Seeing Shen Siyuan asking himself this.
Old Man Lu was very certain when he said: "No."
"Why do you think that?" Shen Siyuan was curious.
Old Man Lu didn't dare to conceal anything and honestly stated his guess.
He was very accurate in judging people. The first time he found out that Dou Dou and her mother could communicate with each other, he guessed that the two of them must have met a highly skilled person.
As for why it was a highly skilled person, rather than a special opportunity, it was because he was very familiar with Dou Dou, who like him, lingered around her family members.
The mother and daughter nearly always followed the same daily routine. If there had been some special opportunity, it likely wouldn't have waited until now - the most likely scenario was that they met someone.
The highly skilled person was kind and couldn't bear to see the mother and daughter separated, thus allowing the two to meet each other.
And then just now, seeing Shen Siyuan directly reject Jiang Wenxin's reward, he was even more certain that the highly skilled person was a kind-hearted good person.
Shen Siyuan, however, laughed upon hearing this.
"I may be a good person, but I'm not a fool. I helped Dou Dou because she is pure and kind-hearted, and her soul is pure. Now look at yourself, your karma stirs the desires in your heart, resulting in this repulsive appearance. Based on just saying I'm a good person, should I help you unconditionally?"
"But... nobody is perfect... Besides newly born babies, who doesn't have desires? How many have not done something regrettable?" Old Man Lu argued in a low voice.
"You are not wrong there, everyone has desires, and without them, one couldn't be called human. But the biggest difference between humans and beasts is that humans can restrain their desires, not indulge them. Your karma is heavy because in your life you indulged your desires too much, and after death, your karma stirs your desires, resulting in your hideous appearance..."
Old Man Lu wanted to say more, but Shen Siyuan turned and went back upstairs.
Old Man Lu didn't dare to stop him and after thinking for a moment, could only linger downstairs.
In fact, although Old Man Lu was influenced by karma, causing his face to show an evil appearance, the karma wasn't too deep, indicating he hadn't committed great evils in life.
Shen Siyuan was also aware of this. On his way home from work at night, many ghosts couldn't even maintain a human form, appearing all grotesque and odd.
However, Shen Siyuan wasn't a saint. He wouldn't help just anyone who asked him.
He didn't immediately wield the Ten Thousand Soul Banner to capture the other party inside the banner, erase their consciousness, either to use them or as material to mend the Soul Banner, which was already merciful of him.
Shen Siyuan returned home, took a bath, went to sleep, and the night was uneventful.
The next morning when he went out to work as usual, he saw Old Man Lu still lingering at the door.
Upon seeing Shen Siyuan come out, he greeted him from a distance but didn't approach.
"Master, good morning."
Shen Siyuan glanced at him, didn't reply, and just rode his bike away.
Old Man Lu watched Shen Siyuan's departing figure, didn't follow, just sighed and continued to linger on the spot.
In life, there was no time, but unexpectedly, in death, time is what one has most.
-----------------
"Shen Siyuan..."
While riding, Shen Siyuan suddenly heard someone call his name from the roadside.
Shen Siyuan quickly braked and looked over, only to see Lin Manzhi carrying a bag, running towards him from the direction of a bus stop.
Then, without any reservations, she sat behind Shen Siyuan on his bike.
"Sister Manzhi, why didn't you drive today?"
"I left late, driving is not as fast as taking the bus, luckily I ran into you," Lin Manzhi said somewhat excitedly.
During the rush hours, riding an electric bike is indeed faster and less congested than driving.
"Have you had breakfast?" asked Shen Siyuan.
"I haven't either, want to join me?"
"Sure, I was just thinking about buying something casual downstairs at the company..."
Lin Manzhi seemed quite enthusiastic, talking non-stop along the way, though some of her words were lost to the wind due to the noise.
Normally, although Lin Manzhi was outspoken and dared to say anything, she was actually a very measured person.
Although sitting behind, she wasn't straddling but sat on one side, holding onto the corner of Shen Siyuan's clothing with one hand and the back of the seat with the other, maintaining a certain distance from Shen Siyuan.
Shen Siyuan stopped the bike in front of a place called "Xingchen Breakfast."
