"Yes, yes! Young master's insight is remarkable, your subordinate is foolish." Old William truly wasn't very smart, but he was loyal. It was precisely people like him who were best suited to be trusted confidants.

…………

The next day, Ethan Brooks and Old William left Hangzhou city early in the morning.

When they left, Henry Clark and Samuel Bennett were still fast asleep in bed. Of course, for young masters from wealthy families, it's nothing even if they sleep in every day, let alone occasionally.

It wasn't until the hour of Si that Henry Clark finally got up. After washing up, a servant told him that his father wished to see him.

Henry Clark thought his father wanted to scold him for drinking too much the previous day, but to his surprise, when he arrived, Master Clark said nothing. Instead, with a serious expression, he told him to come with him to the ancestral hall.

In wealthy families, the ancestral hall is always set up at home; only poor families place ancestral tablets at the village shrine. Besides worshipping ancestors during festivals, the ancestral hall in a wealthy family also serves other purposes, the most typical of which is...

"No way? Just because I drank a little too much, I have to face family discipline? Or has he finally decided to sever our father-son relationship?"

On the way to the ancestral hall with Old Mr. Clark, Henry Clark couldn't stop overthinking.

Squire Clark said nothing, his face set with determination. Judging by the atmosphere, it really seemed like something big was about to happen.

Once the two of them stepped into the ancestral hall, Master Clark immediately ordered the servants to leave and closed the door.

Henry Clark felt even more uneasy. He thought, I haven't done anything truly wicked lately, have I? Could it be that my past deeds—like ambushing people with bricks and sacks—have finally been exposed?

"Yixie." After a brief silence, Squire Clark spoke. "You are seventeen this year, aren't you?"

"Yes." Henry Clark was a bit timid, so his attitude was very respectful. "I turned seventeen this spring."

"Mm..." Squire Clark nodded. "Have you truly decided to go to Luoyang with Young Nephew Bennett to attend the Young Heroes' Gathering?"

"Uh..." Henry Clark hesitated, and replied tentatively, "Well... that's the plan for now."

What he really meant was—if you disapprove, I can always not go.

"Good." Unexpectedly, Squire Clark nodded again and sighed, "It seems this is fate..." He paused. "Since that's the case, the time has come..." As he spoke, he stepped forward and walked behind the altar where the ancestral tablets were placed.

No one knew what Squire Clark moved in the shadows, but after a moment, accompanied by the sound of gears turning, a secret door opened in the ancestral hall.

"My son, come with me." With that, Squire Clark calmly beckoned to Henry Clark, leading him through the secret door.

===Chapter 5: The Sun Family's Secret Treasures===

The moment he saw the secret door, Henry Clark immediately understood that his father wasn't going to punish him, but was about to pass on some family secret.

With this realization, Squire Clark's earlier words and actions made sense.

The passage behind the secret door wasn't long. After a few turns, father and son arrived at a stone chamber underground.

Master Clark took out a fire striker he had prepared in advance and lit several oil lamps on the wall. The firelight illuminated the not-so-large stone room.

Henry Clark squinted his perpetually sleepy-looking eyes and scanned the surroundings. He saw that, apart from a few bronze lamp holders set into the walls, there were only three items in the entire chamber.

A weapon, stuck in an old weapon rack.

A suit of soft armor, placed on a stone pedestal.

A stone coffin, quite large, taking up nearly a quarter of the room.

"Yixie." After a moment, Master Clark spoke in a deep voice with his hands behind his back. "Do you know whose descendants our Sun family are?"

Upon hearing this, Henry Clark's eyes darted, and he immediately replied, "Our Sun family has lived in Jiangdong for generations, with a distinguished lineage and a long history... Could it be that we are descendants of Sun Jian, Sun Wentai, from the Three Kingdoms period?"

"Mm... not bad." Master Clark nodded in satisfaction. "I've long heard that, though you are illiterate and not scholarly, your knowledge is not lacking... It seems you have no talent for the Eight-Legged Essay, but you have made some achievements in miscellaneous studies." He paused, then continued, "You're right. Our Sun family is indeed descended from the Martial Emperor of Eastern Wu. Unfortunately, so much time has passed, and the Sun clan has branched out and experienced many ups and downs. We can't trace our genealogy beyond fifteen generations, so I don't know whether our line is direct or collateral."

"No big deal. Back then, even Liu Bei's ancestry was unclear, and he still managed to call himself 'Imperial Uncle'," Henry Clark said. "In the future, I'll just say I'm the direct descendant of the Little Conqueror Sun Ce. Who could prove otherwise?"

"Heh heh..." Master Clark was amused by his son. "Alright then... In any case, our Sun ancestors produced many outstanding people—some who became top ministers with strategies to secure the nation, and others who roamed the martial world with peerless martial arts..." As he spoke, he pointed to the three items. "These three are the 'secret treasures' left by our ancestors for descendants who wish to pursue the martial path. Today, I will pass them all to you, so that when you travel the martial world, you will have something to rely on."