The manager seemed to have anticipated Zhen Lingrong's question. As soon as she finished speaking, several pieces of paper appeared in his hand.
On the papers were lifelike portraits.
The manager spread the portraits on the table and pointed to the people on them, saying to Zhen Lingrong, "These are the four."
After speaking, he introduced them one by one to everyone.
It turned out that the woman among the four was named Zhao Yuer, about thirty years old, and her cultivation was only at the Ling Shifting stage.
The three men were named Zhao Xian, Qian Shu, and Sun Sheng.
Although their cultivation was a bit higher than Zhao Yuer's, they were only at the Ling Moving stage.
These four people were not very powerful, but they had incredibly good luck.
The first time they met Shen Xiaoming, and the second time they met the White Fox.
With so many spirit coins now, they were naturally unwilling to continue living a life where their heads were tied to their belts.
Shen Xiaoyan and the others silently noted the appearance of the four people before getting up to leave.
The manager followed them, escorting them to the door of the auction house. Only after they had all gone far away did he turn and walk back.
Entering the auction house, the manager let out a long sigh of relief.
He knew that he had just walked through the gates of hell.
If Zhen Lingrong were someone who killed innocent people indiscriminately and vented her anger, his life would have ended right there.
Even those four people might not have had such good fortune.
When he had inquired with his superiors earlier, he learned that these four had not only sold the White Fox to their auction house, but had also previously sold the son of Hall Master Zhen.
If Hall Master Zhen's son had not ended up in Hall Master Zhen's hands, then even he would have praised Zhao Yuer and the other three for their incredible luck. After all, not everyone could encounter such consecutive opportunities to earn large sums of spirit coins.
But now, with Zhen Lingrong present, who would dare to be envious or jealous?
They would probably all try to avoid them.
After all, people in high positions, no matter how good-tempered they were, would not simply let such matters slide.
Meanwhile, Zhen Lingrong and the others left Sheng Yu City directly.
At the city gate of Sheng Yu City, they boarded a spirit ship. Zhen Lingrong directly piloted the spirit ship towards Hua A Mountain.
Not to mention using a spirit ship, even a Ling Shifting cultivator could fly to Hua A Mountain from Sheng Yu City in half a day.
With the assistance of the spirit ship, they reached the vicinity of Hua A Mountain in just over an hour.
Zhen Lingrong landed the spirit ship at the foot of the mountain, and everyone disembarked.
The reason they didn't ascend the mountain directly was that they were unsure if there were any dangers.
They were also unsure of the current location of Zhao Yuer and the other three on Hua A Mountain, given their strength.
After all, if the four of them were truly just here for sightseeing, as the manager had said, they might not have ventured too far in.
Even though they had set out relatively early, if they were sightseeing, they shouldn't have gone too deep by now.
However, as they proceeded, their pace was not fast, and they meticulously scanned the surroundings with their spiritual senses. They walked deep into the mountains but still found no sign of Zhao Yuer and the other three.
By this point, even the most careless Lu Taobao realized something was amiss.
"They said they were here for sightseeing. The scenery is indeed beautiful, but why haven't we seen a single tourist?"
Yizixie laughed upon hearing this, "People on the Sheng Ling Continent either cannot cultivate and thus cannot come here, or they are diligently cultivating and would not waste their time coming here. Who would be here?"
"It's fine if no one else is here, but what about those four? Did the manager lie to us?" Lu Taobao asked strangely.
Zhen Lingrong looked around and finally shook her head, "The manager wouldn't dare."
Shen Xiaoyan nodded in agreement. The manager had no reason to lie to them about four people with no background or foundation.
Moreover, even if those four had some background, with Zhen Lingrong's status, the manager knew the weight of the situation and would absolutely not offend Zhen Lingrong over a trivial matter.
Since the reason was not with the manager, it must be with Hua A Mountain itself.
However, as they walked, they hadn't noticed anything unusual. Even Zhen Lingrong, Lin Xin, and Mi Le Fo hadn't sensed anything out of the ordinary. So, where had they gone wrong?
Zheng Wei pondered for a moment and spoke, "We encountered an illusion in the forbidden area of Medicine Emperor Valley before. I wonder if there's an illusion here as well? Or perhaps, we are already in an illusion?"
Upon hearing Zheng Wei, Shen Xiaoyan couldn't help but think the same.
But then Zhen Lingrong said with certainty, "Impossible. Ever since we entered Hua A Mountain, I've been observing the surroundings. Forget about any illusion formations, there isn't even the slightest fluctuation of spiritual energy. By all appearances, this is completely normal."
Hearing Zhen Lingrong's certainty, Shen Xiaoyan was even more puzzled.
If it wasn't an illusion formation, then where had the four people gone?
Perhaps they felt there was nothing to see and had already left?
Zhen Lingrong thought for a moment longer and then said, "Let's not overthink it for now. Since we can't figure out the cause and effect, let's continue deeper inside. Perhaps we'll discover something different when we get further in."
Upon hearing her words, Shen Xiaoyan and the others could only agree and nod.
Standing there yielded no results, so it was better to press on. Perhaps they would find out the reason further ahead.
As they moved forward again, their speed increased considerably. Zhen Lingrong, Lin Xin, and Mi Le Fo constantly scanned every inch of land they traversed with their spiritual senses, but they found no issues.
They continued walking like this until they reached the summit of the mountain. It was then that they discovered something was amiss.
Upon reaching the summit, they turned to look back and saw the path they had taken. However, looking in the opposite direction, it was not what they had seen from the foot of the mountain.
Before ascending, they had circled Hua A Mountain on their spirit ship, close to the ground, confirming there were no issues before randomly choosing a direction to climb.
