Xinzi was correct. Tieshan was never part of the Sovereign Moon Goddess and Xue Lin's plans. But her patron, the Heart-Wrenching Demon Noble, had long-noticed Xue Lin's reincarnation pattern and needed someone competent enough to not only foil her plan but also refine her new soul.
You see, the Heart-Wrenching Demon Noble is remarkably ambitious. So ambitious in fact that he doesn't mind butting heads with Gods or Devils if it means it can harvest massive benefits. Xue Lin's soul is benefit, enough benefit for the Heart-Wrenching Noble's chosen to see their Soul Force, Soul and Yin quality rise by stratospheric proportions.
This in return would make that chosen a far more productive dual cultivation partner for the Heart-Wrenching Demon Noble, and help him break the last shackles that his technique imposed upon him.
Attempting to mess with deities' plans was always a risky move—a bet. But as with all bets, the right pick minimized the margin for failure. Tieshan was that pick, and not long after forming a pact with her, the Heart-Wrenching Demon Noble told her all there was to know about the Moon Fly's preying tactics.
Together, they searched and waited, patiently tracing the possible candidates and narrowing it down by relying on the criteria. It wasn't that difficult. After all, people born on the same day and same time as Xue Lin, on a full moon, with a Water Spiritual Root and of the female gender, didn't cram the streets. Also, Xue Lin would only reincarnate in the East, which narrowed down the search further.
Thanks to the Heart-Wrenching Demon Noble's boons, Tieshan could not only spot the Moon Fly but also stay concealed from it, a conjunction of abilities that put her in an impregnable position.
Thus, Tieshan watched Xue Lin's victims come and go, using the glow of the Moon Fly to determine who would be the last victim. When the fly returned once more, with a glow that mirrored the moon at its brightest, and hovered beside the Dongli king, Shui Jiankang's queen, Tieshan knew that the next victim would be the final one, and so took action.
Before the Moon Fly could infect the fetus, Tieshan incarnated herself in the queen's womb, turning the future child into her semi-avatar.
Just like Tieshan, on the day that the child was born, the moon's size in the sky tripled, with its glow shining across one hundred miles. For that reason, just like Tieshan's father did in the past, Shui Jiankang named his daughter...Haoyue.
Interestingly, even though Shui Haoyue was clearly a perfect match, the Moon Fly hesitated to infect the fetus, almost as if Xue Lin had enough of draining lives for her rebirth. But ultimately, the desire to return to Qiu Meng's side overwhelmed all other considerations—a fatal mistake.
Now Tiehshan only had one thing to do: wait. Wait for the day that Xue Lin siphoned the last bit of Haoyue's soul and started the final step of her reincarnation. At that time, Tieshan would launch a sneak attack, overpowering Xue Lin and devouring her soul through the Swallowing Skill.
"Snow Empress Xue Lin and Princess Tieshan, you two are ruthless enough. Anyway, life and death are predestined by Heaven's Will, this has nothing to do with me. Now that we're in a partnership, I don't have to worry about the Heart-Wrenching Demon Noble digging into my background. I hope you also understand that, trying to find out things that you shouldn't will lead you to an early grave," Xinzi said, and seeing as Tieshan's face grimaced at his words, our monk shook his head.
"Make no mistake, I'm not threatening you, just stating facts. In my world, among my people, you are not qualified to be an ant. As for your previous patron, he barely matches the ant criteria. So, let's focus on what we can accomplish together, and avoid probes that do neither of us any good," Xinzi tried to clarify his stance, but for once, our monk misunderstood the root of Tieshan's discomfort.
"You're moving on so fast. Is this all that Haoyue means to you?" Tieshan could see all that Haoyue saw and feel all that she felt. In fact, due to the semi-avatar state, they blended and spilled on one another—their emotions, desires and traits mixing at the most unexpected of times. Due to this trait, although she'd never admit it, Tieshan felt for Xinzi the same passion that Haoyue did, and couldn't accept Xinzi being so dismissive of her fate.
"What do you want me to say? 'Oh, Haoyue is in danger! I have to brave the fury of heaven and earth to save her!'
Rubbish. For that girl, I almost committed a fatal mistake. But how did she repay me?
Competition in the harem is fine, harming is not. But don't say harm, had I not been taking precautions against the extra baggage that her soul carried, Haoyue would have killed A'Zhi and A'Zhu.
She broke my most important rule, and if I were not fond of her, terminally ill or not, I'd have destroyed her existence—found a cure to her condition, then exterminated her clan and slow-roasted her soul for one million years. Truth be told, I resent myself for not giving her the deserved payback. It was a moment of weakness that won't happen again." Only Xinzi knew the amount of trouble that he almost put himself into because of Haoyue.
Chang'e was a direct representative of Yongye's will. Anything that she did, she did so at Yongye's behest. By saving Haoyue, it wasn't Chang'e, but Yongye's plans, that Xinzi would be trampling upon. His position was precarious enough, but in the heat of the moment, he still chose to find an opportunity to return to the Evernight Palace and use the Zhen-body to not only dispose of the soul parasite but fix Haoyue's soul.
Thankfully, Shui Haoyue decided to act a fool, or by now, there's a good chance that Xinzi's position in the Night Pantheon would have gone from Greatest One to Humblest One.
"Not reducing Haoyue's existence to ruin is the greatest proof of my love for her. Never expect more from me. She's the first and last. Anyone else that tries to pull off that kind of stunt, I will end with the full depth of my cruelty," Xinzi said, his words echoing with such overwhelming force that Tieshan's legs trembled.
