Chapter 11: The Valley Outside the City

Li Yan followed Master Ji to the gate of the school military field. As soon as he got out of the gate, Master Ji looked at the waiting crowd in the distance and stopped at the gate. Li Yan followed him out and was about to tell his teacher to go over there and tell Li Guoxin about the situation before leaving. Before he could speak, Master Ji turned his head and looked at him with a smile and said, "Is there anyone among the waiting people who sent you here?"

Li Yan quickly replied, "Teacher, it is my elder who sent me here to enlist."

"Oh, then go and tell him, and then leave with me." Master Ji said.

"Yes, thank you for your help, teacher." Li Yan was delighted when he heard this. After bowing to Master Ji, he strode towards the crowd.

Several soldiers standing guard at the gate of the training ground heard the conversation between the two of them and knew that the boy in front of them had become a disciple of Master Ji. They knew how difficult it was for Master Ji to select this disciple. Several people were very envious of Li Yan. One of them, who looked like a small leader, stepped forward and saluted Master Ji, saying, "Congratulations, Master Ji, you finally got what you wanted." Master Ji nodded and smiled, then continued to stand there with his hands behind his back. ????

After the small leader finished congratulating, he consciously returned to his post, thinking in his heart that he had to find an opportunity to get close to Master Ji's newly accepted disciple. With a teacher like Master Ji, it can be foreseen that this boy will grow into a very powerful person in the future. If he builds a good relationship, he will also be a backer in the army in the future. But at the same time, he shook his head slightly, thinking that there should be many people who think like him.

Without mentioning what the little leader was thinking, Li Yan had already hurried to the waiting area. He knew that it was not good to keep the teacher waiting for a long time, so he had to make a long story short. So he pulled Li Guoxin, who was looking forward to him, to the side of the crowd and whispered to him. Li Guoxin was quite calm at first, but later, his mouth slowly opened wide, and he made a "hehe" sound from time to time in his throat, but he could no longer speak.

When Li Yan finished speaking, he was already standing there in a daze. Li Yan had to shout a few more times, and seeing that he was just responding to him with a stupid "oh oh", he also knew that this was the same as before, and he couldn't help but secretly say ashamed.

Seeing that Uncle Guoxin couldn't react for a while, he had to salute him, turned around and walked quickly to the carriage to get his package, and then turned around and walked to the gate of the school military field.

Li Yan came to the teacher, and before the teacher could speak, he bowed and said, "The disciple has finished explaining to the uncle in the clan."

After hearing this, the military teacher smiled and said, "That's good, then follow me back to the mansion." After a pause, he continued, "But I don't like to be surrounded by people, so it's just you and me going back together."

Li Yan felt a little strange when he heard this. He heard the adults in the village talk about the pomp and prestige of officials and adults when they went out. Some of the strict ones even cleared the streets and drove away the people. However, he didn't think about it anymore. After all, he had never seen officials being surrounded by people when they went out.

After the two of them said this, the military teacher waved his sleeves and turned to walk in one direction along the wall of the military training ground. His sleeves fluttered beside him, and his feet were already moving forward like flowing water.

Li Yan looked at the teacher's back and was really confused. Walk? Just walk with your legs? It's okay that there are no followers or guards, but why are there no carriages or horses? Li Yan smiled bitterly, thinking how this was different from what he heard in the village, especially the official travel mentioned by the old scholar, which was not the same thing. It was not the time to think too much, so he hurriedly put the package on his shoulder and ran after him.

As soon as his master and apprentice left, the crowd in the waiting area exploded with a bang. When Ji Junshi stood at the door just now, some people recognized him. When they saw Li Yan coming out with him and Ji Junshi said something to Li Yan, he walked over here and then pulled someone to the side of the crowd, which attracted the attention of many people. Several people who were curious also quietly moved closer to that side. Although Li Yan only whispered to Li Guoxin, it was not whispering in his ear. People who were closer could still hear some of the content if they concentrated, especially Li Guoxin's shocked and dazed expression. Even those who originally thought it was nothing would want to know the reason after seeing that expression.

