The deep mountains were pitch black, with only sparse starlight overhead and the occasional pale moonlight filtering through the tree canopy.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, the mountains and forests behind them had long since swallowed up the abandoned land and the firelight of the officials, leaving only endless darkness and heavy breathing.

"Stop...stop for a while...I...I really can't walk anymore..." The old woodcutter slumped down on a large rock, panting heavily, his throat like a bellows.

His pause seemed to remove the bones from everyone's bones.

A dozen or so people collapsed in a panic, leaning against tree trunks and sprawling among fallen leaves, leaving only painful groans and suppressed sobs.

Hunger, exhaustion, and the fear of surviving a close call intertwined; the excitement of escaping death faded, leaving only unbearable weakness.

Jiang Chan lowered the beam of her flashlight and swept it around.

He then sat down against a thick, old tree.

Silence enveloped the group of desperados.

Only the whistling of the night wind through the treetops and the howling of unknown wild beasts in the distance could be heard.

Suddenly, a woman's cry broke the silence, "Oh... my son... he's still in the city... what am I going to do..."

Then, sobs and suppressed cries rose and fell, and a sense of despair spread through the darkness.

Jiang Chan frowned but didn't say anything.

She reached into the deflated, tattered bundle that the officers had rummaged through.

dig.

Several hard, multigrain cakes wrapped in oil paper.

Take it out again.

Several flat wild vegetable buns, all wrapped in the same oiled paper.

Keep digging...

Like a magician, she pulled out one item after another, and soon a small pile of dry food was stacked on the ground!

The weeping in the crowd stopped abruptly!

Everyone stared wide-eyed at Jiang Chan's hands and the pile of food at her feet!

Even Chen Yan forgot his fatigue, and his pupils suddenly contracted!

He had personally witnessed the officers thoroughly search that bundle!

There was nothing inside except for tattered clothes and a few hard biscuits!

Where did all this extra stuff come from?! His Adam's apple bobbed, and he gave Jiang Chan a deep look, but didn't say anything. He simply took the multigrain pancake that Jiang Chan handed him.

"One pancake per person, help yourselves." Jiang Chan's voice rang out in the quiet forest, flat and even. "Eat sparingly, we don't know how much longer we have to walk."

After a brief silence, a suppressed commotion erupted from the crowd!

"Thank you... thank you, Fairy!"

"Fairy Maiden, have mercy!"

"Thank you for saving my life! Thank you for the life-saving food!"

The group practically crawled over on their hands and feet, carefully picking up a portion of dry rations and clutching it tightly in their hands as if it were their lifeline.

No one dared to take more, nor did anyone dare to snatch. Their eyes were filled with awe and incredible gratitude as they looked at Jiang Chan.

Jiang Chan took a dry food biscuit, broke it in half and chewed it slowly. It was hard and tasteless, but it filled her stomach.

I ate something simple, but I felt even more tired.

"Let's rest here tonight." Jiang Chan stood up, her flashlight beam sweeping across a relatively flat, sheltered clearing in the woods.

She walked to the center of the open space and reached her hand into that magical and "bottomless" tattered bundle again.

dig.

A thick roll of tarpaulin.

Take it out again.

Several twisted and coiled things, like some kind of tough vines.

Then, under the shocked and numb gazes of everyone, including Chen Yan, Jiang Chan deftly straightened the vines, stuck them into the ground as supports, unfolded the thick tarpaulin, quickly covered it, and weighed it down with stones at the four corners...

In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a tent was set up!

A low gasp rippled through the crowd once again!

"Celestial magic! It really is immortal magic!"

"The fairy maiden possesses extraordinary powers!"

Chen Yan looked at the tent, then at Jiang Chan's still deflated bundle, and then at the scattered oil paper on the ground, his brows furrowing into a deep knot.

This was completely beyond his comprehension. He watched Jiang Chan calmly lead Xiao Tao into the tent, silently helping Zhou Shi sit against a tree trunk, his eyes filled with extreme complexity.

"Find a place to sleep!" Jiang Chan's voice came from inside the tent, leaving no room for argument. "Get plenty of rest; we have to travel tomorrow!"

No one dared to refute the "fairy's" words. Everyone searched for flat rocks, tree roots, or simply huddled in piles of fallen leaves, wrapped their thin clothes tightly, and tried to close their eyes, enduring the chill and fear of the forest.

Gradually, only the sounds of even or uneasy breathing remained in the mountains and forests.

Jiang Chan lay in the tent, holding Xiao Tao, with a pistol beside her.

The alarm flashed red outside the tent... The detector hovered silently high in the air...

The next day.

As dawn broke, Jiang Chan pulled back the tent flap and went outside to stretch her stiff body.

The sight before her made her pause.

Outside the tent, on the open ground, a large group of people were kneeling in the dark!

The old woodcutter was at the front, followed by the dozen or so survivors from the previous night. They faced the direction of the tent, their foreheads touching the ground, remaining in a kneeling posture, motionless, like devout believers worshipping in a sanctuary of God.

Only Chen Yan and Zhou Shi sat not far away, watching with conflicted expressions.

"Get up!" Jiang Chan frowned, her voice icy.

Nobody moved.

Only a few children quietly raised their heads, stole a glance at her, and then quickly lowered their heads again.

"I'll speak!" Jiang Chan emphasized, her tone tinged with impatience, "What are you kneeling for? If you have the energy to kneel, you should hurry up and find a way!"

The old woodcutter then raised his head, his old face filled with awe and pleading, "Fairy...we...we dare not..."

"I'm not some kind of fairy!" Jiang Chan interrupted him. "Last night we were running for our lives. We walked together for a while, but now it's dawn, so let's all go our separate ways! Go wherever you need to go! Don't follow me anymore!"

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