The Host is Clearly A Scumbag (Quick Travel)

"I wonder when Mingting will return…"

In the study room of Su Residence, Su Hengzhong held a book open to the same page for a long time, unmoving.

His student's triumph as the prefectural examination's top scorer had brought him great pride.

When the news arrived, Su Hengzhong couldn't resist writing to his friends to boast.

After all, not everyone has an eleven-year-old student who tops the county and prefectural exams!

When Mingting was around, Su Hengzhong found him quite irritating, but now that he'd been away for so long, he couldn't help but miss him.

"Sir, it'll still be some time before Mingting returns from the prefectural capital. By my calculations, he should have reached the county by now and will be home in a couple of days." Wang Zhi reassured Su Hengzhong.

Over the past few months, Wang Zhi had come to realize that Su Hengzhong treated Mingting like his own son, holding nothing back in his teachings.

'To have such a mentor was truly Mingting's good fortune!'

'…Though this kind of 'fortune' was something most people wouldn't be able to endure.'

What neither of them knew was that, at this very moment, Mingting was facing the first major crisis of his life in this world.

The one escorting Mingting to the prefectural examination this time was Ji Yong, the eldest son of the Su Family's steward.

He is in his twenties and tall in stature.

Ji Yong had spent years training under the steward and was very familiar with the prefectural city. Su Hengzhong had entrusted him with the task of accompanying Mingting to the exams.

After the results were announced, Mingting and Ji Yong hurried back from the prefectural capital, arriving in the county town just yesterday.

Since they were about to return home, the two were in high spirits and overate at dinner, causing Ji Yong to have a stomachache early this morning.

Seeing that Ji Yong was unwell, Mingting simply decided to rest in the county town for a day.

He let Ji Yong recover at the inn while he went out to explore the county town.

Since he was away from home, it was only natural for him to prepare gifts for his family.

After buying what he needed, Mingting took a shortcut and found himself cornered in a secluded alley.

"Are you Jiang Mingting?" The leader, a man with three white eyes and a thin mustache, sneered.

Behind him, there were five thugs, each holding a stick in their hand.

"Yes, that's me. What business do you have with me?"

Mingting sensed the hostility from these people, but he was a little confused.

'I didn't seem to have offended anyone recently, what were they after?'

"Tch, you scholars and your pretentious talk." The thin-mustached man spat out the blade of grass he'd been chewing.

"We're not here for a chat. We are entrusted by someone to cripple your hands."

Mingting was a scholar, and crippling his hands meant he could no longer hold a pen, which was equivalent to cutting off Mingting's path to the imperial examination.

'Who could be so vicious?'

'Was it someone who failed to top the exams and envied my success?'

Mingting couldn't figure it out, but he wasn't the least bit afraid.

[Wow, so exciting!]

Fengtian was the first to pop out to watch the show.

It had always regretted being the only system to have seen Mingting's true nature. Usually, Fengtian felt a sense of loneliness, like it was the only sober one in a crowd of drunkards.

Now that a bunch of reckless idiots had suddenly appeared, Fengtian was unusually excited.

[Go on! Beat them up, Boss! It's time they learned who's the real daddy here!]

Mingting told Fengtian to shut up.

He remained calm and composed, his tone steady.

"I am a Tongsheng, the first in the county examination and the first in the prefecture examination, which is equivalent to a guaranteed Xiucai. If you cripple my hands, aren't you afraid of being caught and punished afterward?"

Even though he was outnumbered, Mingting still didn't take them seriously.

Over the past few months, he had grown a lot taller, and is almost 1.7 meters tall. When he stands there quietly, he looked like a straight, towering pine tree.

The people behind the mustached man felt a little timid after hearing Mingting's words, and couldn't help but whisper to him:

"Brother Xiong, I heard the top scorer is really impressive. Maybe we should just leave…"

"What if the authorities catch us? I haven't even married yet, and I still don't know the taste of women yet..."

"Useless coward!"

The mustached man turned around and smacked the other party on the head.

"He's just a Tongsheng, not even a real Xiucai yet, so what are you afraid of? Besides, if we pull this off, we'll get paid. I'll even take you to Baihua Lou afterward. At that time, you can have your fill of fun!"

The mustached man half threatened and half tempted his subordinates, and the thugs finally chose to stick with him.

"Don't be scared. We won't take your life… We just need your hands."

The mustached man held a stick as thick as a baby's arm in his right hand.

"Behave, and it'll just hurt for a bit. Besides, even if you lose your hands, you can still hold a brush with your mouth to take exams."

Seeing Ming Ting glance around as if looking for an escape route, the mustached man looked at him like he was a weakling.

"Up ahead is a dead end. There's no way out."

"No one lives around here, and my boys are guarding the entrance. No one's coming to save you, no matter how loud you scream."

"Little boy, be good and cooperate! Otherwise, today you'll lose more than just your hands."

Obviously, the other party had come prepared, and all the things were taken into consideration.

Mingting patiently listened to what the mustached man said, then set down the things he was carrying and stretched out his hands.

"Come on…"

The mustached had expected Mingting to put up some resistance… maybe struggle, cry for help, or fight back.

But unexpectedly, he was so obedient and docile like a little rabbit.

"Not bad, you're very sensible."

The mustached man swaggered over.

"I like smart scholars like you. It saves my brothers the trouble of roughing you up and ruining that pretty face of yours. Heh, I got to say, for a boy, you're quite good-looking..."

The mustached man smiled lewdly and stretched out his hand to touch Mingting's face.

The next moment, his wrist was grabbed, and with a sharp pain, both his arms were dislocated.

In the blink of an eye, the stick had landed in Mingting's hands. He swung it down hard on the mustached man's head, splitting it open on the spot.

"Enough of your nonsense. I'm sick of listening to it."

The refined scholar from moments ago had turned into a furious young man. Before the others could react, he grabbed the stick and started laying into them.

In just five minutes, all six men were on the ground, howling in pain.

The mustached man was the most seriously injured, and his face was drenched in warm, sticky blood.

Mingting walked up to the mustached man with the stick in hand, picked up the mustached man's limp right hand, and smashed it with the stick, breaking the bones.

Mingting had seen the lust in the mustached leader's eyes earlier.

In the original timeline, the reason Song Mingting turned dark so quickly was because of his handsome looks. After being castrated and forced into the palace, he was violated by a powerful nobleman.

The pain and humiliation had driven Song Mingting to extremes, turning him into a villain without morals or scruples.

The memory from the mustached man's earlier gaze made Mingting sick to his stomach.

Since he dares to lay a filthy hand on his face, then that hand was forfeit!

"Weren't you so tough just now? Go on, scream! Try to scream until your throat is broken. Let's see if anyone comes to save you!"

Mingting stepped on the fingers of the mustached man, looking every bit the ruthless villain.

"Sir, please spare my life! I am blind and don't recognize a great man. Please be magnanimous and spare me!"

The mustached man was already in so much pain that his nose was full of snot and his tears were all over the place. He never imagined that so many of them would fail to take down one scrawny scholar.

[Boss, you are awesome!]

Fengtian, who watched the live-action spectacle, was pumped, cheering Mingting on nonstop.

It has to be known that Mingting gets up early every day to exercise, and he had mastered a set of martial arts. He had also been following Su Hengzhong around to experience life, so his skills were anything but ordinary.

The mustached man and his friends had mistaken Mingting for a weak, helpless scholar, but that was a fatal miscalculation.