Summoned to a remote village, Ginko has traveled into the winter which swallows all sound. Every year when this valley lies bereft of noise save for the silence of falling snow, villagers are stricken with a sudden loss of hearing. The cause is soon found and the offending mushi easily vanquished, but the grandson of the elder proves a far more drastic dilemma. While one should shelter that which he does not wish lost, even when the ears are covered all sound cannot be extinguished.