To avoid unnecessary trouble, including but not limited to being kicked out of stores, pointed at by passersby, or even being reported to the police, the group decided to go to the address provided by Ye Ru, which is located in the Sanqing Temple in the Jiangdong New District of Songjiang City.
Well, that's right. After checking the map, the address she provided is a Taoist temple.
Although it's a bit strange for the beauties to hide in a Taoist temple... but it doesn't matter, let's go and see first.
After trying three taxis in a row, the drivers all demanded that everyone take off their masks (and refused to take them if they did), which angered Miss Qingqing so much that she almost went berserk, wanting to show these drivers how tough she was.
It took Cheng Jinyang a lot of effort to hold her tightly from behind, allowing the taxi drivers to escape unscathed.
There was no choice but to switch to the automated light rail.
The so-called automated light rail is a carriage inverted on the track, which is fully automatic and driverless, so there is no need to worry about being refused.
The five of them boarded the light rail, with four of the girls wearing masks, so the surrounding passengers seemed to see a plague and quickly made way in a big circle.
Then, the pointing and whispering discussions began.
Cheng Jinyang and the others felt a little embarrassed, so they just stood together and didn't speak.
Seeing that they had no response, the murmurs among the passengers became louder. There was even an old lady who walked over and tried to drag Cheng Jinyang out, speaking in a dialect he couldn't understand, saying something like "Amulin" and "Aque Xi," insisting on calling him "zhongsheng" and "wen niang B."
Cheng Jinyang had no choice but to politely decline the old lady's kindness with a smile and show the gun he was carrying.
As soon as he showed the weapon, everyone fell silent, and then they started whispering again and calling the police on their phones.
Finally, the light rail arrived at the station, and everyone hurriedly got off the train. Wang Wanrou sneered incessantly, Xing Yuanzhi looked unhappy, and Miss Qingqing was particularly uncomfortable, wishing she could immediately summon a metal giant hand to crush the entire carriage like a soda can.
Cheng Jinyang persuaded them that those people were all fake, and we were all in a dream, so there was no need to get upset with non-existent people.
Yang Wangshu sarcastically typed that it wasn't you who got cursed at, so of course you're not upset.
Before she could finish, Cheng Jinyang snatched away her mask.
So Yang Wangshu immediately started crying and hitting him with her fists while keeping her eyes closed. Seeing that he wouldn't relent, Xing Yuanzhi had to step in and play the mediator, returning the mask to Xiao Wangshu.
Yang Wangshu then hid behind Xing Yuanzhi as usual, tapping on the keyboard threateningly - essentially silently cursing.
The group continued forward and soon arrived at the Taoist temple.
Sure enough, there were more beautiful women walking along Yuanshen Road, and at the entrance of the Taoist temple, there was a gathering of all sorts of people, some even dressed as Taoist nuns. There were all kinds of styles, which made Cheng Jinyang almost stare straight.
Then he received a waist attack from Xing Yuanzhi, which finally sobered him up amidst the pain.
He called Ye Ru, who said she was on her way back, asking everyone to wait a bit longer.
Meanwhile, Chu Qingqing went to a nearby breakfast shop and struck up a conversation with the owner.
It turned out that the women from Songjiang were forced to gather here for a reason:
Songjiang, being a coastal hub and a gateway to major cities, naturally received a large number of refugees from the north. In recent years, most people have been stuck in queues at the security checkpoints on Chongming Island.
Due to the inefficiency of entering the city, some refugees couldn't wait and entered the city through the black market channels.
Among them were some women infected by the puppet demons, unknown to their families. After entering the city, the situation worsened, leading to accidents and a sharp decline in the reputation of northern refugees in Songjiang.
As a result, beautiful women also began to be discriminated against, because no one knows whether you are a refugee from the north or a local. Besides, even if you are a local, who knows if you have been infected by the sick refugees from the north and turned into a time bomb that has not exploded yet?
Even the unconscious puppets will instinctively choose to assimilate the infection rather than devour women with above-average looks when facing them.
This knowledge leads to beautiful women being seen as "flammable and explosive materials," and they have to stay away even in the absence of "open flames".
Over time, community isolation began to appear: in ordinary residential areas, if there are particularly beautiful women, the residents will politely ask them to leave because they are worried about the safety of their children and the elderly.
They were forced to leave their original residences and could only move to places where discrimination was less severe. As a result, there were more and more beauties in these places, which led to the local residents fleeing, thus forming the so-called "beauty community" today, which the locals also called "plague community", meaning that there are sick women in it, and everyone should be careful to avoid them.
Listening to the landlady's explanation, Chu Qingqing was speechless. The occurrence in Songjiang is directly related to the excessive power of the private sector and the inadequate prestige of the government.
If it were Jiankang City, try discriminating against the daughters of prominent families. The family's hidden guards would teach you what a "bright future we all have."
Understanding the situation, Chu Qingqing couldn't help but laugh and cry as she explained it to everyone.
Everyone said they had nothing to comment about it, so they took off their masks here temporarily and breathed a sigh of relief.
After about twenty minutes, Ye Ru finally arrived with her companions. Seeing the group of beautiful girls around Cheng Jinyang, she couldn't help but show a look of amazement.
These girls were so stunning that even masks couldn't hide their radiance. How did you manage to bring them here alive?
"Let me introduce myself," she graciously bowed to the girls. "I'm Ye Ru."
"I'm Xing Yuanzhi from the Hejian Xing family," Xing Yuanzhi nodded slightly.
"I'm Chu Qingqing from the Yangdi Chu family."
.....
As each of the girls introduced themselves, Ye Ru's expression became more and more dull.
Are they all young ladies from aristocratic families?
"You, you came from Jiankang City?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yes," Cheng Jinyang replied frankly.
"What are you doing here!" Ye Ru couldn't help but sigh. "Jiankang City is much better than here. If it weren't for us being unable to go there, who would stay here!"
"We also have reasons," Cheng Jinyang answered vaguely.
He couldn't just say, "You're all NPCs in a dream, and we were transported here by the dream."
Ye Ru just smiled bitterly and said, "Um, can I ask, do you... have a way to get us to Jiankang City?"
"You can't go there directly?" Cheng Jinyang asked in surprise.
"At present, it's very strict from Songjiang to Jiankang, with checkpoints at every level. You must provide a lot of health certificates to prove that you are not infected with the demon virus," Ye Ru replied with a sigh. "Some sisters went to inquire, and it's said that just getting a blood test appointment is booked until the end of the year."
"Not only to Jiankang City, but also to Lin'an City in the south, the same is true, except that there are fewer people queuing up —we're all queuing up now."