Chapter 9: Desire

Seeing Shen Siyuan ask her like this.

Old Man Lu said with great certainty, "No."

"Why do you think so?" Shen Siyuan was a little curious.

Old Man Lu didn't dare hide anything and honestly offered his guess.

He was very accurate at reading people. The first time he discovered that Watching Dou Dou and her mother could communicate with each other, he guessed that the two of them must have encountered some kind of expert.

As for why it was an expert rather than some special opportunity, it was because he understood Watching Dou Dou—who, like him, lingered by her family's side—very well.

The mother and daughter went almost the same route every day. If there had been some special opportunity, they probably wouldn't have had to wait until now; the most likely explanation was that they had run into someone.

The expert was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see mother and daughter separated, which was why the two of them were allowed to see each other.

And just now, seeing Shen Siyuan directly refuse Jiang Wenxin's payment, he became even more certain that the expert was a good person with a kind heart.

Shen Siyuan, however, laughed at his words.

"I'm a good person, sure, but I'm not a fool. I helped Watching Dou Dou because she's pure and kind, her soul is clean. But look at yourself—your karmic force stirs the desire in your heart, which is why you look so disgusting. So just because you say I'm a good person, you think I'll help you unconditionally?"

"But... no one is perfect... aside from a newborn infant, who among us has no desire? How many have never done something with a guilty conscience?" Old Man Lu defended in a small voice.

"That statement isn't wrong. Everyone has desire; without desire, you couldn't even be called a person. But the biggest difference between humans and beasts is that people can restrain their desires, not indulge them. Your body is entangled with karmic force—clearly you indulged your desires too much in life. After death, the karmic force clings to you and stirs your desire, which is why you have such a vicious appearance..."

Old Man Lu wanted to say more, but Shen Siyuan turned around and went back upstairs.

Old Man Lu didn't dare stop him. After thinking it over, he could only pace around downstairs.

In fact, although Old Man Lu was entangled with karmic force, causing a vicious look to appear on his face, the karmic force wasn't deep, which meant he hadn't committed any great evil in life.

Shen Siyuan was well aware of this. On his way home from work in the evening, many ghosts couldn't even maintain a human form, looking all kinds of bizarre.

But Shen Siyuan wasn't a saint; he wouldn't help just anyone who asked him.

Not directly waving the Ten Thousand Souls Banner to draw the other party into the banner, erase their consciousness, and either use them as a servant or as material to repair the soul banner—that was already his mercy.

Shen Siyuan went home, showered, and went straight to bed. Nothing more to say that night.

The next day, when he left as usual for work, he saw Old Man Lu still pacing at the door.

Seeing Shen Siyuan come out, he greeted him from afar but didn't approach.

"Good morning, Master."

Shen Siyuan glanced at him, didn't reply, and rode off directly.

Old Man Lu watched Shen Siyuan's departing back, didn't follow, just sighed, and continued pacing where he was.

When he was alive, he never had time; he never expected that after death, the one thing he'd never lack would be time.

"Shen Siyuan..."

Shen Siyuan, who was riding, suddenly heard someone by the road call his name.

Shen Siyuan quickly braked and looked over, only to see Lin Manzhi with a bag on her back, jogging toward him from the direction of the bus stop.

Then, without any ceremony, she sat down behind Shen Siyuan on the bike.

"Sister Manzhi, why aren't you driving today?"

"I left late. Driving isn't as fast as taking the bus. Lucky I ran into you." Lin Manzhi said, a hint of excitement in her tone.

During Rush Hour, driving really wasn't as good as riding an e-bike—convenient, fast, and no traffic jams.

"Have you eaten breakfast?" Shen Siyuan asked.

"I haven't either. Want to go together?"

"Sure, I was actually planning to just grab something downstairs at the office..."

Lin Manzhi seemed to be in very high spirits, chattering nonstop along the way, though because of the wind, Shen Siyuan couldn't quite catch some of what she said.

Although Lin Manzhi usually talked without any filter, saying anything and everything, in reality she was a very measured person.

Although she sat in the back, she didn't straddle the seat; she sat sideways, one hand gripping the hem of Shen Siyuan's clothes, the other holding the backrest of the bike's rear seat, keeping a certain distance from Shen Siyuan.

Shen Siyuan parked the bike in front of a shop called "Song Xingchen Breakfast."

