Chapter 145: My Heart Aches for Daddy

"Act like a decent person, Su Wanning!"

"Don't you know that scaring people can actually kill them? The staff member is going to have psychological trauma from this."

"Fearless Su, do you think everyone is as bold as you are?"

"Hmm, I like the nickname 'Fearless Su.' It sounds better than 'Sister Su.' Don't call me that anymore; it makes me feel like I’m really old."

Su Wanning continued walking forward with her son, interacting with the viewers in the live chat as she spoke, intentionally trying to dissipate the tense atmosphere from earlier.

"I am indeed older than you all, but so what? Don't you know that women are forever eighteen?"

After saying this, Su Wanning looked down at her son walking beside her. "Sui Sui, tell me, don't I look just like an eighteen-year-old?"

Sui Sui frowned slightly, looking solemn, as if he were facing a grave academic problem. His expression was clearly conflicted.

"Don't put Sui Sui on the spot; take it out on us instead."

"Don't bother our precious Sui Sui."

"What did Sui Sui do wrong?"

Su Wanning glanced at the chat. "What do you know? I’m training him in advance for my future daughter-in-law. If he doesn’t learn how to coax women at such a young age, how will he ever get a girlfriend when he grows up?"

In an instant, messages of gratitude flooded the screen.

"Thank you, future mother-in-law."

"Thank you, future in-laws."

"Thank you, Mom."

...

Aside from Su Wanning's group, the other teams were also being ambushed by staff members dressed as ghosts at roughly the same time.

The game was merely a pretext; the fragments scattered throughout the woods did exist, but trying to secure the grand prize was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

In another direction, Qin Jingchen, who was moving forward with his daughter Nian Nian, gradually realized something was wrong. Along the way, they had only collected three puzzle pieces, which, when put together, could only form half of a map—which appeared to be a topographical map of the area.

However, the sun had long since set, and there were no lighting facilities in the woods. With only the crescent moon above and their flashlights in hand, trying to find the final treasure in such a completely unfamiliar environment using only a partial map was nearly impossible.

Especially as they went further, the surrounding sounds grew closer, and even the noises of animals and birds in the forest seemed to have receded.

Nian Nian, walking in the lead, was completely unaware. With Qin Jingchen following behind her, she felt bold and unafraid.

Qin Jingchen, however, grew increasingly cautious. He kept a close eye on the surroundings throughout the journey, and thus, he was the first to notice the sound of footsteps slowly approaching them not far away.

Qin Jingchen did not alert Nian Nian. Instead, he silently moved to his daughter's side and walked in tandem with her.

Gradually, Qin Jingchen realized it was likely the footsteps of a single person. Although he could only see a blurry black shadow in the distance, it didn’t seem to be anything strange.

He relaxed his guard, planning to find an opportunity to warn his daughter, but unexpectedly, Nian Nian spotted another treasure box behind a tree in the woods with her sharp eyes.

Without notifying Qin Jingchen, she impulsively bent down and quickly ran toward it.

By the time Qin Jingchen shifted his focus away from the staff member, Nian Nian had already run quite a distance, and he could only see the beam of her flashlight swaying ahead.

"Nian Nian!"

Qin Jingchen immediately strode toward her. At that very moment, his flashlight illuminated a slope in front of Nian Nian.

The tree Nian Nian had seen was behind that slope. The incline wasn't steep, but the child, caught up in her run, clearly hadn't noticed it. She was approaching the edge of the slope without any intention of slowing down.

Qin Jingchen's heart tightened. His mind went blank for an instant, and his body acted faster than his brain, sprinting toward her.

"Ah!"

As expected, Nian Nian tripped, her body losing control as she tumbled downward. Just then, Qin Jingchen arrived and caught her, but due to the momentum, he rolled down the slope sideways.

He carefully shielded his daughter the entire way down. The cameraman, startled, hurriedly followed.

"My God, what happened? Is this another prank by the production team!"

"It doesn't look like it. Why is little Nian Nian crying so miserably? Is she hurt?"

"This is too scary! Send someone to help immediately!"

By the time the cameraman arrived, Qin Jingchen had already fallen to the bottom of the slope with his daughter. The incline wasn't high, but he looked rather disheveled. He sat on the ground with Nian Nian in his arms, his right leg slightly bent, brow tightly furrowed. His expensive suit trousers were torn.

A shaken Nian Nian opened her eyes in Qin Jingchen's arms and immediately asked with a tearful voice, "Daddy, are you okay?"

Qin Jingchen heard the tremor in his daughter's voice. He gently patted her back with one hand, patiently and softly reassuring her, "I'm fine. How about you? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Qin Jingchen was still worried. Although Nian Nian kept shaking her head to emphasize she was fine, he still checked her over from head to toe before finally letting out a sigh of relief.

But Nian Nian looked at Qin Jingchen's leg and cried even harder. Her little face was covered in tears, and she sobbed breathlessly, "Daddy, you're hurt. Your pants are ripped."

Qin Jingchen frowned briefly, then smoothed his expression just as quickly.

His knee was indeed aching terribly. When he fell, he had struck a rock halfway down. Based on his intuition, it was likely cut.

However, the wound was currently covered by the fabric of his trousers, along with dirt, leaves, and twigs, making it impossible to see clearly in the dark.

Qin Jingchen didn't bother cleaning the wound. Instead, he pretended everything was fine, stood up from the ground, and lowered his head to comfort his daughter: "It's alright, it's just the pants that are torn. It doesn't hurt at all."

Nian Nian sniffled and looked up at him, her eyes red-rimmed. "Really?"

Qin Jingchen nodded firmly, and Nian Nian finally stopped crying.

By now, the audience in the live stream was already frantic. The cameraman also asked from above, worriedly, "Mr. Qin, are you two okay?"

"We're fine. Help me bring Nian Nian up."

With the cameraman's help, the father and daughter soon ascended and continued their mission.

However, some meddlesome people had already gone to Su Wanning's live stream.

"Fearless Su, your husband and daughter fell down a slope!"

"Mr. Qin is even injured."

"Go and rescue them quickly!"

"Calling Fearless Su."

Upon seeing the comments, Su Wanning felt a rare moment of panic, but she quickly calmed down. She borrowed a phone from the cameraman to contact the other directors of the show. Only after confirming that both Qin Jingchen and her daughter were fine did she let out a sigh of relief.

"Why are you people coming here to spread false information?"

"Who knew you'd be so calm? Are they even your real husband and daughter?"