Since the mountain was cone-shaped, no matter which direction they ascended from, they would eventually reach the same point.
But now, they had discovered a difference.
Looking around, except for the path they had come from, which remained unchanged, looking down from any other direction, they could only see wisps of white mist. There were no colorful flower buds.
Could it be that the path they had just taken was an illusion? And what they were seeing now was the true appearance of Hua A Mountain?
However, upon further thought, something felt wrong. Shen Xiaoyan and Zheng Wei's cultivation wasn't very high, so it was understandable. But Zhen Lingrong and the other two were at the peak of their cultivation.
It was impossible for the three of them together to distinguish between illusion and reality.
But if their path was real, then the white mist they saw now was an illusion?
But…
Shen Xiaoyan squatted down and reached out to touch the white mist. She actually felt her hand pass through the mist. The tangible sensation couldn't possibly be fake.
Seeing her action, Zhen Lingrong couldn't help but squat down and reach out to touch the white mist as well.
As she touched it, Zhen Lingrong's expression instantly turned to shock.
She absolutely didn't expect to be able to touch the white mist. The feeling was definitely not fake.
"What on earth is going on?" Zhen Lingrong asked curiously.
Her question seemed directed at Shen Xiaoyan, or perhaps she was talking to herself.
But regardless of the reason, no one could provide her with an answer.
After all, they all wanted to know what was happening.
Seeing Shen Xiaoyan and Zhen Lingrong's actions, Lin Xin and Mi Le Fo followed suit, squatting down in other spots and trying it out. The conclusion they reached was the same as Shen Xiaoyan and Zhen Lingrong's.
The white mist genuinely passed through their hands.
All of this indicated one thing: this white mist was not an illusion, but a tangible reality.
But why it looked different from what they saw at the foot of the mountain was unknown.
The few people stood up, looking at the white mist that obscured their view, and felt a mix of amusement and despair.
They hadn't expected that while looking for four people, they would encounter such a situation.
Although they had deliberately slowed their pace while ascending the mountain, it had only taken an hour or two. The mountain was not that high.
But now, looking down from the white mist, they couldn't see the bottom. Everything below was hidden beneath the mist.
Shen Xiaoyan looked at the white mist, and a sudden thought flashed through her mind, "Could it be that Hua A Mountain was always like this, and what we saw from below was the illusion? And the path we took to ascend was chosen randomly. If we hadn't taken this path and had chosen another one, would the experience have been different?"
When everyone heard Shen Xiaoyan, their faces showed shock. They truly didn't understand why Shen Xiaoyan would have such an idea.
More importantly, if what Shen Xiaoyan said was true, then why had no one ever mentioned this peculiar aspect?
Had everyone who came here failed to notice this difference?
Or perhaps, they felt this was how it was supposed to be?
There was no one else around at this moment, so no matter how curious they were, they couldn't ask anyone.
Shen Xiaoyan thought and thought, and finally said, "Should we go down from here to take a look?"
Upon hearing this, Zhen Lingrong frowned, "It's so strange. What if there's danger below?"
In other words, Zhen Lingrong did not agree to go down.
Although Zhao Yuer and the other three might be somewhere below, what if they weren't?
What if there was danger below?
If they just went down like this, putting themselves in danger, wouldn't it be a loss?
Zhen Lingrong's thoughts were naturally for the safety of everyone.
However, she forgot that at Shen Xiaoyan and the others' current age, they were full of curiosity and a desire to explore.
If she told them not to go down, how could they obey?
In Shen Xiaoyan's heart, she had a premonition that the four people they were looking for must be somewhere below. As long as they went down, they would definitely find those four people, and then Shen Xiaoming's revenge could be enacted.
Oh, right. And the White Fox.
After Zhen Lingrong's persuasion yielded no results, she stopped talking.
At this point, she understood that Shen Xiaoyan and the others were currently driven by curiosity and wouldn't leave just like that. It was understandable.
Since she, Lin Xin, and Mi Le Fo were present, she wasn't afraid they would get into any accidents.
Therefore, she no longer objected and instead joined them in thinking about how to descend.
"Why don't we just take the spirit ship down? It's fast and convenient, and we might reach the bottom of the mountain soon," Lu Taobao suggested.
Zheng Wei looked at him with a half-smile, "How do you know there's definitely a bottom below? What if there isn't one?"
Lu Taobao was stunned and after a long while said, "No? What do you mean 'no'? How could there not be? Even if there isn't, it's fine, right? We can just fly back."
Zheng Wei said nothing further. Instead, Zhen Lingrong nodded in agreement, "This indeed looks like an entrance. I suspect that if we were to leave, we wouldn't be able to use this path."
Upon hearing Zhen Lingrong say this, Lu Taobao felt even more bewildered. What were they talking about?
Why did he clearly hear them speaking, but couldn't understand a single word?
Unable to comprehend, Lu Taobao eventually gave up thinking about it.
No matter what, since there were so many people thinking hard, he was happy to relax and just follow along.
"Let's go, we'll go down and embrace Ruan Ruan and the others."
Zhen Lingrong said this and was the first to pick up Zheng Jiang, who was closest to her. Shen Xiaoyan quickly held Ruan Ruan in her arms, and Zheng Wei embraced Zheng He.
Lin Xin walked at the front, clearing the way, while Mi Le Fo walked at the rear, ensuring everyone's absolute safety.
Looking down from the mountaintop, although it felt like they couldn't see anything, as soon as they stepped into the white mist, Shen Xiaoyan realized that the ground was actually flat.
Moreover, she didn't feel like they were walking downwards at an angle at all. She only felt like they were walking forward parallelly.
They continued walking forward like this, but they couldn't see anything.
Even the people beside them could only vaguely make out their silhouettes.