“What’s going on?” Chen Junnan muttered softly. “Is he teaching a class here?”

Seeing those “Participants” thanking Earth-Snake one after another and leaving with reluctance on their faces, Chen Junnan felt his worldview almost collapse.

Earth-Snake saw off these sad-faced “Participants” one by one, then gripped the rope in his hand and turned his gaze toward the people before him.

His gaze swept past Qiao Jiajin, Chen Junnan, and Qin Dingdong before finally landing on Qi Xia’s face.

What everyone didn’t expect was that his gaze only stayed on Qi Xia for two seconds before moving away, as if he had never known him.

“Do you all have some business?” Earth-Snake asked. “Are you here to participate in a game or participate in the ‘Mutual Aid Society’?”

“Mutual Aid Society…?” Chen Junnan was stunned.

“Pretend I didn’t say anything,” Earth-Snake said. “You’re here to participate in a game, right? Wait for me a moment.”

He slowly walked out of the shop, casually picked up a small chair by the door, then walked toward a dead tree across the street with the rope in his hand.

That dead tree looked quite old and was clearly dead, covered with cracked patterns. Large pieces of bark had fallen off, and there wasn’t a single leaf on the entire tree.

The bare tree didn’t even make a sound when the wind blew past.

Earth-Snake walked under the big tree, then reached out to stretch the rope. Under everyone’s watchful eyes, he tossed one end of the rope over a thick branch.

Then he fiddled with the rope a few times, letting it go around the branch and fall back down. Earth-Snake caught the falling end and tied it into a noose in his hands.

Next, he placed the small stool in his hands under the noose, then stood on the chair and tugged at the rope.

“Huh?” Qiao Jiajin blinked, feeling something wasn’t quite right. “Liar boy… what is this old brother planning to do?”

Qi Xia understood what these actions meant, but as an “Earth-level Zodiac” performing these actions, Qi Xia didn’t understand.

But if he rashly went forward to ask, would he answer?

At this moment, Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin simultaneously looked at Chen Junnan.

“Hmm…” Chen Junnan was currently staring blankly at Earth-Snake, but he soon felt something wasn’t right. The gazes of the two people beside him seemed to be focused on him. “…Hmm?”

Chen Junnan took a step back. “Wait… what? Me again? One of you is socially anxious and the other is too straightforward, so whenever there’s something to do, you push me forward, right?”

“Handsome boy!” Qiao Jiajin reached out and put his arm around Chen Junnan’s shoulders. “At a time like this, naturally it’s more appropriate for you to chat! You’re more approachable than us!”

Chen Junnan felt a bit wronged. He was willing to chat with people, but the Earth-Snake before him clearly didn’t look normal, so he quickly turned to look at Qi Xia.

“Old Qi, you think so too?”

Qi Xia nodded. “I also have a few questions I want to ask him. It looks like only you have a way to keep him steady.”

“So I can’t escape ‘snakes’ in my fate, is that it?” After hearing this, Chen Junnan sighed. “Finally I’m silent for once, and you two still arrange work for me.”

“Come on, just go!” Qiao Jiajin pushed Chen Junnan forward. “If you encounter anything you don’t understand, you can ask me! Quick, quick, quick!”

Seeing this, Chen Junnan could only steel himself and roll up his sleeves. “Fine, even if you didn’t say anything, I wanted to go ask anyway. This old guy is definitely not right.”

Just as the white-spotted Earth-Snake was about to put his head into the noose, Chen Junnan walked forward a few steps and called out to stop him. “Hey, hey, hey!”

Earth-Snake, holding the rope, turned his head to look. “May I ask what’s the matter?”

“Wait… I’m a bit confused here,” Chen Junnan scratched his head. “You… what are you preparing to do? Doing ring exercises to work out?”

“No, I’m hanging myself,” Earth-Snake answered. “Please step back.”

Because the answer was too straightforward, it made the four people even more puzzled.

“Uh…” Chen Junnan slowly walked to Earth-Snake’s side. “Wait… this is fucking ridiculous. Brother, did you run into some difficulty? Tell us so everyone can be happy… tell us so everyone can comfort you! Who’s the quack that told you to hang yourself directly?”

“No, this isn’t a quack’s advice,” Earth-Snake shook his head with a gloomy expression. “I’m too sad. I just want to hang myself now.”

At this moment, Qi Xia’s brow was tightly furrowed. He felt the situation was just as Chen Junnan said—it was truly too absurd.

Could it be that because he saw himself, he suddenly made this outrageous move?

But this hypothesis was quickly rejected by Qi Xia. When this snake came out of the room, he already had the rope in his hand. At that time, he hadn’t seen him yet, which meant he had planned to hang himself from the beginning.

Before seeing this snake, Qi Xia truly thought all “Zodiacs” cherished their lives, but now even he couldn’t figure out what the motive was for a “Zodiac” preparing to hang himself in the street.

Moreover… what was the “Mutual Aid Society”?

“Wait, brother…” Chen Junnan said with a troubled expression. “Does this hanging absolutely have to happen today? Is there no room for negotiation at all?”

“We can negotiate, but I need to hang myself first,” Earth-Snake continued. “Could you step back a bit?”

“If you hang yourself, what the hell am I going to negotiate?” Chen Junnan moved closer to Earth-Snake and boldly grabbed his arm. “Brother, be a bit more reserved. Can you let us ask a few questions before you hang yourself? After we’re done asking, we can all help you hang together! How tiring to hang yourself alone!”

“Ask questions?” Earth-Snake’s expression finally changed slightly. “May I ask if you have an introducer?”

“Introducer…?” Chen Junnan turned his head to cast a pleading look at Qi Xia.

Qi Xia calculated in his mind. He had found Earth-Snake based on this map. Could the so-called “introducer” be Qinglong?

But if he wanted to prove this matter, Qi Xia would have to display this map exactly as it was to Earth-Snake, which probably wasn’t appropriate.

Seeing that no one answered, Earth-Snake asked again, “Were you introduced to the ‘Mutual Aid Society’ by someone else?”

“Ah… oh!” Chen Junnan nodded as if he understood. “You mean the introducer for the ‘Mutual Aid Society’…? Hey, I thought it was…”

“Your expression looks like you don’t have one. Farewell.” Earth-Snake pulled the noose over and was about to put his head in.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Chen Junnan quickly grabbed him. “Old, Old Qi… I can’t talk to this kind of person… think of something quick!”

After hearing this, Qi Xia walked forward and asked, “So your ‘Mutual Aid Society’ can’t be entered without an introduction?”

Earth-Snake turned his head back, stared at Qi Xia’s eyes for a long time, and answered, “That’s right.”