Takashi is found at the bottom of the cliff by none other than Chika, the girl who appeared and disappeared so mysteriously during the snowstorm. Chika brings him back to her village, a place so isolated that it has had little or no contact with the outside world for generations and the population has become inbred and disfigured. There she tends to his wounds as he regains consciousness. She is the granddaughter of the white-bearded old village chief (Kokuten Kodo). When the village finds out Chika has brought an outsider into their midst, they become furious; but the chief, pretending to be reasonable, sends Chika out to bring an offering of game to the Snowman, who the villagers worship as a deity, while he confers with the others. She takes her grandfather at his word and leaves Takashi alone with them. They bind and gag him and hang him off a cliff to be eaten by the vultures. When Chika gets back, she is horrified to find Takashi gone. When she confronts her grandfather, the old man castigates her, both for defying tradition and for challenging his authority. He also beats her viciously with a stick.