Chapter 60
The forest was a vibrant tapestry of red, yellow, and green, the autumn foliage painting the mountains in a multitude of colors.
The sun shone brightly, its rays filtering through the gaps between the trees, illuminating the falling leaves.
Shi Nuo walked up the mountainside, the sound of crunching leaves under his feet, his gaze scanning the forest floor.
He carried the energetic wolf cub in a baby carrier strapped to his chest. At eight months old, Wu Wu was quite heavy, having grown considerably larger, its limbs thicker and stronger.
The cub was well-behaved, not fussing or squirming, its back pressed against Shi Nuo’s chest, its head resting against his shoulder as it curiously observed its surroundings.
Unlike the white wolf’s icy blue eyes, Wu Wu’s were dark, large, and bright, filled with an inquisitive gleam.
This wasn’t its first time outside, but it was its first time in the forest, their previous outings confined to the plains near the house.
When Shi Nuo craved mushrooms in autumn, Hugh would usually gather some and bring them back.
The forest was full of birds, and as the large white wolf led the way, its powerful pheromones radiating outwards, the birds scattered, taking flight, other small animals also fleeing quickly.
With Wu Wu present, Hugh was even more cautious.
Shi Nuo reached the top of the slope, slightly out of breath from carrying the heavy cub. He leaned against a tree to rest, then looked down at Wu Wu, a smile in his eyes.
He found a patch of mushrooms, bent down, picked a light green one, and showed it to the cub. “Mushroom. This is a mushroom.”
The cub batted at the mushroom with its paw, then let out a series of happy gurgles and sounds, “Woo, goo goo!”
“Yes, mushroom. So smart,” Shi Nuo chuckled, seeing that the mushroom was clean, he held it near Wu Wu’s paw, letting it play with it.
Hugh Elvis, having shifted back into his human form, was wearing a dark gray shirt, black pants, and boots. He picked up the wicker basket they had brought and began gathering mushrooms.
The mushroom season was almost over, and although they could buy cultivated mushrooms on other planets, this light green variety was unique to this forest, not found anywhere else, so he wanted to gather as many as possible to dry and store for winter, to make soup for Shi Nuo and Wu Wu.
The fried light green mushrooms were incredibly delicious, their fresh, earthy scent subtle yet distinct.
Wu Wu twitched its nose, as if trying to identify the smell.
Shi Nuo patiently held the mushroom for it to sniff, then, looking at a nearby patch of berries, picked up another basket. “I’ll take Wu Wu to pick some berries,” he said.
“Mm. Don’t go too far,” Hugh replied.
Wu Wu’s fluffy white tail wagged excitedly.
As Shi Nuo bent down to pick some purple-red berries, the cub, smelling the familiar scent, having tasted similar berries in juice before, whimpered and opened its mouth, wanting some.
“Not yet. We’ll eat them when we get back,” Shi Nuo chuckled.
“Awoo—” Wu Wu protested, its small voice filled with disappointment.
Shi Nuo kissed its head, and the cub settled down.
But as he bent down again to pick more berries, Wu Wu, lower to the ground, quickly snatched two from the branch.
Shi Nuo tried to stop it, but the cub held on tight, and with a pop, the berries came off the branch and disappeared into its mouth.
They weren’t even wiped clean, let alone washed, and Shi Nuo tried to pry them out of the cub’s mouth.
The crushed berries released their juice, staining the white fur around Wu Wu’s mouth.
Shi Nuo sighed, giving up. His hands were also stained with berry juice; he couldn’t put his fingers in the cub’s mouth.
“Such a greedy little mouth,” he chuckled, wiping the cub’s mouth and his own hands with a baby wipe.
He continued picking berries, this time keeping one hand over Wu Wu’s mouth to prevent it from grabbing any more.
Wu Wu tried to dodge his hand, turning its head left and right, but its efforts were futile. Initially, it was annoyed, its paws batting at the air, but then it seemed to realize it was a game and started making playful sounds.
Wu Wu was still too young to eat too many berries, and afraid it would grab more when he wasn’t looking, Shi Nuo moved away from the berry bushes after picking a few.
Hugh quickly filled a basket with mushrooms and another with berries.
A flash of white light, and the giant wolf appeared, much to Wu Wu’s delight.
The white wolf approached Shi Nuo and nudged the cub gently with its nose, and Wu Wu, wagging its tail excitedly, let out a long, happy howl.
