Returning after 10000 Years Cultivation - Chapter 8

Although Jiang Tian hadn’t been back for long, he had already noticed how depleted Earth’s spiritual energy was compared to the cultivation planets beyond the stars. It felt like a dead planet in comparison.

Finding so many precious semi-spiritual herbs all at once made Jiang Tian feel like he had struck gold.

“Oh my god, is that guy crazy? He’s eating dirt over there!”

“Look at his dirty clothes and unkempt hair. He must be a lunatic!”

“How sad. His family doesn’t even care about him. How heartless!”

As Jiang Tian swallowed the “dirt clumps,” many people stopped to watch, some mocking him, others pitying him.

“Eating dirt? That phrase hasn’t even become a thing yet, has it?”

Jiang Tian was momentarily confused, but when he looked down, he understood.

The roots of these medicinal plants had been compressed in the rocks for so long that their juices had hardened into a crust. Combined with the earth’s energy, they looked like clumps of dirt.

But Jiang Tian didn’t care about the mocking stares or the bitter taste and awful texture.

“Get stronger! I must get stronger! In this life, I won’t let those villains hurt Xueqing ever again!”

He roared in his heart, chewing fiercely, juices splattering around his mouth.

“I will restore the Jiang family and the Medicine King Group! Enemies from my past life, I’m back, and I won’t let a single one of you go!”

He swallowed frantically, his cheeks bulging, choking and tearing up, but he didn’t stop for a second.

—

“Dad, how could you let that lunatic brother-in-law work at the company? He’s just going to cause trouble!”

On the cobblestone path, Zhao Qianru was frowning as she spoke to Zhao Hucheng on the phone.

Suddenly, she saw something that left her stunned.

She quickly hung up and rushed over to Jiang Tian, snatching the Polygonatum he was about to put in his mouth. “Brother-in-law, why are you eating dirt? You’ll die!”

“You’re Qianru, right?” Jiang Tian looked at her blankly for a while before finally recognizing her.

Zhao Qianru was only two years younger than Zhao Xueqing and was still in college, interning in the company’s finance department.

The girl was beautiful, wearing a revealing tank top that showed off a hint of cleavage, denim shorts that highlighted her long, fair legs, and black open-toed high heels.

Seeing her radiant, youthful, and full of energy, no one could imagine the tragic fate that awaited her in the future.

Her high school senior, Lu Tianfeng, the son of the district mayor, had pursued her relentlessly, and they eventually married.

Lu Tianfeng seemed like a catch, but he was actually a scumbag—gambling, drinking, cheating, and even abusive.

After the Zhao family collapsed, Lu Tianfeng treated Zhao Qianru with contempt, humiliating, abusing, and eventually kicking her out of their home.

Unable to cope, Zhao Qianru lost her mind and spent the rest of her life in a mental institution.

In his past life, this sister-in-law had always looked down on him, but she had never done anything too extreme.

For Zhao Xueqing’s sake, Jiang Tian decided he would protect her in this life.

Shaking his head to clear the memories, Jiang Tian smiled gently. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

He snatched the Polygonatum back, wiped off the saliva, and carefully tucked it into his pocket, patting it gently.

“Stay here. Don’t move. I’ll go get my sister!”

Embarrassed by the pointing and whispering of the onlookers, Zhao Qianru blushed and quickly ran toward the office building.

—

Zhao Xueqing sat at her desk, staring blankly at her computer screen.

She hadn’t absorbed a single word on the document.

Today was Jiang Tian’s first day at work. Would he have an episode? Would he cause trouble? Would he be bullied or humiliated?

“Am I being selfish? If people knew he was my husband, maybe they wouldn’t dare to bully him.”

As her thoughts wandered, Zhao Qianru burst in, exclaiming, “Sis, brother-in-law’s gone crazy again! He’s eating dirt!”

“Eating dirt? No way! He wasn’t this bad before!”

Zhao Xueqing shot to her feet, stunned.

“It’s true! I saw it with my own eyes. He was eating dirt clumps in Wanghu Park. What if he gets poisoned?”

Zhao Qianru was frantic.

“What do we do?”

Zhao Xueqing rushed to the window and looked out toward the park.

She saw Jiang Tian walking toward the office building, swallowing “dirt clumps” with a vacant, satisfied smile on his face.

Around him, colleagues were pointing and laughing, mocking him.

“I haven’t given him any money these past few days. He must be starving…”

Zhao Xueqing murmured, her eyes empty, tears streaming down her face.

Even though he had hurt her before, even though he was mentally unstable, even though he had countless flaws, he was still her husband!

“Sis, don’t cry. Brother-in-law will get better!”

With her sister’s comfort, Zhao Xueqing finally stopped crying.

“I’ll go check on him!”

Zhao Xueqing wiped her tears and rushed to the door.

She decided to publicly acknowledge her relationship with Jiang Tian. Otherwise, in his current state, he would be bullied to death.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Jiang Tian walked in, holding a bag, and smiled ingratiatingly. “I saw this downstairs and bought some for you.”

“You actually…”

When Zhao Xueqing opened the bag, she was stunned.

It was a few of her favorite soup dumplings!

Even in his madness, he remembered what she loved to eat.

He probably had less than ten yuan to his name. He hadn’t eaten, even resorting to eating dirt to fill his stomach, yet he still remembered to buy her food.

“Oh, and no one saw me come into your office. Don’t worry. Don’t feel pressured. Eat them while they’re hot…”

Seeing Zhao Xueqing’s expression change, Jiang Tian quickly added, afraid she might get angry.

