Trembling At A High Altitude

Li Teng quickly stood up and helped the director down from the rope ladder.

The director didn't speak again, shaking all over. After standing on top of the stone pillar, she gripped Li Teng's arms tightly, gripping so hard that it caused Li Teng's arms to ache, which showed how extraordinarily nervous she was.

If she hadn't been wearing a mask, her face would likely be filled with fear right now.

"Don't be afraid, Director. You'll feel better sitting down," Li Teng guessed the director had never stayed on top of a stone pillar before, and suddenly being in this place must have terrified her.

When he had first woken up from his sleep and found himself on top of the stone pillar, he had also experienced an extremely fearful time.

This had nothing to do with courage; humans were simply not a species suited to high-altitude living.

With Li Teng's assistance, the director finally sat down, trembling, on Li Teng's down jacket. One hand still clutched his arm as if worried she would fall off if she let go.

"Don't fear, you won't fall," Li Teng continued to comfort the director. "Don't look down. Look up at the sky."

The director raised her head to the sky, but her body kept trembling. After a while, she realized she was still clutching Li Teng's arm and hurriedly let go.

Li Teng rubbed his arm... This woman had a strong grip; it really hurt him.

She must have employed all her strength, driven by instinctual fear.

"You were supposed to be punished by staying on the stone pillar for three days, how come you've ended up on my pillar?" Li Teng spoke to the director, distracting her.

The director remained silent, just looking up at the sky, motionless.

"Ahem..." Li Teng touched her arm.

"Ah?" The director was startled and then looked at Li Teng.

"You were supposed to be punished by staying on the stone pillar for three days, how come you've ended up on my pillar?" Li Teng repeated his previous question.

"I... I don't know, they said... I was assigned to a special area for punishing staff within the Film and Television City, where conditions would be harsher. How... how could you, an extra, be here?" The director finally snapped back to reality.

"Could it be that they've got my place of birth wrong?" Li Teng, hearing this, also felt that something wasn't quite right.

Was his stone pillar specially used to punish staff within the Film and Television City?

The director fell silent again, her body shivering in waves.

One could imagine how complicated her emotions were at the moment.

On one hand, there was immense fear of heights, and on the other, the desire to maintain her usual authority in front of an actor.

Unfortunately, these two were conflicting. It would be difficult for a female leader to maintain her dignity in the face of extreme fear in front of her male subordinates.

There was another important factor.

It seemed this stone pillar was not under the jurisdiction of the Film and Television City.

It could be described as a sanctuary outside the law.

If Li Teng dared to offend or attack her within the Film and Television City, he would be immediately subdued on the spot by her bodyguards or the Film and Television City's security staff.

But if Li Teng offended or attacked her here, she, as a woman, would be utterly powerless to resist; it would be as if her cries for help would go unanswered by both heaven and earth.

This was somewhat awkward.

Fortunately, Li Teng didn't seem to have any intention of offending or attacking her.

"Where's your bed?" The director managed to calm herself a bit and bravely glanced at the Light Stone Pillar, along with the three broken bed legs by its side.

Although I had never visited the Light Stone Pillar before, I had heard a lot about it. Whenever these extras were transported here, they would at least have a whole bed with them.

Why did Li Teng only have a bed leg? What had he done with his bed?

"First, there was an air disaster involving a civilian aircraft. A stewardess spun towards my bed head and her upper half flew out, leaving her legs on my bed. Then the tail section crashed into it, taking her two legs and a third of my bed with it. Later on, a group of armed helicopters came flying in, having an air battle around my stone pillar, and completely destroyed my bed..." Li Teng explained to the director.

The director turned his head to look skywards, clearly thinking that Li Teng was making up a story, and that it was too exaggerated and too bizarre.

Li Teng caught the director's reaction and didn't continue.

He had never told anyone else the story about the stewardess's legs.

When he told Gao Fei about the armed helicopters, Gao Fei didn't believe it either.

No wonder the director didn't believe him. No one would, unless they had experienced it all firsthand with Li Teng.

The two fell into an awkward silence once more.

"It's so hot." The director kept fanning himself with his hand. It was really too hot on top of the stone pillar.

And abnormally hot. Being so high up, it shouldn't be this hot. There should be a strong wind, as if someone intentionally raised the temperature of the area but forcefully stopped all nearby air from moving.

"You should take off your mask, or you're going to overheat." Li Teng gave the director a piece of advice.

"No need." The director immediately refused Li Teng.

Li Teng took a glance at the director and said no more.

Those who like wearing masks, especially someone like her, holding the most junior leadership position in the Film and Television City, usually do so because they lack confidence. They intend to hide their facial expressions behind a mask, maintaining an air of mystery and authority before their subordinates.

She feared that once she took off the mask, if she couldn't control her facial expressions, the extras might no longer fear her, and she wouldn't be able to maintain control of the situation.

It's like when Li Teng made other actors laugh during a conversation. If she also laughed and they saw her, she would lose her authority as a leader.

Understandable.

Of course, there are two other possibilities. One is that she had suffered a serious injury, only feeling secure behind the mask. The second possibility is that there indeed was something wrong with her appearance, scars on her face, or crooked nose and mouth.

In any case, any of the three reasons were possible.

As noon approached, the day grew hotter, and the sun made it exceedingly uncomfortable for both of them, who felt too listless to talk any more.

...

Around two or three in the afternoon, the wind picked up, and more clouds appeared in the sky, and gradually, the weather cooled down.

"Damn weather, finally feels a bit better now." The director finally spoke again.

"There might be a thunderstorm tonight." Li Teng looked at the horizon but felt that something was amiss.

A sudden cool after such heat usually meant a thunderstorm was on the way.

The bigger the temperature difference, the more violent the thunderstorm.

And after the thunderstorm, there was a high chance it would turn into a blizzard.

Anyway, it was all bad weather.

"Thunderstorm? Will there be thunder?" The director also looked in the direction that Li Teng was looking at.

"Hmm, like crossing a tribulation, right beside this stone pillar. Lightning as thick as, no, probably thicker than this pillar will strike down from the sky, everywhere." Li Teng gestured around.