In this chapter, we learn that the old woman in the dream was a witch who devoted her life to saving the insects. Her mother never allowed her to visit her, and she was locked away in her storeroom, where she would "refined those venomous insects" . We learn that this is because the witch was "trammeled" by the mountain spirits, and that each generation of the witch has to remain in the mountain in order to access the powers of the spirits. In other words, each generation has to sacrifice themselves to stay alive. This is why the witch is locked up in the storeroom and why the mountain spirit is looking for the next witch to keep her power.