Crisóstomo goes to the town cemetery upon reaching San Diego to visit his father's grave. However, he learns from the groundskeeper that the town curate had ordered that Rafael's remains be exhumed and transferred to a Chinese cemetery. Although Crisóstomo is angered at the revelation, the groundskeeper adds that on the night he dug up the corpse, it rained hard and he feared for his own soul, causing him to take pity on Rafael and instead defy the curate's orders by throwing the body into the lake. At that moment, Padre Bernardo Salví, the new curate of San Diego, walks into the cemetery. Crisóstomo's anger explodes as he shoves him into the ground and demands an accounting; Salví fearfully tells Crisóstomo that the transfer was ordered by the previous curate, Padre Dámaso, causing the latter to leave in consternation.