Trembling At A High Altitude

"I'm fine," Li Teng managed a smile, but it was a bitter one.

'Bang!'

A hailstone the size of a soccer ball smashed into the top of a pillar beside them, scattering the smaller pieces of hail all around.

Yao Xue was almost scared witless by the hail.

That kind of hail, if it hit them, was too horrifying to even imagine.

The 'thudding' sound on Li Teng's body still hadn't stopped, and some of the thuds sounded particularly muffled.

"Are you really okay?" Yao Xue shouted to Li Teng again.

"I'm fine, don't worry," Li Teng's voice was very low.

Yao Xue tried to turn over to look, but Li Teng pressed her down.

A few minutes later, the hail stopped.

"It's over, you can turn over now," Yao Xue said to Li Teng.

Li Teng did not respond.

"What's wrong with you?" Yao Xue sensed something was not right.

Li Teng still did not respond.

Yao Xue struggled to arch her body, unzipped the zipper in front of her, crawled out of her clothes, and then turned her head to look at Li Teng.

His eyes were vacant as he stared at the sky, and blood was still oozing from the corner of his mouth.

Not only that, his hat was also full of blood.

Several hailstones the size of a bowl's diameter lay on the platform beside him, as if they had just slipped off his back.

"Don't scare me! What's wrong with you?" Yao Xue felt very uneasy.

"Has it... become dark?" Li Teng finally responded, lifting his hand weakly, his gaze still very vacant.

Yao Xue quickly grabbed his hand.

"I... can't see... you," Li Teng said with a puzzled expression.

"Don't talk, just rest for a while, you'll feel better after you recover!" Yao Xue pushed away a few large hailstones and laid Li Teng flat on the top of the pillar.

"I really want... to sleep..." Li Teng closed his eyes.

"Don't sleep!" Yao Xue had a very bad feeling; if he fell asleep like this, he might never wake up again.

"I... won't die."

After Li Teng said this, he lay motionless.

Yao Xue reached out to check Li Teng's breathing, faint as a thread.

She wanted to shake him awake, have him talk, and then to keep going.

But what was the point of doing so?

In her previous world, talking to somebody seriously injured, keeping them from losing consciousness, was to wait for the rescue that would soon arrive.

The problem was, no rescue would ever come here!

The special rescue call in her watch was for her alone, as per the harsh rules of Film and Television City, and it was impossible to use it for saving Li Teng.

Unless...

...

She did not know how much time had passed.

Li Teng felt as though he had been dreaming the whole time.

He dreamt of various purgatory scenes.

There was blood everywhere.

Broken and severed limbs.

The stench of blood.

He even dreamt that he came to the edge of a Blood Pool.

The desperation of hunger made him disregard the stench of blood, and he lay down beside the Blood Pool and drank madly from it.

"Who am I?"

"Where am I?"

Li Teng suddenly woke up with a start.

His mouth was still full of the taste of blood.

Opening his eyes, his vision was blurry.

He could vaguely see a face, but it was not clear.

"You're awake?" It was Yao Xue's voice, sounding distant.

"Are you awake?" Yao Xue's voice was tinged with a sob.

Li Teng was suddenly yanked back from a nightmare to reality.

He had finally remembered who he was, where he was.

The damn stone pillar!

Then he could vaguely see Yao Xue's pale arm.

Also, the bite mark on it.

The taste of blood in his mouth...

"What are you doing?" Li Teng yelled.

"It's okay, I've already called for a special rescue," Yao Xue's voice was weak.

"You're insane!" Li Teng was flooded with emotions.

"I'm not insane, I'm just playing by the rules," Yao Xue said with a wry smile.

Li Teng tried to get up, but he was still weak, unable to move.

And everything in front of him was still a blur, as if in a dream.

After a while, Li Teng fell into a deep sleep again.

...

Coma, slumber.

The smell of blood.

Li Teng wanted to refuse, but he could not break free from the dream, beyond his control.

Occasionally, he would seemingly awaken and realize he was on top of the stone pillar.

But the next moment, he'd plummet back into darkness.

Purgatory, Blood Pool.

...

"Wake up! Can you wake up?"

This time, Li Teng was woken up by Yao Xue slapping his face.

And the familiar roar.

A black helicopter hovered over the stone pillar.

Li Teng still couldn't see clearly, everything was hazy.

"You've been rescued, it's time for your promotion performance, they've come for you," Yao Xue's voice sounded relieved.

"What about you?" Li Teng asked Yao Xue.

"My sentence probably ends around noon, I guess by the time you come back I will have already left," Yao Xue replied to Li Teng.

"Are we parting now?" Li Teng sighed.

"Yes."

"Take care, don't be too kind as a director, don't be too nice to the actors, suppress them if you need to. You must follow the rules, or they might use them against you," Li Teng advised Yao Xue.

"Don't worry about me, I know what I'm doing. You too, remember to get along with the new director. Try not to provoke anyone inside the Film and Television City either, not everyone is someone you can beat," Yao Xue counseled Li Teng.

"If you have the chance to see your father again, give him a chance to explain, it's also a chance for yourself. I believe he loves you, perhaps there were reasons he had to leave," Li Teng thought for a moment and added.

"Okay," Yao Xue's eyes reddened, and she bit her lip, nodding.

"I've enjoyed your company these past few days, I'll miss you a lot," Li Teng said, squinting, while he tightly gripped Yao Xue's hand.

"Stop your nonsense!" Yao Xue retorted, clearly annoyed.

"The flowers have faded away with the spring's crimson all too quickly. Alas, morning comes with cold rain and evening with gales. Tears of rouge, stay drunken, for when shall we again meet? It's the long sorrows of life that make the water of the Yangtze flow eastward," Li Teng recited a poem filled with feelings of parting.

"Stop reciting! Do you think I'm Miao Cuihua?" Yao Xue swore, tears running down uncontrollably.

After this goodbye, a reunion may never come.

The future is perilous, likely there won't be life-separation, only death-parting.

The helicopter waited for a while and, realizing something was wrong, descended next to the stone pillar, extended a metal plate and a mechanical claw, and used the claw to grab Li Teng onto the plate.

After moving, the injuries on the back of Li Teng's head and his back hurt so much that he grimaced, but he endured without crying out.

"Don't forget your promise to me! The day you become Best Actor! Be sure to come find me!" Yao Xue shouted at Li Teng.

"I will! And don't forget your promise to me! When the time comes, you have to let me touch!" Li Teng shouted back at Yao Xue, then he was grabbed into the cabin of the helicopter, and the door closed after him.

"Did I ever promise such a thing?" Yao Xue was somewhat stunned.

"You rascal!"

"No! You jerk!"

Yao Xue cursed at the departing helicopter.

Cursing turned into crying once again.