That faint, elusive wisp of consciousness asked one question after another, and the transcendent woman in the white dress tirelessly answered each one.
As they went back and forth, who knew how many more years passed.
The consciousness gradually came to understand much of what was said, as well as many words.
The Long-Skirted Woman seemed merely to have gone so long without speaking that she was a little out of practice. Slowly, as the two conversed, speaking gradually became easier for her as well.
The consciousness was like a newborn infant, curious about everything, with endless questions.
Gradually, the consciousness understood many things, yet still did not know what he was.
And the woman in the white dress did not know how to describe his existence to him either...
Over the long years, their conversations grew easier and easier, and the wisp of consciousness grew stronger.
At last, the consciousness could leave the hovering Book of Life and Death and drift alone through the boundless white mist.
Once the consciousness could leave it, the Book of Life and Death merged into him and vanished...
The consciousness had no shape, no vessel of any kind. He was merely something adrift between existence and nonexistence.
The woman in the white dress stood quietly beneath the Stone Stele, watching the consciousness drift before her all day, her expression calm.
The consciousness still asked the woman many questions every day, and she answered everything she knew.
Slowly, the consciousness began to realize that his existence was different from the woman's, and a trace of distress gradually arose amid his infantlike, uncomprehending emotions.
As the two kept each other company, the wisp of consciousness grew ever stronger. Yet many images seemed to have appeared in his thoughts that even he could not understand.
Within