"Like a fish, yet not a fish; like a snake, yet not a snake; like an ox, yet not an ox. Two horns on its head, scales covering its body, and a colorful tail. Three to six meters long, it can swallow a person and crush stone in the blink of an eye. Ferocious by nature and extremely dangerous-the Ox-Snake Fish Monster."
"It emerges with the morning waters and vanishes with the evening glow, breathing mist and drawing in clouds, calling its kind and gathering companions."
"A colorful tail bearing poison, scales like gold, retractable horns, and four limbs with three claws each-this is the Jiao Monster."
The next morning, the sky remained overcast. The rain had fallen all night without stopping, and now bean-sized drops struck the ground with an incessant clatter that grated on the ears.
Although the Beast Claw Collector had said last night that he had left no information behind, Victor found a note on the living room table that morning. These supplementary details about the Ox-Snake Fish Monster were written clearly on it.
After showing the note to Nameless and Yenaier, he put on his straw rain cape and bamboo hat and hurried through the downpour toward the ferry landing at the edge of the village, without even stopping for breakfast.
The river was a tributary of some unknown larger river. It curved past the village in a ninety-degree bend, so the villagers called it Rushing River.
Rushing River was not particularly large. Under most circumstances, it was four meters wide and no more than three meters deep. Even the village's ten-year-old children could swim and play in it freely.
But that was only under normal conditions. During the heavy summer rains, for instance, torrential downpours would fill the little river and awaken its vicious