Li Guoxin regained his clarity of mind after Li Yan turned and left for a while. He thought to himself, "So that person is the Third Army Advisor, but is what Li Yan said true? What is going on? Li Yan became the disciple of the Third Army Advisor, and he also got a deputy lieutenant of the Imperial Guard. Oh my God, is this true?"

Li Guoxin is not a person who has never seen the world. He is familiar with some positions in the military camp. He remembers that this seems to be from the eighth rank, which is not something that a new soldier can get. Even if he has fought a hundred battles, it is difficult to be promoted without a few great merits.

Li Guoxin's heart was also up and down at this time. For a while, he didn't know what he should do? Slowly, after he suppressed these shocks, his heart began to calm down, but he still had a question in his heart why the Third Army Advisor could like Li Yan. Li Yan grew up in the village since he was a child. He can be said to have watched him grow up. He didn't see anything extraordinary. Li Yan's biggest feature is that he is more calm and composed than his peers, but this should not be the reason why the Third Army Advisor liked him.

Just as he was thinking about it secretly, the people who had just heard some conversations beside him were also surprised and told the people around them what they had guessed. As soon as Master Ji left, the crowd exploded. Many people thought it was impossible. How could a person who had just come to apply for the job be able to hold on to Master Ji's huge thigh? This was too incredible. Many people directly surrounded Li Guoxin and asked him questions. Li Guoxin was overwhelmed for a while. After quickly replying a few words, he squeezed out of the crowd and untied the carriage like flying and left quickly. He also wanted to find an inn to stay in to digest the news. He would get up early tomorrow morning and rush back to tell Li Yan's parents, no, to the whole village, that this kid had ascended to heaven in one step.

After the people who stayed behind confirmed the reliability of the news, many of them also started to think about whether they should also find a way to explore the matter more clearly, so that their family members and relatives would have the opportunity to hold on to this thigh? For a while, everyone here also had their own thoughts and thought about it.

Li Yan followed the military advisor and arrived at the inner city of the north gate. The military advisor's footsteps were silent. It seemed that he was strolling leisurely, but he was walking very fast. Fortunately, Li Yan had followed the adults to the mountains to hunt since he was a child, so he could still keep up. Although he didn't use all his strength, he had already used 70% or 80% of his strength to keep up. Seeing that the teacher didn't exert any effort at all, he couldn't help but yearn for his future life.

Seeing that they had reached the north gate, Li Yan couldn't help but be stunned. Could it be that the military advisor's residence was near this gate? But he immediately knew that he guessed wrong, because the teacher didn't have the slightest intention of stopping or turning.

When the two of them arrived at the gate, there were seven or eight soldiers led by a captain-like person, checking the passers-by. Li Yan looked, but they were not Liu Chengyong's group of soldiers. I think they should have changed their posts and returned.

When the captain-like person saw the military advisor coming, he quickly crossed his hands and saluted. Military Advisor Ji nodded slightly, and then walked straight past the teams checking out of the city, and Li Yan followed closely.

When Military Advisor Ji and the other two left the north gate, the captain-like man looked at Li Yan's back and said to himself, "Strange, this person looks unfamiliar, but he is not one of the guards in Lord Ji's mansion. I wonder who can follow Lord Ji like this." ??

After Li Yan followed Military Advisor Ji out of the city, he was confused. There was only one road extending north outside the city, and there were rolling mountains on both sides of the road. The depth was unknown. Could it be that the teacher's mansion was in a town dozens of miles away? I heard that there were also garrisons there, but it was too far away. It was not easy to go back and forth like this every day without a carriage or horse. Although, dozens of miles was not a difficult task for him, it was a bit boring to think about it often.

On the way, Ji Junshi didn't say anything, as if he was thinking about something. He just walked in front without hurrying. Li Yan could only follow closely behind him, thinking wildly while walking.

