Li Banfeng revealed his true face, and An Zongding immediately deduced that this man was Li Qi.
Li Banfeng asked once more, "Why were you investigating me?"
An Zongding shook his head repeatedly. "We never investigated you—"
Splashhh—
A pot of scalding water poured down from the old teapot, sending An Zongding rolling across the floor in agony.
Having followed Li Banfeng for so long, there were some things the old teapot did on its own initiative without needing orders.
Watching An Zongding's wretched, pathetic state, the old teapot sighed. "Even after reaching above the clouds, a Demon Cultivator's physique is truly nothing to brag about."
Li Banfeng looked at An Zongding with a slight smile. "Still don't plan on telling the truth?"
"I'll talk!" An Zongding gasped for breath for a long while before wheezing, "This was Lord Feng's order."
"Which Lord Feng?"
"Lord Feng Chongli. He holds a higher status in Xuehuapu than I do. Whatever he commands, I must obey."
Li Banfeng's heart tightened. Why was Feng Chongli investigating him?
His sole interaction with Feng Chongli had been purchasing a pair of iron rulers from him—rulers that were actually the train rails of the companion dwelling.
Could it be that Feng Chongli knew what those iron rulers were used for, and that was why he had set his sights on him?
Thinking along those lines made the matter terrifying.
Up until now, the companion dwelling and everything inside it were the very foundation of Li Banfeng's survival. If someone targeted the companion dwelling, that person had to be eliminated. If an organization targeted the companion dwelling, that organization had to be eradicated.
Li Banfeng asked An Zongding, "Where is Feng Chongli right now?"
An Zongding answered truthfully, "At Lüshui Gong's residence."
"Why did he go to Lüshui Gong's residence?"
"To dig up Lüshui Gong's covenant deeds. Mu Yuejuan, known as Hundred Flowers Danqing, delivered the message to him."
Hong Ying chimed in from the side. "I know that Hundred Flowers Danqing! She's the seductress who swindled my second brother! Qilang, bring that slut home. I'd love to see just how charming that woman really is."
Li Banfeng actually entertained the thought.
"What pathway is Feng Chongli on, and what is his cultivation level?"
An Zongding replied honestly, "Feng Chongli is a Commerce Cultivator, and his cultivation is already beyond above the clouds."
"What about Mu Yuejuan?"
"She is also beyond above the clouds."
That made things rather troublesome.
Considering Feng Chongli's age, he was probably not even sixty yet. To have surpassed above the clouds at that age meant he was an exceptionally formidable figure.
"What did they go to Lühuazi's place for?"
"To find Lühuazi's covenant deeds and seize control of Lüshui Bay's territory."
"What do you want Lüshui Bay's territory for?"
An Zongding said, "Lüshui Bay is the wealthiest place in all of Puluo Province. Leaving it in Lüshui Gong's hands for all these years to waste away was truly boiling a crane for meat and burning a zither for firewood—casting pearls before swine and squandering heaven's finest gifts! It was truly a great tragedy for Puluo Province."
Li Banfeng kicked An Zongding. "Cut the flowery nonsense!"
An Zongding promptly translated his words: "Leaving such a magnificent place like Lüshui Bay to Lühuazi was like sticking a fresh flower into cow dung. We wanted to give Lüshui Bay a better future, and give Puluo Province a better future too, which is why we wanted to rescue Lüshui Bay from Lüshui Gong's clutches."
"Nonsense!" Li Banfeng kicked An Zongding again.
Lüshui Bay had never been some fresh flower in the first place; it was originally a gathering ground for beggars. While Lüshui Gong was indeed Li Banfeng's enemy, Li Banfeng had never once doubted the man's competence.
"In other words, you wanted to seize Lüshui Bay purely for the money?"
An Zongding shook his head. "We don't lack money. Xuehuapu has never lacked money."
"Then why did you abduct souls from Puluo Province and sell them to the Outer States?"
An Zongding sighed. "Those souls learned things they shouldn't have known. Strictly speaking, they shouldn't have been allowed to remain in this world. Yet they committed no heinous crimes, so allowing them to be extinguished completely felt unconscionable. Sending them to the Outer States was to leave them a path to live. This is what you call thunderous means guided by a bodhisattva's heart."
Li Banfeng said to the teapot, "Scald his heart and guts for me!"
