Chapter 16: Literary Gathering? Companion Examination?

“Oh… Yes, yes, yes!”
Lin Buyu was momentarily stunned, then quickly realized what was meant and nodded repeatedly.
“Miss Xu, don’t worry. After you’ve recovered for a while longer, I will certainly beg my master to borrow that powerful sacred artifact for you. By then, your face will surely return to its original state.”
Hearing this, Xu Yin, who lay beneath the covers, stopped sobbing, but her voice trembled with deep despair as she spoke:
“Second Brother, Sister Buyu, you don’t need to comfort me. If I had known I would end up looking so frightening, I would have rather died at the hands of those fiends back then, and ended it all.”
The moment Xu Yin revealed her death wish, Lin Buyu grew anxious. He leaned in to whisper to Xu Ye:
“Quick, find a way to rid her of these thoughts. She’s so weak now, it’d be easy for evil spirits to take hold of her. That would be serious trouble.”
Xu Ye was taken aback by this.
He hadn’t realized that such despair could attract evil spirits.
“Yinyin.”
Recalling everything that had happened since he arrived in this world, Xu Ye lifted his head and called her by her childhood nickname.
“Second Brother?”
Sensing a change in his mood, Xu Yin, still wrapped in the bedsheet, peeked out to look at him.
“I have only you left in this world. If I lose you, I truly will be all alone.”
Xu Ye’s voice was low and somber.
Even if he was not her blood brother, without Xu Yin, he would be nothing more than a cold traveler in this world.
“Second Brother…”
After a moment, Xu Yin finally poked her head out from beneath the covers.
Xu Ye and Lin Buyu both let out a sigh of relief.
…
Outside the City Medical Office.
“It will take some time for Yinyin’s injuries to heal. Just visit her whenever you can.”
Lin Buyu rubbed her shoulder and stretched lazily as she reminded Xu Ye without even turning her head.
“What about my eye?”
Xu Ye pointed at his left eye.
“Come see me at the Mingzi Camp Medical Office in five days to have the bandage removed. Until then, do not take it off yourself.”
Lin Buyu glanced back at him.
“Can’t I stay at the Mingzi Camp Medical Office these next few days?”
“The case is closed, so of course you can’t stay. Besides, you know very well what the Medical Office is like these days.”
“If I can’t stay at the Medical Office, may I stay at your place for a few nights, Miss Buyu? I’m worried my injury might worsen.”
Xu Ye looked at her plaintively.

“Go home!”
Lin Buyu shot him a glare.
“Junior sister! Master Xu!”
Just as the two were about to part ways, Lin Buyu’s chubby senior brother suddenly rushed out of the Medical Office, holding a slip of paper in his hand.
“What is it, Sixth Senior Brother?”
Lin Buyu looked at him in confusion.
“This is the bill for Master Xu’s sister’s treatment these past days at the City Medical Office.”
The plump official spoke as he handed the slip to Xu Ye.
“Six hundred and fifty taels?!”
Xu Ye glanced at the bill and nearly blacked out.
According to his memories, three hundred taels here was about sixty thousand yuan in his old world.
Worse yet, the Xu family had already been nearly bankrupt before their troubles with the spirits. Much of their business was propped up by loans. Producing six hundred taels would be a real challenge.
“The City Medical Office saves lives, but the victims pay for it themselves?”
Xu Ye turned to Lin Buyu.
“What else did you expect?”
She retorted.
Realizing he’d asked something obvious, Xu Ye quickly changed the subject:
“By the way, if I want to use the sage artifact you mentioned earlier to restore my sister’s appearance, how much would it cost?”
“Are you serious?”
Lin Buyu regarded him solemnly.
“I am.”
Xu Ye nodded, his expression grave.
If there was even the slightest chance to heal Xu Yin’s face, he would try.
“To use the Sacred Medical Office’s artifact, for a spirit warden, for example, you would need to earn a first-class merit and pay one hundred thousand taels of silver.”
Lin Buyu said this with utmost seriousness.
“A first-class merit, plus a hundred thousand taels… Understood.”
Xu Ye made a mental note.
“Miss Buyu!”
Just as Lin Buyu was about to take her leave, a clear male voice rang out from the street.
Looking over, they saw a young man in white leap from a lavish carriage, waving at Lin Buyu with a smile.
“Liu Muxuan?”

Upon seeing him, Lin Buyu’s brows knit tightly, a flash of disgust in her eyes.
“Miss Buyu, have you found a companion for the upcoming Talent Gathering at Lanyao Temple? If not, what do you think of me?”
The young man strode up, his gaze lingering greedily over Lin Buyu’s face and figure without the slightest attempt to hide it.
Noticing his look, Lin Buyu’s face flushed crimson, her dislike turning to anger, yet she said nothing, as if wary of something.
Xu Ye took all this in. Though he didn’t understand their conversation or why Lin Buyu seemed to fear this man, he nonetheless moved to stand in front of her and smiled at the young man.
“I’m sorry, but Miss Buyu just agreed to take me as her companion. You should go.”
As a traveler from another world, he couldn’t pass up a chance to play the hero.
“You?”
The young man’s face turned cold.
“Who do you think you are, to speak to me like that?”
He stepped forward, flicking open his folding fan. Instantly, an invisible force slammed into Xu Ye’s chest like a heavy fist.
“Liu, this is the Medical Office, not your backyard!”
Just as Xu Ye was reeling, Lin Buyu’s sharp rebuke rang out. He felt a hand slap his back, and the pressure vanished.
He turned to see Lin Buyu had come to his aid.
“This act really flopped. In a feel-good novel, this would be a total misstep.”
He had hoped to be the hero, but instead, the beauty had saved him. Frustrated, he also found himself curious about the cultivation system in this world.
“Miss Buyu, was what he just said true?”
Liu Muxuan showed no remorse, only a frosty scowl as he questioned Lin Buyu.
“I… Yes! He is my companion. Young Master Liu, please leave.”
She had intended to explain, but seeing Liu Muxuan’s aggressiveness, her temper flared and she couldn’t be bothered.
“You’d rather pick a blind man than me? Very well. Lin Buyu, you’ll regret this.” Liu Muxuan’s face was livid as he pointed at her, then glared at Xu Ye. “And you!”
With that, he snapped his fan shut and stormed off without a backward glance.
“So young, yet such a temper. That can’t be good for the bowels.”
Watching Liu Muxuan’s carriage roll away, Xu Ye stroked his chin and muttered.
“By the way, Miss Buyu, what exactly is a companion for the examination?”
After teasing Liu Muxuan, Xu Ye turned to Lin Buyu.
He dared ask only because he had already searched his mind and found the Talent Gathering was not general knowledge, but a term specific to Confucian cultivators. Unfortunately, the body’s original owner was ignorant, knowing only the name, not its meaning.