There seemed to be an evil power of Datara in the purple demon eye. The eye patch also seemed to have the ability to seal that power, which made Han Shuo feel very strange. His eyes kept looking over at the strange eye patch on the little skeleton's head, trying to discover something or anything.
However, Han Shuo quickly realised that his efforts were in vain. He couldn't see anything out of the ordinary from the purple demon eye after it was covered by the eye patch. Aside from the jewels and beautiful jade scattered throughout the house, there was nothing else of note. When Han Shuo no longer felt in danger, he got up to summon the old forest troll priest.
As the old priest entered, his gaze immediately fell on the statue of Datara, now missing the purple demon eye. He was incredibly astonished and asked, "What, what's happened? Why is the purple demon eye that the great Datara left behind gone?"
Pointing to the small skeleton, Han Shuo smiled faintly and explained, "The eye has already been reclaimed by the great Datara of this world. Do you not see the patch on his left eye?"
The old priest finally reacted to Han Shuo's reminder and looked at the small skeleton in astonishment. The old priest immediately fell to his knees and shouted, "Congratulations to the great Datara! My tribe has always protected the Purple Demon Eye according to your last wishes, and now that the Purple Demon Eye is back in your possession, my tribe has fulfilled what you entrusted to us."
"Aside from the purple demon eye, was there anything else you offered as a tribute to the great Datara?" Han Shuo thought and stared at the old priest in question.
The old priest was startled and pondered with a furrowed brow. He shook his head and said, "We guarded the Purple Demon Eye in accordance with the great one's last wishes. Apart from that, all the treasures have been offered to the great Datara."
"Very good, very good." Han Shuo nodded his head and said to the old priest. "Leave for now, the great Datara will appear in a moment to guide you."
The old priest reverently retreated from the great house and Han Shuo began to loot everything in the house. The gold, jewels and jade scattered on the floor disappeared one by one into Han Shuo's space ring. Han Shuo easily estimated the wealth inside and felt that it was probably worth tens of thousands of gold coins. They were all items that the forest trolls had offered to the demon Datara after stealing from others.
Han Shuo ignored the heavier items for the time being, and did not immediately try to remove the jewels embedded in the wooden walls. He first put away the jewels, gold and jade scattered on the floor and then took inventory of his haul. He thought this was a good place to stop for now.
Apart from a few larger antiques and the jewels embedded in the house, many of the precious jewels, gold and jade had found their way into Han Shuo's space ring.
However, the capacity of Han Shuo's space ring was limited, and there were a few other items stored in it as well. He'd only taken a third of the items in the house, but the value of that third was probably tens of thousands of gold coins as well. It looked as if the forest trolls had reaped rich rewards after many years of plundering.
Since the little skeleton had become the great Datara of the forest trolls, Han Shuo began to think furiously once again. He would be able to force the forest trolls to do certain things by using the little skeleton's identity. He wasn't worried that the items in the house would magically disappear - they should be quite safe in here. He would have to come back sooner or later to refine the Wood Elite Zombie, so Han Shuo was in no hurry.
The forest trolls were a race that was universally hated and despised in the Dark Forest. With the presence of the little skeleton, Han Shuo could now strut around in borrowed influence and force them into action. The only thing he hesitated about was - what could he do with these forest trolls?
Han Shuo suddenly felt a huge headache as he thought about it. These forest trolls were naturally greedy and loved to loot from others. This wouldn't change no matter what. Therefore, Han Shuo did not know how to control them. If it hadn't been for the fact that they had mistaken the little skeleton for the demon Datara and worshipped him, Han Shuo wouldn't have minded killing them all and taking their belongings.
However, with the little skeleton now, Han Shuo could put it to good use. It seemed too much of a waste to kill them now. He racked his brain painfully for a while. Han Shuo felt that their innate raiding nature could not be changed, the only thing he could change was who they raided. If the target they raided could be changed to the equally infamous goblins or man-eating monsters, or the troops of some enemy empire, then a bad thing would become a good thing.
