Luca put the trekking poles away. She saw that Luke’s hair was dripping with water. She thought of


    taking the paper towels from her backpack to dry his hair, but her backpack was not waterproof, and


    the paper towels had already turned into a pile of mush.


    There was nothing she could do about that, and she closed her backpack.


    Luke had always kept an impable appearance, so Luca was quite surprised to see that unkempt


    side of his. In any case, her appearance was in the same sorry state.


    “What do we do now, Mr. Crawford?” Luca asked for his opinion.


    Luke took out his phone. His clothes were soaked, and his phone could not be turned on. “Can you use


    your phone?”


    Luca took out her phone from her backpack. Her phone had been enhanced by the people on the


    Ind of Despair, so it was waterproof.


    Even so, it had already turned itself off. She looked at Luke and said, “I can only turn it on after it’s dry.”


    Without a usable phone, they could not call Jason or inform the vi staff about their predicament.


    “We’ll have to wait for the rain to stop,” Luke said decisively. That was all that they could do.


    Luca nodded. Her waist still hurt, and it would be too risky for them to walk down the mountain in the


    rain.


    Meanwhile, Jason and Tina managed to reach the summit right before the rain started. Jason looked


    down the other path and waited for Luke and Luca to arrive at any time.


    “Why isn’t Mr. Crawford and Dr. Craw here yet?” Tina wondered. She had studied the map, and the two


    paths were almost the same distance. Moreover, Luke and Luca were in good health, so they should


    not have been so much slower than Jason and Tina. Could something have happened while on their


    way up?


    Jason looked at the sky. He was not in the mood to appreciate the scenery. It would be raining soon.


    A staff member saw that Jason and Tina had no intention of leaving. He went up to them and reminded


    them, “Are you going to stay here for long? It’s going to rain, and it won’t be letting up any time soon.


    Why don’t you go down the mountain by cable car?”


    “We’re still waiting for our friends. They promised to meet us here,” Tina said. She looked at the dark,


    roiling clouds and guessed that a storm wasing.


    She had checked the weather forecast earlier that morning, and it had said that the skies would be


    clear. That was why she had proceeded with the hiking n.


    Tina was quite frustrated. A storm on the mountain was much more dangerous than a storm on level


    ground.


    “Mr. Doyle, why don’t you give Mr. Crawford a call?” Tina said.


    She dared not call Luke. She was the one who suggested the race, and she was afraid that Luke might


    me her.


    Jason nodded. The rain started to fall the moment he took out his phone. Lightning shed in the sky.


    “Oh no, Mr. Crawford and Dr. Craw are not here yet,” Tina said worriedly. While she looked at Jason


    trying to reach Luke, sheforted herself by thinking that Luke and Luca were probably taking shelter


    from the rain somewhere.


    “Mr. Crawford isn’t picking up,” Jason said after making several attempts. Luke did not pick up the call


    even until it cut off naturally.


    “I’ll try to call Dr. Craw.” Tina took out her phone and called Luca. No one answered.


    “How is it?” Jason looked at her grimly.


    Tina shook her head.


    The staff member walked over and asked, “Are your friends not here yet? The rain is getting heavier. If


    you don’t go now, you might be stuck here for a while.”


    “What should we do…” Tina was clueless as she stared down the other path. She asked, “Our friends


    areing up from this path, and I can’t reach them on their phones. Can you help us search for


    them?”


    The staff members looked at each other and said, “The rain is so heavy now, Miss. We can’t do that.”


    “Yes. You don’t have to worry too much about it. They’re probably seeking shelter somewhere. We


    have staff members around the clock. You should go down the mountain first, and if they show up, we’ll


    take care of them and send them down if the situation permits,” another staff member said.


    Jason was silent for a while. Eventually, he said, “I think we should stay here. If the rain lightens up,


    we’ll try our luck by going down the other path.”


    The staff member did not agree with Jason’s decision. Once it started raining, it was hard to tell when it


    would stop. He said, “Maybe your friends have already left when they saw the sky darken. How about


    this? I’ll give you my number, and you can go down the mountain now. If you don’t find your friends at


    the foot of the mountain, you can contact us, and we’ll search for them once the rain lightens. What do


    you think?”


    Jason could tell that the rain was only going to be heavier. He thought that Luke might have


    already gone down. Seeing that Tina’s hair was scattered in the strong wind, he epted the staff


    member’s suggestion, and they took the cable car down.


    …


    At the gazebo, Luca felt her waist ache.


    She pressed her lips and tried to change various positions. She alternated between propping her chin


    and half-reclining, trying to make her waistfortable.


    Luke noticed what she was doing. He asked, “Does your waist still hurt?”


    “A little.… Luca told him the truth; she could not deceive him anyway.


    The rain became heavier and heavier. Luke noticed that the stone benches in the gazebo were already


    wet. Luca could not sit on them. He said, “Try resting your feet on the bench.”


    Luca did what Luke suggested, but that did not alleviate the pain at all. In fact, it hurt even more. She


    was frowning, and Luke could tell that she was in pain.


    Luke looked at the stone table in the center of the gazebo. He wanted to make Luca feel better, and it


    was not the time to consider etiquette.


    “Why don’t you lie on the table?” He said.


    Luca lifted her head in shock and looked at the table. The table was for tourists to put their items, not


    for lying…


    “You’ll feel better if you lie on top.” Luke knew what she was thinking.


    Luca knew that she would be ufortable if she stood or sat. Only lying down could take some of the


    pain away.


    She epted Luke’s suggestion. She stood up, sat on the stone table, then slowly reclined.


    The table was quite big, and it managed to fit her entire body if she curled up a little. Luca was pleased


    to find that it was quitefortable.


    Luke turned his head away.


    N?velDrama.Org content rights.


    Luca thought that the situation was quite awkward. She looked out of the gazebo. The rain continued to


    fall heavily and showed no signs of stopping. She considered themselves lucky because the gazebo


    was big enough.


    “Mr. Crawford, how long do you think the rain willst?” She asked the question she had been thinking


    about.


    Luke looked outside and said, “Who knows? It mightst through the night.”