After getting used to breathing through his mouth, Shade looked around. The pale red liquid covering the ground stretched endlessly, but the thick white fog severely obstructed his vision.
He could only see that there seemed to be something deep within this flat space. When Shade walked through the white fog in silence, stepping through the liquid beneath his feet, he found a simple stone bed placed before him.
It was called a stone bed, but there were panels around it, making it resemble a coffin—or perhaps a small stone boat.
"A bed in the birthing room is also a coffin, and also a boat."
The Outlander felt that he vaguely understood something. One-fifth of the bed's height was submerged in blood water. Though it seemed ancient in design, there were no patterns or decorations on either its inner or outer surfaces.
When Shade bent down and placed his hand on the stone surface, "she" reminded him once again:
[Outlander, enter it and close your eyes. You will be able to leave the birthing room.]
There seemed to be profound theological and philosophical meaning behind that, and Shade tried his best to think it through.
But at that moment, the thick sound of shoes stepping through liquid came from ahead. Shade looked up and saw Weeper of Blood Hermons emerging from the white fog and walking directly toward him.
Before entering this place, the man's body had completely dissolved, and even his soul had nearly withered away. Yet now he had reappeared, dressed in formal trousers and leather shoes, his upper body bare.
Hermons's body was undeniably real. Although the space left behind by the Ancient God suppressed perception, Shade could sense that he had truly recovered.
"We found the door to the birthing room more than two years ago.