Spending months' worth of time under the same roof with your lover without being able to go all the way with them was a new type of hell Shen Yuan never thought he would experience in life. On one hand, he rather kept staying in the inn, but on the other hand, it would be a waste spending the time by himself.
Ji Zhixuan spent most of his day outside for work but he only left after they had breakfast together and always came home before dinner. During the afternoon, he would be the one visiting him at his office or wherever place he was to eat together.
With the business lord himself 'sponsoring' him, he didn't need to spend a single copper in any of the shops under him. Ji Zhixuan also loaded Maid Lin with money and check slips in case he wanted to buy something in other places.
Even without him actively looking for information, Ji Zhixuan had all the updates he needed and their credibility didn't need to be questioned. He made sure to tell him the recent news in their meals, so he didn't even need to ask.
He was basically on a paid vacation.
His favorite place to go was the arena where he could observe and study how activators and catalysts fight. It was there he found that the strength of the catalyst was as important as the activator.
The higher the level of both a catalyst and an activator, the more powerful their base strength was. A single diamond of a 2-star catalyst carried lesser energy than a single diamond of a 3-star catalyst. Same with activators.
Another thing about activators was that even without activating their spiritual energy, they naturally had stronger raw physical ability the higher their level was. Ji Zhixuan could single-handedly beat up a 7-star activator without using his spiritual energy. That was why, even though he didn't have any catalyst to support his strength, nobody dared to mess with him. A 9-star activator was a monster of its own.
He could always have more than one catalyst, but—quoting his words—he didn't want to let just any random people's essence enter his body. In the past, he had to do it with his classmate for practice in school and it made him want to skin and burn himself in a fire pit. Ever since then, he only practiced at home with his mother.
In theory, each activator could use their spiritual energy in their own unique way, but most ended up using it similarly thanks to their primary education's teaching. They could roughly be separated into two types: physical fighters and elemental fighters.
Physical fighters cultivated internal energy and used it to fight either barehanded or with a weapon. Elemental fighters, on the other hand, trained to form external elements and either use them as they were or integrate them with their weapons.
It wasn't as omnipotent as magic but equally powerful. If anything, it was almost like neural abilities.
What was interesting though, was how catalysts shared their energy. He thought activators were the ones who had control over it, but it was the exact opposite. It was up to the catalysts how much energy they were willing to give.
How Zhou Yi's mind could think up this kind of thing was still a wonder.
"You're here again."
Shen Yuan looked back and wasn't surprised to see Ji Zhixuan standing behind him. He had his radar turned on most of the time after all.
"Is it late already?" He was certain it wasn't 5 PM yet.
"No, I'm finishing early." Ji Zhixuan rested his hand on Shen Yuan's waist and watched the ongoing fight below them. "Are these fights that interesting? There's nothing special about their techniques."
"Now that the autumn championship has started, a lot of odd ones spawn out though they're mostly outsiders. It's interesting to see how an activator can utilize their energy. Since you said there will be a lot of people aiming for treasures at the sanctuary, I want to know what to expect."
"No need to trouble yourself. I'm familiar with the specialties of every country. In the end, there's nothing that can't be overruled by absolute power." Ji Zhixuan returned his attention to Shen Yuan. "More importantly, do you not know what day this is?"
"It's…the mid-autumn festival, isn't it?"
Shen Yuan heard the word being thrown around for the last few days, and the arena was also particularly jam-packed today. His boss once told him about this specific event back in reality, but with what the world was going through right now, there was no such thing as holidays, much less festivals.
Now that they had a 10-year grace period, maybe the tradition would resume. Not that he had any family he could spend time with if he wasn't already in the middle of a mission.
"Are you going to visit your parents? Is that why you finished early?"
Ji Zhixuan felt a little helpless and placed a kiss on Shen Yuan's forehead. "Why do you think I'm here? But if you want to, we can visit my ancestral home tomorrow."
"I thought it's an event for family reunions."
"We usually do that during the lunar new year here. Mid-autumn festival is to be spent with our significant others."
"I see." Shen Yuan wondered if it was equivalent to Valentine. "What do you usually do on this day?"
