Joseph makes friends with Felix, the community doctor, while Nancy explores Lidum and the origins of its feud with Alimit.
Joseph learns that his fellow villagers, led by his uncle Ginoldang, who is also a mumbaki, have passed off his father's death as an accident to authorities to prevent them from interfering.
As they transport Jimmy’s corpse to Lidum, Joseph and Carlos encounter warriors led by Atiwan's son Daniel, leading to a battle.
Joseph hovers near death for several days before recovering, during which he dreams of entering the Ifugao spirit realm inhabited by his ancestors and their gods (baki) and beheads a warrior in combat who turns out to be himself.
Arriving at Felix's clinic, Joseph finds him in despair over the epidemic's spread and the escalation of the conflict, but revives his spirits when he shows him the medicines he had brought.
Three years later, Dolores and Joseph, who has decided to remain in Ifugao to serve as a mumbaki and community doctor, cradle their newborn son.