Chapter 5 Separation

At this time, Li Yan and his carriage were passing through the long city gate. The city gate was very long, but it was not damp inside. The tall and wide design made the city gate ventilated, dry and well-lit. Li Yan and his carriage walked for dozens of breaths before they left the city gate and came into the city.

Opposite the city gate were three roads, all paved with large bluestones. Due to the constant flow of cars and people walking on them, the road surface looked shiny and glossy. Even the slightly uneven cut surface on the bluestone surface or the gap between two bluestones looked round and smooth. The middle one was obviously wider than the two side roads, and it should be the main road without a doubt. The two forked roads meandered to both sides, and no one knew where they went. There were many buildings on both sides of the road, most of which were two- or three-story buildings. There were all kinds of canvases and signs at the door. People came and went, and shouts and greetings came one after another. Although it was afternoon, it was also a lively scene.

As pedestrians passed by on the street, Li Guoxin and his carriage slowed down and drove slowly. Li Yan and the other three sat in the carriage and their eyes were not enough. They kept turning their heads around, feeling very fresh. Many of them were things they had never seen or heard of before.

"Brother Yan, look at that door, there are iron railings and counters inside, and the person outside can only stand on tiptoe and stretch his face to the small hole to talk. It should be a pawnshop, right?" Li Yu asked when he saw a pawnshop.

"Xiaoyu, Xiaoyu, look at that three-story restaurant, it's so grand and fragrant, I've never smelled this smell before, even when the wild boar was roasted, the oil on the wild boar didn't smell this fragrant. If you become an apprentice here in the future, you will be very capable," Li Shan said, pointing to the restaurant he had just passed by.

Li Guoxin turned around and smiled and said, "You will live here for a long time in the future, and you will have time to see it, but you must learn skills well, otherwise you will be driven back to the village, which will be embarrassing. The place you want to go is still ahead."

Li Yan also felt that everything was new and fresh. He had never seen many things before. Some of them were told by his father and villagers, while some were things he had never heard of. He could not help but sigh that the outside world was vast and his own knowledge was limited.

After the carriage moved forward in the crowd for a while, it stopped at a two-story restaurant. Although this restaurant only had two floors, it had many storefronts. There were seven or eight storefronts facing the street in a row.

These storefronts were connected inside, making the lobby particularly wide and bright. At this time, it was not yet time for guests to come in, but there were still some guests coming in and out. I think they were the kind who came and ate as they pleased. The restaurant sign spanned several storefronts in the middle, which looked very impressive and eye-catching. It read "Natural Wine House".

Li Guoxin drove the carriage to the street-facing store on the far right of "Natural Wine House", stopped under a big tree, tied the reins to the tree, and then asked Li Yu to get off. He asked Li Yan and Li Shan to wait by the carriage, and then took Li Yu to the middle door. Li Yan and Li Shan stood by the carriage, watching the lively scene on the street, and they didn't speak for a while. In fact, with Li Yu's departure, they also knew that the time of separation had come, and they would live alone in this strange place in the future. The excitement and longing before were gone at this moment, leaving only a trace of panic in their hearts, a trace of panic like being alone in a foreign place. The two of them had their own thoughts, and they were silent.

After a while, Li Guoxin and Li Yu walked towards the carriage, followed by a 30-year-old fat man wearing a baggy long gown. They walked slowly to the front of the carriage. Li Guoxin said to Li Yu, "Take out the gift." Then he turned to the fat middle-aged man and said with a smile, "Manager Li, I will take this contract back to the child's parents. The child will be handed over here. I hope Manager Li will take care of him in the future for the sake of our fellow clan. Li thanks you very much." After that, he clasped his fists and bowed to Manager Li.

Manager Li's fat face also showed some smiles, "Guoxin, don't be polite. You and I are from the same clan, so we should take care of him. Don't worry about this child. As long as he can endure hardships, he will have a promising future."

Li Guoxin waved to Li Yu and said, "Go with your uncle. Be diligent and quick in the future. Ask more questions and do more when encountering things."

Li Yu had already taken down the gift from the departure, and choked up and said to Li Yan and Li Shan, "Brother Yan, Brother Shan, come to see me when you are free." After saying that, he was about to cry.

