"Just now your grandma pulled me aside and asked a bunch of questions. Looks like she's trying to make me your wife."
Bella Xiao watched the Zheng family matriarch leave, her voice calm and unembarrassed: "I told her I could consider it."
"But honestly, your grandma seems pretty easy to talk to, and she cares about you quite a bit."
Bella Xiao said this, then glanced at Evan Lin standing nearby: "What do you think?"
"Not much to think about."
Evan Lin couldn't be bothered with small talk: "Alright, when are we heading out?"
"Tonight, but we can leave now if you want."
Bella Xiao still had her camera slung around her neck: "The Grand Tomb opens at night, and it's not in the city. We have to go to Oceanport Memorial Forest first."
"Do you want to go back and say goodbye to your family? Just a quick farewell?"
Bella Xiao glanced toward the villa: "No telling how many days we'll be gone this time."
"Maybe we won't make it out. Who knows."
Bella Xiao spoke about this without much emotion.
"No need. Let's go."
Evan Lin shook his head.
He and Bella Xiao left the Zheng family villa together and headed for Oceanport Memorial Forest.
Oceanport Memorial Forest.
It's an area outside Oceanport, close to the sea.
Mountains surround it, and behind the mountains there's a sheer cliff. Beyond the cliff, the sea is right there.
"The Memorial Forest used to be a chaotic mass grave. After it was renovated, it became a cemetery. But except for the outermost section, the deeper areas are where the Wang, Liu, Chen, and Liang Grave-Keeper Families have guarded the Grand Tomb for generations."
"The Grave-Keeper Families are the same ones you met at the Thornridge Mountain tomb—Zane Wang, Leo Liu, Harvey Chen, and Claire Liang, their family lines."
The Wang, Liu, Chen, and Liang Grave-Keeper Families have jointly guarded this Grand Tomb for ages—no one knows how long, only that an Immortal Lady is buried inside.
Bella Xiao walked beside Evan Lin, her voice slow and steady. She still held her camera, occasionally snapping pictures of the surroundings.
She looked quite relaxed.
Evan Lin glanced around. It looked just like an ordinary cemetery—nothing unusual, no special people in sight.
Only when they entered the cemetery did the gatekeeper take a second look at them.
You said I might see the person outside karma in there—is that true?
That’s true. Legend has it the Immortal Grand Tomb holds a Mirror‑Flower, Water‑Moon Pool. Its purpose is to reveal karmic threads beyond ordinary reincarnation.
Bella Xiao spoke slowly.
How do you know so much?
Evan Lin looked at her: “The Grave-Keeper Families—Wang, Liu, Liang, Chen—none of them are Xiao. So what about you?”
Where are you from? If you’re not from one of the Grave-Keeper Families, how do you know all this?
My origins…
Bella Xiao paused: “There used to be five Grave-Keeper Families.”
Besides those four, there was also my family—the Xiao family.
But during one expedition into the Grand Tomb, everyone in the Xiao family perished—caught in the Immortal Lady’s curse.
That year, my mother was pregnant with me. She barely escaped, but after I was born, she left me, and I became the last Xiao.
I’m the only Xiao left among the Grave-Keepers. You could call me the fifth family, but it doesn’t matter anymore—after this trip, I won’t concern myself with these things.
This time, I just want to… fulfill the Xiao family’s last mission.
Bella Xiao sighed, her voice tinged with melancholy.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up painful memories.