lived there for that long. He tells them that they should not stay there for too long because the rock is wicked and it makes it hard for one to leave once under its spell. He warns them not to leave because they will waste their lives like them. The monk agrees that they have spent too much time in the rock, and he wonders why they haven't left yet. He says that even if they leave, things won't be as they were back then. They go to meditate together, and chen warns them that the sword will be appearing again. He points out that the feeling of being pierced by the sword is too unpleasant, and so he must avoid it the next time he sees it. He notices that his own will of the sword has changed, and instead of being full of sword energy, it is getting sharper and more difficult to control. He thinks that he is the only one to have been able to control the sword while taking all the sword attacks from the others. He wonders if there are still sword projections appearing, and if they have disappeared.