This chapter opens with a flashback to the beginning of the novel. The young master explains that he painted the demon onto the scroll to seal it off from the outside world, but the demon was able to talk. He had no idea what to do with it, but he felt that such creatures should not exist in the world. He tells the young master that he had no intention of hiding the demon from her, but now that he has seen it, he decides to show it to her and she will probably forgive him. She asks him what he thinks of living beings like the demon, and he tells her that they are worth paying special attention to, since they are rich and prestigious. She tells him that the flower stand has been mended, and that she wonders if it can survive. She wonders if the demon can still live, and wonders why they should keep it. She then asks what they should take for it, since he can talk, move, and have likes and dislikes. He was born into the world, she says, because of her rashness. She says that she has lived in regret ever since, but that she must take responsibility for the demon's existence.