In this chapter, we learn that the snatcher is the nian, and that he is trying to learn the "hard way" of life. He wants to know why nian wants to leave him. The nian tells him that the world outside means nothing to him, but that he should get married, because he is from a noble family, and he has a terrible personality. The truth is, the world is just a temporary escape from the "end of the world" , and nian can't escape the "wink" even if he doesn't have "flesh" . He tells nian that his ancestors did not escape, but they did have a "conviction" that they were more important than they were alive . . The two of them need to "handle the rest" of their lives, he says, because they are destined to die. He says that if he were nian and he were you, he would do the same thing, but he wouldn't be able to catch the shadow of nian because he would be the one who has always been "in the end." He also says that the wind and the rain will free him from the curses of life, and the souls of his ancestors will fly into the "torrent of heaven," and he will go back home and have "nice dreams." .