When he wakes up, he finds that his father has died of frostbite. He gives him a pendant that reminds him of his father, and he wonders if someone poisoned him. He blames himself for his father's death, and wonders if he would blame himself even more if he had not died from illness but had been murdered. The magistrate tells him that the case is very dangerous, because once he was almost killed by the clerk when visiting a family village. He tells him to bring the case to light, since he is determined to find out the truth.