I could only hope that the man would be safe and sound.
Please, let nothing happen, please!
Climbing the mountain was difficult; descending it was even more so.
Especially since there were too many elderly people traveling together, which slowed the pace considerably.
Moreover, the paths down the mountain were no longer the original ones, as those had long disappeared.
Now, everyone was taking a new path blazed by those ahead—difficult to traverse and slippery underfoot.
At this point, everyone had one single hope: please don't let it rain!
The path was already hard enough without adding rain into the mix, which would seriously endanger lives!
But the heavens didn't seem to care about human wishes.
Soon, large drops of rain began to fall.
Within about half a minute, it had turned into a downpour.
The village leader, guiding from the front, hastily signaled:
"Everybody stop."
