Chapter 815: Mad Snake

"But aren't you going to introduce it to us?" Qi Xia asked with a probing tone. "Maybe we don't need a letter of introduction and could mysteriously fit right into your Hu Zhu Hui."

"I have no such intention." Di She shook his head. "Don't waste your efforts, everyone. I said I'm going to hang myself, and that's what I'll do. No one can stop me today."

"Then what's the reason you're hanging yourself?" Qi Xia asked.

"Because I'm so sad." Di She replied with tears in his eyes. "Do you know how heartbroken I was hearing about those people's sufferings just now? Right now, I only want to hang myself. Only hanging myself can soothe my wounded soul."

"But you..." Chen Jun Nan wanted to say something more, but his nose started to tingle involuntarily.

A wave of inexplicable sadness began to invade his mind, making him feel extremely down in an instant.

"Damn it..." he muttered to himself, shaking his head. "What the hell is this..."

"Jun Nan Zi... what's wrong with you?" Qiao Jia Jin, standing nearby, seemed to notice that Chen Jun Nan wasn't quite right.

"It's nothing... what's going on... I suddenly feel a bit worn out." Chen Jun Nan scratched his head. "Why the hell... can't I get anything right?"

"Huh?"

The three people beside him turned to look at him at the same time.

"I can't even stop a dead snake from hanging..." Chen Jun Nan sighed. "All these years, it feels like I've accomplished nothing... and it's the same now..."

At that moment, Qi Xia furrowed his brows, realizing that Chen Jun Nan must have been affected.

But what had affected him? Hui Xiang?

He scanned the surroundings but didn't see anyone else around, yet Chen Jun Nan had suddenly turned gloomy.

It wasn't just Chen Jun Nan—all the people who had left earlier seemed to have tears in their eyes. Could the problem be with Di She?

"No, I can't take this lying down. I still need to try to persuade him." Chen Jun Nan started to step forward but was pulled back by Qi Xia.

Qi Xia cautiously shifted his gaze, looking at the old, thick hemp rope in Di She's hand, then at the stool under his feet, and finally up at the sturdy tree branch overhead. He recalled what Di She had said earlier.

He nodded and said to Di She, "I get it. Go ahead and hang yourself."

"Alright, thanks. I'm really too sad."

With that, Di She decisively kicked away the stool beneath him.

In an instant, the noose tightened with a pulling sound, and Di She swung from the rope, swaying back and forth.

But he was different from a typical person hanging themselves—his legs weren't kicking, and his body wasn't writhing.

"Oh my god..." Chen Jun Nan watched Di She slowly dangling in the air and momentarily forgot his sadness, saying anxiously, "Old Qi, shouldn't we stop him? If we come back next time, he'll be like dried snake skin."

"There's no need. He won't die." Qi Xia said.

"Huh?"

As the rope around Di She tightened, his body slowly spun in the air, and that's when everyone saw his face clearly.

He was clearly in a lot of pain from the rope, his tongue lolling out, and tears welling in his eyes.

"Isn't that..." Chen Jun Nan turned his head in confusion. "Are you sure he won't die? He looks pretty bad already..."

"Don't worry." Qi Xia said. "That rope of his looks like it's been used for a long time, the stool is conveniently placed outside the door, and the branch above has clear marks from the rope. Besides, he said he could chat with us after hanging himself, which means he probably does this often."

After hearing this, Qiao Jia Jin was stunned. "He hangs himself often? Is this snake brother really trying to dry himself out?"

No sooner had he spoken than Di She, still slowly spinning, burst into tears, forcing out words with difficulty: "It's so sad... Why am I so upset... Every day I have to hear so many heartbreaking stories... My Hu Zhu Hui is just too sorrowful..."

His voice shifted from sobbing to wailing, and he hung there, crying hysterically.

Only then did the four people in front of him realize just how abnormal Di She was.

Qi Xia sighed and looked up at Di She. "Stop wasting time. Once you've had enough, come down."

Sure enough, as Qi Xia had predicted, after spinning a few more circles, Di She's expression began to change, and his lolling tongue gradually retracted into his mouth.

His face no longer showed pain; the sorrow turned into a maniacal grin.

"It's really tragic!!" Di She laughed wildly. "Why isn't a snake's neck its weak point?! Why can't I die even when I'm hanging?! Damn it! What am I supposed to do?! Ha ha ha ha ha! Why do things that make ordinary people sad seem so funny to me?"

Qin Ding Dong, standing behind the three, unconsciously stepped back at the sight, never expecting that the polite Di She from a few minutes ago had suddenly turned into a madman.

With the rope around his neck, Di She stared at the four people in front of him and shouted, "Mortals are just mortals! Lose your wife and children, and you're sad; get bullied, and you're sad; owe a million in debt, and you're sad. Any hardship in life makes you sad... It's utterly ridiculous! What kind of sadness is that?! Do they even know what real sadness is?!"

"This snake isn't right..." Chen Jun Nan said. "Although many Di Ji Sheng Xiao are a bit crazy, this one is especially so."

"Ah!!" Di She yelled. "It feels so good!! This sensation of hanging and not dying... It's utterly addictive!! As long as I have this feeling, who cares about sadness?!"

Di She hung there for a while longer until his emotions stabilized, then he slowly reached his hands to the back of his neck and untied the knot in the rope.

He landed steadily on the ground, seemingly unaffected. After all, even ordinary people take five to seven minutes to die from hanging, let alone a Di Ji Sheng Xiao who had only been up there for a few minutes.

The manic expression on Di She's face gradually faded, replaced by his initial calm demeanor.

He glanced coldly at the four people, then turned around to slowly take the rope down from the tree, picked up the fallen stool, and turned back with a neutral expression. "Sorry for taking up your valuable time. I've vented now, so if you have any questions, follow me."

With that, he walked straight toward his bookstore, and after a moment's thought, Qi Xia followed.

"What kind of person is this..." Chen Jun Nan felt a bit uneasy. "He uses hanging to vent his emotions? He was up there for at least five minutes..."

Qiao Jia Jin nodded after hearing this. "He seems like two different people when he's hanging and when he's not."

Qin Ding Dong turned to Chen Jun Nan and said, "And you're talking about others... You bastard, what was up with you just now? You looked like you were about to cry."

"I don't know." Chen Jun Nan shook his head. "In that moment just now... I felt like the sky was falling."