Saving Unpermitted

Chapter 60: Bonus Item

Six days ago.

“No,” Shu Jun said. “I won’t go to the celebration square.”

Xia Liang’s, in her old man’s form, expression darkened. “What did you say?”

“I said I won’t go,” Shu Jun replied with a smile.

For the sake of convenience, Shu Jun had changed into the standard uniform of the guards. It was a similar style that gave Zhu Yanchen a dignified and imposing aura. But when Shu Jun casually wore it, the righteousness of the uniform vanished.

Captain Shu didn’t like to fasten buttons properly. His collar was wide open, and the wide belt tightly cinched his waist. The black clothing, combined with his peculiar gray-white hair, added a touch of wickedness.

“You analyzed so much about the Reunion Festival, and now you’re not going?” Xia Liang felt a headache coming on. “Fine, let’s talk about it here today. Don’t use that style of hiding half the truth like Zhu Yanchen, Captain Shu. Explain clearly.”

“Our efficiency is too low,” Shu Jun said, leaning against the wall with a serious expression.

“There are a total of thirty thousand players, and it will be a slow process to remove their brain chips one by one and prove the reality to them. It’s already troublesome to persuade someone like Hu Yan, who is carefree and simple… At this stage, one Hu Yan is enough. If Luo Duan wants to expose the truth, let him. We’ll use a straw boat to borrow arrows*—once he removes the brain chips, we’ll abduct everyone.”

*Idiom referring to being resourceful and relying on other people’s human or financial resources to achieve one’s own goal. It comes from the Battle of Chibi in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. || You can read the story about this idiom in my Kinky Thoughts.

“What if Luo Duan kills all the players on the spot?” Ai Xiaoxiao interjected. “Feeding the corpses to the Erosion Swamp would indirectly enhance its power.”

“He won’t do that.” Shu Jun shook his head. “Even if Luo Duan goes mad, he knows that the Erosion swamp isn’t a real ally. If I’m not mistaken, he will find a way to kidnap the players and then cut off all retreat routes, leaving rebellion as their only option.”

His claw pressed against his lips. “Luo Duan can’t take away thirty thousand people all at once, so he will inevitably seek the help of the Erosion Swamp. The purifiers around the venue aren’t weak, so there will probably be an Alpha Erosion Swamp assisting him.”

“According to that reasoning, you should go to the venue.” Xia Liang expressed her confusion.

“No.” This time it was Zhu Yanchen shaking his head. He was sitting on a single sofa, drinking a cold cup of tea. “It will cause significant trouble.”

“What do you mean?”

“Luo Duan wants war, and provoking confrontation first is the most effective approach. Regardless of Shu Jun’s strength, the Erosion Swamp will still be able to kill a large number of civilians, especially those from the settlements. At the same time, the nearby citizens of Y City will also realize the ‘danger’ of the players—provoking a giant Erosion Swamp to attack proactively is enough to cause panic.”

“Yes.” Shu Jun approached Zhu Yanchen, no longer leaning against the wall. He casually sat on the armrest of the sofa and rested his hand on it. “So, we must intercept it before Luo Duan’s allies arrive.”

Luo Duan wanted war, and Zhu Sheng wanted to eliminate these synths with human appearance. If Luo Duan ignited the flames of war, Zhu Sheng would inevitably respond.

When there was no conflict of interest, people could still have some sympathy for the synthetics. But once they posed a threat to themselves, their stance would become uncertain. Synthetics were much stronger than humans, and if a large number of civilians died, coexistence would become impossible.

When the snipe and clam fought, it would be the fisherman who would benefit*. Sigma’s lackeys had been lurking in the command center for so long, waiting for Luo Duan to act as the catalyst. However, at this stage, the hatred between the two sides must not erupt.

*Idiom referring to while the main parties are engaged in their dispute, a cunning third party can seize the opportunity to gain an advantage or profit. It derives from a fable, which you can read in my Kinky Thoughts.

“What if a large group of Erosion Swamps attacked together?” Xia Liang didn’t let this loophole go unnoticed.

“It won’t happen. Zhu Sheng isn’t foolish. If Luo Duan displays too much power, Zhu Sheng’s policy might change,” Zhu Yanchen said. “If there is more than one Erosion Swamp, their different abilities will be exposed.”

“Rather than laboring itself, Sigma would rather reap the benefits,” Shu Jun smoothly continued the conversation, as if the two of them were two mouths on the same head.

