Chapter 138
Datong Fucheng has been expanded three times in the last ten years, and its resident population now exceeds 600,000, which is even more than the population of the Feng Province capital.
The streets here are all paved with stone slabs, there are numerous advertising light signs on both sides of the streets, and five- or six-story buildings are everywhere.
Bicycles, rickshaws, and cars mingle on the roads, trams pass through the streets and alleys with whistles, and a giant movie promotional poster hangs on the wall of a department store.
After Li Fei walked into Datong Fucheng, everything he saw along the way was such a prosperous scene, feeling as if he had walked into the Great Shanghai of his past life during the Republic of China era.
Ten miles of prosperous streets, a scene of wealth!
Although he wears a mask and carries weapons, the number of martial artists within this Datong Fucheng is the highest in the entire Feng Province, so martial artists dressed like him are not uncommon on a daily basis, and walking on the street, he is not considered too eye-catching.
Soon, Green-Faced Ghost disappeared into the sea of people.
"You said he showed a document to the city guard squad leader at the city gate when he entered the city?"
By the side of a lake, an old man wearing a bamboo hat and straw sandals was fishing.
A middle-aged man in a blue robe stood to the side, reporting the movements of Green-Faced Ghost after entering the city to the old man.
"Yes, many people near the city gate saw it at the time. After that squad leader finished reading the document, his expression changed, his attitude toward Green-Faced Ghost became much more respectful, and he stopped questioning him and let him pass directly."
The blue-robed man said.
"Green-Faced Ghost has a connection with the city guards?"
The old man who was fishing frowned slightly, possessing a natural authority without anger.
He is one of the 'Seven Kings' of Datong Fucheng, the 'Beast King' Yu Longqing!
Unlike the name Green-Faced Ghost King, which is only loud in Xingcheng, these seven giants of the underworld in Datong Fucheng are still big names even when looking at the entire Feng Province underworld!
The business of 'Beast King' Yu Longqing is not only done within the borders of Datong Prefecture but is spread throughout the entire Feng Province, and he even has business dealings with forces in other provinces.
"We are investigating."
The blue-robed man said hurriedly.
"That Shangguan Xiao in Xingcheng, have you found out who is helping her rise to power?"
Yu Longqing continued to ask.
Cold sweat broke out on the blue-robed man's forehead, and he said fearfully: "Still investigating."
"Heh."
A smile appeared on Yu Longqing's face.
Swish!
Seeing this smile, the blue-robed man was so frightened that he immediately knelt on the ground, trembling:
"It is this subordinate's incompetence; I beg the Beast King to grant me a few more days!"
Everyone under Yu Longqing knows that as long as the 'Beast King' smiles, it usually means he wants to kill someone.
And the 'Beast King' usually doesn't kill directly, but throws them to exotic beasts to be hunted and killed, eventually becoming the exotic beasts' rations!
The smile on Yu Longqing's face remained unchanged, but he suddenly lifted the fishing rod in his hand.
Boom—
The next second, the lake water exploded, setting off a giant wave!
A giant monster fish over ten meters long, covered in bone spurs, was actually forcibly fished out of the lake by Yu Longqing with a thin fishing line.
Yu Longqing flicked his wrist, and this giant monster fish weighing over two thousand catties was flung out, finally smashing heavily onto the shore, breaking several large trees and creating a large pit in the ground!
"Moo—"
The monster fish struggled desperately on the ground, emitting a huge howling sound.
This sound was both ugly and sharp, making people feel a strong sense of nausea after hearing it, unable to help wanting to vomit.
"Within three days, if you still cannot find a result, I will throw you into the lake to feed it."
Yu Longqing said in a cold tone.
"Yes, this subordinate understands!"
The blue-robed man replied hurriedly, then fled the place quickly as if escaping.
Yu Longqing didn't even look at the monster fish that he had forcibly fished onto the shore, still staring at the lake surface in front of him.
The lake water was still rippling constantly, and waves kept surging toward the shore.
The wind has risen.
Night falls.
On Fenghua Street, the lights are bright and the wine is green, dance halls are decorated with lanterns and colored streamers, and lights of various colors flicker, reflecting the night in colorful hues.
This street is a famous red-light district in Datong Fucheng, with a total of seventeen dance halls opened!
