[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-ink-saint-of-great-zhou":3,"chapter-the-ink-saint-of-great-zhou-the-ink-saint-of-great-zhou-chapter-179":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Ink Saint of Great Zhou",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2292142,4481,"Chapter 179: Panic","the-ink-saint-of-great-zhou-chapter-179",179,"\u003Cp>“Watch out!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Sha, sounding tense, warned: “Lord Wenguan, let it go—if it runs, let it run. Don’t chase it; there might be traps.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before she finished speaking, Lu Fang had already vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside the cave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The green-skinned beast, now awake, fled at full speed toward the multicolored snow mountains—the place filled with unknown dangers, the very place it had come from.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet to it, that place was not merely dangerous; it carried a sense of safe return, like home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So the instant it sensed danger, its only thought was to go back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If time could be rewound, it would never have entered the cave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The green-skinned beast reached the mountain peak at full speed, saw the endless, colorful snow mountains, and without hesitation, leapt straight down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Fang arrived just as it jumped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, he did not leap after it—it was too dangerous. Who knew what lurked below? As Luo Sha had said, there might be traps; he wasn’t surprised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If this weren’t a snow mountain, if there weren’t extreme yin energy here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Fang might have leapt without hesitation—but this wasn’t just any snow mountain; the extreme yin energy below was noticeably denser. So he stopped, uncertain what might happen if he jumped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One minute later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Sha finally arrived, panting. Seeing Lu Fang standing at the mountain’s edge, she let out a light laugh: “Good thing you’re unharmed. Did that green-skinned beast jump down?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Fang nodded slightly, pointing to the claw marks on the snow mountain’s cliff face, and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It must have climbed up from here. Just now, it leapt straight down—it’s probably injured. I don’t know the exact situation, so I didn’t follow.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Sha stood beside Lu Fang, carefully looking down at the claw marks, and nodded: “Lord Wenguan, you were wise not to jump.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Beneath this snow mountain is extremely dangerous. With a sixth-rank, third-stage cultivation base, you’d likely be trapped down there, unable to climb back up.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Besides, we’re unharmed. Let it go.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We’ll need to station troops here going forward, to prevent beasts from climbing up and launching surprise attacks.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If you hadn’t been here today, Pan and I would likely be dead.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Fang sighed, puzzled: “You knew this area beneath was unexplored and dangerous—why didn’t you station troops here?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Sha shook her head, grimacing: “We did station troops here at first. But after we cleared all the dangers near the cave, not a single beast ever attacked.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not even a shadow of one.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Since nothing dangerous ever happened, we withdrew the Luo Sha garrison. We never expected a beast to appear today.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Lu Fang and Luo Sha spoke, several figures swiftly approached—when they drew near, it became clear they were Pan’s reinforcements.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Princess Xue, are you unharmed? We’re sorry we’re late. We heard a beast just attacked you—where is it now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The lead figure, an old Luo Sha with white whiskers, asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Sha organized her thoughts and recounted the entire sequence of events in detail, then added: “Since a beast climbed up from the peak today and attacked us—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Shouldn’t we station some troops here going forward, to prevent this from happening again when others come to cultivate in the snow mountains?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The white-whiskered old Luo Sha nodded: “I’ll report this to the Luo Sha King. This is highly unusual. I’d like to ask Lord Wenguan—why would the beast want something from you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course!” Pan suddenly realized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d felt something was off earlier. Now he understood—it was Lord Wenguan’s presence that had drawn the green-skinned beast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Sha also turned to look at Lu Fang, her expression puzzled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She’d been so absorbed in her own explanation that she hadn’t asked what had actually happened. She was still curious—what was the real reason?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Fang spread his hands, smiling helplessly: “I can’t explain it—I’m just as confused. I’ve never seen that green-skinned beast before. I have no idea what it wanted from me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The white-whiskered old Luo Sha frowned. He disliked Lu Fang’s answer. He was about to press further when Luo Sha interrupted:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Perhaps it’s a language issue. It probably meant something like ‘I want your life’—just a threat.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Fang smiled helplessly: “It does sound like that. But honestly, I don’t know what I’m carrying that a beast would want.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old Luo Sha’s cloudy eyes suddenly sharpened. He stared at Lu Fang as if trying to peer into his soul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Fang raised an eyebrow. He disliked being scrutinized. “What? You think something’s wrong? Then tell me—what do you think the green-skinned beast wanted from me?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old Luo Sha shook his head: “Lord Wenguan, you misunderstand. I mean no harm. But a powerful beast appearing here, launching a surprise attack—that’s never happened before. I’m just being cautious.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the tension, Luo Sha intervened: “Lord Wenguan, come on. Since troops are here now, let’s not waste time. Let’s go back into the cave and continue cultivating.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Fang agreed, but he didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he added more details about the green-skinned beast to the white-whiskered old Luo Sha.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only after finishing did he follow Luo Sha into the cave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He appeared calm and composed—there was no flaw to be found in his demeanor. But inside, Lu Fang was terrified. He simply didn’t show it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His fear came from the Devil Heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After careful thought, he believed the green-skinned beast’s sudden attack was almost certainly tied to the Devil Heart on his person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thing the beast wanted—likely the Devil Heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could the Devil Heart truly summon creatures like the green-skinned beast? Could it drive them into a frenzy without anyone noticing?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All of this filled Lu Fang with dread.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d thought avoiding the Devil Heart was enough. Now he saw it was far more powerful than he’d imagined.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After reaching this conclusion, he refused to believe it. He tried every possible counter-argument—but none held.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was only one possibility. No other.\u003C\u002Fp>",992,"2026-06-20T03:56:21.568Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","e5f88736c7366a6f1acd2706748bc0d757aab7d49d0faf07ac1d91555a19517f","the-ink-saint-of-great-zhou-chapter-180","the-ink-saint-of-great-zhou-chapter-178",289,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-ink-saint-of-great-zhou-cover.jpg"]