Xia Liang and Ai Xiaoxiao exchanged glances, then both of them frowned.

“I understand. Then I’ll take care of the celebration scene. I can probably guess Luo Duan’s ‘surgical method’, but it might require some cooperation,” Ai Xiaoxiao said. “I’ll need to prepare a large amount of purification powder and make some modifications to Xia Liang’s stage. Zhu Yanchen, you should have some connections, right? After all, she used to be your ex-girlfriend.”

“Not really,” Zhu Yanchen answered seriously.

“Alright, alright, I know it was purely politically… But that’s not the point.”

“I do, I do.” Xia Liang raised a hand and timely interrupted this dangerous conversation. “This old man has connections in various places. What do you need?”

“Luo Duan won’t be as cautious as Shu Jun, and he doesn’t have the ability to suppress. I must quickly deal with the erosion substance inside the players’ bodies.” Ai Xiaoxiao shrugged. “Xia Liang’s stage position is good, and it’s convenient to tamper with it.”

“Then it’s settled.” Xia Liang clapped her hands. “Ai Xiaoxiao and I will go to the celebration square and arrange the Old Fourth. Shu Jun will intercept the incoming Erosion Swamp. Marshal Zhu, what about you…?”

“I’ll accompany Shu Jun,” Zhu Yanchen said. “I need real combat data to mimic the ‘Suppression’ ability.”

The four of them crowded into the room and discussed the details for quite some time. Until Xia Liang left, Shu Jun didn’t feel the impending sense of war.

As soon as Xia Liang left, Ai Xiaoxiao tidied up the documents for a while and also left the room. She still had her contract with the command center, so even if she took leave during the celebration period, she had to be present in person to request it.

In the room, only Zhu Yanchen and Shu Jun remained.

Zhu Yanchen sighed and grabbed Shu Jun’s wrist, causing his heartbeat to skip a beat.

“A’Yan…?”

“There’s something I must warn you about.” Zhu Yanchen said, gripping Shu Jun’s wrist with a firm yet gentle force. “Your fusion level with the Erosion Swamp has reached 73%.”

“I know.” Shu Jun sighed slightly, feeling a tinge of regret. He glanced at the measurement device on his wrist. Since his battle with the Mirror Erosion Swamp, the value hadn’t increased.

“After each battle with an Alpha Erosion Swamp, your fusion level with the Erosion Swamp increases by more than 20%. I’m worried… No one knows what will happen when the fusion reaches 100%.”

“Well, according to Dr. Ai, my brain will be completed,” Shu Jun said in a relaxed tone. “So, when that happens, I’ll be able to remember everything about you.”

“I’d rather you forget.” Zhu Yanchen muttered. “Your brain will indeed be completed, but there’s no guarantee that your physical appearance will remain intact. Shu Jun, promise me this. When you enter the Erosion Swamp brain, keep a constant watch on the fusion level. If it reaches 95% or higher, you must retreat immediately.”

“But the Erosion Swamp…”

“You only need to weaken it,” Zhu Yanchen interrupted. “I can’t destroy it like you can, but I can handle suppressing it.”

Startled by Zhu Yanchen’s grip on his wrist, Shu Jun decided to startle him back. Leaning forward in his seated position, he lowered himself until his nose almost touched Zhu Yanchen’s. “I understand.”

Zhu Yanchen stared back at him, expressionless, his eyes unblinking. The warmth of their breaths intertwined. Shu Jun held the position for a few seconds, but seeing Zhu Yanchen frozen in a meditative state, he straightened up.

It made sense. Grand Marshal Zhu had taken the most difficult path since he was twelve years old. Even rest time was scarce, so there was no room for romantic matters. Shu Jun was different. Even though he was too busy with work to pursue a relationship, he had read plenty of romance novels and watched romance movies.

He hoped they could bring peace and stand until the end.

Six days later, as Shu Jun looked at the Erosion Swamp before him, he felt that the first step towards peace was incredibly difficult.

What stood before him resembled a pile of black yarn more than an Erosion Swamp. Its tangled Vine structure covered the ground, and its “vines” thrashed about menacingly at the ends. It paid no attention to the approaching pair and charged from the outskirts towards the festival area.