These dance halls are all considered first-class brothels, belonging to a type of 'Qingyin Small Class'.
In Xingcheng, first-class places like this don't add up to more than a handful, but here seventeen have been opened in a row!
Therefore, Fenghua Street is the most famous red-light district in Datong Fucheng, and the dignitaries, young masters, and young ladies in the city all love to come here to play.
The seventeen dance halls here choose a top courtesan once a year, and that time can be called a grand event for the whole city.
Moreover, the top courtesan chosen every year eventually follows a truly big figure in the city, and the most legendary one was even taken into the bedroom by the previous Garrison Commander of Datong Prefecture!
The highest official of a city is the Chief, and the highest official of a prefecture is the Garrison Commander.
In the largest dance hall on Fenghua Street, in a room backstage, a woman wearing a red long dress is applying makeup in front of a mirror.
The woman's skin is like white snow, her black hair is coiled up, and her fragrant shoulders are half-exposed; even just looking at her back makes people feel heart-pounding and soul-captivated.
"Sanniang, just received news, Green-Faced Ghost went to Renmian Villa."
A beautiful woman walked into the room and said softly to the woman in red who was applying makeup.
The seventeen dance halls on Fenghua Street all belong to this woman in red; she is one of the 'Seven Kings', the 'Queen' Feng Sanniang!
Feng Sanniang manages the red-light district of the entire city and is the true number one figure in this trade, and also the only person who can stand shoulder to shoulder with the other underworld giants as a woman.
"Oh? Entering the dragon's den all alone?"
Feng Sanniang did not turn around, her voice carrying a bone-deep charm that made people feel itchy in their hearts:
"He is quite a character. If he can walk out of Renmian Villa alive tonight, have someone send him an invitation; I, Sanniang, want to meet him personally."
Over the years, everyone who could be personally received by Feng Sanniang has become a big figure in Datong Fucheng!
"Yes."
The woman who came to report the news took Sanniang's order and turned to leave.
On the other side, outside the gate of Renmian Villa, Li Fei stood alone with a saber on his back.
Renmian Villa is the base camp of 'Beast King' Yu Longqing, and the name of this villa was also chosen by him.
People who hear this name cannot help but think of the phrase 'human face, beast heart', and this may also be what Yu Longqing wants to tell the world:
The people living inside here, although they have human faces, have beast hearts!
After Li Fei waited for a while outside the villa gate, the iron gate was opened, and a man walked out with murderous intent on his face.
His momentum was surging, and a powerful force flowed on the surface of his body, ready to erupt at any time.
This is a force-training martial artist.
"The Beast King invites you in."
The person who came said to Li Fei.
Li Fei did not speak, his eyes looked calmly ahead, and he stepped forward.
The person who came showed a cold smile and led the way in front.
Just like that, Li Fei entered Renmian Villa.
The villa is very large, with a mountain, a forest, and a lake behind it.
Li Fei followed the person leading the way at a steady pace, and along the way, he could feel gazes full of ill intent falling on him, and the steel armor implant in his body also stirred in waves.
This is the feeling of being aimed at by a gun!
Li Fei walked for nearly ten minutes before reaching the back mountain of the villa and arriving at the location of the lake.
By the lake, lamps were lit, reflecting the sparkling water by the lake.
A person stood every certain distance along the shore.
Li Fei scanned and perceived at least ten force-training martial artists!
At its peak, the Xingcheng Zhige Academy could not even produce ten official martial artists.
This is the gap between Datong Fucheng and Xingcheng!
A moment later, the person who came walked toward an old man fishing on the shore:
"Beast King, the person has been brought."
The man lowered his head and said to Yu Longqing.
"Hmm."
Yu Longqing continued to stare at the lake surface without raising his head.
The man retreated, allowing Li Fei, who was not far away, to see Yu Longqing directly.
He felt a powerful aura deep in the jungle locking onto him tightly; this blood energy was full of primitive, bloody feelings, not like a human.
Although Yu Longqing only has Zhang Shan as a Dao Foundation powerhouse under his command, he himself can command high-grade exotic beasts, so facing him is equivalent to facing several Dao Foundation powerhouses!
This was something Shangguan Xiao specifically reminded Li Fei before he came.
