There were still quite a few rags in the car, so Lu Xi'an first replaced the ones in the box. The dirty ones weren't thrown away but were saved to be washed and reused.

Once they reached the Institute 923, all of these would be handed over to Luo Ping and the others, as they might find them useful for caring for the baby.

Lu Xi'an drove the car to the riverside, then stopped and carried the baby along with the box down there.

The mother wolf followed as well, relieving itself nearby, before obediently returning to the car.

Staying in the car was much more comfortable than being outside, and during meals, those two humans would always give it a bit to eat.

It wasn't much, but the important thing was that it didn't have to hunt for itself.

As the saying goes, no wild beast would be a slave unless there is food and shelter provided, this mother wolf understood that well.

The only downside of staying in the car was that sometimes that human would suddenly give it a slap.

But the mother wolf figured out that as long as its eyes were clear enough, the human wouldn't hit it.

Seeing how tactful the mother wolf was, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei both left it alone.

Lu Xi'an placed the box by the river, preparing to take the baby out to clean, but Yao Wei stopped him, saying, "Let me do it, you go fill the water tank."

Lu Xi'an replied, "You go fill the water instead, this job will get your hands dirty, leave it to me."

Yao Wei shook her head and said, "I need the practice; in the future, I have to care for our child."

"…"

For a moment, Lu Xi'an was speechless and could only listen to Yao Wei.

He went to the car to get a bucket, then circled to the other side of the car, opened the exterior panel of the water tank, unscrewed the cap, and poured the water from the bucket into the tank.

The RV's water tank was large enough that, when full, it could more than suffice for Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei to take showers, but they had used quite a lot before. Now, even after emptying the bucket, the tank was not full.

Lu Xi'an walked around the back of the car, planning to fetch more water from the river to pour in.

Upon stepping out, Lu Xi'an was stunned.

— His first sight upon emerging from behind the car was Yao Wei already having untied and removed the animal skin from the baby, holding the baby's arms and dipping its bottom into the river.

"Splash——"

The water flowed past the baby's bottom, turning slightly yellowish.

Lu Xi'an had no choice but to go upstream to fetch water, saying to Yao Wei, "You're washing like this…"

Yao Wei said, "I know my limits, I won't let his bottom touch any hard objects."

Lu Xi'an: "…"

The baby in Yao Wei's hands was already awake and seemed to find this quite amusing, laughing "gaga" joyously, shaking its head, occasionally looking down, and then lifting its head again to laugh "gaga."

Seeing how the baby itself was so delighted, Lu Xi'an closed his mouth and refrained from commenting further.

He filled up with water, then took the bucket to refill the RV's water tank.

After going back and forth twice and refilling the water tank, he filled the bucket with water again and placed it in the car.

When he came out again, Yao Wei had already finished cleaning the baby, wiped it with some scraps of cloth, re-wrapped it in the animal skin, and put it back in the box.

She intended to wash the scraps of cloth that had been replaced, but was stopped by Lu Xi'an.

"Let me do this. You take the child onto the car."

Lu Xi'an said, crouching down to wash them.

Yao Wei had no choice but to carry the box back onto the car.

To be honest, Lu Xi'an was a bit disgusted by washing these dirty rags, so he stretched his arms straight while cleaning to keep the cloth far from himself.

Out in the open, there was no detectable stench, but he inexplicably felt as if the stench somehow reached his nose.

He thought that if it were his own child, he probably wouldn't be this disgusted. For now, he needed to endure it—by the time they reached the Institute 923, he wouldn't have to worry about the child anymore.

The car door was left open for a while to air out, and after Lu Xi'an finished washing the cloth, he hung it all up on the rack by the bed.

Taking this opportunity, he also washed his and Yao Wei's clothes, tied a rope across the car's windows on either side, creating a clothesline, and then hung the clothes upon it.

Thus, inside the RV, apart from resources and the child, there were also drying clothes, a mother wolf huddled in the corner, and three wolf cubs.

Before reaching the Institute 923, they didn't plan on sleeping in the bed at the back.

The baby had already had another meal of the mother wolf's milk. After Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei tidied everything up, they set off, heading southwards.

As they traversed the mountain road, they saw the rock sheep once more.

This time, instead of being opposite or below, the sheep were on the cliff above the mountain road on their side.

This made hunting easier for Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei.

They didn't miss the opportunity, Lu Xi'an parked the car, and Yao Wei quickly shot the rock sheep down with a short arrow, tied it to the roof, and off they went.

They traveled through Yubei City and entered Pingchuan City, stopping in the afternoon to deal with the rock sheep.

After a hearty meal, they planned not to eat again until they reached the Institute 923.

