It had been six months since Shiroi left for his journey to find the goddess. Ginji had used his spiritual power to preserve the body of the priest and due to that it did not decay but the people of the village on the other hand had started plotting something. Ginji could not even get an air about that because during the day he disguised himself as the priest so as to avoid the friction between them. Due to this he started seeing little of Izumi. He would pray every day to the mountain goddess for the safe return of Shiroi. Another month passed and the time for the festival also arrived. Until now Ginji had handled everything perfectly but as instructed by the goddess during this festival all the ayakashis would come to the earth and the priest along with the inhabitants were to welcome them. Ginji and the white snake were supposed to be the guardians of the people and the embodiment of peace on behalf of the ayakashis. This ritual had been continued since long and had brought peace, harmony and good fortune to everyone. It was just four days before the big festival and Ginji was in a great dilemma. He could think of anything. Though he was a great shapeshifter, yet he knew that he wouldn't be able to fool the ayakashis. As he was thinking about all this he came across that huge tree where he would often sit with Izumi. He searched his pocket and took out the comb which was given to him by Izumi. "That belongs to Ginji," said a familiar voice. He turned around to see Izumi standing right behind him. Ginji found himself to be utterly speechless. "Why do you have that?" saying this he took a step closer. On the advancement of Izumi, Ginji snaped back into realization and said "Ginji might have dropped it. May I ask what brings you here?". "Have you forgotten every year I have brought Ginji a red thread for the festival. But lately I haven't seen him around, so I wanted to talk to you". Ginji felt really shy as he never knew that the red thread that he had tied every year for the festival was gifted by him. In a calm voice he said, "would you like some tea?". Izumi nodded.
They sat on the veranda and sipped tea. For a few moments neither of them spoke a word. Ginji wanted to tell Izumi everything, but he could not as it was not some nightmare that he could talk lightly upon. Breaking the silence Izumi inquired, "I haven't seen Ginji at all. Would it be possible for the ayakashis to fall ill?". Upon hearing such naïve words Ginji smiled and said, "ayakashis are not human beings. Their illness would lead them to disappear completely". "Disappear? Where?" asked Izumi. "They survive solely on their spiritual power. If they happen to lose it, then they would fall ill, and their illness has no cure." Izumi looked at him and asked, "Even Ginji would disappear?" to which he replied "YES". Izumi took out the red thread and handed it over to Ginji and said, "it may be possible for everything to disappear but there are certain things that can never disappear" Ginji looked up and asked, "and what are those?". "Faith and Love" he replied.
After Izumi had left Ginji thought for a while on what he had said and thought to himself "would you still say the same things after you discover the truth".