Thinking this through, Han Shuo left the house with the little skeleton. He used the surveillance of the three original demons to get a full picture of the place the forest trolls were guarding. As he descended from the house, Han Shuo opened his mouth to give orders, "The great Datara has just descended here and is unfamiliar with the current state of this world. The great Datara must familiarise himself with the Dark Forest and then show you the way for your future. Do not raid the dwarves during this process, the great Datara needs them alive and well.
Although the old forest troll priest had many questions in his heart, he didn't dare question Han Shuo's words. He simply bowed his head and asked respectfully, "Should we send warriors to help the great Datara get to know these surroundings?"
"No need, the great Datara and I will stay within your tribe for the next few days. You can just stay here and wait." Han Shuo didn't take the wooden raft from the forest trolls after these words and left with the little skeleton after giving a few more commands.
Han Shuo didn't return to the Cemetery immediately after leaving the area, but took the little skeleton with him on a trip to explore the area.
Since he wanted to collect the five divine zombies, Han Shuo would of course not let go of a naturally formed place of extreme wood. Apart from the forest trolls guarding the wooden house, and some surprisingly lush growth of trees and grass nearby, there was nothing else.
Han Shuo finally felt at ease after releasing the three original demons and letting them scout the area. He planned to return to the outskirts of the Cemetery .
On his way here, Han Shuo had closely observed the surroundings through the original demons, and the way back had long since been engraved in his heart. He didn't go straight to the river to return, but walked leisurely along the current. Halfway through his journey, he felt a little hungry and looked at the strange fish swimming happily in the clear water. A thought struck him, and the Demonslayer's Edge flew out with a whoosh. It sank into the water according to Han Shuo's intentions and returned to Han Shuo's hands after piercing through two large fish.
The small skeleton left with the bone dagger in his hand at Han Shuo's command and returned after a while with a bundle of wooden materials. He deftly constructed a rack while Han Shuo lit the fire and placed the two large fish on the rack. Then he took spices from his space ring and sprinkled them over the roasting fish. A tantalising smell slowly began to spread.
A black shadow rushed in from the distant sky. As a strong gust of wind blew Han Shuo's clothes around, a pungent and disgusting stench hit his nose, causing disgust to rise in Han Shuo. As he raised his head and looked up in anger, the black shadow had risen from low to high and returned high in the sky, forming a black dot.
"Damn ugly bird, so disgusting!" Han Shuo cursed and turned the almost finished fish to the other side.
At that moment, the black shadow swooped down from the distance with a whistling sound and rose back into the air when it was not too far from the top of Han Shuo's head, but Han Shuo had been prepared and saw the black shadow clearly this time - it had the body of an eagle but the face of an extremely ugly woman, a harpy.
Harpies and Deepwater Poison Pythons were all level three magical creatures. She had the face of a human, but couldn't make human sounds. There was always a foul smell about them, as they liked to scavenge the corpses of humans. If a human caught the eye of a Harpy, she would test you constantly until she found the right opportunity to suddenly dive at your scalp, using the disgusting scent on her body to disorientate you, then use her sharp claws to rip your head off and start eating.
In the Dark Forest, it would be very difficult to catch the eye of a Harpy because of her agile flight speed. When Han Shuo discovered that he had caught the Harpy's attention, he looked at the Harpy circling above him with piercing cold eyes and snorted lightly, "Looking for death?"
Han Shuo maintained his baking fish position, ignoring the harpy's constant feints above him. The little skeleton wielding the bone dagger was a little restless at his side, seemingly wanting to take down this troublesome harpy, but temporarily doing nothing under Han Shuo's reassurance.
At that moment, several people slowly appeared in the distance. They looked like the crew of a young adventurer. They had mages, archers and warriors, six in all. They looked at the circling harpy and cursed the annoying harpy in low tones.
Han Shuo had been staring intently at the harpy, planning to take care of her, when he finally realised that the harpy's original target seemed to have been them when he heard their curses. She'd suddenly changed targets when she saw him here alone, and tried to eat him first.
One of the swordsmen had spotted Han Shuo from the delicious smell of the baking fish. He pointed out Han Shuo to his companions and the group of six young adventurers, male and female, made their way towards him.