Chapter 100: Child Protection Rules

Lin Yifan looked at that little girl with messy hair, about four or five years old, and it was simply a bolt from the blue.

He never expected that a child would actually appear here!

But looking at the little girl's appearance, one could tell without thinking that she must be Hong Shaoqiang's daughter.

Because the father and daughter look extremely alike, both having big eyes with double eyelids; the only difference is probably that Hong Shaoqiang has a square face while his daughter has an oval face.

Fortunately, their face shapes differ; otherwise, if she truly grew to look like Hong Shaoqiang, he'd probably be depressed again!

But how did this child get in here?

Upon seeing Lin Yifan's expression, Hong Shaoqiang knew what he was thinking.

He quickly gave a wry smile, shook his head, and said helplessly:

"I don't know what's going on either. When you summoned me, I and Xiao Hudie weren't together—she was inside the Shelter, I was outside chopping firewood—but for some reason, Xiao Hudie appeared beside me when I accepted the summon, and we were both summoned over."

He pulled Xiao Hudie out from behind him, pointed at Lin Yifan and Ruan Qingdan, and said:

"Xiao Hudie, this is your brother Yifan and Sister Qingdan—say hello quickly!"

"Hello, Brother Yifan!" Xiao Hudie tilted her head, curiously looking at Lin Yifan, and spoke in a childish voice.

Suddenly her eyes lit up again, she hopped over to Lin Yifan's side, and cheerfully said:

"I remember now—when I was sick earlier, Dad said you gave me my medicine to eat. Thank you, Brother; after I took your medicine, my illness got better!"

Lin Yifan's expression had originally been somewhat heavy, after all this is an Instance, and according to the Instance description, it is absolutely a highly dangerous Instance.

Even the few adults facing it could risk their lives, and now with a child in tow, the danger is even greater.

But seeing the soft, tender little girl smiling at him, Lin Yifan's heart involuntarily softened.

He let out a light sigh, reached out to ruffle Xiao Hudie's hair, took a few chestnuts from his pocket and handed them over, then said:

"Xiao Hudie's illness is gone—that's wonderful! Try the chestnuts I cooked; they're so sweet and fragrant!"

Xiao Hudie's eyes lit up at the sight of the chestnuts, she even couldn't help licking her lips, obviously eager to eat.

Yet even so, she didn't actively take the chestnuts; instead she stepped back half a step and softly said:

"Brother, I can't take it—I heard Dad say food is extremely precious. If you give me your food, you'll have nothing left to eat. I have the jerky Dad prepared, so you keep your food for yourself!"

Upon hearing that, Lin Yifan's heart softened a bit more; he directly shoved the chestnuts into her hand and said, amused:

"That's for others—I'm not short on food. Take it and eat it; just be good and listen."

Xiao Hudie then turned her head to look at Hong Shaoqiang, showing a questioning expression.

Hong Shaoqiang then said, "Xiao Hudie, since Brother Yifan gave it to you, you should accept it! But remember to say thank you!"

"Thank you, Brother Yifan!" Xiao Hudie then happily took the chestnuts, and then greeted Ruan Qingdan with a smiling gaze:

"Hello, Sister Qingdan! I also heard my dad mention you—you're really beautiful!"

Ruan Qingdan also immediately smiled, her eyes crinkling; after a moment's hesitation, she took off a strawberry hair clip from her head, clipped it onto Xiao Hudie's hair, and said with a smile:

"Xiao Hudie is also very pretty; this strawberry hair clip was a gift from my sister's mother. Now my sister gives it to you, hoping you'll always stay this happy!"

Seeing this hair clip, both Lin Yifan and Hong Shaoqiang felt somewhat moved.

In the Survival Realm, although survival is not easy, as long as one is willing to strive, there is still a way to have enough food and warm clothing.

Similar technological products can only be obtained from Treasure Chests, but so far, what has been obtained from Treasure Chests has basically been survival supplies.

Such ornamental small items are basically rare.

Moreover, this is a keepsake left by relatives, yet Ruan Qingdan readily gave it to the child, which shows she is a pure‑kind and generous person.

Choosing such a person as a teammate always makes one feel more at ease.

And Hong Shaoqiang couldn't help but speak up:

"Sister Qingdan, we can't accept this—it's too precious; a child could easily lose it..."

"Oh, come on, it's just a hair clip—what's precious about it?" Ruan Qingdan waved her hand impatiently, then sighed:

"We've come to this Ghost World, where there's no guarantee of tomorrow—aside from staying alive, what else could be precious?"

"Xiao Hudie is just a little kid; surviving in this world is harder for her than for us adults, but no matter what, children are the hope of our Human."

"So I gave her the hair clip, also wishing she could grow up well; only then can Human possibly continue to reproduce in this world."

Upon mentioning this topic, everyone present's expression inevitably grew somewhat heavy.

Still, Hong Shaoqiang's mood was a bit better; he spoke calmly:

"As for the issue of Human reproduction, let's not worry about it! I previously learned roughly that children under 16 will survive together with one of their parents, and it's always the physically stronger parent, so the survival rate of children is still quite high."

"However, I was summoned here to run Instances, yet the child also ended up coming along—this is a bit puzzling."

"It should be similar to a binding situation." Lin Yifan thought for a moment and speculated:

"Probably because children are too young and lack survival ability, the Survival Realm has a certain protection mechanism for them—for example, binding with a guardian, becoming the guardian's attachment, so the two cannot be too far apart."

His speculation wasn't baseless; he just checked and saw that of the three summoning slots for teammates, only two have been used, and the last slot shows as discarded.

This shows that Xiao Hudie does not occupy a summoning slot, so she can only be an attachment of Hong Shaoqiang.

Such a protection mechanism that binds minors with adults generally increases the minors' survival rate somewhat, which can be considered humane.

However, bringing a child into this Instance is quite a hassle.

But since things have come to this, there's no other option—we can only take it step by step.

Moreover, Dungeon Time is limited; even when the Dungeon Time expires one can leave the Instance, but the Dungeon Transfer Item is something that comes from a Purple Treasure Chest.

Clearly, the opportunity to run Instances is also quite rare, so if we can clear it, Lin Yifan naturally also wants to clear this Instance.