The teapot boiled water while the sickle stepped forward, preparing to slice open his belly.
An Zongding screamed, "Everything I said is the absolute truth!"
Li Banfeng planted a kick squarely into his face. "What you people do is no different from human traffickers, and you dare talk to me about a bodhisattva's heart? Since you belong to Xuehuapu and run the business of minting currency, why do you still sell souls for coin to the Outer States? Do you understand my question?"
An Zongding hesitated for a moment before saying, "Xuehuapu doesn't lack money, but we occasionally lack money ourselves. We have to scrape together a little extra on the side..."
By his explanation, he was merely an employee working for Xuehuapu.
The organization itself wasn't short on funds, but the individuals needed to make extra cash. That explanation was fairly reasonable.
"Is Chu Zikai also one of Xuehuapu's people?"
An Zongding feigned surprise. "Who is Chu Zikai?"
Li Banfeng frowned. "Believe it or not, I can bake you into a crispy flatbread right now."
"Ah, you mean that Sound Cultivator from the Outer States!" An Zongding recalled. "He's also with Xuehuapu. We have quite a few hands stationed in the Outer States."
An Zongding intended to use Xuehuapu's influence to intimidate Li Qi, but Li Qi wasn't focused on Xuehuapu's power—he was thinking about Chu Zikai's situation.
As a member of a secret organization, Chu Zikai shouldn't have been acting as such a high-profile singer.
Moreover, judging from his personal involvement in black-market dealings, he wasn't just short of a little pocket money.
Could working for Xuehuapu really come with such poor compensation?
Li Qi looked at An Zongding and asked, "Is everything you've told me the truth?"
An Zongding nodded frantically. "Every single word is true! Not a shred of deceit!"
Li Banfeng took out a sheet of white paper and a pen, handing them to An Zongding. "Write down every single member of Xuehuapu you know on this paper."
An Zongding looked at the paper and pen, then silently nodded.
He picked up the pen and cast a covert glance at Li Banfeng.
*Youngsters are thoughtless after all. How could you casually hand paper and pen to a cultivator?*
An Zongding's pen flew across the page, writing at blinding speed. To an observer, he appeared to be writing a list of names, but in reality, he was drawing a talisman.
A talisman paper was completed in an instant. Before Li Banfeng could inspect it closely, An Zongding suddenly performed a conjuring trick, rubbing a burst of flame from his fingertips to ignite the sheet.
As the fire flared up, An Zongding blew gently, sending the paper ashes drifting toward Hong Ying.
From the two kicks he had received earlier, An Zongding had clearly deduced that this unnameable deceased spirit possessed immeasurable combat power. As long as he controlled her, he would easily defeat Li Qi.
Of course, manipulating a deceased spirit of this caliber was exceedingly difficult, but given his current state, this was his only chance of survival.
The paper ashes drifted onto Hong Ying; An Zongding's talisman spell had taken effect.
Yet the spell failed to control Hong Ying at all—it merely singed a lock of her hair.
The gramophone breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought something terrible had happened, but it was just a bit of burnt hair! Yingying, it's no big deal. Sit down first, Yingying. Be good, I'll comb your hair for you. Yingying, don't beat him to death!"
Never in his wildest dreams could An Zongding have imagined that a single lock of hair was so precious to Hong Ying.
Because he truly had no idea that in this entire house, aside from Li Qi, only Hong Ying possessed authentic, genuine hair.
Livid with rage, Hong Ying pounced forward with a flurry of punches and kicks, leaving An Zongding lying on the ground on the brink of death.
Li Banfeng retrieved another sheet of white paper and shoved the pen back into An Zongding's hand. "No more tricks. Write the list down!"
An Zongding dared not pull any more stunts. He conscientiously penned the first name: "Feng Chongli."
The moment he finished writing it, An Zongding's right hand exploded into a bloody spray of flesh and bone.
Li Banfeng was stunned. An Zongding's reaction was identical to being struck by Viewing Flowers from Horseback.
And it didn't end with his hand. The explosion crawled upward from his wrist toward his arm, detonating inch by inch.
Looking at An Zongding again, the man could no longer speak. His entire face had turned purplish-blue, as if he were suffocating.
"Wife, please have your meal."
An Zongding couldn't hold on any longer.