“Woo—” the white wolf responded softly, and seeing that Wu Wu was satisfied, turned and picked up the two baskets, which had been tied together.
Shi Nuo stepped onto the wolf’s thick tail, using it as a step to climb onto its back, checked that the baby carrier was secure, and then said with a smile, “Let’s go home.”
The white wolf started running, its pace quickening as they left the forest, its speed increasing until it was a blur of white against the autumn foliage.
Wu Wu, unafraid, even excited, kicked its legs in the air, as if imitating its father’s running.
In the afternoon, the autumn sun streamed in through the windows, the house warm and clean.
The large white wolf lay on the rug, its eyes closed, its massive body radiating a powerful, almost oppressive, presence.
However, the other white creature on the rug seemed unaffected.
Wu Wu, having woken from its nap, rolled over and, seeing its father, tried to stand up, its legs, though thicker now, still wobbly, and it promptly fell over after taking two steps.
It could crawl now, and it could even stand for a short while, holding onto something, occasionally taking a few unsteady steps, but its legs weren’t strong enough yet for proper walking.
The rug was thick, cushioning its fall, and it stubbornly pushed itself up, crawling towards its father.
It climbed onto the white wolf’s foreleg, as if wanting to prove something, its movements silent and determined, not its usual playful, whimpering approach, reaching the top of the leg and pausing to rest.
Then, using the leg as leverage, it tried to climb onto the wolf’s head.
Its small claws dug into the wolf’s fur, its legs kicking, and the giant wolf, with a sigh, finally opened its eyes.
It ignored the cub’s persistent efforts, its gaze fixed on Wu Wu, its expression a mixture of amusement and resignation.
It took Wu Wu almost twenty minutes to reach the top, its determination unwavering, despite sliding down several times.
Perched between the wolf’s ears, Wu Wu, feeling triumphant, looked up and let out a series of proud little sounds, “Mm, mm!”
Shi Nuo, emerging from the kitchen, saw this scene.
He was surprised and, instinctively opening his optical brain, quickly took a few pictures, then asked with a smile, “Did you let him climb up there?”
“He did it himself. He insisted,” Hugh’s tone was laced with amusement.
“Wu Wu,” the cub looked at Shi Nuo and made a sound, different from its usual howls and whimpers, more like a human baby’s babbling.
It knew it had accomplished something impressive, and it knew its name. It wanted to be praised.
“Good job, Wu Wu,” Shi Nuo, understanding its intention, praised it readily.
Beastmen, their physiology complex, could learn to speak even in their cub forms, as long as their vocal cords developed properly.
Shi Nuo walked over, lifted the cub from Hugh’s head, and gently poked its nose. “So mischievous, climbing on your father’s head.”
He placed Wu Wu on the rug and went back to the kitchen. He hadn’t heard any sounds earlier and had assumed the cub was still asleep.
Seeing the bottle in his father’s hand, Wu Wu grinned, showing its gums, and crawled towards the edge of the rug.
Shi Nuo hurried over, picked it up, and sat on the sofa, feeding it.
At eight months old, Wu Wu was larger than most cubs its age, its appetite also bigger. It always ate well, stopping when full, never fussy.
Hugh, shifting back into his human form, didn’t disturb them, and after opening his terminal, intending to resume his studies, he looked up and said, “We haven’t dried the mushrooms and berries yet. Should we do that now?”
“Yes,” Shi Nuo replied, adjusting the bottle in Wu Wu’s paws.
Hugh activated the household robot, which was charging in its compartment in the wall.
A narrow door opened in the west wall of the living room, and a silver-white robot emerged, its design understated, its metallic surface non-reflective.
Following Shi Nuo’s preference, he hadn’t bought a humanoid robot, opting for a more mechanical design, less…uncanny.
Shi Nuo glanced at the robot as it entered the storage room, where the washed mushrooms and berries, and the food dehydrator, were located.
The humming of machinery soon filled the air.
Wu Wu twitched its ears, its attention still mostly on its bottle, having grown accustomed to the sound of the dehydrator.
Before activating the robot, Hugh had replaced its core chip with one programmed by Long Xu, its operating system now controlled by him.
There was also a smaller robot in the livestock greenhouse, responsible for monitoring the systems and the automated feeding and cleaning processes, requiring minimal input from them.
The two greenhouses provided them with enough vegetables and meat for their daily needs.
The fish and shrimp ponds were also thriving, and they had harvested a portion, leaving the rest to continue growing. Hugh had even experimented with making dried fish and shrimp, exploring new flavors.
