Li Rufeng twisted and turned through the woods, relying on his agile movements and familiarity with the terrain to successfully shake off Ma Rulong and his squad of soldiers. As soon as he broke away, the prompt tone of the System rang in his mind: "Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully completing the mission and receiving the mysterious reward—the 'Luck Halo'. When worn, it can reverse bad luck at critical moments and increase luck." Joy surged in Li Rufeng's heart; he hadn't expected the System to actually be so reliable.
Humming a little tune, he swaggered toward the marketplace, intending to buy some wine and food to celebrate properly. But as soon as he reached the market, he felt that the atmosphere was somewhat wrong. Before he could react, a group of people swarmed around him, led by the bully he had previously dealt with.
With a ferocious expression, the bully said viciously, "Brat, I've finally caught you! You ruined my good deed last time, let's see where you can run today!" Inwardly, Li Rufeng cursed his bad luck; he had just shaken off the trouble with the soldiers, and now he had run into a bully seeking revenge.
Seeing that the bully's henchmen were about to charge forward, Li Rufeng thought of a quick wit and executed the Shadow Shifting Technique. In an instant, his figure vanished, only to reappear in another direction the next second. Yet in his panic, he failed to notice a sedan chair ahead and crashed straight into it, knocking the person inside flat onto the ground.
The surroundings instantly fell silent, everyone stunned by this sudden turn of events. Li Rufeng looked closely, only to discover that the person he had knocked down was a woman dressed in luxurious attire, possessing breathtaking beauty and a noble bearing, surrounded by a throng of guards and palace maids.
Terrified and pale, Li Rufeng hurriedly got up and knelt to beg for mercy: "My lady, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. Someone was chasing me, and in my desperation..."
At that moment, a palace maid shrieked, "Audacious scoundrel, how dare you collide with Her Majesty the Empress!"
Upon hearing this, Li Rufeng almost fainted, thinking to himself, "What kind of luck is this? I just escaped one disaster only to provoke such massive trouble."
The surrounding commoners also knelt down one after another, shouting "Long live Her Majesty the Empress!" The marketplace instantly buzzed with commotion, everyone whispering and murmuring among themselves.
"Who is this brat? He actually dared to knock down Her Majesty the Empress, he's a dead man for sure."
"Indeed, the Empress is on an inspection tour, yet he still dared to be so reckless. He truly has a death wish."
The bully and his henchmen were also frightened out of their wits. Never did they expect Li Rufeng to cause such a huge catastrophe; originally hoping to teach Li Rufeng a lesson, they now only wanted to slip away as quickly as possible.
Empress Ling Shuang slowly stood up, straightened her clothes, and instead of showing anger, she looked at Li Rufeng with amusement: "You rascal, you certainly are interesting. What was that all about just now, being so reckless?"
Trembling with fear, Li Rufeng replied, "Your Majesty, th-that was to escape the bully's pursuit. The situation was truly critical just now, which is why I collided with you. I beg Your Majesty to spare my life." Ling Shuang smiled slightly: "Very well. Considering that you didn't mean it, I'll pardon you for now. However, why were you being hunted down?"
Li Rufeng then recounted everything from beginning to end, including how he had disciplined the bully and how he had just escaped military conscription. Upon hearing this, Empress Ling Shuang could not help laughing: "I never imagined that military conscription would bring about so many amusing tales. You rascal, you're certainly clever, but it's truly a pity that you are unwilling to serve my Daxia."