Just about two miles out of the city, Ji Junshi slipped and walked towards the west mountain range on the left. Li Yan looked carefully and found that there was a mountain road extending into the west mountain range. This road was the one they took to enter the city today. There were many small roads like this on the roadside, so he didn't pay much attention to it. At this moment, he turned in.

The west mountain range is much deeper than the east mountain range. The east mountain range is about a few hundred miles long. Beyond that is the flat landform of the Central Plains. You can already gallop on horseback. From here, no one knows how far to the west. The people here only know that they can go about four or five hundred miles to the west. There are many unknown monsters rampant in the inner part. People who enter will die nine out of ten. Even the top masters of the world dare not go too deep.

I think that Marshal Hong had led his masters to go deep into the area for about 400 miles, and encountered many unknown poisonous insects and beasts. Even though he retreated decisively, most of his men were killed or injured. He himself was hit by the tail of a beast, leaving a hideous scar on his face. If he had dodged a little slower, the tail of the beast would have penetrated his brain from his temple, and he would have died miserably on the spot.

Military Advisor Ji led Li Yan up the steps along the path. They walked

among the towering trees, under which bushes grew thick. It was now the evening hour, and the days in early autumn were still longer. Although it was already sunset, the sky was still bright, but under the layers of dense green leaves covering the tall treetops, the light was already a little dim. From time to time, the calls of tired birds returning to their nests could be heard in the forest, echoing crisply among the tall and empty trees.

After walking up for about a mile and climbing the last few stone steps, the view in front of them suddenly opened up. A large open space appeared, about a hundred feet in radius. This open space was surrounded by towering trees, and there was only a passage wide for two or three people opposite the stone steps they had just climbed.

It was very difficult to find such a large flat land in the mountains. This place must have been man-made. There was a row of tall bluestone houses on each side of the exit of the stone steps down the mountain. There were about four or five houses in each row, lined up in a row. Although simple, it looked clean and tidy. The large site in the middle was also paved with bluestone fragments. In some places, there were sandbags and sand pits, but they were all neat and uniform.

Li Yan climbed onto the flat ground and saw clearly that there were eight soldiers standing in two rows with spears in hand, staring at the entrance of the steps vigilantly. When they saw the military advisor, they saluted neatly and then stood up on both sides. They just glanced at Li Yan and didn't ask any more questions.

Military advisor nodded slightly to them and walked straight inside. After walking a few steps, he stopped and turned to one of them and said, "Oh, go call the others out. I have something to say."

"Yes," one of the soldiers agreed, and then walked quickly to the middle of the flat ground and said loudly, "The master is back, everyone come out!" After a while, more than a dozen people came to the center of the venue from the bluestone houses on both sides.

After Li Yan got on the platform, he has been following the teacher. He just saw that in addition to the eight soldiers at the entrance of the stone steps, there were also many people coming in and out of the bluestone houses on the two sides. There were also curls of green smoke coming out of the roofs of two houses, and bursts of fragrance came from afar, but the light was a little dim at this time, and the lights in those rooms were not enough for him to see clearly from a distance.

After these people stood in place, the military division also came to the center of the venue, turned around and waved to Li Yan. Li Yan walked over. When he walked in front of these people, he found that in addition to the eight soldiers just now, there were twelve soldiers wearing the same standard military uniforms, and in addition to them, there were actually three middle-aged women here.

Among these people, the three middle-aged women and the two soldiers standing in the middle of the team stared at Li Yan with some curiosity, while the rest of the people stood there expressionlessly.

"This is my new disciple, Li Yan, who will live here in the future." Military Advisor Ji pointed at Li Yan and said, "This is where I live. The twenty soldiers are sent by the Marshal to guard us, and the remaining women are responsible for our food and clothing."

Li Yan looked at them, but he was surprised to find that some of them looked at him in a strange way, which made him a little confused.