After arriving in Antarctica and regaining consciousness when his fear value gradually dropped to zero, Yuan Shanxiao found himself on top of a snow mountain. He was seated inside a floating, makeshift safe house that seemed to have been set up at some point unknown.

The temperature here was bone-chillingly cold, but the thick Jujutsu energy inside the safe house swirled like the sea, warming up the place like a heater solving the low temperature issue.

The air was so thin that it stifled his throat and made breathing laborious, but reaching out his hand, he found an oxygen tank—and upon further searching, he also found blankets, pillows, compressed biscuits, insecticide, and cockroach killer—

Yuan Shanxiao: …

What do I need insecticide and cockroach killer for in Antarctica…

Though he thought this, his fingers unconsciously stroked the familiar half-empty bottle of insecticide, and a smile crept onto his face without his realizing.

He was a bit too thoughtful while unconscious, wasn’t he?

Yuan Shanxiao wasn’t surprised he could reach Antarctica directly this time. Last time, because his fear value was only half of this time’s, he had woken up midway on a scientific research ship, and as soon as he regained consciousness, he was too scared to manage anything and had fled back.

But this time, Yuan Shanxiao was sufficiently scared that it felt like he merely blinked—

Before closing his eyes, he thought, “I’d rather die than not reach Antarctica.”

When he opened them again, his fear value had dissipated, and not only had he arrived in Antarctica, but he also found himself in a “five-star hotel.”

His unconscious self had arranged everything in this safe house, from fast food and water to medicine and fuel.

Yuan Shanxiao could wrap inanimate objects in his space, using it like a mustard seed space. Because he could choose to “hide” or “reveal” his space at will, unless he wanted it to be visible, the items stored inside wouldn’t always follow him around taking up space.

It seems storing 99 types of apocalypse survival items in advance was useful.

Opportunity favors the prepared!

Because space can store things anytime, and items like water and food could spoil, Yuan Shanxiao didn’t store much of those, nor did he only prepare uncomfortable, hard-to-swallow Russian canned goods.

Looking at the array of snacks and a row of cola cans he had, and some snacks he’d “borrowed” from Gojo Satoru’s office without knowing when.

Yuan Shanxiao nodded in satisfaction.

Not bad.

He has developed less than one percent of his technique.

————

Once Yuan Shanxiao had settled his Antarctic safe house and cleaned himself up from all the blood, he finally sat down to eat a refreshing meal. He then had the leisure to start thinking about past events—

About Gojo Satoru.

Yuan Shanxiao wasn’t pondering the plans the man he encountered had for Gojo Satoru.

He was thinking about Gojo Satoru himself.

That plan could easily be investigated if he wanted, but on one hand, he’d definitely encounter various frightening things during his investigation, and on the other, was there a need to investigate? Was there a need to start a horror film-like solo adventure and then face a terrifying plot twist alone?

Yuan Shanxiao had already experienced a “door-killing” once. He was just a cannon fodder character, not supposed to have such dramatic plot involvement.

So, Yuan Shanxiao dutifully planned to avoid anything that looked like a bad main line from a horror film.

So right now, Yuan Shanxiao was simply thinking about Gojo Satoru.

Gojo Satoru was very strong, and the people at Tokyo Jujutsu High had instilled this notion in him, so Yuan Shanxiao also vaguely felt this way.

But the man he met today was also very strong. Not just in terms of Jujutsu skills, but his planning and strategies seemed very sharp, able to find the only chance to catch him, set up a deadly trap based on his weakness (being timid), and then, after he solved the trap, smoothly negotiate and end up with a binding agreement that still favored that man.

That stitched-up man seemed even scarier. Stronger?

Because Yuan Shanxiao never had his fear value rise so high when facing Gojo Satoru.

Thinking back, it would have been good if he could have just killed that stitched-up man right then.

Although Yuan Shanxiao sighed, he probably knew he couldn’t do it. Just facing that stitched-up man had made his fear value skyrocket to a level where he couldn’t control his sanity. If he continued facing him, could he remain conscious before killing the man?

This train of thought ended, and Yuan Shanxiao’s thoughts returned to Gojo Satoru.

The strongest…

In such a world, as Gojo Satoru said, only the “strongest” could make him feel secure.

If he was the “strongest,” and also the “least likely to harm him,” then—

But it was still unclear whether he was the “strongest” and “least likely to harm him.” It seemed he needed to ascertain this before he could truly relax—

Relax and do what?

Yuan Shanxiao wasn’t sure. He felt like a ferocious dog carrying a leash, anxiously searching for someone to hand the other end of the leash to.