From the uninhabited zone to the human-occupied area, the first line of defense was the stronghold. Before breaking through the stronghold, it encountered Shu Jun and Zhu Yanchen right on cue—Zhu Yanchen had set up the purifiers early, allowing it to instinctively avoid the stronghold. The Vine Erosion Swamp paused for a few seconds, then continued its charge, only to be suppressed and pinned in place by Shu Jun for a few more seconds.

Afterward, it reluctantly turned and headed towards the wasteland.

“There’s no such strong Erosion Swamp reaction elsewhere.” Zhu Yanchen remained fully armed. “Let’s go.”

Stepping onto the battlefield, Shu Jun focused all his thoughts. This opponent wasn’t to be underestimated—it was focused on reaching its destination and didn’t want to waste time fighting. Moreover, its structure was too complex, and they couldn’t employ the same method they used against the Mirror Erosion Swamp to locate its “brain”.

They had to react immediately. For some reason, having Zhu Yanchen by his side inexplicably strengthened Shu Jun’s resolve to never lose.

Zhu Yanchen took the lead, wielding a small rocket launcher-like weapon and firing several rounds. The peculiar-shaped shells pierced into the interior of the Erosion Swamp and their heads were deeply embedded underground. Half a second later, they emitted a dense spray of purification nets in all directions. Each purification net covered an area of about a dozen square meters, immobilizing the Erosion swamp in place.

It was evident that Marshal Zhu had put a lot of effort into modifying the weapons against the Erosion Swamp. The Vine Erosion Swamp writhed for a few seconds before quickly coming up with a countermeasure—it abandoned the entangled tendrils affected by the purification nets, forcefully tearing them away from its body, leaving behind a nearly hundred-square-meter hole.

As the tendrils of the Erosion Swamp detached, they gradually melted, transforming into ordinary erosion substance.

From a distance, it resembled a fleeing group of snakes, moving swiftly with unique strength and rhythm. The Erosion Swamp’s tendrils clustered together, intertwining and contorting, quickly repairing the broken holes.

Zhu Yanchen clicked his tongue, attempting to launch shells at more specific locations. Shu Jun could guess his intention—even though the Erosion Swamp was as vast as a lake, if they continued like this, they might get lucky and hit the location of its brain. Even if luck wasn’t on their side and the shells missed, they would still successfully weaken its power.

Unfortunately, Zhu Yanchen’s special shells failed to penetrate the ground.

The Vine Erosion Swamp crisscrossed its tendrils, holding up a dense and sturdy web above its body. As soon as the shells hit, they were caught in the web and subsequently entangled and eroded by countless erosion tendrils until they were rendered inoperable.

As a means of transporting thirty thousand players, this Erosion Swamp was quite suitable.

Taking a deep breath, Shu Jun lifted Monday and leaped towards the Erosion Swamp—after carefully observing its crawling habits, he had an idea.

While the Vine Erosion Swamp was focused on Zhu Yanchen, Shu Jun unleashed a wide-range suppression. Then, he casually grabbed hold of a tendril, utilizing the Mirror Erosion Swamp’s “Replication” ability.

He couldn’t change the form of the tendrils, but while they were suppressed, he could add something to their surfaces.

Shu Jun made the surface of the tendrils extremely smooth, completely disrupting the movements of this side of the Erosion swamp once the suppression ended. Satisfied, Shu Jun took to the air, giving it his all in a cycle of suppression and “polishing”. Seeing the Erosion Swamp’s movements in disarray, Zhu Yanchen quickly reacted. This time, he didn’t use ammunition-based weapons but instead sprayed purification powder in the direction where the Erosion Swamp struggled.

Finally, Shu Jun made a large portion of the Erosion Swamp become extremely slippery. The Vine Erosion Swamp became like a cat trapped on an icy surface, thrashing about aimlessly, unable to continue forward.

Realizing that it couldn’t move freely, the Vine Erosion Swamp became enraged. Several tendrils shot out, directly binding Shu Jun’s waist, ankles, and wrists. Before Shu Jun had a chance to swing his sword, several purification rounds came flying, cleanly severing the tendrils.

Having grown accustomed to wandering in fierce battles, it was difficult to eliminate the habits on the field—Shu Jun grinned and blew a kiss to his reliable companion.

They successfully trapped the Vine Erosion Swamp, but this was only the beginning of the battle.

Shu Jun quickly turned his thoughts, attempting to find traces of the “brain” in the sea of tendrils that filled most of their field of vision. The Erosion Swamp’s movements were chaotic, inadvertently increasing the difficulty of their analysis.

