Li Rufeng was racking his brains for an excuse to refuse the Empress when the cold voice of the System suddenly rang in his head: "Ding! Quest issued: Accept the Empress's recruitment and accompany her to the military camp. Success rewards the God-tier Support Skill Pack; failure results in the deduction of all acquired skills." Li Rufeng cursed his terrible luck inwardly, but he had no choice and could only accept.
With a helpless expression, he said to the Empress, "Your Majesty, since it has come to this, this humble one is willing to follow Your Majesty and serve you." The Empress nodded with satisfaction. "Very well, let us set off for the military camp immediately."
The grand procession marched toward the military camp. As they reached a secluded valley, a group of men dressed in black suddenly surged out from all directions, brandishing sharp blades and shouting, "Kill!" It turned out to be an assassin ambush.
The Empress's guards immediately formed a protective circle around the Empress, Li Rufeng, and the others, engaging the assassins in a life-and-death struggle. Seeing the terrifying scene, Li Rufeng was scared out of his wits, but with the quest hanging over his head, he decided to use the Telekinesis Art.
Li Rufeng closed his eyes and began muttering incantations. One assassin was just about to charge toward the Empress when his foot stepped squarely on a round Shítou, sending him tumbling forward. The blade in his hand plunged straight into the backside of another assassin right in front of him. "Ah!" the stabbed assassin screamed, spun around, and punched the one who had stepped on the Shítou. "What the hell are you doing?! Trying to kill me?!" "I didn't mean to, this Shítou..." Before the first assassin could finish, another assassin nearby tripped over a vine on the ground. His sword flew out of his hand and landed right beside the feet of the two arguing assassins, frightening them both until their faces turned ashen as they stared at each other in blank dismay.
Just then, an assassin seized the opportunity, leaped high into the air, and raised his blade to slash at the Empress. Seeing this, Li Rufeng panicked and cranked up the power of the Bad Luck Curse. Suddenly, a bird flew across the sky, and a small snake clutched in its talons dropped down, landing squarely on that assassin's head. Startled, the assassin's hand shook, and his blade hacked straight into his own shoulder. With an "ouch," he crashed to the ground—and by sheer coincidence, landed right on top of a blade. The remaining assassins panicked at the sight. One of them shouted, "Don't panic, all together now!" But no sooner had he shouted than a gust of wind blew off his face mask. As he reached up to grab it, failing to notice the tree behind him, he staggered and slammed head-first into it, knocking himself out cold.
The surviving assassins looked at each other, all feeling that today's events were utterly damned and bizarre. At that moment, Li Rufeng suddenly made a funny face at them. One assassin shuddered so violently from the fright that his own blade accidentally slashed his throat, killing him on the spot.
The rest of the assassins completely broke down and began shouting, "This is too weird! Let's pull back!" But as they turned to flee, they either tripped over Shítous or crashed into one another, until in the end, every single one of them had inexplicably managed to kill themselves.
The Empress and her guards were utterly dumbfounded. The Deputy General Mei Yuxin couldn't help smiling as she said, "Li Rufeng, what on earth is going on here? How is it so bizarre that the assassins actually took care of themselves?"
Li Rufeng scratched his head and gave an awkward laugh. "This... this is a Bad Luck Curse I invented myself. I didn't expect it to actually work."
The Empress smiled and said, "Li Rufeng, your Bad Luck Curse truly is an eye-opener. It seems that with you around, there is an extra layer of security by my side."
Yet Li Rufeng was thinking to himself: "This quest issued by the System really puts a man through the ringer. Who knows what else is going to happen once we reach the military camp."