Their pan-fried buns and soup had a good taste, and on workdays, Shen Siyuan mostly ate there.
"What will you have? I'll treat," said Lin Manzhi.
"Six buns and a bowl of spicy paste soup."
Shen Siyuan didn't stand on ceremony either, he just walked in and found a seat to sit down.
Lin Manzhi finished ordering her meal and came in, sitting opposite Shen Siyuan.
"You haven't answered my question yet."
Lin Manzhi placed her bag on the bench.
"What?"
"I just mentioned it, how about I set you up with someone?"
"Sister, you're so young, and you're already playing matchmaker?"
"Why not? It saves you from going down the wrong path for twenty years. Don't change the subject, just tell me if you want to or not?"
"What do I want? I'm doing quite well on my own."
"You're already twenty-six, aren't you worried, and your parents aren't either?"
Lin Manzhi suddenly hit Shen Siyuan's weak spot; if his parents weren't worried, they wouldn't have tricked him into coming home.
Seeing Shen Siyuan not speaking, Lin Manzhi continued, "What, still can't forget your ex-girlfriend?"
"How could I? I barely even remember what she looks like."
Shen Siyuan had a girlfriend in college, but they had broken up several years ago.
"Actions speak louder than words. Let me tell you, the girl I want to introduce you to is really pretty," Lin Manzhi said.
"Is she as pretty as you, Sister Manzhi?"
Lin Manzhi laughed out loud upon hearing this, revealing rows of bright white teeth, looking utterly radiant.
"Am I that pretty?"
"Aren't you just making a rhetorical question?"
"Too bad I'm already married, otherwise I would definitely consider you."
"Sister, spare me, don't joke about this. If my brother-in-law hears this, I won't escape a beating."
"It's not as exaggerated as you think."
Lin Manzhi didn't continue with the topic and instead pushed, "So, what do you think, want to consider it?"
As she spoke, she took out her phone and showed Shen Siyuan a photo of her friend.
The girl in the photo was indeed beautiful.
"Pretty, right? I wouldn't introduce just anybody to her."
"Do I deserve such a favor?"
"Of course, you don't drink, gamble, smoke, or do drugs — completely unblemished..."
"Sister, I feel like you're mocking me."
After having breakfast, the two continued on to their company, but ultimately Shen Siyuan didn't agree to Lin Manzhi's introduction.
As for why he didn't accept, it wasn't because Shen Siyuan wasn't interested in the girl, but because she was too beautiful.
Shen Siyuan was very self-aware; currently, he felt he wasn't worthy of her.
He had no house, no car, no savings; what could that girl possibly see in him? So he outright refused, to save himself the embarrassment.
Upon reaching the company, everything was calm, and he slacked off the whole day, just sitting there. If it wasn't for the fact that inner cultivation was not feasible, Shen Siyuan would have chosen that route.
Seeing that it was almost time to get off work, Shen Siyuan decided to leave work a bit later to try out the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, but not to repair it.
Not that he didn't want to, but because he couldn't. From the memories of the Jiuyou Demon Lord, he knew that the souls from the Great Wilderness were mostly pure, with few desires, and even if they had any, they were the simplest desires like eating their fill, having land, marrying, and having children — these basic human desires.
However, with modern humans living better lives, their desires have only multiplied, and after death, their souls, polluted by all sorts of desires, become a jumbled mess of soul power.
Those souls, once captured by the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, wouldn't fix it but likely contaminate it further.
Of course, if he had mana and the Ten Thousand Soul Banner wasn't damaged, he could just use mana to purify these desires and obtain pure soul power, but he didn't have that ability.
There were also inherently pure souls that could be used as soon as they were captured, like Dou Dou's, but for that reason, he was even more reluctant to do so.
He couldn't just because someone had been good in life, and not only lack good fortune after death but also end up completely obliterated — what sort of hellish joke would that be?
Therefore, Shen Siyuan was preparing to try out the Ten Thousand Soul Banner to capture a few souls for his own use, to serve as his agents, an ability inherent to the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, without the need for mana.
Although he was just an ordinary office worker, and having agents wasn't very useful to him.
But having gained a "new toy," he wanted to give it a try.
As he was thinking, Dou Dou, who he hadn't seen all day, appeared again.