The mother wolf, too, enjoyed a good meal with Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei, with Lu Xi'an carving out a large chunk of meat for it to gnaw on, sharing a fair portion of the innards.

While the two humans sat nearby roasting their meat over a fire, the mother wolf squatted on the other side gnawing at its share, whimpering as it went, perhaps thinking that joining these two humans was the best decision of its life; a few slaps were a trivial matter.

After dinner, night had fallen, and having finished its meal, the mother wolf even carried a bone back onto the car, seemingly for a casual snack.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei left it be, and when it placed the bone securely and lay flat on its side, they took the baby from the box and nestled it in its belly.

This time, the mother wolf was particularly compliant, even nudging its own three pups to make the best spot for the baby.

"That wolf really knows the drill."

Lu Xi'an couldn't help but comment.

"Mm."

Yao Wei nodded.

The two watched as the mother wolf lay back down, resting its head on the bone, nursing the wolf pups and the baby. Only when the baby was completely satisfied and stopped feeding did she pick the baby up.

"Burp—"

The baby let out a satisfied burp, smacking its lips twice, looking quite content.

Yao Wei planned to put the baby down, but Lu Xi'an suddenly remembered something and said, "Wait a moment, I remember seeing it before, I think babies need to be burped after they eat."

He had seen it once at a relative's house.

A relative had a newborn, and he went with his parents to visit. He saw the nanny burping the baby after it ate, saying it was beneficial or something? He couldn't remember, but felt it was always a good idea to burp the baby.

"How do you do it?"

Yao Wei asked. She was eager to learn anything about childcare, soaking up knowledge like a sponge. She thought this was a rare opportunity to practice with a baby; she needed to learn quickly to care for her own child one day.

Using her own child for practice, Yao Wei felt she couldn't bear to do so.

—Even though she didn't have any children yet.

"Let me try."

Lu Xi'an said as he took the baby from Yao Wei's hands, then rested the baby on his shoulder, supporting it properly, gently patting its back.

"Be careful, don't burp him to death."

Yao Wei reminded.

Lu Xi'an laughed and replied, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Yao Wei recalled what she said when cleaning the baby's bottom and laughed along.

"Let me think... it was something like this..."

Lu Xi'an tried to recall the nanny's actions from his vague, distant memory while using his strong body control to replicate it on the baby in his arms.

He gently patted the baby's back from bottom to top. As he did, he could feel this little baby's fragility.

Being so small and not a Type A Neo-Human, this baby was incredibly delicate. He figured that just a bit more force could easily harm the little one.

So Yao Wei's reminder actually made a lot of sense.

"Pat-pat-pat—pat-pat-pat—"

The motion of patting from bottom to top formed a complete cycle. Lu Xi'an lightly patted, round after round, until the baby let out another full burp.

Lu Xi'an smiled and said, "See, it does work."

"Mm."

Yao Wei nodded, "Let me try."

She had been watching closely as Lu Xi'an burped the baby, paying attention to every detail of his actions, committing them to memory.

So when she took the baby back from Lu Xi'an, she mimicked his pose, holding the baby upright against her, with his head resting on her shoulder.

"Pat-pat-pat—pat-pat-pat—"

"Burp—"

The baby was burped for a few rounds before letting out another full burp.

In the corner, the mother wolf was watching Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei the whole time, a hint of confusion in her eyes.

But as she watched, she subconsciously tried to copy them, lifting her head and bending her neck, patting her wolf pups with her paw.

The three wolf pups had finished nursing and were sound asleep, but the pats woke them up, one by one. They raised their heads, looking bewildered.

"That should about do it."

After the baby let out another burp, Lu Xi'an said.

Yao Wei then intended to put the baby back in the box.

However, just then, Dog's electronic synthesized voice suddenly sounded from the camper's speakers, "Attention, the baby is about to excrete."

Lu Xi'an quickly opened the door and said to Yao Wei, "Here, give him to me."

Yao Wei had no experience, so she hurriedly handed the baby to Lu Xi'an.

She followed Lu Xi'an out of the car, watching him squat down. He adjusted the baby, and after the baby finished urinating, he handed the baby back. She mimicked Lu Xi'an's squat, steadying herself, and asked, "Is this right?"

"Yes, that's correct."

Lu Xi'an said, and then they both got back in the car.

Yao Wei placed the baby back in the box, while Lu Xi'an praised Dog: "Thank you, Dog, that was timely."

Dog replied, "You're welcome, your instructions are absolutely followed by Mechanical Dog 02. Mechanical Dog 02 sincerely at your service."

Hmm...

It's reminding us of its name again.

Should I start calling it Mechanical Dog 02?

But it just doesn't sound right...

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