The feeling of thirst was real.
No wonder he had dreamed of drinking a large cup of water and still felt thirsty.
Additionally, the urge to pee was also real.
There was no water to drink, but he still needed to relieve himself.
Since being trapped at the top of the pillar, Li Teng had not peed yet.
The reason was simple… There was no toilet up there!
What should he do, just stand by the bed and pee down below?
Were there townsfolk below? Would they think it was raining if they got drenched?
Rain with a scent?
That was utterly immoral, wasn't it?
He couldn't afford to care about that much now.
He certainly couldn't pee on his own bed, could he?
"Sorry to everyone down below, I'm really in a tough spot," he muttered.
Li Teng murmured to himself, then carefully stood up and tiptoed to the edge of the bed. He cautiously peered downwards,
A careless move could cost a life!
After peeing, Li Teng felt as if he had done some physically demanding task and, gasping for breath, sat down back in the middle of the bed.
It took him a long while to calm his anxious heart.
"I, Li Teng, have lived for more than twenty years and never did anything heinously wrong, so why should I be punished like this?"
"It's not fair!"
"And it's quite unscientific."
Li Teng cradled his head and wallowed in despair for a while before he managed to calm himself again.
It was already getting dark.
It looked like his first day on top of the stone pillar was coming to an end.
The impending night seemed even more terrifying.
How should he face this long night?
The best way to deal with this kind of fear would likely be to sleep.
He had no food, no water, and no strength left in him, leaving nothing else to do but sleep.
Perhaps when he woke up again, he might really be back in his own bedroom?
If he could suddenly find himself in such a wretched place upon waking, maybe waking up back in his bedroom could happen too.
May God and Buddha together bless me to safely return home!
Li Teng, who never believed in any gods or spirits, made the sign of the cross over his chest and chanted 'Amitabha' several times with his hands together before lying down again to sleep.
The day slowly turned to night.
There was no moon that night; perhaps it was hiding behind the clouds.
When starved to a great extent, the body's cells lack glucose and thus energy, making them less active, which makes it easier to fall asleep.
It might have been a semi-comatose state due to low sugar levels.
However, after nightfall, the top of the pillar got somewhat cold.
The thin blanket on the bed seemed somewhat incapable of warding off the cold.
It was really bizarre! It had been so hot during the day, yet so cold at night.
Li Teng wrapped himself tightly in the blanket, curling his body into a ball, even burying his head in it.
The hunger prevented his body from generating much warmth, and despite curling up like that, he still felt very cold.
After a while, Li Teng felt stuffy under the blanket, so he poked his head out.
The wind outside the blanket blew on his head, making him feel very uncomfortable.
If this continued, would he end up catching a cold?
Catching a cold here would be troublesome.
If it turned into pneumonia, it could be the end of him.
Li Teng recalled a scientific article he had read before, which stated that colds are caused by viruses, not just the cold. The cold only makes one's immunity drop, giving the virus a better chance.
There shouldn't be any viruses up this high, right?
Li Teng pulled his head back under the covers.
Cold, hunger…
Darkness…
Enveloped in the covers, Li Teng's consciousness slowly began to drift.
He longed for a sweet drink, even just a cup of cold water.
He craved delicious food, even if it were just one packet of instant noodles.
Unfortunately, he had nothing. A cup of cold water and a packet of instant noodles were luxuries to him now.
Li Teng felt that his current situation was worse than that of the homeless under the bridge.
At least those homeless people could go out and beg or scavenge for food.
Now he didn't even have trash to pick through.
All he could do was endure it.
Sleep! Sleep!
At least he had a bed, didn't he?
And a blanket to keep out the cold.
If it weren't for this bed, wouldn't he be sleeping on the cold stone surface of the column?
That would be truly miserable.
Yes, it wasn't too bad now, he should feel fortunate.
One should be contented with what they have.
In a daze.
A haze.
He didn't know how much time had passed.
It didn't seem very long.
Suddenly, the world outside the blanket became very bright, followed by a loud explosion that startled Li Teng out of his stupor from within the covers.
It seemed that some things had sparsely fallen on the blanket.
Realizing the trouble, Li Teng quickly threw off the blanket and sat up.
"I... damn!"
Seeing the scene unfolding in the sky, Li Teng cursed in desperation.
In the distance, the sky was filled with lightning and thunder, showing a massive accumulation of storm clouds.
The worst part was the wind direction!
Those storm clouds were being blown right towards him!
The things that had landed on his blanket were the large early raindrops from the approaching clouds!
The wind grew stronger, the speed increased, nearly blowing away the blanket off Li Teng's bed!
Li Teng's hungry body shivered from the cold as he watched helplessly as the storm clouds approached overhead in less than half a minute.
The sparsely large raindrops quickly became dense, drenching Li Teng's pajamas in an instant, soaking his pillow, blanket, and mattress as well!
"Fuck you, fuck! Why do you have to be so thorough?" Li Teng wiped the rain off his face and cursed loudly at the sky.
Raindrops fell into Li Teng's open mouth, more water poured down from above like buckets emptying from the sky.
Suddenly realizing something, Li Teng didn't bother cursing anymore and quickly opened his mouth wide, catching the rain with his hands to furiously drink.
Though shivering from the cold, his parched body finally got some relief after being thirsty all day.
"Bang!!!"
Another explosion rang out, a massive bolt of lightning struck not far from where Li Teng was.
The bright flash momentarily blinded Li Teng, and the explosive sound left a ringing in his ears, making him unable to hear anything else for a while.
Li Teng was scared out of his wits.
This bolt of lightning was dangerously close. If it had been a bit nearer, he would have been charred instantly!
The thousand-meter-tall wet stone column in the thunderstorm was like a gigantic lightning rod!
What made Li Teng even more desperate was that the explosion near him was just the beginning.
Soon, the thunder roared one blast after another, all striking close to his surroundings, the nearest bolt of lightning seemed to be just a few meters away from him!