The Fifth Head of Cerberus and Mr. Million, adding that its "unseen" heads are his brother David as fourth and, by implication, the fifth and final the narrator's own. Following this logic, the title of the novella therefore refers to the narrator himself, whose story we read. Further parallels between the narrator's family and the mythology of Cerberus can be drawn in numerous other ways throughout this novella. For example, a statue of this mythological creature exists at the front, or "gates" of their family home, which is itself located at 666 Saltimbanque, this number having associations with the underworld dating back to the Greek
Rebellion of the Three Guards of Wu Geng's rebellion and the following dismantlement of the Shang state ended any realistic chances for the Shang dynasty's restoration. Despite this and the proclamation of the Mandate of Heaven which delegitimized the Shang rule, militant Shang loyalism and resistance against the Zhou regime persisted well after the Rebellion of the Three Guards. Around 979 BC, sixty years after the rebellion, war broke out between the Zhou kingdom under King Kang, Chang's successor, and the Guifang of Shanxi and northern Shaanxi. The latter were reportedly supported by Shang diehards under the Earl of Ge, and possibly fought for the