The helicopter cabin had a countdown.
A five-minute countdown.
Clearly, this five minutes was for Li Teng to climb from the rope ladder back to the top of the pillar.
If he exceeded this time and hadn't gone down, there was only one outcome.
That would be being sent back to the Film and Television City.
And at that time, returning to the Film and Television City, there was also only one outcome.
That would be being immediately encased in wax, turned into a handsome wax statue.
Li Teng had no choice but to continuously encourage himself in his heart, to overcome the emotions of fear and despair, and then cautiously climb down the swaying rope ladder hanging from the helicopter to the top of the pillar.
Finally, Li Teng's feet once again touched his own bed.
The bed was piled with about half a meter of snow.
After completing the delivery mission, the helicopter quickly flew away and disappeared into the distance.
Leaving Li Teng alone, solitary at the top of the pillar.
Previously in the Film and Television City, although there was the danger of being eliminated during shooting, at least it still looked somewhat similar to the real world.
But returning here felt like a nightmare.
I really didn't want to come back!
Bone-chilling cold.
Looking up at the gloomy sky, Li Teng let out a piercing long howl.
What is life's loneliness like snow?
This is it.
...
Although the snow had become lighter now, because it had snowed all day, the bed was piled high with thick snow, and even under the bed, snow blown in by the wind filled it up.
Needless to say, the blankets and mattresses under the snow must all have been soaked through and frozen solid.
Lying down to sleep was out of the question.
Is fate trying to cut off my survival?
How am I supposed to get through these next few days!
Without even a place to sleep and avoid the wind, could I even survive till tomorrow morning, or would I just die outright?
When I went to buy clothes at the Film and Television City's clothing store, I never thought I would be sent back here.
Otherwise, I should have bought some thick clothes for warmth then.
So few credits, really not enough.
Forget it, past events, better not to think about them anymore.
Better to focus on how to keep warm, how to survive tonight's extreme cold, and hold on until the next time I get into the Film and Television City.
A gust of cold wind came through, bringing some sparse snowflakes into Li Teng's neck.
It also took away the precious heat from his body.
He didn't have much time left, he needed to act quickly.
The wooden bed was partially broken, leaving only three legs.
It did leave Li Teng with a small bedside platform on the top of the pillar.
After clearing the snow from this small platform beside the bed, Li Teng stood there and urinated toward the space below the pillar, then after pondering for a moment, he crouched down and carefully started to dig under the bed board.
Underneath the bed board was all snow, as long as the snow between the underside of the bed board and the top of the pillar was removed, a Snow Cave could be dug out to provide shelter.
Although the Snow Cave was still cold, at least it offered protection from the wind.
Half an hour later, Li Teng finally managed to dig out a Snow Cave under the bed board that could accommodate him.
Then he pushed the snow to the edges and tried to compact it, building up snow walls on all four sides between the bed board and the pillar, leaving only a vent on the leeward side to create a snow shelter for himself.
After hiding in this snow shelter, although it was still very cold, without the wind directly blowing on him, it was indeed much better.
Looking outside through the vent hole, the sky had completely darkened.
A long night was about to arrive.
Recalling everything that had happened during the day felt like a dream.
Although the role he played in the film could be killed off at any time, and he could thus be turned into a wax statue,
Li Teng would rather stay in the Film and Television City to continue filming indefinitely than return to the top of this pillar.
Although he could look forward to using credits to lower the height of the pillar in the future, the present hardships were simply too difficult to endure.
Li Teng doubted whether he could survive until the day the pillar was lowered.
Despair.
Anger.
That old woman, that young girl, that female white-collar worker, and Gao Fei, weren't they experiencing the same things as him?
If those women could persevere, why couldn't he, a grown man, grit his teeth and endure?
Forget it, don't think wildly, better to conserve some energy to extend my life a bit longer.
Resting his head on a pillow made of snow, Li Teng recalled the events of the day, his mind slowly becoming hazy.
No amount of coffee could stave off his sleepiness.
Perhaps coffee didn't have a stimulating effect on Li Teng.
He didn't know how long it had been.
Li Teng, having drunk too much coffee, really needed to urinate.
He found himself on the streets of the Film and Television City.
It was pitch dark as if it were nighttime.
He was almost too late to avoid wetting his pants.
Rushing, he hurried to the restroom on the street corner and unzipped his pants to relieve himself with abandon.
For some reason, he couldn't empty his bladder completely, as if his belly was full of water.
After a while, Li Teng heard footsteps from outside.
He forced himself to stop and walked to the restroom door to look out onto the street.
A large group of people stood outside the restroom door, all staring at Li Teng with a bizarre smile as he emerged from the restroom.
But they were all motionless.
Among the crowd, Li Teng also saw Guo Zhipeng.
He wasn't smiling but wore a sinister expression.
"Not this again! Who are you trying to scare?" Li Teng cursed.
He turned around intending to return to the restroom to continue urinating when the group of wax figures suddenly came to life, led by Guo Zhipeng, and charged at him, some grabbing his arms, some his legs, and forcefully dragged Li Teng toward the opposite wax museum.
"Let me go!" Li Teng struggled fiercely.
But he woke himself up instead.
It was pitch black all around.
This clearly wasn't the Film and Television City.
Where was this?
A moment later, Li Teng realized.
This was the top of a stone column!
The snow cave he had dug under the bed's plank!
The urge to urinate was real.
He had been dreaming of running to the restroom in the Film and Television City to urinate.
Now, he was truly awakened by the urge to urinate.
He needed to figure out a way to crawl out of the snow cave to pee.
But soon, Li Teng discovered a serious problem.
He was utterly unable to get up!
His body was completely out of his control!
Vaguely, he felt his body move, crawling out of the snow cave, and even standing on the edge of the stone column's top to urinate below.
But in an instant, he realized he was still lying motionless.
It was like being pinned down by a ghost.
He clearly knew he was awake, knew where he was, knew what he wanted to do, but he just couldn't get up!
Why was this happening?
Maybe he should continue sleeping.
No, he absolutely needed to urinate!
He couldn't just wet his pants, right?
Had his body frozen and lost control?
After another bout of hallucinations and random thoughts, Li Teng suddenly realized the severity of the situation.
Could it be that the snow had fallen heavily during the night, blocking the ventilation hole he had used?
Was his current ghost-pressed state due to severe lack of oxygen?
If that was the case, once he fell asleep again, he would truly never wake up!
"Wake up! Wake up!"
"Come on, wake up!"
"You can't sleep now!"
"Wake! Wake!"
The increasingly intense urge to urinate finally completely awakened Li Teng's consciousness, his arm twitched in an instant, and then his entire body regained sensation.
Although his body regained sensation, he had no strength at all, as if he had been poisoned by gas.
After feeling around, Li Teng discovered that the ventilation hole had indeed been blocked! There was hardly any oxygen left in the snow cave, and every breath was unbearably stifling!
Had he dug his own coffin?