Half a month later.
The villagers along the River witnessed a terrifying battle. Two monsters rolled and tore at each other in the water, sending murky waves crashing against the banks as a bloody wind rose all around.
A few days later, rumors spread that a monster had crawled ashore and dragged away someone's sheep. Others said it had eaten a person. The stories spread like wildfire, truth and falsehood tangled together, throwing the villagers into a panic.
Then someone dreamed of a monster appearing at night and speaking in a human voice, demanding that a Dragon King Temple be built beside the River and offerings made on holidays and festivals, or calamities would never cease. Rumors sprang up everywhere.
The Village Elders from several villages gathered to discuss building the temple. Each chimed in, but the more they talked, the stranger it sounded.
The creatures appearing in their villages' dreams were not even the same.
Some had seen a great carp with glittering golden scales speaking in a human voice. Others had seen an enormous black fish a zhang long, and one had seen a deathly pale floating corpse, covered in water weeds and reeking of decay. The Village Elders exchanged bewildered looks, unable to work out which one they were supposed to worship.
Black Snake knew monsters were stirring up trouble in the River.
With cold eyes, he watched these creatures of unknown origin whip up wind and waves, letting them divide all the incense offerings along both banks among themselves.
For centuries, Demonic Beasts in the River had been few and far between. Now so many had suddenly appeared.
Something so abnormal made it easy to guess that someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes. They merely intended to use this motley assortment of monsters to