Yamdoot had finished narrating his story. Everyone was busy drinking wine and eating the perfectly cooked meat that was served to them.

Takshak whispered to Parnalekha, "Let us go and meet the other spy."

Parnalekha whispered, "But he is already dead."

Takshak smiled and indicated her to walk with him. When they were walking through dark lanes, Parnalekha realised that Takshak had taken the long route to avoid suspicion. They stopped walking after a while. There was a wall in front of them. Takshak said, "This is the back side of the wine shop."

They entered through a door and Takshak closed it behind him. They entered a rather small room. Parnalekha saw a familiar face and her eyes widened. She quickly grabbed her dagger and prepared herself for an attack. Takshak noticed her and said, "There is no need to raise your weapon. Yamdoot is our friend and a spy working for the princess."

Yamdoot smiled at them. Parnalekha looked around and saw that the room was filled with large vessels of wine. Yamdoot replaced two vessels which were kept on the ground. There was a trap door on the floor. He opened it and said, "This tunnel will take you to the middle of the forest. Take the name of Maa Bhavani and enter it."

Parnalekha and Takshak entered the tunnel. It was a dark. Yamdoot handed a flame torch to Takshak and closed the opening of the tunnel. Parnalekha had never undertaken such a painstaking journey in her entire life. She did not show any signs of fright but she was not completely fearless. The numerous rats inside the tunnel frightened her a little.

They kept walking. After walking for a while, they saw a human skeleton lying on the floor. Takshak held her hand and drew her closer. He looked into her eyes and said, "What if we fail to get out of this tunnel and end up like him? Is there any possibility?"

Parnalekha looked into his eyes and said, "I am not an astrologer. I cannot predict the future."

Takshak smiled. His eyes glittered due to the drops of tears that had formed in them. He crept closer and said, "Dying with a beautiful maiden like you will not exactly be a misfortune."

They kept staring at each other for some time with empty eyes, before deciding to resume their journey.

They crossed some more skeletons. Takshak was surprised. He said, "What happened in this tunnel? Why did so many people die here?"

Parnalekha noticed something and said, "Look over there!"

She pointed at some paintings on the walls of the tunnel. They were painted using black paint. There was something written below the paintings. Takshak inspected them closely and said, "It is not a paint. It is dried blood. Parnalekha, do not venture anywhere alone. Hold my hand if you want. We will be safe if we stay together." Saying this, he held Parnalekha's hand.

They tried to understand the paintings.
There was a painting of  man who looked like a beast with several other men who were standing near him. A woman was also standing near them. There was another picture of the same hideous man. Below one of the paintings, it was written:

"Here I stand dying and writing a tale of misfortune using the blood of my mates.We rejected the Gods and took to worshipping demons. We entered this cave in the middle of the forest on the night of Amavas. We saw a beast standing in front of us. Our leader said, 'Look! Demons exist in reality. As a  result of our penance, we got to see one of them. We shall bow down to him and worship him.' We starting worshipping the beast. We bowed to him and offered him gold coins. He said that he could not use gold coins and asked us to go and buy food for him. We bought some food with some of the coins. He ate up everything alone. The next day, the same thing happened. Very soon, we ran out of coins. The beast asked for more food but, we could not give him anything. He was hungry. So he took hold of one of our mates and devoured him. Our leader said, 'Let it be a sacrifice.' The next day, it started raining very heavily. It rained continuously for several days and so, we could not go out in search of food. The beast was frustrated. In order to please him, one of us was sacrificed everyday. Every man who came here has been sacrificed. I am the only one who is left. I am hungry too. But what shall I do? I wish to kill myself rather than getting killed by that beast."

Parnalekha and Takshak looked at each other. Takshak said, "What do you think? Is the beast still living in this tunnel?"

Something struck Parnalekha's mind like a lightning. She opened her eyes widely and said, "Do you remember the story narrated by Yamdoot? It was about a boy who ate his mother and then ran away to the forest. This beast must be the same boy."

Takshak looked at the paintings once again and said, "Look over there! There is one woman in the first painting. But the writings on the wall say that, 'Every man has been sacrificed'. It does not mention a woman being sacrificed. That woman must have escaped in some way and she must be the grandmother of Yamdoot."

Parnalekha was shocked. She said, "Did Yamdoot really act like the messenger of the God of death and decide to sacrifice us to the beast?"

Takshak was in deep thought. He said, "I do not know."

They held each other's hands and walked forward with the flame torch. They could see blood on the walls of the tunnel. Suddenly, they heard someone wailing. It was the voice of an old man who was in agony.

"O' mother of mine! I am hungry. Give me some food to eat. I am old and feeble, I cannot eat any pebble, please give me some food to eat."

They walked forward and saw an old man who had extremely long and grey hair. He was lying on the ground. He was so old and sick that he already looked like a decaying corpse. Parnalekha looked at that hideous man and crept closer to Takshak.

The old man saw them and said, "Did you bring food for me?"

They did not answer. They took no time in realising that he was the same beast who lived in the cave. The old man started crying. He said, "I am old and feeble. So no one provides me food."

Parnalekha walked up to him and without giving him any time to react, stabbed his throat with her dagger. The old man died at an instant.

Parnalekha said, "It is over."

Takshak raised one of his eyebrows and said, "The ending was too simple. He died easily."

Parnalekha looked at him and said, "Thank God for that."

Holding each other's hands, they resumed their journey.