His anxiety stemmed from being deeply entrenched in a world like a massive escape horror film, from the uncertain dangers to himself, from the many unclear and agitating particles.

Logically, he should cast a wide net, fish more broadly, to find reliable people.

But now, he seemed only to be scrutinizing and vetting Gojo Satoru because—

“I won’t make you a door, Yuan.”

“I will be the one who takes you out.”

“Bang—”

When a sharp booming shockwave tore through the air, Yuan Shanxiao suddenly came to his senses and looked up, just as a bright blue Jujutsu energy beam headed straight for his face.

Yuan Shanxiao: …

“This doorbell sounds a bit scary, huh…”

————

As Gojo Satoru followed the electronic map towards Antarctica, Yuan Shanxiao was meditating in Antarctica.

As Gojo Satoru raced across the Pacific, braving the harsh, cold damp winds, Yuan Shanxiao was laying out his bed in a heated safe house, then patting the dry and warm bedding before comfortably sliding himself in with a satisfied sigh.

While Gojo Satoru was splashed by a suddenly leaping killer whale (although magically shielded from getting wet), Yuan Shanxiao was nestled in bed opening a can of dried fish, clumsily splashing oil all over his face.

By the time Gojo Satoru finally reached Antarctica—despite his long journey across hemispheres that left him slightly out of breath, his chest rising and falling, his lips parting slightly to emit puffs of white breath. His uniform even had frost on it, icy cold, with white hair and lashes, and the white distant mountains behind him seemed to blend him into the landscape with a stern chill.

But when he looked up, he saw the warmth of all seasons.

Heating pads, warm stoves, warm hand covers, chips, cola, snack bowls.

And—

A young man with chip crumbs on his lips, face smeared with uncleaned oil, covered in a blanket, warm and cozy, holding a phone and snapping pictures to post online.

Gojo Satoru: …

When Gojo Satoru finally saw the young man, his breath still slightly labored, his lips unconsciously lifted at the corners by a few pixels, then he quickly suppressed the upward curve of his mouth. Just clapping his hands gently, he caught the young man’s sidelong glance, his palms parting again.

Maximum Jujutsu output—

“Blue”

“So don’t eat in bed—”

Because of this, the “Blue” that directly sliced off the mountainside behind him faced Yuan Shanxiao: …

It was obvious he was very strong.

Just don’t know why he always seemed angry.

“It’s not like I dirtied Gojo-sensei’s bed…”

Why so angry—

Um, he seems even angrier now.

So why—

“Don’t use killer whales to scare me—”

————

Yuan Shanxiao got a beating.

Although he kindly and warmly invited his teacher to visit his Antarctic safe house and watch the aurora—then he was beaten until he fled across Antarctica, becoming another kind of aurora.

It’s not that he was scared, after all, it’s normal for a student to be afraid of his teacher, right…

But Yuan Shanxiao also noticed, no matter how scary Gojo Satoru seemed, no matter how sincerely he swallowed hard and twisted his fingers when Gojo Satoru chased him, he never once felt that kind of fear value warning in his heart.

Only once, when Gojo Satoru was holding a killer whale—somehow making it open its mouth wide enough to swallow ten of him, about to drop it over his head.

Yuan Shanxiao: …

Yuan Shanxiao knelt crisply on the ground, and finally heard a familiar prompt in his heart.

【Fear Value 1%】

Is it because he’s not afraid of Gojo Satoru?

Why?

Because he feels Gojo Satoru won’t harm him?

Whenever Yuan Shanxiao thought this way, he could turn back to see the white-haired man stroking his chin, pondering what to use to scare him next.

Yuan Shanxiao: …

“So don’t mistreat animals…”

“Cursed spirits, even less so—so don’t mistreat me either—”

…

Gojo Satoru’s purpose this time was to bring the young man back. Old Tangerine had already been scolded by him, and the barrier of Tokyo Jujutsu High had been strengthened; at least for now, it was a safe place for the young man.

After beating the young man, Gojo Satoru expertly grabbed the collar of his shirt and flew back with him, all the while murmuring coldly something like, “How does finding your moonlight taste?”

“Wait till we get back, I’m putting a GPS on you to see if a certain problem student dares to skip class again—”

“So you really think Antarctica is safer than Tokyo Jujutsu High, huh? Tokyo Jujutsu High has a barrier personally contributed to by Gojo-sensei, you know?” and so on.

