Chapter 2641: Chapter 2641: Family Past
Before long, Jessica, Lord Nine Nether, and Julius Reed arrived in front of the grand hall.
"Do you know why this grand hall is called the Three Cities within?" Jessica pointed at the grand hall, recounting with familiarity, "In the past, the place where our ancestors rose to prominence was called Three Cities."
"Three Cities is actually a place name, where there are three city fortresses. Originally, our ancestors were just a noble family on the verge of being delisted. If no expert of the rank of a minor lord appeared within three generations, the family would be delisted. If the same happened for another three generations, the descendants would basically become slaves."
"Our ancestors were almost in despair. The rules of that era, as you know. Once a family fell into decline and lost those resources, there was absolutely no chance of rising again."
"Slaves had no resources whatsoever. Our position would be replaced by branches of those powerful families. However, our ancestors found a way out. Three thousand years before my birth, an ancestor who changed the destiny of the family finally emerged!"
Jessica spoke of her ancestor, immensely excited.
Both her words and her gaze exuded pride.
"The ancestor Hawthorne founded the Sacred Hawthorne Sect. The place name Three Cities within was named after our ancestor unified the three cities."
"From that moment, Ancestor Hawthorne defeated thirteen lords in a row, becoming a world-renowned unparalleled expert, directly elevating our family to glory for tens of thousands of years."
"After Ancestor Hawthorne’s death, subsequent ancestors continued their legacy, which led to my brother’s moment of glory when he became the King of Nine Provinces."
Speaking of her brother, a trace of uncontrollable sadness appeared in her eyes.
If not for the betrayal by None King, perhaps she would have met her brother here.
But nothing could change the past.
"Being the King of Nine Provinces is not something that can be achieved overnight or by any noble family. Even Ancestor Hawthorne of the past did not become the King of Nine Provinces, which is why he died in depression. Since then, our Hawthorne family’s ancestral hall has been renamed Three Cities within, in memory of this ancestor who saved us from decline."
Jessica pointed at the peculiar writing on the grand hall: "This is the Three Cities within the grand hall, and inside, are our ancestors."
"Before entering, I shall first bow. Since you are not members of our family, you are exempt from this ritual."
After saying this, Jessica knelt on the ground with great respect, knocked her head three times, and pressed her hands together in prayer, muttering something unknown.
Presumably words of reverence toward her ancestors.
After completing all this, she slowly stood up and bowed deeply toward the grand hall of Three Cities within.
"I shall go in first, wait for me outside." With these words, Jessica walked into the grand hall.
Though referred to as an ancestral hall, this magnificent building was more towering than most temples.
It seemed to be the second-largest structure, just after the council hall at the palace of the King of Nine Provinces.
It was evident how important ancestors were in the eyes of their descendants.
Every member of the Hawthorne family held their ancestors close to their hearts.
Never daring to forget.
"None King?" Just as she stepped through the threshold of the grand hall, Jessica exclaimed, "None King is dead here!"
They hadn’t seen None King earlier, nor was there any corpse outside.
Jessica thought None King might have hidden inside the grand hall, or was waiting nearby.
That’s why she decided to go in herself, leaving Lord Nine Nether outside.
Unexpectedly, None King was dead within the ancestral hall.
Could it be the doing of Blood Soul Emperor?
But that couldn’t be.
The fact that Blood Soul Emperor was even alive now was a miracle.
His telekinesis was extremely weak, and he lacked the ability to kill None King.
Yet None King was simply dead.
Dead inside the hall.
Jessica stood still, not daring to act rashly.
She knew there were mechanisms inside.
But now, None King’s body had no wounds, and he died inexplicably.
His eyes even held fear.
What on earth had happened?
"Jessica, what’s going on?"
Lord Nine Nether heard Jessica’s voice and was very worried.
He stood in place, hesitating whether to enter or stay on guard.
"Stay outside, I’ll go in and take a look." Julius Reed understood what he was thinking, so he patted Lord Nine Nether’s shoulder and walked into the ancestral hall in strides.
Upon entering, Julius Reed saw None King lying on the ground, already dead.
In a very miserable state.
His eyes were wide open, and there was blood at the corner of his mouth.
It seemed as if he had sustained grave injuries.
"It seems he died of fright." Julius Reed looked ahead, where rows of spirit tablets stood.
Behind the spirit tablets were golden statues several meters high.
In that era, gold was a precious thing.
Julius Reed couldn’t help but marvel that, aside from the Hawthorne family, probably no other family had the strong capability to construct such luxurious sculptures.
Each lifelike figure held different items, some with bamboo slips, some with fans, and others with double rings.
Almost every person’s weapon was unique.
In the center stood a three-foot-high spirit tablet.
Inscribed with ’Ancestor Hawthorne’.
This spirit tablet was crafted from white jade, adorned with a luminous pearl.
And compared to others, Hawthorne’s statue was a full three times larger!
With a longsword in hand, Hawthorne gazed into the distance, his expression grave.
At his feet lay the sculptures of lords he had defeated.
With terrified expressions, extremely weak.
If such sculptures were to be seen by others, the palace of the King of Nine Provinces would immediately become a target of scorn.
The disrespect was too blatant.
"Do you know how our ancestor died back then?" Jessica stared at the statue of Hawthorne, lost in thought.
"Suicide?"
Julius Reed responded.
"How did you know?" Jessica was slightly surprised at first, but soon smiled and said, "You’re a smart man, that’s what Lord Nine Nether said. He said no matter what you know, it won’t surprise him."
"I was just guessing. Such a powerful figure, if he died naturally, you wouldn’t ask me that. A hero, unless by suicide."
Julius Reed gazed at the statue.
Whether it was due to its enormous size or another reason, the statue exuded an inexplicable sense of oppression.
Julius Reed looked at Jessica, "Why suicide?"
"Because he defeated too many people, causing many to feel uneasy, so many families joined forces to drive our family into the abyss."
Jessica sneered, "Even the King of Nine Provinces at that time feared our ancestor’s abilities, so he turned a blind eye. In fact, the King of Nine Provinces back then was more of a compromise, others pushed him to the throne, and he lacked any real power."
"In the end, the ancestor’s death preserved our family for tens of thousands of years."
"From that time on, the people of our Hawthorne family swore to become the King of Nine Provinces! A King of Nine Provinces whose word carries the weight of nine cauldrons! Not some puppet!"
Jessica slowly clenched her fists, her eyes filled with anger.
"No wonder you’ve carved those sculptures at the ancestor’s feet." Julius Reed glanced at the dead body of None King on the ground, "His death might be related to your ancestor."
