Trembling in the Skies

Chapter 2: Night Falls

The feeling of thirst was real. No wonder he was still thirsty even after drinking a large glass of water in his dream just a moment ago. Besides, the urge to urinate felt real, too. There was no water to drink, but he still had to go. Ever since he’d been trapped atop the stone pillar, Li Teng hadn’t been able to relieve himself. The reason is simple… there’s no bathroom up here! Could he just stand right by the bed and pee down below? Might there be townspeople down in the town below? If they got wet, wouldn’t they think it was raining? Rain that smells? That would be so inconsiderate, wouldn’t it? I can’t worry about that right now. I can’t exactly pee on my own bed, can I? “Sorry, everyone down there—I’m in a real bind.” Li Teng muttered under his breath, then carefully stood up, shuffled over to the edge of the bed, and cautiously glanced down once more. One slip-up could be fatal! After peeing, Li Teng felt as if he’d just done some heavy physical labor; panting, he returned to the center of the bed and sat down. It took him quite a while to calm his nerves. “I, Li Teng, have lived in this world for over twenty years and have never done anything immoral or unjust—why am I being punished like this?” “This isn’t fair!” “And it’s also completely unscientific.” Li Teng sat there, holding his head in despair for quite a while before forcing himself to calm down again. It was already getting dark. It seemed his first day atop the stone pillar was coming to an end. The approaching night seemed even more terrifying to him. How was he supposed to face this long, dark night? The best way to cope with this terror was probably to sleep. Right now, with no food, no water, and no strength left, he had nothing else to do but sleep. Perhaps when he woke up again, he really would be back in his own bedroom? Since he could suddenly find himself in this eerie place upon waking, it’s not impossible that he might wake up back in his own bedroom next time. May God and Buddha both watch over me and help me return home safely! Li Teng, who had never believed in gods or ghosts, made the sign of the cross over his chest, pressed his palms together, and chanted “Amitabha Buddha” a few times before lying back down on the bed and falling asleep again. It was slowly getting dark. The moon hadn’t come out yet—perhaps it was hiding behind the clouds. When a person is extremely hungry, their body’s cells lack sugar and energy, causing them to become less active—which actually makes it quite easy to fall asleep. It could also be a state of semi-consciousness caused by low blood sugar. However, once night fell, the top of the stone pillar began to feel rather cold. The thin blanket on the bed seemed unable to ward off the chill. This is absolutely ridiculous! It’s so hot during the day, yet so cold at night. Li Teng wrapped the blanket tightly around himself, curled up into a ball, and even buried his head under the covers. Hunger prevented his body from generating more heat, so even curled up like this, he still felt cold. After a while, Li Teng felt a bit stuffy under the blanket, so he poked his head out. A breeze was blowing from outside the blanket, and it felt very uncomfortable against his head. If this keeps up, will I catch a cold? Catching a cold here would be a real hassle. If he ended up with pneumonia, he’d be a goner. Li Teng recalled a popular science article he’d read before, which stated that, according to scientific research, colds are caused by viruses, not by the cold. The cold merely lowers a person’s immunity, giving viruses an opportunity to take hold. At an altitude this high, there probably aren’t any viruses, right? Li Teng tucked his head back under the covers. Cold, hunger… Darkness… Trapped under the covers, Li Teng’s mind slowly began to drift. He craved something sweet to drink—even just a glass of cold water. He craved delicious food—even if it were just a packet of instant noodles. Unfortunately, he had nothing. A glass of cold water and a packet of instant noodles were both luxuries he could only dream of right now. Li Teng felt that his current situation was even worse than that of the homeless people sleeping under the overpass. At least those homeless people could go out to beg or scavenge for food. Now he didn’t even have trash to scavenge. He had no choice but to tough it out. Sleep! After all, at least he had a bed, didn’t he? And there’s a blanket to keep him warm. If he didn’t have this bed, wouldn’t he have to sleep on the cold, hard surface of the stone pillar? That would be truly miserable. Well, it’s not too bad right now—I should count myself lucky. One should be content and find joy in what one has. In a daze. I don’t know how long it’s been. It didn’t seem like very long. The world outside the comforter suddenly became very bright, followed by a loud bang that startled Li Teng—who was hiding under the comforter—out of his daze. It seemed as if something was scattering onto the comforter. Realizing something was wrong, Li Teng quickly pulled back the covers and sat up. “Shit!” Seeing the scene unfolding on the horizon, Li Teng cursed in despair. In the distance, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and he could see massive cumulonimbus clouds. The worst part was the wind direction! Those cumulonimbus clouds were being driven this way by the strong winds! Falling onto his blanket were large raindrops formed by the scattered cumulonimbus clouds that had already passed by earlier! The wind was growing stronger and stronger, its speed increasing rapidly—it was almost blowing the blanket off Li Teng’s bed! Li Teng’s starving body was shivering from the cold as he watched helplessly—in less than half a minute, the thunderclouds on the horizon had already closed in directly overhead. The scattered, large raindrops quickly became a heavy downpour, soaking Li Teng’s pajamas through in an instant—and completely drenching his pillow, blanket, and mattress pad as well! “Fuck you, you bastard! Do you have to be so ruthless?” Li Teng wiped the rain from his face and cursed at the sky. Raindrops fell into Li Teng’s open mouth, while even more rain poured down from the sky as if someone were dumping a bucket on him. Li Teng suddenly realized something. Forgetting his curses, he quickly opened his mouth wide, cupped his hands together to catch the rain, and brought them to his lips, gulping it down voraciously. Although he was shivering from the cold, his body—which had been parched all day—finally found significant relief. “Boom!!!” Another deafening explosion rang out, and a massive arc of lightning appeared not far from Li Teng. The blinding light momentarily blinded Li Teng, and the deafening roar left his ears ringing; for quite some time, he couldn’t hear a single other sound. Li Teng was terrified out of his wits. That bolt of lightning had come very close to him; if it had been even a little closer, he would have been instantly charred by the lightning! The wet, sky-piercing stone pillar, over a thousand meters tall, was essentially a massive lightning rod in the thunderstorm! What made Li Teng feel even more desperate was that the thunderclap he’d just heard not far from him was merely the beginning. Soon, thunderclaps rang out one after another, all not far from Li Teng; the closest bolt of lightning seemed to be only a dozen or so meters away from him!