What is the mission?
Who bestowed the mission?
These were the questions Ye Ming cared about most.
Upon hearing these two questions, Qin Shuang’s expression visibly shifted. The previous light and poetic smile began to fade.
It seemed these questions had hit a crucial point.
Seeing Qin Shuang’s silence, Ye Ming secretly rejoiced. He would have been disappointed if the other party had answered without hesitation as before.
But this attitude now at least indicated that some sensitive information had been touched upon.
“What! You’re unwilling to speak?”
Ye Ming said coldly, “Since that’s the case, then I’ll investigate myself.”
As his words fell, Ye Ming extended a hand and moved to grab Qin Shuang.
Ji Hongying, standing nearby, turned her head away with a hint of reluctance.
No matter what, the memories of their past interactions with Qin Shuang, regardless of her current changes, were real and undeniable. These could not be altered.
Qin Shuang might choose to ignore those memories, but Ji Hongying… she couldn’t.
“I… I’ll speak!”
Just as Ye Ming’s hand was about to touch Qin Shuang’s forehead, she finally spoke, “The mission I was given was very simple…”
She glanced at everyone, as if searching for a particular figure. But in the end, she found no one.
“Are you looking for Xiao Aiyin?”
Ye Ming seemed to have seen through her intention and asked coldly.
“Yes!”
Qin Shuang did not deny it. She then looked at Ji Hongying, her eyes filled with complex emotions as she said, “In the beginning, my mission was simply to stay by Ji Hongying’s side and monitor you through her.”
“As expected!”
Ye Ming was not too surprised by this statement.
From the start, he had vaguely suspected that the other party was targeting him.
However, Qin Shuang’s words were clearly not finished; there was more to come.
Monitoring Ye Ming through Ji Hongying was only her initial mission. Clearly, something had changed later.
“And then?”
Ye Ming continued to ask, even though he had already guessed some of the direction.
“Later, the ‘Immortal Lord’ increased the number of people to be monitored by one more…” Qin Shuang lowered her gaze and whispered, “That little girl.”
Upon hearing this, Fang Junxue and the others all turned their gazes towards Qin Shuang, their expressions sharp and chillingly cold.
Reaching out to Xiao Aiyin was something they absolutely could not tolerate.
“Just monitoring?”
Ye Ming narrowed his eyes.
“Just monitoring!” Qin Shuang answered affirmatively, “With my strength, I could only perform the role of monitoring.”
This was the truth.
Although Qin Shuang had been implanted with some memories, her own strength had not changed at all.
She was only at the middle stage of Martial Master.
She hadn’t even touched the immortal cultivation techniques Ye Ming had imparted through his live streams.
As Qin Shuang stated, with her current strength, she truly couldn’t do much more.
“Then, that means the ‘Immortal Lord’ you mentioned earlier is the one who bestowed your mission?”
Ye Ming asked again.
“Yes!”
Qin Shuang admitted.
“Who is he?”
As Ye Ming asked this question, a hint of pressure entered his tone.
This was a sign of his emotions fluctuating.
The person who had planted this hidden pawn around him was the key to all the problems.
“Who is he?”
Qin Shuang repeated Ye Ming’s question, but it seemed more like a self-inquiry. Her originally clear eyes began to show a hint of confusion.
“Hmm?”
Qin Shuang’s unusual behavior left Ye Ming bewildered, unsure of what was happening.
“Is she acting?”
Ye Ming secretly speculated.
But if this was an act, could it truly deceive him?
“Doesn’t seem like it!”
Fang Junxue, standing nearby, also noticed Qin Shuang’s anomaly and shook her head.
She was certain this was not an act.
“Who is he?”
Qin Shuang kept repeating these three words, shaking her head, clutching her head with her hands. Her face gradually turned pale, and her expression became pained.
“Who is he! The… the Immortal Lord, who is he?”
“Have I… met him?”
“Who… who am I?”
“…”
Qin Shuang’s face contorted, and she repeatedly struck her head with her hands, as if trying to suppress some pain through this forceful method.
“Ye Ming! Quickly… quickly calm her down!”
At this moment, Fang Junxue seemed to have thought of something and said urgently, “Quick! Restrain her first! It’s best to make her fall into a deep sleep immediately!”
“Ah… alright!”
Although Ye Ming didn’t understand what was happening, his trust in Fang Junxue was unconditional.
*Whoosh!*
He reached out and pressed down, instantly restraining Qin Shuang. Then, with a tremor of space, he caused her to fall into a deep sleep.
After completing this, Ye Ming looked at Fang Junxue with confusion and asked, “Junxue, what did you realize?”
Nangong Qianyu and the others also turned their gazes towards her.
“It’s not that I realized something, but rather something you all overlooked!” Fang Junxue said, her tone slightly serious as she looked at everyone.
“Overlooked something?”
Ye Ming exchanged glances with the others; they all shook their heads.
“Let me ask you, how did Qin Shuang get the so-called identity of ‘Immortal Apostle’?”
Fang Junxue asked.
“Sister Junxue! How would we know that, we’re not…”
Nangong Qianyu was saying this when her eyes suddenly widened, and she stopped mid-sentence.
“Memories!”
Ji Hongying seemed to have understood what was happening. “The reason Shuang’er became the so-called Immortal Apostle was because a foreign memory was implanted into her. And that memory likely contained an experience related to being an Immortal Apostle. After Shuang’er merged with that memory, she naturally believed herself to be that Immortal Apostle.”
After hearing Ji Hongying’s words, Fang Junxue nodded and said, “Exactly! This should be why Miss Qin Shuang became an Immortal Apostle.”
“Sister Junxue, do you mean that since the person behind the scenes could bestow an identity upon Miss Qin Shuang through memory, then her mission was also bestowed…” Nangong Qianyu guessed Fang Junxue’s next words, “also through memory!”
“I see now!”
Now Ye Ming finally understood why Fang Junxue had been so anxious for him to restrain Qin Shuang.
“Both the identity and the mission were bestowed through memory, but within that memory, a crucial link was missing.”
Fang Junxue looked at the sleeping Qin Shuang and said solemnly, “That is, it didn’t mention who bestowed the mission?”
After all, the person behind the scenes wouldn’t be foolish enough to include themselves in Qin Shuang’s memories.
And precisely, this was the loophole in Qin Shuang’s memory.
If Ye Ming hadn’t quickly put Qin Shuang to sleep earlier, then once Qin Shuang’s subconscious noticed this loophole, her original memories and the implanted memories would have conflicted.
Once this contradiction arose, Qin Shuang’s memory world could very well collapse.
And the final outcome was something no one could have predicted.
“Wait a minute!”
At this moment, Ji Hongying’s beautiful eyes widened, a flash of gold in her mind. She seemed to have grasped something.
“What is it?”
Ye Ming and the others looked at her.
“Ye… Ye Ming! Shuang… Shuang’er’s implanted memory has a loophole, could there be a possibility…”
Ji Hongying was clearly agitated at this moment. She grabbed Ye Ming’s hand as if she had found hope:
“Shuang’er can be saved?”