Chapter 3: Xiao Xiao's Shelter

"Is this a tribulation?" Li Teng wanted to cry but found no tears, as the torrential rain continued to pound, making it difficult for him to breathe.

Wiping his face continuously with both hands was of no avail.

Having just quenched his thirst, now he was about to drown in the downpour!

Even more fatal was the cold.

The howling wind blew across his drenched body, stripping away the little warmth he had left, causing him to shiver uncontrollably in the cold.

The blankets and bedding were all soaked through, hanging heavily on the bed frame, unable to offer him the slightest warmth.

With lightning flashing and thunder booming, Li Teng, tortured by extreme fear and cold, no longer cared about the risk of falling from atop the stone pillar and squirmed under the wooden bed, taking shelter between the stone pillar top and the bed frame, shivering and cowering.

The stone wall at the top of the pillar was just as cold as the wet bed.

The wind could still blow in, even more bone-chilling.

The only difference was that the rain no longer poured directly onto Li Teng but dripped down through the gaps in the bed slats, giving him room to breathe.

"What did I do wrong? Why must I be punished like this?"

Li Teng felt like crying.

His face was wet, but he didn't know whether it was from the rain or his tears.

He really felt like crying.

"Men can cry, cry, it's not a crime; even the strongest have the right to feel weary. If behind the smile there's only a broken heart, why endure so wretchedly?"

"Men can cry, cry, it's not a crime; taste the tears you've missed for so long, and even though it's raining, it's still beautiful. Better to seize the opportunity and have a good cry."

Unconsciously, Li Teng, hiding under the bed, began singing.

And surprisingly, after singing for a while, the fear and despair in Li Teng's heart dissipated somewhat.

At a certain moment, Li Teng felt as if he had returned to the real world, back to some past memories.

Perhaps the deafening thunder, the hunger, and the bitter cold had started causing him to have illusions.

Li Teng lay on the cold top of the stone pillar, using the bed frame as a barrier against the fierce wind and torrential rain around him, and lightning and thunder filled the air.

In such a violent storm, the small wooden bed surprisingly hadn't been flipped and blown away.

Li Teng had no interest in pondering the principle behind it; he just felt grateful that even in such a storm, he still had this small shelter.

He was truly lucky.

His hands and feet, along with the rest of his body soaked by the rain, had long since turned ice-cold and numb.

Li Teng kept singing, numbing himself with the song, and before he knew it, he fell asleep — or perhaps passed out.

Maybe he would never wake up again?

Then let him not wake up.

That was Li Teng's last thought before he lost consciousness.

In such appalling circumstances, struggling seemed meaningless.

...

Although he thought he would never wake up again,

Li Teng woke up nonetheless.

When he woke up again, everything around was bright.

Very bright.

His body no longer felt so cold; it was as if...

The rain had stopped, and the sun had come out!

His body ached everywhere.

And it was very stiff.

So stiff it didn't feel like his own anymore.

Li Teng struggled hard for a long time lying against the stone wall before finally managing to stretch his body out.

Fortunately, he still had feeling in his hands and feet.

With the sunlight around him, Li Teng could clearly see his surroundings.

The four legs of the wooden bed were fixed to the top of the pillar with rivets, no wonder the bed had not been overturned by the storm last night.

Who the hell did this? Who had so much idle time to perform such a task!

After realizing that the wooden bed was securely riveted in place, Li Teng felt much more at ease. He crawled to the edge of the stone platform, turned over and grabbed the bed's edge and rails, carefully flipping himself over to the top of the bed.

His family's heirloom wooden bed was indeed sturdy; were it any other bed, even if bolted to the pillar, it likely would have been blown apart by last night's storm.

The blankets and padding were all drenched by the rain, and although the sun was now scorching hot, they could not dry out that fast.

Li Teng twisted them and then hung them to dry on the wooden guardrails at the head and foot of the bed before taking off the still-damp pajamas he was wearing and laying them out in the sunlight to dry as well.

There was no one here, so even if he stripped naked, he couldn't be accused of disturbing public order.

After finishing all these tasks, Li Teng lay down on the equally damp bedboards, gasping for air.

Hunger.

A feeling of hunger had reached its extreme throughout his body.

"I want to eat steamed buns."

"I want to eat roasted pancakes."

"I want to eat roast chicken."

"I want to drink pork rib soup."

"I also want to eat hot dry noodles."

"I…"

Li Teng desperately fantasized while his stomach kept cramping.

He had lived for more than twenty years, but he had never been as hungry as he was now.

Is this Hell?

If not, how could there be such high stone pillars in the real world?

Being trapped up here was no different than torture!

Unconsciously, the extremely hungry and weak Li Teng fell into a deep sleep again under the sunlight.

He had a bunch of messy dreams.

It seemed all about eating all sorts of delicacies.

He ate and still wanted to eat, never feeling full.

When Li Teng woke up, he did not open his eyes and get up.

Instead, he first fantasized that he had returned to his own bedroom and resumed the normal life of a homebody.

"A simple life is a blessing!"

After opening his eyes, Li Teng still did not stand up.

He looked at the sky, then twisted his head to look around…

"Crap!"

Obviously, he was not able to return to his previous life.

He was still stuck at the top of this damned kilometer-high stone pillar!

But when Li Teng wanted to sit up, he realized that upon waking this time, there was something different than before...

On the quilt he had hung out at the foot of the bed, a Flying Bird had actually landed!

Li Teng wasn't quite sure what kind of bird it was; it looked about the size of a pigeon, and though not as plump as domestic pigeons, it still looked like it had at least half a liang of meat on it.

In an instant, Li Teng's eyes lit up.

Emitting a greenish glow.

To someone as hungry as he was, anything alive would be considered food.

The Flying Bird, with its back to Li Teng, was unaware that the naked man behind it was plotting against it.

Li Teng, of course, would not miss this heaven-sent opportunity, the only chance in two days to get something to eat and feel somewhat full.

He propped himself up on the bedboards with both hands, slowly shifting his body, inching closer to the Flying Bird, getting it within the range where he could grab it with his hands.

Although Li Teng was being very careful, the creaking of the bedboards still betrayed him. The Flying Bird was startled, instinctively turning 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 Flying Bird instinctively sensed the danger. The moment it turned its head and saw Li Teng, it spread its wings, prepared to fly away from this perilous spot.

No sooner said than done, Li Teng, already driven mad with hunger, how could he let it escape so easily?

Li Teng used all his strength, almost instantly sprang from the bedboard, and his hand shot out like an eagle's claw, swift as lightning towards the Flying Bird.

Unfortunately, he missed by just that little bit...

Unwilling to give up, Li Teng, now on his feet, instinctively pushed hard with both legs, reaching out with his other hand toward the Flying Bird that was flying past the railing.

Unfortunately, he still missed by just that little bit.

The Flying Bird easily dodged Li Teng's attempt to catch it, called out once while in the air, looked back at Li Teng seemingly with sympathy, then flapped its wings and flew swiftly into the distant sky, quickly disappearing from view.

Li Teng, having failed to catch the Flying Bird, found most of his body lunging beyond the bed, and when he realized the danger and desperately tried to keep his balance, it was already too late.

Li Teng fell headfirst out of the railing, and in his panic, he instinctively grabbed onto a bedpost, preventing his body from being flung out immediately by the force of his pounce.

But the bedpost was too thin to withstand the tremendous force of Li Teng's lunging body; it broke off with a 'snap'.

Li Teng's body plummeted downwards in an instant.