They could still go out to buy supplies in the winter, but having a stockpile of food was not only a practical precaution but also a source of comfort for Shi Nuo.
Unlike when it was a newborn, Wu Wu, now older, demanded constant attention when awake, sometimes requiring both of them to entertain it, though it rarely cried at night, its sleep schedule mostly aligned with theirs.
Shi Nuo was grateful for this, for the cub’s generally good nature.
He occasionally worried about the lack of social interaction for Wu Wu, wondering if it would affect the cub’s development.
The cub grew quickly, and soon, two more snowfalls marked the passage of time.
A thick layer of snow covered the plains, the landscape a pristine white.
Several snowmen, large and small, stood in front of the house, the largest and most perfectly round one built by Long Xu.
Wu Wu, having seen Long Xu and heard its voice since it was a newborn, had grown accustomed to the mecha’s occasional appearances and would even try to climb onto it, its efforts futile, its small body dwarfed by the giant machine.
On the screen, the small white wolf, its fur the same color as the snow, naked, took unsteady steps across the snow-covered ground, its excitement evident. It suddenly jumped, lost its balance, and tumbled headfirst into the deep snow.
The combined snowfall from the two storms had created a deep layer, and only Wu Wu’s hind legs and tail remained visible.
It yelped, its muffled cries a mixture of surprise and distress, its body wriggling, its legs kicking, and Hugh, reacting faster than Shi Nuo, rushed outside and pulled it out by its hind legs.
Shi Nuo closed the video playback, unable to suppress his laughter. He had been trying to capture Wu Wu’s first steps in the snow, not expecting the cub to faceplant so dramatically.
Hugh, holding the cub, patted its back reassuringly.
At ten months old, Wu Wu was much larger now, the difference in size more apparent when Shi Nuo took it from Hugh. He smiled and nuzzled the cub. “It’s just snow. Nothing to be afraid of.”
The plump cub, even without clothes, had a thick coat of fur to protect it from the cold.
Wu Wu nuzzled its head against his chin and neck, whimpering softly, and Shi Nuo held it close, soothing it.
When his arms grew tired, he handed Wu Wu back to Hugh.
The man was still dressed lightly, but his hands were warm, and the cub, nuzzling his chin, wagging its tail, settled down contentedly, its head resting on Hugh’s shoulder.
“It’s not scared anymore. Just lazy. Doesn’t want to walk,” Shi Nuo chuckled, knowing his son’s antics.
Hugh Elvis smiled softly and continued holding Wu Wu.
The cub, snuggled comfortably in his arms, was suddenly hit by something and yelped, turning its head to see what it was.
Shi Nuo, holding two snowballs, grinned and threw another one, hitting the cub gently.
“Awoo!” Wu Wu growled playfully, trying to intimidate its father.
Hugh bent down, scooped up a handful of snow, and, still holding the cub with one arm, threw the snowball at Shi Nuo.
“Woo!” Wu Wu cheered for its father.
It had witnessed snowball fights during the first snowfall, but too small to participate, it had simply observed, its excited yelps and growls always directed at whoever was holding it at the time.
Shi Nuo wasn’t interested in a snowball fight today. Wu Wu was getting heavy, and holding the cub while throwing snowballs would be tiring.
Their laughter and playful growls echoed through the snowy landscape, dispelling the cold.
This winter passed quickly. In the middle of the fourth month, Wu Wu officially turned twelve months old, one year old according to their previous way of measuring time.
Hugh made a small birthday cake, and the cub, tilting its head, watched curiously as they blew out the candles.
After tasting the sweet frosting for the first time, its eyes widened in surprise.
But it couldn’t have too much, and as Shi Nuo and Hugh quickly ate the cake, Wu Wu, not to be left out, crawled towards them, pawing at their mouths, only giving up when it realized the cake was gone.
With winter drawing to a close, Hugh Elvis, no longer studying, went on a supply run, bringing back a large quantity of formula, clothes, and toys for Wu Wu.
The next day, he carefully checked all the systems and equipment in the house and greenhouses, eliminating any potential hazards. He also thoroughly inspected the intelligent system, ensuring everything was functioning properly.
Shi Nuo knew he was preparing to leave.
The words of farewell were difficult to speak, even though they had discussed this many times.
Hugh Elvis returned from the basement after replacing the energy crystal and met Shi Nuo’s gaze, the Omega waiting patiently in the living room.
