Instinctively, Astra glanced at her phone. The unread message was from two hours ago:
Jiang Ting:
"I'm going to sleep. Tomorrow morning, 6 o'clock as usual."
Astra froze, her brow furrowing.
"What is this now? Wasn't he trying to break me down and force me to comply? Why the sudden silence?"
In reality, Jiang Ting lay quietly in bed, eyes gently closed, his breathing steady, appearing to be asleep. But his mind was utterly awake.
He knew exactly what Astra was doing — healing others, using her own energy to silently sustain fragile lives. She thought it was a quiet, unnoticed act of giving, but to Jiang Ting, it was crystal clear, as though it were happening right before his eyes.
He chose not to disturb her tonight precisely because he saw her focus and dedication.
"A woman with immense mystical power who would rather remain anonymous, quietly saving people without asking for anything in return." Astra was unlike any of the self-serving magicians or sorcerers he had encountered before.
Somewhere deep in his heart, a quiet chord was struck, triggering vague yet profound memories — memories of the entanglement between him and Astra in past lives. But he buried these memories deep, unwilling to let them surface.
In her bedroom, Astra ran her fingers lightly across her forehead, took a deep breath, and calmed her emotions. She needed to probe Jiang Ting's soul, to uncover his truth. Whether it was his past life or his present, she had to understand what kind of man was pushing her into this corner, and what his hidden purpose was.
Her third eye opened slowly. Her consciousness turned into a wisp of smoke, attempting to enter Jiang Ting's river of fate. Yet, just as she approached the barrier of information, an invisible force abruptly repelled her.
Her consciousness jolted, as though she had crashed into a steel wall.
"What's going on?" Astra frowned, confusion rising in her heart.
She tried again, her consciousness weaving into countless delicate threads, cautiously reaching for Jiang Ting's fate. But no matter how she tried, the barrier held firm, like an unbreachable chasm keeping her firmly outside.
She couldn't see his past, nor could she glimpse his future. The information that should have appeared was shrouded in a thick fog, impossible to decipher.
A stubborn determination welled up within her. She refused to believe there was an unsolvable mystery.
"Then I'll try using a formation." She gritted her teeth, quickly retrieving some talisman papers and a cinnabar brush from the drawer. She began setting up a divination array in her room.
The talisman papers floated in the air, red cinnabar lines forming intricate symbols. Dots of light flickered in the darkness, like faint stars carrying a glimmer of hope.
She chanted softly, the incantation reverberating through the air.
An hour passed. The array's glow reached its peak, the energy surging so intensely that beads of sweat formed on her forehead. But the center of the formation remained blank, the pathway still unopened.
Jiang Ting's information was completely sealed. His past and present seemed locked behind invisible chains, impossible to pry open.
"How can this be?" Astra clenched her fists, a hint of frustration flashing in her eyes.
She had never encountered anything like this before. Even the most skilled practitioners couldn't fully conceal their destiny. Whatever Jiang Ting was hiding went far deeper than she had imagined.