He had triggered some sort of technique and was about to perish.
His darling wife swiftly devoured An Zongding's soul while the rest of the household waited with chopsticks in hand.
The last time with the centipede workshop, Li Banfeng had only brought back its soul and not the body, which ended up benefiting only the gramophone.
This time, he had brought back a complete cultivator from above the clouds, yet this man had somehow fallen victim to a wicked sorcery, his flesh and blood continuously bursting apart.
If he blew apart into pieces that were too tiny, the magical treasures wouldn't be able to consume him, and everything would end up benefiting that slut, the red lotus.
The moment the gramophone consumed An Zongding's soul, the explosions abruptly ceased.
The household stepped forward to enjoy their meal. Li Banfeng asked his wife, "Why did the explosions stop the moment his soul was eaten?"
His wife replied, "Because this man was struck by a curse. Curses typically disperse upon the victim's death, though a rare few can continue to take effect even posthumously."
Li Banfeng thought of Qiu Luoye, who had defied the wishes of the Inner States and suffered curse damage as a result. "Which pathway does cursecraft belong to?"
"It belongs to the Curse Cultivator pathway. Cultivators of this pathway are the most sinister kind among all the hundreds of pathways under heaven. During ordinary daytime battles, they appear to have no real skill at all. Some people might even mistake a fifth- or sixth-tier Curse Cultivator for a raw beginner, pummeling and handling them however they please.
"Yet that person wouldn't even know they've already been cursed. After a few hours, several days, or even months, when the curse erupts, they can no longer find the caster. Unless an expert of profound cultivation steps in to help, that person is doomed to die."
Li Banfeng pondered the process and felt that Curse Cultivators seemed impossible to guard against. "Wife, when a Curse Cultivator casts a curse, doesn't the victim sense anything at all?"
Hong Ying spoke up from the side. "Our Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Disaster can sense it, but that depends on the caster's methods. Some casters don't cast lethal curses; they only cast minor ones. These minor curses seem harmless and carry very little malice, making them hard for us Travel Cultivators to detect. But if these minor curses erupt at a critical moment, the losses we suffer can be severe."
Worried that Li Banfeng wouldn't grasp her meaning, Hong Ying gave a specific example: "Back on the battlefield, I ran into a Curse Cultivator. When we first engaged, I felt something was off, as if my wrist had been pricked by something.
"However, the opponent fighting me possessed remarkable martial prowess, so I didn't dare lower my guard and didn't think much of it. In truth, I had already been struck by one of his minor curses at that moment.
"This minor curse did little damage. When it erupted, it only caused my body to sway slightly, like a violent shiver."
Li Banfeng asked, "Then what use was that curse?"
Hong Ying replied, "It depends on when it's used. The next day during battle, the enemy triggered the curse. I shivered, which startled Xiaowan's warhorse, causing Xiaowan to charge solo straight into the enemy lines."
Li Banfeng hugged the gramophone. "What happened next?"
Hong Ying pouted aggrievedly. "Later, she fought her way back out of the enemy ranks, and as soon as she returned, she gave me a hundred military lashes! Just thinking about it breaks my heart!"
The gramophone was furious. "You wench! I was nearly hacked to death by enemy blades, and you have the nerve to feel aggrieved?"
Hong Ying sniffled. "I was cursed! It's not like I wanted to harm you on purpose!"
The gramophone snapped resentfully, "Failing to realize you were cursed means you deserved every lash! You weren't wronged in the slightest!"
Li Banfeng still felt that Curse Cultivators were far too troublesome. "Aside from a Travel Cultivator's Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Disaster, are there no other ways to counter a Curse Cultivator?"
"Of course there are, Husband," the gramophone said, not viewing Curse Cultivators as all that formidable. "With a hundred pathways and a hundred arts, each has its strengths. Homestead cultivators don't fear Curse Cultivators much. If struck by a curse, as long as you return home quickly, you can weather it with the aid of the residence and the dwelling spirit.
"Virtue Cultivators also counter Curse Cultivators. During combat, if things look amiss, a Virtue Cultivator can force the Curse Cultivator to speak the truth, compelling them to reveal the method of casting and the means to break it.
"Peeping Cultivators counter Curse Cultivators the most. They can see the roots and origins of a curse, severing the curse entirely, and they can track down the caster. Curse Cultivators aren't good at face-to-face combat, so once found, they are virtually dead meat.