Yuan Shanxiao searched for a gap in Gojo Satoru’s speech, and it took him half an hour to finally interrupt successfully, “Gojo-sensei—”

“Hmm?” The man holding his collar hummed through his nose. “I know something’s up the moment Yuan starts with ‘Sensei’—”

Yuan Shanxiao: …

“Gojo Satoru—”

“Slap.”

“I’m sorry, Gojo-sensei.” The young man calmly covered his freshly smacked head. “I have a question I want to ask you—”

“Speak.”

Gojo Satoru’s speed was very fast, even carrying a person he almost streaked through the air like a ray of light. This kind of speed should make it difficult for anyone to breathe, let alone speak.

But Yuan Shanxiao formed a sphere with his space wrapped around them both.

However, although this was very useful, now that he had already come to Antarctica once, the young man could easily set a teleportation path directly back to Tokyo Jujutsu High, only—

The young man didn’t mention it, and neither did Gojo Satoru mention that they could use space to teleport back.

Yuan Shanxiao was somewhat grateful for this, but not much; he was still being greedy.

“You know, I get scared easily—although I tend to become more formidable when I’m scared.”

“But if I get too scared—I might also lose my sanity. I can feel it, sometimes I’m on the verge of losing consciousness.”

Gojo Satoru, with his free hand to his lips, pondered, “Hmm… that day when Yuan suddenly hugged my leg, it was indeed apparent that your mental state was a bit off.”

Since his usual mental state was quite off, Gojo Satoru had his suspicions but didn’t delve deeply into how much more off it could be,

“Is that so—” The young man drew out his words, stretching his shoulders casually with one hand, his tone light and even humorous. “So it’s like that kind? Scared to the extreme, maybe undergoing a species transformation. From human to cursed spirit—”

Yuan Shanxiao originally wanted to ask, “If I lose consciousness and become an enemy, what would Gojo Satoru do?” But upon hearing the young man’s latter analogy, “from human to cursed spirit,” his response quickly changed, and the young man quickly said, “If I turn into a cursed spirit, no matter what, hurry up and kill me. Such a disgusting thing, even if it’s me—no, adding my soul would only make it more disgusting. If I turn into a cursed spirit, Sensei, please hurry up and kill me.”

Gojo Satoru, who was just making an analogy to ease his student’s mood: …

“The one asking questions shouldn’t divert the topic himself, kid!”

Yuan Shanxiao was swinging his hand trying to cover his head, about to be hit by Gojo Satoru again, when the young man’s fingers deftly turned, and then—

“I will save you.”

The curved knuckles gently tapped on the young man’s exposed forehead, as if sticking there.

“…”

The young man’s hand on his head stiffened for a moment, then slowly lowered his eyes, his lips pursed, then he heard—

“Although you’re a coward, troublemaker, and occasionally steal the ice cream I just put in my snack cabinet and cause trouble that makes me cross half the globe to fetch a truant student—but no matter how useless, you’re still my student, Gojo Satoru—so I will save you.”

Yuan Shanxiao: …

The prefix was a bit too long, right?

And, the ice cream in the snack cabinet was put there by him!

The young man suddenly felt suffocated and dropped his hand, his bangs falling back over his forehead after the young man removed his hand from his head, casting shadows over his already dimly lit downturned eyes.

“I will also save Gojo-sensei.”

“…Huh?”

“No matter what situation—” The young man said, thinking of something, his mouth curving up, his tone leisurely rising.

“Because a promise has been made—”

“If I go to save Gojo Satoru at the moment you guys are about to do something to him, then I—”

Will not reincarnate, soul annihilated.

That was what Yuan Shanxiao wanted to share with Gojo Satoru right after he had escaped and hugged Gojo Satoru’s leg.

But he was interrupted at that time, and now, having regained his senses, he also remembered that Gojo Satoru didn’t seem very supportive of him wanting his soul annihilated and going back.

So now, he couldn’t say that.

What he could say was—

“I will definitely go save you. Gojo-sensei.”

The young man’s fingers clutching the back collar of the young man’s white shirt unintentionally tensed, veins bulging into his forearm. Gojo Satoru seemed to purse his lips, then turned his face away.

“No matter if it’s the ends of the earth or the corners of the sea, the upmost reaches—”* The young man’s voice, reciting cheesy lines remembered from novels, suddenly cut off.

Because Gojo Satoru’s tightened fingers slowly relaxed again. Then—

He gave the unprotected young man a head knock.

“Don’t think I don’t know that those novels Li Xiang reads were sneakily stuffed there by you.”

Yuan Shanxiao: …

…He knows about that?

Does that mean Gojo-sensei also reads “Deep Love Rain XX”?