The protagonists run into an old woman named Haori, who introduces herself as a demon exorcist. She tells them that a head of an oni haunting a nearby bourg, after being risen from its grave within a neighboring castle. When the head of the oni comes out, Miroku deduces that it is an illusion. InuYasha believes that the lord of the castle may have been possessed. Miroku goes with the princess to the basement of the castle to observe the skeletons of the monks and priestess who have failed to slay the head of the oni.