This chapter's epigraph comes from a famous poem by Edgar Allan Poe, entitled "The Ballad of the Three-Eyed Cuckoo." In this poem, Edgar explains that the three of them have come to the underworld to seek the blood of a heavenly snake, which is believed to be the source of all evil in the universe. He tells the story of how he, Edgar, and his companions have killed many of the snake's followers in order to obtain its blood. Edgar tells his companions to stand down, because the evil beast is a heavenly water-beast. He explains that he was wondering where the stink came from. Turns out rats have snuck into the underworld, and Edgar wonders why they keep coming back for the blood. The evil beast, he says, is as powerful as a cultivator of the elixirs of the underworld. Even Edgar's