Their pan-fried buns tasted great, and the soups were excellent too. On regular workdays, Shen Siyuan basically always ate there.

"What are you having? My treat." Lin Manzhi said.

"Six buns and a bowl of spicy pepper soup."

Shen Siyuan didn't stand on ceremony with her and went straight inside to find a seat.

After ordering, Lin Manzhi walked in and sat down across from Shen Siyuan.

"You still haven't answered my question."

Lin Manzhi put her bag on the bench.

"What?"

"The one I just told you—want me to introduce you to someone?"

"Sister, how old are you, and you're already playing matchmaker for people?"

"Why not? Save yourself twenty years of detours. Don't change the subject on me—just say yes or no."

"Yes to what? I'm perfectly fine on my own."

"You're already twenty-six. Even if you're not in a rush, aren't your parents?"

Lin Manzhi hit Shen Siyuan's weak spot in one shot. If his parents weren't anxious, they wouldn't have tricked him into coming home with a phone call.

Seeing Shen Siyuan say nothing, Lin Manzhi added, "What, still can't forget your ex?"

"How could I? I can barely even remember what she looks like."

Shen Siyuan had dated a girlfriend back in college, but they'd broken up several years ago.

"Your mouth says one thing but your heart another. Let me tell you, this girl I'm introducing you to is really pretty." Lin Manzhi said.

"As pretty as you, Sister Manzhi?"

Lin Manzhi burst out laughing at that, two rows of pearly white teeth showing, looking absolutely radiant.

"Am I very beautiful?"

"Aren't you asking a question you already know the answer to?"

"It's a pity I'm already married; otherwise, I'd definitely consider you."

"Sister, let me go, don't make fun of me. If my brother-in-law hears this, I'll surely get a beating."

"It's not that exaggerated."

Lin Manzhi didn't continue this topic but pressed on: "So, how about it? Are you considering it?"

As she spoke, she took out her phone and showed Shen Siyuan a photo of her friend.

She was indeed beautiful in the photo.

"Beautiful, right? It's only because it's you; I wouldn't introduce her to just anyone."

"Am I that good?"

"Of course. You don't drink, eat, gamble, or smoke; you touch none of those vices..."

"Sister, I feel like you're insulting me."

After finishing breakfast, the two continued to the company, but in the end, Shen Siyuan did not agree to Lin Manzhi's introduction.

As for why he didn't agree, it wasn't that Shen Siyuan didn't like the girl, but that the Miss was too beautiful.

Shen Siyuan was very self-aware; at present, he was not good enough for the Miss.

He had no house, no car, and no savings; what could the Miss possibly want from him? So he rejected her directly to save himself the embarrassment.

Arriving at the company, it was calm and peaceful again; he slacked off and fished for the whole day, sitting idle all day long. If internal cultivation truly wasn't working, Shen Siyuan would definitely choose internal cultivation.

Seeing that it was almost time to get off work, Shen Siyuan decided to stay late and try out the Ten Thousand Souls Banner on the way, though not to repair the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

It wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he couldn't, because from the memories of the Nine Nether Demon Lord, he discovered that the souls of the dead in the Great Wilderness were basically very pure, with few desires; even if they had any, they were the simplest desires, such as having enough to eat, owning a plot of land, marrying a wife, and having a child, etc., these most basic human desires.

But modern humans live better, yet their desires are even greater; after death, their souls become polluted by various desires, making their soul power impure.

And these souls, once drawn into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, would not only fail to repair it, but would be lucky if they didn't contaminate it.

Of course, if he had magic power and the Ten Thousand Souls Banner was undamaged, he could use magic power to drive the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and refine these desires to obtain pure soul power, but the key is that he didn't have it.

There are also souls that are inherently quite pure and can be used immediately upon being drawn in, like Watching Dou Dou, but precisely because of this, he couldn't do such a thing.

He couldn't let someone who was a good person in life, after death, not only receive no good reward but also be directly scattered to the four winds; what kind of hellish joke was that?

So Shen Siyuan prepared to try the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, intending to draw in a few souls to serve as his agents, acting as his eyes and ears, and this also belonged to the Ten Thousand Souls Banner's innate ability, requiring no magic power to drive.

Although he was just an ordinary small employee, having eyes and ears didn't serve much purpose for him.

But having just acquired a "new toy," he had to test it out.

Just as he was thinking this, Watching Dou Dou, whom he hadn't seen all day, appeared again.