A breeze carrying floral scents swept past. It was winter here now. Although the temperature was not as extreme as in the apocalypse, the outdoor temperature was similar to autumn in the apocalypse.
Lu Heng looked at the trembling body below and rummaged through his spatial storage for a set of clothes, tossing them towards the youth.
"Put this on."
The youth pulled up the garment, fiddled with it for a long time, and then looked at Lu Heng with a bewildered expression.
"What? Didn't you follow a human master? Why can't you wear clothes yet?" Lu Heng looked at the snow-white skin half-hidden by long hair and rubbed his forehead.
"Ying ying ying."
"Forget it. Drink this water first. Stop making those whimpering sounds; they make me uncomfortable." Lu Heng took out a cup of ancient well water from his spatial storage, then cut his finger and dripped blood into the cup.
The injured finger healed instantly after Lu Heng squeezed out a few drops of blood.
Lu Heng crouched down and offered the cup to the youth.
The youth did not take the cup. Instead, it stretched out its tongue from Lu Heng's hand and licked the water in the cup, maintaining its animalistic nature.
Seeing the youth disappear from its spot after just two licks, Lu Heng quickly waved his hand, collecting all the items on the ground into his spatial storage, and vanished with the blood wolf.
Just as they all disappeared, a small nose emerged from the grass not far from the cave. The nose twitched in the air, and then a tentative head poked out, looking around.
...
"Wuwuwu..."
As soon as he returned to his spatial storage, a low beastly sound reached Lu Heng's ears.
Lu Heng saw the youth, who had entered the spatial storage before him, now crouching in a corner, looking terrified and warily at the surrounding animals, letting out warning sounds towards Fatty Tiger and the others.
Fatty Tiger and the others formed a semicircular encirclement, cornering the youth, and were discussing it with great interest.
"Yo, we have a new companion." Because they were all bound by a contract, the contracted animals would sense it whenever Lu Heng contracted a new one.
Therefore, as soon as the little fox was contracted, the animals remaining in the spatial storage all returned to the apartment to watch the excitement.
"Yes, but why is it a human?" The cheetah sniffed the youth. "No, I smell our animal scent on him."
The black bear, sitting not far away, holding a honey pot and eating with gusto, rubbed its eyes and mumbled, "I guess I'm not awake yet. My hibernation times are irregular now. I should go back to sleep."
Yawning, the black bear picked up the honey pot and walked towards its room.
"I say, can't you feel that we are all companions? Why are you still whimpering?" Fatty Tiger squeezed in front of the youth, raising its right paw as if to pat the youth.
"Fatty Tiger! If you hit it with that paw, it'll be disfigured!"
Lu Heng saw Fatty Tiger's action and quickly called out to stop him. After all, this little fox was currently in human form and not wearing any clothes. Fatty Tiger's paw would definitely scratch its skin.
"Master, I just wanted to say hello. Besides, we're all beasts, how can we be so delicate?"
Pushing aside the beasts surrounding the little fox, Lu Heng walked to the youth and put a large T-shirt over its head. It was somewhat indecent to be naked like this.
"Come, I'll take you to take a bath, and we'll change your clothes later." Pulling the youth's hand, Lu Heng dragged the youth towards his room.
"Master." The youth, being pulled by Lu Heng, did not get up immediately. It knelt on the carpet, looking at Lu Heng hesitantly. "Master, I, I don't want to take a bath."
After being contracted, the little fox could communicate with Lu Heng telepathically. Therefore, the youth, being held by Lu Heng, no longer whimpered at him.
Lu Heng took out a chicken leg and dangled it in front of the youth. "I'll give you a chicken leg after your bath."
The youth sniffed the chicken leg. The meaty aroma infused with ancient well water tempted it.
"Okay." It nodded and stood up under Lu Heng's pull, although its walking posture was rather strange.
After a long time in the bathroom, Lu Heng finally had the youth transform into its fox form, so he felt no guilt washing it.
Using his wind ability to blow-dry the fox's fur, Lu Heng specifically added some fire ability to make the wind blowing on its skin slightly warm.
The little fox stood up comfortably, allowing Lu Heng to groom its fur.
"You're quite good at enjoying yourself." It was the first time Lu Heng had bathed this little fox, and he could tell that the fox disliked water.
"Alright, you eat something first, and then go meet your companions and get acquainted with them."
Wrapping the freshly bathed little fox in a towel, Lu Heng couldn't help but stroke its soft fur.
The texture was much better than Fatty Tiger's. The long fur felt very soft in his hands. During the bath, Lu Heng was surprised to find that this little fox had no stray hairs, only white fur.
"Let me give you a name. Otherwise, it'll be inconvenient for me to call you when you transform into human form." Lu Heng placed the little fox on the carpet in his room.
"If you don't take my surname, you can be called Lu Bai." This way, they could call each other brothers when they were out, which would be more convenient.
"Master, I'm hungry." The little fox looked at Lu Heng with its dark, glistening eyes.
Lu Heng brought out a basin of chicken legs and placed them in front of the little fox. The little fox immediately stepped forward to sniff them. Just as it was about to open its mouth to eat, Lu Heng seemed to remember something and quickly took away the raw meat.
"Try eating cooked food." Lu Heng planned to live outside with the little fox. Since it could transform into human form, it should get used to eating cooked food for convenience.
Under the little fox's puzzled gaze, Lu Heng picked it up and placed it on the bed. "Transform into human form, and I'll find you some clothes to wear. From now on, you'll transform into human form with me when we're outside."
The little fox nodded as if it understood, then it lay on the bed, its body trembling. Gradually, the appearance of a youth reappeared before Lu Heng.
Lu Heng took out a set of clothes and walked towards Lu Bai. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Lu Heng lifted the youth's long hair and twirled it in his hands. "The texture of your long hair is also nice, but the color is a bit strange for ancient times."
"What is ancient times?" The youth sat askew on the bed and asked Lu Heng.
"It's the past era. You'll need to study for a while to understand this. However, if you interact more with those outside, you'll learn a lot of new things." Lu Heng smiled and unconsciously stroked the youth's long hair.
"Alright, I've also been hungry all day. You accompany me for a meal first."
Lu Heng grabbed the clothes placed by the bedside and helped Lu Bai put them on one by one, teaching him as he went. He couldn't always help him wear these clothes; it was better for him to learn himself.