Trembling in the Skies

Chapter 3: A Tiny Shelter

“Am I facing a tribulation?” Li Teng felt like crying but had no tears left. The torrential rain continued to pour down, lashing his face and making it difficult for him to breathe. Wiping his face repeatedly with both hands did no good. He’d just quenched his thirst, but now he was in danger of being drowned by the torrential rain! Even more deadly was the cold. The howling wind lashed against his soaked body, sweeping away what little body heat he had left, and he shivered uncontrollably in the cold. The quilts and bedding were completely soaked through, hanging heavily from the bed slats, offering him not even the slightest bit of warmth. As flashes of lightning lit up the sky and thunder rumbled, Li Teng—tormented by extreme fear and cold—no longer cared about the danger of falling from the top of the stone pillar. He rolled over and crawled under the wooden bed, using the bed slats and the damp padding and bedding above them as cover, and lay trembling between the top of the stone pillar and the bed slats. The stone wall at the top of the pillar was just as cold as the soaked bedding. The wind still blew in, making the cold even more bone-chilling. The only difference was that the rain was no longer pouring directly onto Li Teng; instead, it dripped down through the gaps in the bed slats, giving him just enough space to breathe. “What on earth did I do wrong? Why am I being punished like this?” Li Teng felt like crying. His face was wet—he didn’t know if it was rain or tears. He was really about to cry. “It’s no sin for a man to cry, cry, cry. Even the strongest have the right to feel weary. If all that remains behind a smile is a broken heart, why should one struggle to keep up appearances so pitifully?” “Men, cry, cry, cry—it’s no crime. Taste the long-forgotten flavor of tears. Even rain has its beauty; why not seize this chance and let it all out?” Before he knew it, Li Teng, hiding under the bed, had actually started singing. And sure enough, after singing for a while, much of the fear and despair in Li Teng’s heart had dissipated. At one point, Li Teng felt as if he had returned to the real world, back to certain memories from the past. Perhaps it was the deafening thunder—or maybe hunger and the bone-chilling cold—that had already begun to make him hallucinate. Lying on top of the icy stone pillar, sheltered by the wooden bed frame, he was surrounded by howling winds, torrential rain, and flashes of lightning. Despite the fierce storm, this tiny wooden bed hadn’t been blown over or swept away. Li Teng wasn’t in the mood to ponder the science behind it; he simply felt grateful in his heart that, amidst such a storm, he still had this small shelter. What a stroke of luck. His hands, feet, and body, soaked by the rain, had long since grown cold and numb. Li Teng kept singing to distract himself, and just like that, he drifted off to sleep without realizing it. Or perhaps he had simply lost consciousness. Maybe he’ll never wake up again? Then let him stay asleep. Li Teng’s final thought before losing consciousness. In such a desperate situation, struggling was pointless. Although he thought he’d never wake up again. But Li Teng did wake up. When he came to, it was already light outside. Very bright. His body wasn’t so cold anymore; it seemed as if… The rain had stopped, and the sun was out! Every part of his body ached. And I felt stiff. So stiff that it didn’t even feel like my own body anymore. Leaning against the rock face, Li Teng struggled for quite a while before he finally managed to stretch his body out. Thankfully, he still had feeling in his arms and legs. With the sunlight streaming in, Li Teng could see his surroundings clearly. All four legs of the wooden bed were riveted to the tops of the stone pillars—no wonder the bed hadn’t been blown over or swept away during last night’s storm. Who on earth did this? You’d have to be incredibly bored to do something like this! Once he realized the wooden bed was secured with rivets, Li Teng felt much more at ease. He crawled to the edge of the stone platform, rolled over, grabbed the edge and railings of the bed, and carefully climbed onto it. This wooden bed, passed down through his family for generations, was truly sturdy. If it had been any other bed—even if secured to the stone pillar—it would likely have been blown to pieces by last night’s storm. The quilt and padding were soaked through by the rain; even though the sun was blazing now, it wouldn’t be able to dry