It's about New Year's Eve, and the weather is cold and snowy. The snow is so thick that the door of the house screeches and points at it like it's instructing the protagonist to go out. The protagonist is worried that something is wrong with his master, who is standing in a trance by a fire. He remembers that the master told him about two rat-monsters on the mountain. The master throws the sticks away, but the protagonist's heart skips a beat because of the charred things. He's surprised that they're so tasty. The narrator tells the protagonist that he's wearing a fur coat all the year round, so he doesn't feel warm or cold. He shivers constantly, and there's a strange aura around him, which seems to be guiding him. The two men stop and watch the protagonist from afar. On such a cold night, the protagonist wonders if the man is frozen dumb. The man takes off his clothes and starts squatting in the cold, wearing only a pair of short pants. The three figures turn into black smoke, and then the protagonist hears a man next to him exclaim that the man has regained consciousness. It turns out that the protagonist was doing well at his job and came back late that night. The wind was biting and the man was freezing to shiver constantly, while feeling very hungry. He didn't want to follow the strange man, but his words seemed to have some sort of magic on them. He picked up the skulls on the ground and began nagging at them, asking them to release their souls from purgatory. He threw the skulls into the fire and then he roasted a sweet potato for the protagonist.