However, the Vine Erosion Swamp wouldn’t wait for them to think slowly.

Having suffered a major setback from Shu Jun, it quickly shifted its focus, shooting tendrils towards Zhu Yanchen. Shu Jun swiftly struck with his sword, unleashing countless wind blades that severed the tendrils of the Erosion Swamp.

There was good news—they wouldn’t be worn down too quickly by this thing. But there was also bad news—before they found a solution, this thing could exhaust them to their limits. Luo Duan wouldn’t keep waiting indefinitely, but buying time could serve as a kind of solution.

It was just a bit frustrating.

In an instant, Shu Jun saw a bulge rise and sink within the sea of tendrils. Immediately, he soared into the air, thrusting his great sword straight down. The next moment, numerous tendrils climbed up along the sword, seemingly about to encircle Shu Jun completely. Monday was tightly bound by the tendrils, screaming in fright.

That wasn’t the brain; it was a trap formed by entangled tendrils.

Shu Jun didn’t release his grip on the sword hilt. Once he let go, who knew where these black tendrils would hide Monday. Shu Jun took a deep breath, conjuring a whirlwind on the spot and concealing several vacuum blades within it. The tendrils were instantly cut into a rough circle, and Monday clung to a pile of broken tendrils, trembling as Shu Jun retrieved it.

It seemed like another path.

Shu Jun attempted to expand the whirlwind, stirring chaos outward from this point. If the brain was injured, the Vine Erosion Swamp would undoubtedly exhibit a noticeable reaction. However, theory was beautiful, while reality was quite disappointing—when the whirlwind grew to a certain size, he lost control of the peripheral airflow. The whirlwind spun feebly for a moment before finally subsiding. The shattered tendrils recovered quite quickly. Not long after the wind stopped, they once again merged into a cohesive entity.

Another failed attempt. Shu Jun’s attacks began to become more conservative. Before finalizing the plan, he needed to conserve his energy.

The Vine Erosion Swamp flailed about for too long, turning the entire wasteland into a muddy mess. Shu Jun’s heart felt as if it were soaked in wet mud, beating more and more laboriously. He and the Erosion Swamp were slowly wearing each other down, and a sense of powerlessness filled his insides.

Zhu Yanchen was like a precision machine. No matter how bizarre Shu Jun’s attacks were, he always provided precise shooting support. But Shu Jun understood deep down that Marshal Zhu was ultimately a mortal, and exhaustion was only a matter of time.

He wasn’t in a rush to kill this Erosion Swamp; it was much more troublesome than they had imagined. How long would Luo Duan wait at the festival? What if they dragged it out until the end and Zhu Yanchen exhausted his strength, only to be attacked by the Erosion Swamp? Questions tumbled in his mind, and Shu Jun’s breathing grew heavier.

They had to come up with a solution.

If only this thing wasn’t so closely attached to the ground. If its range was smaller…

Smaller?

Shu Jun bit his lip and charged towards the Erosion Swamp. In mid-air, he made a hand gesture to Zhu Yanchen, signaling him to pause. Zhu Yanchen immediately holstered his gun, making no unnecessary movements.

Countless tendrils entangled as usual, but Shu Jun swiftly dodged. Not even a single tendril couldn’t reach such a high place. The tendrils tangled together, temporarily forming a pile to eliminate the flying threat.

More than one tendril came at him. Without Zhu Yanchen’s purification bullets interfering, the tendrils quickly formed into pillars, waving like octopus tentacles. Shu Jun lifted the corners of his mouth and flew lower once again.

The processed pillars were slippery. However, at the moment when the pillars intersected, Shu Jun inserted his giant sword, using it as a safe point, and his palm touched the tendrils once more.

This time, he stuck them together.

From a distance, Zhu Yanchen watched as Shu Jun moved swiftly, his wind blades weaving through, as agile as a swimming fish, gathering the expansive Erosion Swamp into one place. Based on the visual effect alone, it seemed as if Shu Jun had dismantled a black sweater and piled up the yarn into a round ball.

The Vine Erosion Swamp was stuck together into a ball, but its mentality was quite good—unable to free itself, it simply rolled in place, continuing to move forward.

Shu Jun: “…”

His mouth twitched. “A’Yan, how’s this?”

The tendrils were tightly stuck together and still capable of wriggling, but their speed was much slower than before. Although the black ball was massive, it was much easier to observe compared to the vast expanse of an Erosion Swamp that couldn’t be seen at a glance.