"Well, I don't want to spoil the fun. You can experience it for yourself." Ji Zhixuan offered his hand. "Shall we?"
Shen Yuan took it, and they interlaced their fingers before leaving the roaring cheers behind. They entered the carriage waiting outside and soon set out. He asked Ji Zhixuan where they were going, but the man was committed to not give any spoilers.
The carriage stopped a little after sundown, and Wang Ren opened the door for them. Shen Yuan stepped outside to be greeted with rows of vibrant lanterns spanning above him and stalls lining the sides of the street, streaming with couples.
"This is…"
Ji Zhixuan reclaimed Shen Yuan's hand and pulled him to enter the street. "A festival. There are always a handful being held throughout the city for this day. This is not the main one, but it's the least crowded one."
Noticing the people around them consciously moving out of their way, Shen Yuan couldn't help but chuckle. "Crowded or not, I'm sure you'll split the sea like a rock over a river."
"One of the perks of building a reputation." Ji Zhixuan didn't deny it. "It's still unpleasant though. You can barely enjoy anything with that amount of people taking up the space. Not to mention the noise."
"You sound like you speak from experience." Shen Yuan kept a straight face. "Who did you spend the mid-autumn festival with before?"
"I usually went around each location for inspection and saved this one for the last to take a break before going home." Ji Zhixuan lifted Shen Yuan's hand and kissed it with a smirk. "Though I would love to witness the loveliness of your jealousy, I don't have any experience that you can drink vinegar about."
"You're more likely to catch me opening my third eye before getting jealous over stupid things."
"Then, what if I told you that was just a lie to not make you feel bad?"
"…" Shen Yuan pressed his lips to a straight line and cast a menacing glare at Ji Zhixuan. "Don't mess around."
Ji Zhixuan laughed. He couldn't resist pulling Shen Yuan into his arm and pinched his slightly puffed cheek. How could a person be so endearing?
"I was joking. I promised to never lie to you, didn't I?"
"You think I forgot that?" Shen Yuan scoffed.
"Then, what about the past that had long been buried in time?" a raspy voice, neither of their own, chimed in from their side.
They turned towards the voice to find a cloaked person sitting behind the counter of a roofless stall. It was difficult to make out their gender with their face covered by their hood, but their wrinkly hands, resting by the sides of their crystal ball, showed their old age.
"How about it? Would you like to see your past life? Only for 1 silver."
Shen Yuan and Ji Zhixuan only glanced at each other and tacitly walked away. They had just taken 2 steps when the fortune teller spoke up once again.
"Be careful. Your every cycle only leads to doom."
Shen Yuan stopped in his tracks and thoughtfully looked back. By past life, it couldn't be…
"Don't listen to them. Let's go." Ji Zhixuan frowned. There had never been a fortune teller in this area before. Where did this scammer come from?
He signaled Wang Ren with a look and the other left to fetch the 'safety hazards', but when he tried guiding Shen Yuan away, his lover didn't budge. Instead, he turned around and pulled him along with a smile. "If it's a scam, then we can get rid of them together afterward. I'm curious now."
Ji Zhixuan could never bring himself to deny Shen Yuan's request, especially with such a smile, and could only accompany him with a sigh. Why would he want to hear about their bad fate from a random, insignificant person?
He placed the silver ingot on the counter with a warning look. "You can certainly see what fate awaits you, can't you?"
"Of course," the fortune teller calmly replied. "But can Young Master Ji see your own?"
"…" Ji Zhixuan narrowed his eyes.
"You may place your hand on either side of the crystal."
After Shen Yuan put his hand on the right side while Ji Zhixuan on the left, the fortune teller hovered their hand over the ball and started mumbling a string of chants. Fog swirled within the crystal and soon filled the entire cavity.
Though Shen Yuan had suspected the fortune teller was legit after what they said, he didn't think they could actually do sorcery like this. If they could really show their 'past life' it would mean Zhou Yi himself remembered, or at least, had those experiences stored in his subconscious memory.
If that was true, he would have to discard his current body after this mission finished in case things became a pain in the ass.