them that quickly. Li Teng wrung them out, then hung them to dry on the wooden railings at the head and foot of the bed. He also took off his pajamas, which weren’t quite dry yet, and hung them out in the sun to dry. There wasn’t a soul around; even if he stripped down completely, no one would accuse him of disturbing the peace. After finishing all this, Li Teng lay down, panting, on the bed frame, which was also still damp. Hunger. A feeling of hunger had reached its limit throughout his entire body. “I want to eat steamed buns.” “I want to eat baked flatbread.” “I want some roasted chicken.” “I want to drink pork rib soup.” “I also want to eat hot dry noodles.” “I…” Li Teng was wildly fantasizing, while his stomach kept cramping. In over twenty years of life, he had never been this hungry. Is this hell? If not, how could there be stone pillars this tall in the mortal world? Being trapped up there was no different from being tortured! Before he knew it, overcome by extreme hunger and weakness, Li Teng drifted back into a deep slumber under the sunlight. He had a series of chaotic dreams. It seemed like he was eating all kinds of delicious food. No matter how much he ate, he still wanted more—he could never get his fill. When he woke up, Li Teng didn’t open his eyes or sit up. Instead, he let his imagination run wild, picturing himself back in his own bedroom, having returned to his normal life as a homebody. “A simple, uneventful life is a blessing!” After opening his eyes, Li Teng still didn’t get up. He glanced at the sky, then tilted his head to look to either side… “Damn it!” Clearly, he still hadn’t managed to return to his old life. He was still stuck at the top of this damn stone pillar, a kilometer up in the air! But just as Li Teng was about to sit up, he realized that this time, upon waking, things were finally a little different from before… Perched on the quilt hanging to dry at the foot of his bed was—believe it or not—a bird! Li Teng wasn’t quite sure what kind of bird it was. It looked about the size of a pigeon—though not as plump as a domestic pigeon—but it looked like it could yield at least half a liang of meat, right? In an instant, Li Teng’s eyes lit up. They glowed a vivid green. For someone as starving as he was, anything—as long as it was alive—would be considered food. The bird had its back turned to Li Teng and was completely unaware that the naked man behind it had his sights set on it. Li Teng certainly wasn’t going to let this golden opportunity slip away—it was the only chance he’d had in the past two days to get enough food to even slightly satisfy his hunger. He braced himself against the bed frame with both hands, slowly shifting his body closer to the bird, bringing it within reach of his grasp. Although Li Teng was being extremely careful, the creaking of the bed frame still gave him away. Startled, the bird instinctively turned its head to glance at Li Teng. Whether it was the green glow in Li Teng’s eyes or the drool at the corner of his mouth, the bird instinctively sensed danger. The very next second after it turned to see him, it spread its wings, preparing to fly away from this perilous place. In the blink of an eye—how could Li Teng, driven to a frenzy by hunger, let it get away so easily? Li Teng mustered nearly all his strength, leaping up from the bed in an instant, one hand darting like an eagle’s claw toward the bird with lightning speed. Unfortunately, he missed by just a hair’s breadth… Unwilling to accept defeat, Li Teng—already on his feet—instinctively pushed off with both legs and suddenly reached out with his other hand to grab the bird, which had already flown past the bedrails. Unfortunately, he still missed by just a hair’s breadth. The bird easily dodged Li Teng’s lunge. Once airborne, it let out a chirp, glanced back at Li Teng with what seemed like a sympathetic look, then flapped its wings and soared off into the distant sky, quickly vanishing from sight. Li Teng, having failed to catch the bird, found most of his body had already flown off the wooden bed. By the time he realized the danger and struggled to maintain his balance, it was already too late. Li Teng tumbled headfirst over the bedrail. In his panic, he instinctively grabbed hold of one of the bedrails, which prevented his body from being immediately flung away by the force of his earlier lunge. But the rail was too thin to withstand the immense force of Li Teng’s momentum, and it snapped with a loud “crack.” Li Teng’s body plummeted downward in an instant.