“No trace of the brain, but now you can use the wind,” Zhu Yanchen responded in a deep voice. “Don’t use a whirlwind. Control the strength well, and cut from the outer layer… I’ll keep watching.”

“Understood!”

Shu Jun conjured a wind barrier in front of the giant ball, hindering its rolling progress. Then he rolled up his sleeves and began commanding the wind blades… peeling.

What was once a cohesive Erosion Swamp mass was forcefully pressed by the strong wind, peeled like an apple. The peeled erosion piled up beside the ball. Although it could slowly crawl back, it couldn’t keep up with Shu Jun peeling speed—just as they barely gathered, the next round of “skin” smashed them back into their original form.

Realizing that something was amiss, the struggling Vine Erosion Swamp caught the attention of the nearby Erosion Swamp expert—

Zhu Yanchen switched to a different gun and raised his hand, firing a tracking bullet.

“Dig down ten meters, quickly! The brain is starting to transfer!”

“Got it!” Shu Jun responded with a smile.

The erosion matter entirely formed the tendrils, filled with a significant amount of air, making it easier to suppress. Shu Jun thought this should be the end of the battle—he would break through its brain and defeat it as usual. Then, he would fly back to their settlement with Zhu Yanchen and both of them could rest.

However, as soon as he charged in front of the brain, he sensed that something was wrong.

The aura of this brain was quite chaotic, giving a more disorganized feeling than the hybrid form of Sweet Edge. If he had to describe it, it was as if something else was entangled around the Erosion Swamp’s brain—a “living organism” that resembled a parasite.

Although the opportunity was rare, the situation was unusual. It would be better to retreat first and consult with the expert. Shu Jun stopped in front of the brain, hesitating for only an instant—

Countless hands reached out from the darkness.

They grabbed his wrist, pulled his hair, and covered his mouth, giving him suffocating and chilling embraces one after another. The emaciated hands forcefully dragged Shu Jun closer, pressing him into the Erosion Swamp’s brain.

This is bad.

In the moment of being grabbed, Shu Jun used all his strength to throw Monday out. Zhu Yanchen was still outside, and this was the last plea for help and warning that he could give him.

They had ultimately miscalculated. There were two Erosion Swamps sent by Sigma. However, one of them was so small and weak that it was nowhere near an alpha level, and it could only hide near the “brain” of the Vine Erosion Swamp.

A malicious insurance. If they couldn’t defeat the Vine Erosion Swamp, it would be one thing, but if they successfully found the Erosion Swamp’s brain, Shu Jun would undoubtedly charge towards it and deliver the final blow.

And at the most relaxed moment, he was suddenly attacked by this thing. Such a well-thought-out plan didn’t seem like Sigma’s style.

Shu Jun couldn’t help but force a bitter smile.

He was well aware that with the abilities of this “bonus item”, it couldn’t harm him, an Alpha Erosion Swamp. But as soon as those deadly hands wrapped around him, he understood—it didn’t actually need to defeat him. Just a bit of erosion substance from the command center was enough to give him nightmares, and a small Erosion Swamp was sufficient to shatter the prideful captain of Groundwater.

It was similar to the “Crush” Erosion Swamp, targeting his mind.

In the instant of being touched, the nightmare became a reality.

Shu Jun was firmly imprisoned within the brain of the Vine Erosion Swamp, and a deluge of malevolence and sorrow poured over him. His nerves seemed to be severed, tears uncontrollably streamed down his face, profound despair choked his throat, and he couldn’t breathe.

“…A’Yan.” With his last bit of consciousness, Shu Jun let out a soft sigh.

The next moment, he completely descended into darkness.

The author has something to say:

Shu Ge: A’Yan is such a pure (?) person. He definitely doesn’t understand. I’ll have to earnestly pursue him later.

Marshal: I’m contemplating how to win him over.

Kinky Thoughts:

The story about borrowing arrows from straw boats comes from Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Zhou Yu was jealous of Zhuge Liang. During a discussion of military affairs, he asked Zhuge Liang to make 100,000 arrows in order to fight against Cao Cao’s army that was approaching. Zhuge Liang replied that rather than 10 days, he could make it in 3 days and promised he could come up with them within the time limit or he would face punishment. Hearing this, Zhou Yu was very happy, knowing Zhuge Liang wouldn’t be able to do such a feat.