"Of course, this also depends on cultivation tier. A low-tier Peeping Cultivator certainly won't be able to see a high-tier curse. Only when their tiers are comparable can one talk about mutual counterplay."
Li Banfeng stroked his earring. "Eat more, grow strong, and when I encounter Curse Cultivators in the future, you must help me out."
"Rest assured, Master!" Deeply moved, the earring burrowed into An Zongding's corpse, gorging voraciously.
Li Banfeng wanted to discuss a matter with his wife: "I want to visit Lühuazi's residence again, lure Feng Chongli and Mu Yuejuan into the room together, and let you finish them off."
The gramophone paused. "Husband, how do you plan to lure them?"
Li Banfeng said, "The simplest method: door-to-door. I added a lock to Lühuazi's door, so the two of them shouldn't be able to get out for now.
"In a little while, I'll go unlock it, then open the companion dwelling, waiting for them to charge into the companion dwelling on their own."
The door-to-door tactic wasn't new; Li Banfeng had used it several times before and was thoroughly adept at it.
Hong Ying added from the side, "Great idea, Qilang! I'll guard the entrance. Kill them as they come, one by one—saves a lot of trouble."
The gramophone pondered for a long time and refused: "Husband, if the opponents were on the ground, you could do as you pleased. If they were above the clouds, this door-to-door tactic might still barely suffice.
"However, these two are beyond above the clouds. If you make the slightest slip, you'll fall into their schemes. This method absolutely cannot be used.
"Once a cultivator reaches beyond above the clouds, the techniques and means at their disposal are far beyond anything you can anticipate. We have already won a battle today, and you must not ruin such an advantageous situation by underestimating the enemy."
Li Banfeng listened to his wife's advice and did not seek out Feng Chongli and Mu Yuejuan.
Since he didn't go, those two suffered terribly.
They had tried every conceivable way to leave the dark-dimension space. Feng Chongli had been unable to pick the lock, so the only solution left was Mu Yuejuan's paintings.
Mu Yuejuan could travel back and forth through her own paintings. As a renowned artist, many people collected her works. As long as there was a resonance between two paintings, Mu Yuejuan could invade another artwork.
However, Mu Yuejuan was reluctant to use this method.
Not because it consumed immense energy, but because she disliked ferrying others through her scrolls, as doing so would expose many of her secrets.
Yet having no other choice, Mu Yuejuan swiftly painted an ink-wash painting. With a few deft brushstrokes, a landscape appeared before them.
Mu Yuejuan led Feng Chongli into the landscape painting, poling a skiff down the flowing river.
They traveled like this for a whole hour.
Having rowed the boat for an hour, Feng Chongli grew impatient. "Isn't this just a painting? Are you taking it for real? You're actually making me row a boat here like an honest fool?"
Mu Yuejuan frowned. "What do you mean? Don't I have to find a place where we can make landfall?"
The landfall she spoke of wasn't something inside this painting, but a passageway connecting to another scroll.
This passageway could be in a karst cave ahead, or in the woods along the bank—it all depended on which painting Mu Yuejuan could sense.
There was a distinct barrier between a nameless place and normal space. Usually, it took less than a minute to locate a passageway, but today, an hour had passed and she still hadn't found one.
A gentle breeze brushed against their faces, accompanied by a light drizzle—a resonance had been established.
Overjoyed, Mu Yuejuan urged Feng Chongli to row harder, and the two rowed into a lotus pond.
This lotus pond was a residence Mu Yuejuan had painted, which He Jiaqing had later purchased—the very painting they used to contact each other.
Just as Mu Yuejuan was about to step ashore, she discovered that the scene was a patch of scorched earth.
Why was that?
Because Mu Yuejuan's painting had been burned by He Jiaqing.
With the painting destroyed, the residence had naturally burned to ash as well, rendering this passageway entirely useless.
Mu Yuejuan led Feng Chongli in search of the next passageway. After traveling for more than eight hours, the small boat entered a lake.
Mu Yuejuan felt another surge of joy.
Yet when she prepared to step ashore, the light faded from her eyes once more.
This painting had been burned too. It was the oil portrait she had painted of Ling Miaoying, depicting him in deep thought by a lakeside.
