It's been sixty years since the last time the palace appeared, and now it's back. The squirrel asks who the old man is. The old man promised to repay him the day he saved his life, but he seems to have lost some of his spiritual power, which means that he's not as powerful as he used to be. He asks the squirrel if he is the ghost mother, and the squirrel says he is. He tells the squirrel that despite tricking his sister into a hall of demons, he can't go back to the old house because of his lack of strength. He also says that he has been trying to get his strength back by using the primordial stone, which is the key to the afterlife. He promises to help the squirrel, but the squirrel doesn't believe him. The next day, the third brother is locked in his room.