Just then.
Clang!
A gong suddenly rang out at the street entrance.
The people crowding behind them turned their heads.
"Make way!"
"Street patrol on duty! Make way at once!"
Several female soldiers carrying spears pushed in through the crowd.
At their head was a female official dressed in green robes.
A short saber hung at her waist. She held a bronze gong in her left hand and its mallet in her right.
When the crowd failed to respond, she frowned, raised her hand, and struck it again.
Clang!
"Everyone, stand to either side! How are carts and horses supposed to get through with you blocking the road?"
Her gaze swept over the street.
"I'll say it once more. Anyone who refuses to disperse will be taken to the Patrol Office for questioning."
Those words clearly worked much better than Bajie had.
The women immediately retreated to either side, no longer daring to squeeze inward.
Some were reluctant to leave and could only retreat to the storefronts.
The woman selling dates clutched her winnowing basket, still sounding somewhat indignant.
"We were only having a look. We haven't done anything wrong."
The official turned to look at her.
The woman immediately lowered her head and retreated to her stall.
She had gone back.
Her head, however, still poked out from beneath the shop banner.
Several women nearby also retreated into their shops and picked up their bolts of cloth and rouge boxes again, but their eyes kept drifting toward Xuanzang.
The official saw them but left them alone.
As long as they weren't blocking the road, that was enough.
The crowd that had been packed together quickly cleared a path.
Bajie stood in the middle of the road with True Immortal Ruyi on his back.
Watching the women finally retreat, he