He Jiaqing previously hadn't known this painting came from Mu Yuejuan; otherwise, he wouldn't have kept it around until today.
Feng Chongli asked, "Do you have any other ideas?"
"If you have an idea, think of one yourself!" Mu Yuejuan snapped crossly. "If you can't, then row the boat like a good boy!"
***
Inside the companion dwelling, the household finished their meal, leaving the leftovers for the red lotus to clean up.
An Zongding carried three magical treasures on him. Because the red lotus didn't consume unrefined items, she handed the three treasures over to the gramophone.
The gramophone examined the first treasure: an incense burner. Tapping the burner twice with her stylus, the incense burner instantly understood and demonstrated its ability.
It first lit its incense. Amid the swirling mist, the smoke condensed into a longsword that danced through midair, the wind whistling alongside the edge of the blade. Li Banfeng could sense that this sword was corporeal and remarkably sharp.
The longsword could maintain its form for about ten seconds, capable of slashing and thrusting like a proper weapon. Once the magic faded, the sword dissolved back into smoke and scattered on the breeze, while the incense burner prepared a sabre, ready to continue fighting.
This incense burner was An Zongding's long-range weapon. As long as the incense burned continuously, the smoke could perpetually transform into weapons to pin down foes.
The second magical treasure was a small ceramic medicine vial.
Inside were over a dozen pills, all highly toxic. In combat, provided the distance was close enough, the vial could shoot pills directly into an opponent's body to poison them, serving as An Zongding's close-quarters weapon.
The third magical treasure was a golden bead. Li Banfeng had already witnessed its power: it allowed An Zongding to run as fast as an eighth-tier Travel Cultivator.
With the three magical treasures arranged on the gramophone's turntable rack, the golden bead spoke first: "Master is a Travel Cultivator, and this humble servant belongs to the same pathway. If Master ever tires of walking, this servant can run in your stead. If Master disdains this servant, giving me away to someone else is fine as well."
This bead was of the least use to Li Banfeng, and possessing self-awareness, it was the first to beg for shelter.
The medicine vial felt it had a high chance of being kept, saying unhurriedly, "Master, this humble servant has fought across battlefields for years. I dare not boast of supreme martial arts, but whenever this servant takes the field, I have never failed.
"In the future, Master need not worry. Just place me casually in your pocket or sleeve, and when it's time to strike, this servant can kill enemies on my own."
This held little novelty for Li Banfeng; every treasure in his house could kill enemies on its own.
The incense burner also considered itself very useful: "Master, this humble servant dares not claim to have slain countless foes, but I am battle-hardened. As long as you let me prepare on the battlefield in advance, no enemy can come near Master! If a hundred come, a hundred die!"
All three magical treasures referred to themselves as humble servants, which grated on Li Banfeng's ears.
Not only did it grate on the gramophone's ears, but she also picked up on something else: "Darling Husband, these three have echoes within them."
Having echoes meant the three items could record audio.
These three magical treasures were likely issued to An Zongding by Xuehuapu, meaning there was a high probability that Xuehuapu had left backup measures inside them.
Such items naturally could not be kept. With a twitch of Li Banfeng's brow, his wife stripped away their spiritual awareness directly.
Yet the three items still had utility, so Li Banfeng handed them over to the lotus.
The lotus looked at the crowd. "Who wants to come try something new?"
Trying something new with the lotus was no joke; one wrong move could refine a treasure out of existence entirely.
Moreover, the glove served as a living example: while its abilities had indeed grown considerably stronger, it was now covered in black spots, which was rather unpleasant to look at.
The pendulum spoke first: "Master, I'll go try!"
Among the magical treasures by Li Banfeng's side, the pendulum possessed seniority, yet her origin wasn't particularly high—merely a bit better than the earring. Sucking blood had originally been a good technique, but nowadays, opponents were far too powerful, leaving the pendulum with virtually no chance to strike.
At present, the pendulum had become Li Banfeng's painter and makeup artist. This wasn't due to a lack of effort on her part, but rather her starting point was simply too low.
The pendulum chose the Travel Cultivator's golden bead: "Refine me together with this one. At least it'll let me strike faster."
The bronze lotus agreed, curling the pendulum and the bead together into the lotus center.
The earring couldn't sit still either, choosing the incense burner: "Master, I've never been able to fight. Please give this one to me."
