But once hope takes root, it is difficult to suppress.

Wang Mazi glanced furtively at Jiang Chan's retreating figure, who was talking to the male lead, Chen Yan, in the distance. Lowering her voice, she spoke with intense longing: "Fairy...Fairy, you are incredibly powerful...The crops are growing so well...When...when the harvest is complete, and the grain piles up like mountains...when we can't even finish eating it all...I...I want...could you...beg the Fairy to have mercy and let me go back...to see my family...If...if they're still alive...could you..."

He didn't dare finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear—bring your family over!

This idea was like a spark, instantly igniting the suppressed desires in everyone's hearts!

"Yes...yes! There's too much food; even the fairy can't eat it all by herself..."

"If only I could bring my family here...to live with the fairy...that..."

"Shh! Keep your voice down!" Old Man Sun interrupted them nervously. "We can't let the fairy hear this! The fairy is already incredibly kind of her to take us in and feed us! We should be content! Don't push your luck!"

The crowd immediately fell silent, but the anticipation and longing in their eyes could not be hidden.

They secretly gazed in Jiang Chan's direction, at the vibrant greenhouse, silently praying: More food! More! So much that even the fairy maiden couldn't use it all… Then, perhaps… perhaps there would be a glimmer of hope…

Chen Yan sat a little further away and vaguely heard some snippets of conversation. He glanced at the group of people whispering over there, then at Jiang Chan beside him who looked calm. He frowned slightly, but in the end, he said nothing. He simply picked up a piece of firewood and added it to the campfire.

In the stillness of the night, the fan inside the house continued to tirelessly send out a gentle breeze.

Jiang Chan didn't sleep. She sat cross-legged on her bunk as the detector silently ascended, spreading out its optical and thermal imaging field of view.

The night sky over the wasteland was clearly visible to her. She manipulated the detector, scanning outwards in concentric circles from the riverside camp. Not to find a new settlement, nor to continue her journey, but to remain vigilant!

The sight of her instantly "taking away" the mountains of vegetables shocked the villagers, but it may also bring unnecessary trouble.

What if some wandering refugees nearby see this?

Or, worse, what if they've been targeted by bandits or spies?

The detector's field of view swept across an area of ​​several miles. The gray-yellow wasteland took on a cold blue hue under the thermal imaging. Occasionally, a few faint red dots could be seen, nocturnal animals: hares or field mice... Further away, the official road, like a dead gray snake, meandered into the night.

The detector zoomed in and scanned along the road... but found no heat source signal representing the human body.

We changed direction and continued scanning.

The edge of the forest... was silent, a desolate landscape as far as the eye could see. The nearest threat seemed to still be the city that had abandoned them, shrouded in the shadow of plague.

Jiang Chan breathed a sigh of relief and retracted the detector.

It seems safe for now. This riverside wasteland, like a forgotten corner, coupled with her efforts to avoid human habitation along the way, has temporarily formed a relatively peaceful island.

She lay down, listening to the faint hum of the fan and Xiao Tao's steady breathing. With food, water, and a safe place to stay... this escape journey seemed to finally be able to come to a temporary end.

As for the future... she wasn't oblivious to the villagers' whispers and expectant looks about "bringing their families back." But right now, the most important thing was to safeguard this hard-won peace, ensure the crops ripened smoothly, and guarantee that everyone had enough to eat and could establish a stable foothold.

She closed her eyes, her consciousness sinking into the space, looking at the mountains of lush green vegetables and the two small mountains of grain and meat in the corner, and felt a sense of peace in her heart!