“But don’t you plan to introduce it to us?” Qi Xia asked in a probing tone. “Maybe we don’t need a letter of introduction—we might inexplicably be suitable for your ‘Mutual Aid Society.'”

“I don’t have that intention,” Earth-Snake shook his head. “Don’t waste your energy, everyone. I said I’m going to hang myself, and I mean it. No one can stop me today.”

“Then what’s your reason for hanging yourself?” Qi Xia asked.

“Because I’m too sorrowful,” Earth-Snake answered with tearful eyes. “Do you know how sorrowful I feel after hearing the suffering of those people just now? Right now I just want to hang myself. Only hanging myself can comfort my wounded heart.”

“But you…” Chen Junnan wanted to say something, but his nose inexplicably became sour.

An uncalled-for sorrow gradually began to invade his mind, making him feel extremely bad in an instant.

“Damn…” He muttered and shook his head. “What the hell is this…”

“Junnan boy… what’s wrong with you?” Qiao Jiajin at his side seemed to notice something was off with Chen Junnan.

“No… what’s going on… this young master suddenly feels a bit exhausted,” Chen Junnan scratched his head. “Why the fuck am I… no good at anything?”

“Huh?”

The three people beside him simultaneously looked at him.

“I can’t even hold back a dead snake…” Chen Junnan sighed. “All these years, it’s like I’ve accomplished nothing… It’s the same now…”

But what kind of trick was this? An “Echo”?

He surveyed his surroundings but didn’t discover anyone else here, yet Chen Junnan had suddenly transformed into a picture of suffering.

Not just Chen Junnan—all the people who had just left seemed to have tears in their eyes. Could the problem lie with Earth-Snake?

Qi Xia cautiously shifted his gaze, looking at the old and thick hemp rope in Earth-Snake’s hand, then at the stool beneath his feet, then raised his head to look at the thick branch overhead, before recalling what Earth-Snake had just said.

He nodded and said to Earth-Snake, “I understand. Go ahead and hang.”

“Alright, thank you. I’m truly too sorrowful.”

With those words, Earth-Snake decisively kicked away the chair beneath his feet.

In just an instant, the rope loop tightened under the force with a pulling sound, and Earth-Snake hung on the rope, swaying left and right.

But he was clearly somewhat different from ordinary hanging victims—his feet didn’t flail wildly, and his body didn’t twist.

“Oh my god…” Seeing Earth-Snake slowly drifting in the air, Chen Junnan momentarily forgot even his sorrow and said anxiously, “Old Qi, shouldn’t we stop him? Next time we come, he’ll be fucking dried snake skin.”

“There’s no need. He won’t die,” Qi Xia said.

“Huh?”

The rope hanging Earth-Snake grew tighter and tighter, strangling his body as it slowly spun in the air. At this moment, everyone could see his face.

He was clearly very uncomfortable being strangled by the rope, his tongue sticking out, tears welling in his eye sockets.

“No…” Chen Junnan turned his head in confusion. “Are you sure he won’t die? He already looks pretty bad…”

“Don’t worry,” Qi Xia said. “That rope of his looks like it’s been used for a long time. The stool is specifically placed outside the door where it can be grabbed at any time. The branch overhead is also full of strangulation marks. Besides, he also said he could chat with us, but it would have to be after hanging himself. This indicates he probably hangs himself frequently.”

After hearing this, Qiao Jiajin was also stunned. “Hangs himself frequently? Is this snake brother really trying to air-dry himself?”

As soon as the words fell, tears burst from the eyes of the slowly rotating Earth-Snake, and his mouth struggled to squeeze out sounds. “Really so sorrowful… Why is it so sad… Every day I have to hear so many heartbreaking stories… My ‘Mutual Aid Society’ is truly too sorrowful…”

His voice gradually changed from a tearful tone to wailing, then he cried wildly while hanging on the rope.

Only at this moment did the four people in front finally discover just how abnormal Earth-Snake was.

Qi Xia sighed and looked up at Earth-Snake, saying, “Don’t waste time. Come down when you’ve made enough of a scene.”

The situation was indeed as Qi Xia had predicted. After rotating several times, Earth-Snake’s expression slowly began to change, and his protruding tongue gradually retracted into his mouth.

His expression was no longer painful, and his face full of sorrow gradually transformed into maniacal laughter.

“It really is tragic!!” Earth-Snake laughed loudly. “Why isn’t a snake’s neck a weak point?! Why can’t I die even when hanging?! Damn it! What can be done about this?! Hahahahahaha! Why do things that make ordinary people sorrowful become so laughable when it comes to me?”

Qin Dingdong behind the three people saw this scene and unconsciously took a step back, not expecting that Earth-Snake, who had seemed so refined and courteous just minutes ago, would suddenly seem to have gone mad.

Earth-Snake hung by his neck, glaring at the four people in front of him and shouting, “Mortals are just mortals! They feel sorrow when they lose their wives and children, sorrow when they’re humiliated, sorrow when they’re millions in debt. They feel sorrow whenever they encounter hardship in life… It’s simply too laughable! What ridiculous sorrow that is?! Do they even understand what sorrow truly means?!”

“This snake isn’t quite right…” Chen Junnan said. “Although many Earth-level ‘Zodiacs’ are a bit crazy, this one is especially so.”

“Ahh!!” Earth-Snake yelled. “So satisfying!! This feeling of not being able to die even when hanging… really makes one unable to stop!! Once I have this feeling, why would I care about sorrow?!”

Earth-Snake hung himself for quite a while longer. Only when his emotions were relatively stable did he slowly reach both hands to the back of his neck and untie the knot in the rope.

At this moment, he steadily landed on the ground, as if completely unaffected. After all, even ordinary people need five to seven minutes to die from hanging, let alone an Earth-level “Zodiac” who had only hung for a few minutes.

The maniacal expression on Earth-Snake’s face gradually disappeared, replaced by the initial blandness.

He looked at the four people with cold eyes, then turned around and slowly took down the rope from the tree. He bent down to pick up the fallen stool, turned around with a bland expression and said to the four people, “Sorry for wasting everyone’s precious time. I’m done venting. If you have any questions, follow me.”

After speaking, he walked toward his bookstore without looking back, while Qi Xia pondered for a few seconds before following.

“What kind of person is this…” Chen Junnan felt a bit scared. “He vents his emotions by hanging himself? He hung for at least five minutes just now…”

After hearing this, Qiao Jiajin also nodded. “He’s like two different people when hanging and not hanging…”

After hearing this, Qin Dingdong turned to look at Chen Junnan. “And you’re talking about others… you bastard, what was wrong with you just now? You looked like you were about to cry.”

“I don’t know,” Chen Junnan shook his head. “In that instant just now… this young master felt like the sky was about to fall.”