"It's raining. Does anyone want to buy an umbrella?"

The stooped, blind old woman walked with difficulty through the pitch-black forest in the pouring rain. She groped for the road ahead with her hand, muttering to herself, and occasionally slipped and fell to the ground due to the slippery, rain-soaked paths. Her tattered clothes were caked with mud and leaves, barely recognizable in their original form.

"It's raining. Does anyone want to buy an umbrella?"

The blind old woman, drenched from head to toe, continued to speak in a hoarse, sorrowful voice. Her miserable and pitiable appearance was like that of those forgotten elderly who hover in the corners of society, unnoticed by the public, barely scraping by with a street-side stall—enough to stir compassion in anyone's heart.

BOOM.

As thunder cracked, a figure emerged from the woods, holding a black umbrella and shrouded in a red coat, standing firmly in front of the hunched old lady.

As if sensing something, the blind old woman lifted her head and stared ahead with her cloudy eyes. "It's raining. Does anyone want to buy an umbrella?"

Li Ang slowly said, "Ever heard of swimming for fitness? Siva Xingge Fitness Club is having a grand opening special—equipment annual card for 880 yuan a year, aerobics pass for 980 yuan a year, cozy family card for 1,280 yuan a year, and there's even a 30-day super weight-loss boot camp…"

The old woman, as if she hadn't heard a word, kept saying, "It's raining. Does anyone want to buy an umbrella?"

Li Ang continued, "Old dear, interested in buying some large-can tea? One can makes a whole pot. Drinking it yourself shows your good taste; serving it to others shows your status. It's a master's work, purely handmade, insisting on top-grade ingredients from the original source, and adhering to traditional craftsmanship. I'd call it a classic specialty."

The old woman repeated, "It's raining…"

Li Ang pressed on, "Ma'am, may I borrow a few minutes of your time? Have you heard of Amway?"

The old woman said, "Raining…"

Li Ang tried again, "Senior, let me recommend a shoe cleaner that quickly removes stains from shoes. If you're not interested, I also have postgraduate study materials, postgraduate lecture products, and certification training classes. I guarantee you won't regret it; you can't go wrong!"

The old woman managed, "It's…"

Li Ang snapped, "Rain, my foot! Can't you see I'm holding an umbrella?"

He strode forward, holding his black umbrella, and sighed. "These on-the-ground promoters these days really don't put their hearts into it anymore. They're not even willing to do the basic preparation of accurately analyzing their target audience and defining promotion areas. And hiring a poor old granny like this as a promoter? She's selling umbrellas but doesn't even use one herself! How can customers be satisfied or feel at ease like this?"

As Li Ang spoke, he drew the Bronze Scythe from the void, its sleek blade reflecting the dazzling lightning.

"Young man, you want an umbrella, right?"

The old woman, her back bowed, stood her ground. A strange smile creased her wrinkled face. "Ten yuan each..."

She extended her withered, skeletal arms, slowly and firmly pressed them against the sides of her head, and leisurely "pulled" it off.

The old woman's head, still bearing a smile, was held in her hands, suspended above her neck. The lower end was attached to a string of pale vertebrae, from which crimson blood dripped continuously.

SWISH—

The disheveled, dry, pale hair on the old woman's head floated up, defying the gale and pouring rain.

Her head served as the umbrella frame, her spine as the handle, and her hair as the canopy.

The old crone, holding this "umbrella," stepped toward Li Ang. With each step, leaves stuck to her clothes rustled and fell off.

The cloudy eyes on the detached head were wide open, looking as if they might burst from their sockets. Her lower jaw suddenly dropped, gaping like a snake's, as she roared hoarsely, "Time to pay up!!"

"I told you I'm not buying an umbrella!!" Li Ang shouted. The Divine Mark on the back of his hand flashed briefly, and his body subtly swelled. The Bronze Scythe, which he swung diagonally, suddenly accelerated in mid-air. Carrying a vast surge of Ripple Energy, it struck down toward the old woman approaching with her head in her hands.

BOOM!

Just as the old woman was about to collide with the scythe, she swiftly positioned her hair umbrella horizontally, attempting to use its hair canopy to block the blade. However, the moment she made contact with the scythe, she realized the terrifying power it carried.

Under that strike, the old crone was sent flying sideways, crashing heavily against a tree trunk. A huge wound appeared on her body, stretching from shoulder to waist, from which blood gushed ceaselessly.

And that terrifyingly shaped "umbrella" was cleaved in two on the spot. Its canopy and skeletal frame split apart in midair, then fell under the pull of gravity. The two halves of the face landed in a muddy pile of leaves, still bearing an expression of utter horror.

Li Ang walked forward unhurriedly, holding his own umbrella. He casually released Fragment Scatter, knocking the two halves of the head—which were on the ground attempting to escape by using hair as tendrils—into the air. With a swing of the Bronze Scythe, he bisected the head again, splitting it into four parts.

The old crone, or rather the urban legend that had taken her guise, died on the spot. The headless body lying under the tree also ceased its struggles.

"Next time you do on-the-ground promotions, remember to clearly understand the customer's needs first," Li Ang commented.

The System notifications for Experience Points and Game Coins chimed in his ears.

Sighing, Li Ang activated the Soul Reaping Effect of his Soul Reaping Bronze Scythe. He extracted the old crone's Spiritual Body, forming an irregular white crystal body the size of a walnut, streaked with mottled black lines inside.

The Special Effect of the Soul Reaping Bronze Scythe was to crystallize the Spiritual Body of any life it killed. For beings from the real world, this was undoubtedly equivalent to complete soul dispersion—incredibly cruel. But in this fictional world, constructed by the telekinetic efforts of countless beings and riddled with terrifying urban legends, it couldn't be more fitting.

"Is this a Spirit Body Crystal?"

Li Ang weighed it for a moment. Finding that the crystal contained a certain amount of Yin energy, he turned and asked, "Take a look, do you think this thing is edible?"

Miss Chai's head peeked out from his chest, her eyes wide. Her slender fingers tentatively reached out and poked the white crystal.

"It feels like it might be edible..." Miss Chai said somewhat uncertainly. She took the crystal body in her hands and closed her eyes to concentrate for a moment.

The white crystal body visibly shrank, as if it were a block of ice melting in the sun. In the blink of an eye, only a small black chunk remained—it seemed the impurities had been left behind, lingering in this final part of the crystal.

"It really is edible! Oh, this is amazing!" Miss Chai's eyes lit up. "It can provide roughly one-tenth of my maximum Yin energy storage!"

Chaichai, as an unfortunately disgraced and incompletely initiated demon spirit, lacked both a player's stable leveling system and a demon spirit's power inheritance. She could only accumulate power by hoarding Yin energy. Feeding her the Spirit Body Crystal felt like throwing a meat bun at a dog—gone for good, with no return.

"Oh?"

Li Ang nodded and stuffed the remaining black chunk of the crystal into his pocket. "That's pretty good. This forest is full of evil spirits, so there should be enough for you to eat. Let's hurry; they're still waiting for us."

"Mmm-hmm."

After her feast of Yin energy, an excited Miss Chai shrank back into his chest, rubbing her hands together and eagerly looking forward to a full meal that day.

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