Unconvinced, Lu Su asked Zhou Yu if Zhuge Liang was serious, to which Zhou Yu said that it was Zhuge Liang himself who said it of his own volition. He then asked Lu Su to investigate Zhuge Liang to see what he was planning and to report back.

When Lu Su met with Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Liang asked him for his help. Lu Su was confused as to what he could do in order to help Zhuge Liang produce 100,000 arrows. Zhuge Liang asked Lu Su to lend him 20 boats, and each boat needed more than 30 soldiers. Cover the boats with green cloth curtains and arrange straw bales on both sides of the boats. Then he would have his own means to handle the rest, but Lu Su must not let Zhou Yu know about his plan.

Lu Su agreed. He didn’t know what purpose Zhuge Liang had for borrowing these boats, but when he came back to report to Zhou Yu, he didn’t mention it and only said that Zhuge Liang wasn’t using bamboo, feathers, or glue. Zhou Yu became puzzled and said he’d wait until the third day and see what Zhuge Liang could do.

Lu Su then privately dispatched 20 boats filled with 30 soldiers each, according to Zhuge Liang’s instructions. On the first two days, there were no movements, but on the third, Zhuge Liang invited Lu Su with him to go procure the arrows together. Here was where he witnessed Zhuge Liang’s means.

Zhuge Liang connected the 20 boats together by rope and set off to the north banks. At this time, the sky was foggy, and the view of the river was clouded. As the boats approached Cao Cao’s army, Zhuge Liang ordered them to spread out and have the soldiers beat war drums and shout at the same time. Lu Su was surprised by this, as it would attract Cao Cao’s soldiers, to which Zhuge Liang replied that Cao Cao wouldn’t send his troops into the thick fog.

As predicted, when Cao Cao learned of the movements in the river, he was overly cautious, afraid that his troops would be ambushed in the thick fog. Rather than having his troops move in, he ordered his crossbowmen to shoot into the river. He sent people to Hanzhai to transfer 6,000 crossbowmen to the riverside to support the navy. More than 10,000 crossbowmen started shooting into the river, and the arrows seemed like rain. As they hit the boats set up by Zhuge Liang, the arrows got lodged in the straw bales.

When the fog cleared, Zhuge Liang ordered them to return and had the soldiers shout back, “Thank you, Minister Cao, for the arrows” in unison. Cao Cao knew he had been tricked by Zhuge Liang’s boats, which were too fast and had already sailed away.

When the boats docked, Zhou Yu sent 500 soldiers to dislodge all the arrows. Each boat had more than 500 arrows lodged in it, and with 20, the 100,000 arrows were easily made. When Lu Su met with Zhou Yu and told him how Zhuge Liang managed to procure these arrows, Zhou Yu was taken aback and sighed, “Zhuge Liang is so clever. I really can’t compare to him!”

—-

The Sandpiper (Snipe) and the Clam

One day, taking advantage of the sunny weather, a clam opened up its hard shell to bask in the sun on the banks of the river. A sandpiper saw it and quickly put its beak into the clam shell to peck at the meat inside. The calm hurriedly closed its hard shell and sealed the sandpiper’s mouth shut. The sandpiper couldn’t peck at the meat, and its mouth was sealed shut, so it threatened the clam and said, “If you don’t loosen your clamp on me, you will eventually die of thirst.” The clam responded without showing weakness, “Your mouth has been clamped by me. If you can’t pull it free, you’ll starve to death!” In this way, the clam and sandpiper fought each other on the beach, and neither would relent. Over time, they became exhausted. A fisherman happened to pass by, and when he saw that they were tightly entangled and neither could move, he easily caught them and took them both home.”

This story was told during the Warring States Period, when the Qin Empire was strongest. On one occasion, the Empire of Zhao declared war on the State of Yan. At the time, the king’s younger brother, Su Dai, was entrusted to go to the Empire of Zhao to persuade the King of Zhao not to send troops. When he arrived, the King of Zhao demanded what he was doing here, to which he told the fable.

After finishing, Su Dai said to the King of Zhao, “If the Empire of Zhao and the State of Yan go to war, the two sides will inevitably be at a standstill for a long time, eventually becoming exhausted. In this way, the mighty Qin Empire will be like the fisherman, who just needs to sit back and reap the benefits. Your Majesty, please consider it carefully before making a decision.” The King of Zhao felt that what Su Dai said was reasonable and dispelled the idea of attacking the State of Yan.