Li Yan and Li Shan also squeezed out a smile that was uglier than crying and replied respectively

"Okay, I will come to see you when I am free."

"Xiaoyu, do your work well, and Brother Shan will come to eat the dishes you cook."

The steward Li smiled and said, "Let's go." After saying that, he bowed to Li Guoxin and turned to walk towards the wine shop. Li Yu followed him with the gift, turned back every few steps, followed reluctantly, and finally disappeared in the gatehouse.

At this time, Li Guoxin also invited the two to get on the carriage, untied the reins from the tree, sat on the shaft, and said to the two, "Real men should not be like this. You have come out to learn skills. Once you have learned the skills, you can bring your parents over. That's what makes a man." After saying that, he drove forward without even looking at the two of them.

The carriage continued to move forward, and after turning a few more corners, it also stopped at a place called "Iron Pavilion". Just like before, he let Li Shan get off the car and follow him, leaving Li Yan alone to guard the car. After a while, Li Guoxin and Li Shan also walked back, but this time there were two people following behind. One of them was over ten feet tall, shirtless, with muscles stronger than Li Guoxin's. He shone black in the sun. When he raised his hands and moved his body, his muscles jumped in small pieces, like mice jumping on his body. This man had thick eyebrows and round eyes, and was about forty years old. There was also a half-grown boy next to him who was about the same age as Li Shan, but this boy was also stout, with big hands and feet, and a circle thicker than Li Shan.

Later, Li Yan learned that this man was the owner of this family, named Lu Kui, who was good at making weapons. Whether it was forging military equipment or making agricultural tools, there was no one better in the city. He also often repaired military equipment for the garrison troops in the army. The one next to him was his eldest apprentice Liang Shi. The following events were the same as Li Yu's before. After saying some words, Li Shan also said goodbye to Li Guoxin and Li Yan with red eyes and followed them.

The young man had experienced several farewells in one day, and his mood was extremely low at this time.

Li Guoxin looked up at the sky and said to Li Yan, "We have to hurry to the martial arts training ground. It should be Shen time now. If it's later, it may be tomorrow." Li Yan quickly calmed down and nodded. He was now in a state of mind caused by Li Yu and Li Shan's

previous appearance. He missed his parents and his brother and sister. But he also knew that he could only take one step at a time. What the future holds is confusing and unknown.

Li Guoxin drove Li Yan to a place quickly. Soon, they arrived at a gate surrounded by a high courtyard wall. Li Yan saw that the courtyard wall extended in an arc to both sides. As far as he could see, he still couldn't see the overall range. He thought that the courtyard wall should be very large. Li Guoxin parked the carriage far away and tied it to a hitching post where many horses and carriages were already tied, then led Li Yan to the gate.

At this time, there were more than a dozen soldiers guarding the gate with weapons, and more than a dozen young people and more than a dozen people who seemed to be escorts lined up at the gate. These people were not too surprised to see the two of them coming, but they looked over here at the same time, and then turned their heads to look at the soldiers at the gate.

When the two of them arrived at the gate, a soldier came over and asked, "Are you here to participate in the recruitment of the Guards?"

Li Guoxin pointed at Li Yan, then bowed and answered, "Yes, sir, he is participating in the recruitment."

The soldier pointed at Li Yan and said, "That's right, then you come and go in with this group of people."

Li Yan hurried forward and followed the soldier to stand at the end of the dozen young people.

After the soldier saw them standing in place, he turned to Li Guoxin and the others, pointed to one side and said, "You go and wait there. I estimate that the results will be out around the evening hour."

Li Guoxin then noticed that far away on the other side of the gate, there were a lot of people sitting or standing on the ground looking over here. I think these should be the escorts who came earlier.

From this point of view, there should be quite a few people participating in the recruitment this time. After all, the duties of the Guards this time still attracted many villagers.

Li Guoxin looked at Li Yan, and Li Yan also looked over here. Li Guoxin pointed to that place and then to himself, meaning that he was waiting for him there. Li Yan nodded to show that he understood. Li Guoxin walked towards the waiting area with the dozen people before.