The posthouse keeper stepped aside.
"This way, gentlemen, please."
Xuanzang pressed his palms together in return and was the first to cross the threshold.
Wukong followed on his left.
A-Hu also stopped smiling and walked on his other side.
The group followed the keeper into Yingyang Posthouse.
Beyond the entrance lay a spacious front courtyard.
Blue bricks paved the ground, with a row of side rooms on either side.
Several flowering trees grew in the courtyard, tiny white blossoms dotted among their leaves and branches. Two stone vats stood beneath them.
Two female attendants stood on either side of the hall entrance.
When they saw Xuanzang and the others enter, they immediately put down their work, their gazes following the group all the way to the main hall.
The keeper's expression, however, remained unchanged, her face full of solicitous smiles. "You gentlemen must be tired after your long journey."
"Please rest in the hall first."
The doors to the main hall were already open.
Xuanzang was invited to sit in the central guest seat.
Wukong sat on his left, and A-Hu on his right.
Little White Dragon and Sha Wujing each found a seat as well.
Bajie finally lowered True Immortal Ruyi from his back.
"At last, we're here."
He rolled his shoulders a couple of times.
Then he helped True Immortal Ruyi settle into a nearby chair.
"You don't look that fat."
"But carrying you all this way was no light work."
Hearing him, True Immortal Ruyi looked up.
His expression was still bewildered.
"I can walk on my own."
Bajie snorted. "Then why didn't you say so earlier?"
True Immortal Ruyi thought for a moment, then closed his mouth.
Wukong laughed beside them. "Idiot, how can you blame him? You never asked!"
Bajie opened his mouth to start