“You… you ate dirt earlier? Are you okay? You should go to the hospital this afternoon!”

Zhao Xueqing asked worriedly.

“Xueqing, that wasn’t dirt. It was medicinal herbs, semi-spiritual herbs, very precious… Don’t worry about me.”

Jiang Tian smiled awkwardly and quickly left the office.

“My poor, crazy husband!”

Zhao Xueqing hugged the bag of dumplings, taking one out and eating it hungrily.

Tears streamed down her face again as she sobbed.

“Heaven, please let him get better soon. Don’t let him suffer or be bullied anymore!”

Jiang Tian’s madness clearly hadn’t improved—he thought dirt was medicine—but he was starting to care about her.

At that moment, Zhao Xueqing felt a warmth in her heart that she had never experienced before.

—

Jiang Tian returned to his office and searched online for information, hoping to quickly adapt to society.

“Jiang Tian, are you out of your mind, or are you just that poor? I saw you eating dirt downstairs earlier! Aren’t you afraid of getting sick?”

Suddenly, Jiang Qiusui walked in, pointing at Jiang Tian with a mocking smile.

“Eating dirt? No way!”

“Mr. Jiang, that’s such a vivid metaphor! So poor he’s eating dirt!”

“What metaphor? He was literally eating dirt! I saw it too!”

Everyone burst into laughter, looking at Jiang Tian with disdain.

“Jiang Qiusui, what I eat is none of your business! It’s not your food! Shut up, or I’ll slap you!”

Jiang Tian’s gaze turned icy.

Jiang Qiusui’s face darkened. “You’re just a rookie. How dare you talk to me like that! Do you want to keep your job?”

The women in the office also chimed in angrily:

“Jiang Tian, are you out of your mind? Mr. Jiang is just concerned about you!”

“You’re biting the hand that feeds you!”

“Eating dirt? You’re really sick. Go take your medicine!”

In an instant, Jiang Tian became the enemy of the entire PR department.

“Did you buy the gifts for the client this afternoon? Go get them now!”

Wu Fangfei especially piled tasks on Jiang Tian, seemingly trying to work him to death.

Jiang Qiusui tore up some paper and threw it on the floor, pointing at Jiang Tian. “Jiang Tian, stop playing games! Clean this up! Don’t you have any sense?”

“I’m not a janitor!” Jiang Tian ignored him.

“How dare you talk to Mr. Jiang like that! Do you have a death wish?”

Slap!

Hu Feng, Jiang Qiusui’s lackey, slammed the table and shouted, “Do you want me to beat you up?”

“Bring it on!”

Jiang Tian smirked coldly.

“You’re asking for it, huh? Fine, I’ll teach you a lesson!”

Hu Feng stood up and strode toward Jiang Tian.

Hu Feng was tall and muscular, so he didn’t take the skinny Jiang Tian seriously.

Seeing this, Shen Le quickly grabbed Hu Feng’s waist, smiling apologetically. “Come on, Hu Feng, Jiang Tian’s new. He doesn’t know any better. I’ll clean it up, okay?”

“Don’t push your luck!” Hu Feng finally backed down and sat back down.

“Next time, don’t stop him. I’ll beat him to death!”

After Shen Le finished mopping, Jiang Tian gave him a dark smile.

“Dude, stop bragging! You? Beat him?”

Shen Le was shocked and tried to reason with him. “Hu Feng’s a taekwondo expert! Don’t stir up trouble. Just focus on your work.”

Jiang Tian shook his head, unimpressed.

Even at the first level of body refining, dealing with someone like Hu Feng would be child’s play.

But after some thought, Jiang Tian decided to let it go.

He didn’t want to cause trouble for his wife or make her worry. She had already suffered too much.

—

At the end of the workday, Ding Yahan came into the office and clapped her hands.

“Tonight, we’re meeting with Mr. Cheng from Donglin Pharmaceutical Trading. He owes us 10 million yuan, and it’s been three years without repayment!”

“Everyone, be on your best behavior tonight. We need to work with the finance department to get that money back!”

“Ugh, Cheng the Deadbeat? That guy’s a nightmare! I’ve even been beaten up by his company’s security before!” Shen Le complained.

“Yes, Mr. Cheng has powerful connections. He’s not someone to mess with.”

Ding Yahan smiled encouragingly. “Everyone, be careful! We’ve booked a private room at the Imperial Club. Let’s head out now!”

“The Imperial Club? That’s the most famous nightclub in Linzhou!”

Shen Le was instantly excited. “I heard it’s owned by Brother Hao, a big name in the underworld! Too bad I’ve got some aunties to entertain tonight. No chance for me!”

“Brother Hao’s a legend! A couple of years ago, his place got raided, and he went straight to the district mayor, saying, ‘Before 8 p.m., you run the West District. After 8 p.m., it’s mine. If you cross the line, you’ll regret it!’ Guess what happened?” Hu Feng said mysteriously.

“What?”

“A week later, the mayor was arrested for taking a 50,000-yuan bribe! People say Brother Hao was behind it!” Hu Feng said with admiration.

“Yeah, I heard about that. Since then, Brother Hao’s been untouchable in Linzhou, both in the underworld and the upper circles!”

At the mention of Brother Hao, even Wu Fangfei’s expression softened slightly.

And in Jiang Qiusui’s eyes, there was a flash of envy and jealousy.