Trembling At A High Altitude

"Impossible, right? It's so close, doesn't that make this pillar a lightning rod? Would lightning strike directly here?" the director didn't believe what Li Teng had said.

Lightning as thick as this pillar? Right next to the pillar?

"It hasn't struck the pillar yet, I don't know the principle, but I'm still alive," Li Teng smiled.

The director was even more skeptical after hearing Li Teng's explanation. From a scientific perspective, if the lightning were as exaggerated as Li Teng described, striking densely right next to the pillar and everywhere around, it couldn't possibly miss the pillar.

What about passenger planes colliding, armed helicopter dogfights, and lightning thick as a bucket...

He was just trying to scare her.

And just so happened that two flight attendants' legs fell on his bed—how twisted was the story he crafted?

Did he think she was a three-year-old child?

"How do you use the toilet up here?" the director now faced a very practical problem.

"Just stand on the edge and let it go below," Li Teng pointed to the edge at the top of the pillar.

"Stand on the edge? That's terrifying," the director felt her heart quake even from glancing at the edge.

"You'll get used to it. Don't think about how high it is below; just pretend you're standing on flat ground with a hole in front of you, and it's no big deal," Li Teng explained to the director.

"I can't get used to that," the director shook her head vigorously.

"Let me show you," Li Teng had also been holding it for a while. If it weren't for the director being there, he would've stripped down to his underwear given the weather, not minding relieving himself.

"No need to look," the director quickly turned away.

Li Teng glanced at her, checked the wind direction for a while, and then walked to the edge of the pillar to relieve himself.

Suddenly, a weird gust of wind blew up from below, catching Li Teng off guard. He quickly shifted to one side and leaned back to avoid splashing himself.

The spray, swept by the odd wind, crossed the platform. With the director sideways, she suddenly felt a chill on the back of her head and near one ear. Instinctively, she glanced in that direction, just in time to see Li Teng...

"You..." the director was furious.

"It's the wind, not me," Li Teng quickly zipped up and tried to explain.

"What about this?" the director, who was a germaphobe, pointed to her ear. Luckily, she was wearing a mask; otherwise, it wouldn't be just her ears, and it might have covered her whole face.

"No worries, the wind will dry it. On windy days, I often splash my own face," Li Teng came over and wiped her with his sleeve.

"Enough! Stop wiping!" the director, unable to contain her anger, protested. Initially, it had only splashed in a few places, but this wipe—wouldn't it spread everywhere?

"Life on top of this pillar is tough. I can't offer you much hospitality during your visit; please forgive me for the inconvenience," Li Teng apologized to the director.

"Let's drop it," the director, feeling the unusual wind at the top of the pillar, knew it wasn't intentional on Li Teng's part.

Li Teng sat down, and the two fell into an awkward silence.

"You guys can just stand on the side to deal with it, but what about us girls?" After a while, the director spoke up again, clearly unable to hold it much longer.

"You can use both hands to hold onto that bed leg, then move your butt beyond the platform, just hang there. It's safer for girls than for guys—at least you won't get the wind blowing it all in your face, at most it'll blow on your butt," Li Teng suggested after thinking for a moment.

"Is this using our lives to go to the bathroom?" The director glanced at the bed leg next to the stone pillar and shook her head vigorously, declaring she would never do such a thing.

"Don't be scared, just do as I said and I'll help hold you. You won't fall," Li Teng reassured the director.

"No need, no need! I was just asking," the director quickly shook her head again.

Really doing it, letting Li Teng hold her while she relieved herself, was not just scary; it was also embarrassing.

"If it really comes down to it, you can squat on top of this stone pillar and just aim over the side. The worst that could happen is dirtying a small area, maybe it'll rain or snow tonight and wash it away," Li Teng came up with another idea, guessing she must be quite desperate to keep asking about this.

"Aim?" The director rolled her eyes, lacking that capability!

"I mean, just try to lift it up, make it go far. If you can't 'launch' it, then just do it on this platform, it's fine," Li Teng said with a smile.

"Aren't we also sleeping here at night? How can we sleep if it's dirty?" For someone like the director who had a deep need for cleanliness, such a thing was absolutely intolerable.

"Conditions are tough. We just have to cope, being stuck up here, surviving is the priority; dignity and cleanliness are not important. The environment won't adapt to one person, only a person can adapt to the environment. In special times, in order to live, people must change themselves," Li Teng spoke frankly to the director.

The top of the stone pillar was just a prison with extremely harsh conditions.

Worse than a prison.

The director sighed deeply. She had only heard about the harsh conditions on top of the stone pillar, but after coming and seeing it for herself, she found it was much harder than she had imagined.

She really admired how these extras endured it.

Understanding Daisy's decision to jump down, she felt more sympathy.

If it had been her on top of the stone pillar, she might not have lasted any longer than Daisy had.

Comparatively, she was lucky, having been thrown onto Li Teng's pillar, at least she had someone to talk to and distract her from her fears.

Also, Li Teng's character was quite good; despite the lawlessness here, he had not attacked or offended her, and he had always been patient with her.

A little later, the director showed her wristwatch, pressing on it.

"What is this for?" Li Teng had been meaning to ask the director about this.

The top prize in the performance competition was a wristwatch that could be taken back to the pillar top, an important item that Li Teng hoped to get his hands on. Knowing its function would help him decide whether to adopt an aggressive strategy to strive for first place or a conservative one to ensure he wasn't last during the performance contest.

"You can call for special assistance once a day with it. This one is a director's custom edition, different from the actors'," the director had been beside the actors during the Q&A sessions, so she knew why Li Teng was asking this.

"Special assistance?" Li Teng was still a bit unclear.

"After I initiate the call on this watch, a rescue helicopter will come and let me stay on board for ten minutes, where I can use the bathroom, take a shower, get some food and water, and receive a limited amount of medical treatment," the director looked at her watch again and then pointed to a certain direction in the sky.

"Can you bring down food and water?" Li Teng asked the director. Not knowing if the actor's edition had this feature, it sounded very powerful.