Li Banfeng agreed, and the earring entered the lotus alongside the incense burner.
With only the medicine vial left unchosen, the music box, the slowest of them all, walked over to the lotus.
She could record audio but couldn't speak. Understanding her intent, Li Banfeng placed her and the medicine vial into the lotus.
The lotus closed its petals and began refining the magical treasures.
Li Banfeng took his key, headed to a teahouse under his control, left the projector on guard outside the companion dwelling, and had a sound, peaceful sleep.
***
The next morning, as Li Banfeng stepped out, the projector reminded him, "Director Qi, someone is looking for you through that simple telephone."
The simple telephone referred to the phone Luo Zhengnan had given Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng dialed back to Luo Zhengnan, and Luo Zhengnan patched the line directly through to Ma the Fifth.
"Old Seven, Luo Lijun is back. She brought the conditions and wants to negotiate with you face-to-face."
Li Banfeng traveled through the newland to Qishuiyao, arrived at the factory, and met Luo Lijun.
Compared to their first meeting, Luo Lijun's attitude had softened significantly. "I've discussed it with my clan. War isn't an absolute necessity this time. As long as Puluo Province provides a guarantee that the Outer States will not trespass against the Inner States from now on, this matter can be settled here and now."
Li Banfeng stroked his chin. "What do you mean by having Puluo Province guarantee it? Puluo Province has no leader. How can it offer you a guarantee?"
Luo Lijun came prepared: "I had someone investigate. You are considered the foremost powerhouse in Puluo Province. As long as you sign a covenant deed guaranteeing that the Outer States will no longer trespass against the Inner States, this matter ends. Should there be any further violation, we will strike Puluo Province first."
Li Banfeng laughed. "What are you and your clan thinking? Looking for an excuse to wage war against Puluo Province? You're fighting the Outer States—what does that have to do with Puluo Province? Why should Puluo Province provide you with such a guarantee?"
"Because Puluo Province is wedged between the Inner States and the Outer States! Only by ensuring harmony between the Inner States and the Outer States can the people of Puluo Province survive on this land. That is the benefit Puluo Province gains from this guarantee!"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "I don't see it that way. The people of Puluo Province inherently possess the right to live on this land. That wasn't bestowed by the Outer States or the Inner States, nor can it be counted as a benefit."
Luo Lijun said, "Then what is your counterproposal?"
Li Banfeng said, "My proposal is to address the issue on its own terms. I can guarantee the safety of this single entrance. Within the borders of Qishuiyao, I can guarantee that people from the Outer States will not invade the Inner States through this entrance. However, this guarantee is not free of charge.
"The Inner States must pay a price for it."
The River Snail Maiden's antennae swayed ceaselessly. "You only guarantee a single entrance, and you still want us to pay a price?"
Li Banfeng nodded. "Yes, only this single entrance. You are free not to accept my guarantee. But if the Outer States invade the Inner States through this entrance, Puluo Province might sit by and watch, or we might join forces with the Outer States to invade the Inner States together. When that time comes, what you lose won't just be a gatekeeper."
The River Snail Maiden fell silent for a long time. "What price do you require us to pay?"
Li Banfeng said, "I want a piece of newland."
The River Snail Maiden thought for a moment. "That is easy enough. Tell me the territory you've chosen, and I will inform the local spirit there to obey your arrangements."
Li Banfeng shook his head. "You misunderstand me. I don't want a piece of newland that already has a local spirit. I want an unclaimed piece of newland."
The River Snail Maiden didn't quite comprehend. "What significance does that hold? Even if we grant you the newland, the local spirit will ultimately still be dispatched by us."
Li Banfeng adopted a stern expression. "That is precisely the crux of the matter. The local spirit of this territory will not be dispatched by you. You must hand over both complete halves of the covenant deeds to me."
"Impossible!" the River Snail Maiden roared. "We will never accept such terms, nor will we tolerate such a provocation!"
"Look at you, losing your temper again," Li Banfeng said with a chuckle. "Go discuss it thoroughly with your clan. Find some clan members who aren't quite so hotheaded and discuss it slowly. I believe there will always be sensible members in your clan who will agree to my terms."
***
P.S. The authority to appoint a local spirit is of critical importance.
Chapter 525