Meanwhile, those attending the banquet were sure by now that this was no ghost. "It must be Hikoichi up to his mischief again," they all thought, and came up with a scheme to catch him. Still not realizing that he was turning partly visible, Hikoichi kept on doing as he liked. The people slowly gathered around him, pretending not to see him. Then, all at once, they jumped on him and poured water over him.
Sure enough, there sat Hikoichi, looking quite like a fool. "Well, well, it was you after all. You should be ashamed of yourself, walking around naked like that. We'll let you go this time, so go off and get your clothes on!" Everyone roared with laughter and shooed Hikoichi out of the house. And so Hikoichi had to run home naked, still wondering, "Whatever happened? How did they know I was there?"