Seeing that Yu Longqing had no intention of speaking, Li Fei was not in a hurry to speak either, simply turning around to admire the scenery of the lake.
Although he was stared at by dozens of hostile gazes and locked onto by the gaze of a powerful exotic beast in the jungle, Li Fei behaved in a relaxed and comfortable manner, without any tension at all.
Ten minutes later, Yu Longqing's fishing rod moved, and he flicked the fishing rod violently.
This time, what was fished up was no longer an exotic beast, but a normal fish.
He put the fished-up fish into the fish basket on the side, and only then turned to look at Li Fei not far away:
"Is Zhang Shan still alive?"
"Yes."
Li Fei turned around and looked at this 'Beast King' for the first time.
The other party's eyes were greenish, containing naked beastliness, not like the eyes of a normal human at all!
"You want to use Zhang Shan as a bargaining chip to make a deal with me?"
Yu Longqing continued to ask.
"Yes."
Li Fei's answer remained brief.
Yu Longqing looked at him and suddenly laughed:
"You all think that by holding Zhang Shan, you have me figured out?"
As the words fell, the earth suddenly began to shake.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
A behemoth was walking toward this side from deep in the jungle, each step making the earth shake!
Yu Longqing suddenly commanded the exotic beast to attack Li Fei!
This 'Beast King' is famous for being crazy and bloodthirsty, and can never be measured by common sense.
Facing the exotic beast about to rush out, Li Fei was calm and composed, his eyes like a flat lake, without a ripple.
He just stood quietly in place waiting.
As the footsteps of the exotic beast got closer and closer, the man who led the way earlier suddenly rushed to Yu Longqing's side and said in a low voice:
"Beast King, the Zhang family suddenly sent someone to deliver a letter!"
"Zhang family?"
Yu Longqing turned his head abruptly to stare at his subordinate.
Following this action of his, the exotic beast in the jungle also stopped.
The Zhang family is one of the three major families in Datong Prefecture, and the current head of the family, Zhang Zongyang, is the Helmsman of the Datong Prefecture Zhige General Academy.
The Helmsman is a big figure in the Zhige General Academy second only to the Chief, not only responsible for part of the affairs of the General Academy but also responsible for the affairs of the Zhige Academy in a certain city under Datong Prefecture; the official rank is a fourth-class seat official, a level 13 official, one level higher than the Chief of a city!
Above the third-class life official is the fourth-class seat official; the so-called 'seat official' has a saying called 'one radish, one pit', the seats in the officialdom of the entire Great Lan Dynasty are only so many, if someone sits up, someone must get up and leave the seat, which is completely different from the three lower ranks of official positions.
Walking to the step of a seat official is considered to truly have a place in the officialdom of the Great Lan Dynasty.
With a Helmsman of the Zhige General Academy in the Zhang family, even if their momentum has been decreasing over the years and they are not as glorious as the other two major families, they are still a behemoth in Datong Fucheng, and even the 'Beast King' Yu Longqing dare not underestimate them.
"Where is the letter?"
Yu Longqing asked.
Intuition told him that the Zhang family suddenly sending him a letter at this time must have something to do with the Green-Faced Ghost in front of him!
Sure enough, after reading the letter handed over by his subordinate, the madness in Yu Longqing's eyes converged a lot, and he re-examined Li Fei not far away:
"So Shangguan Xiao is a member of the Zhang family."
Although it was not explicitly stated in the letter, he had already figured out the key to this.
For Shangguan Xiao to go from a commoner directly to the Chief of a city's Zhige Academy, there must be someone helping behind the scenes, and the official position in Datong Prefecture must not be low.
Yu Longqing had his subordinates investigate this matter, and they hadn't found it yet, but now the other party had sent the answer themselves—it was the Zhang family helping Shangguan Xiao behind the scenes.
The Zhang family has operated in the Datong Prefecture Zhige General Academy for many years and indeed has the ability to pave the way for Shangguan Xiao without making a sound.
"Is this your reliance?"
Yu Longqing stared at Li Fei.
Li Fei looked at him: "How about it, is the Beast King willing to trade?"
Shangguan Xiao changed her name to follow her mother's surname after falling out with her family in her early years, so she did not have the surname Zhang.
Over the years, the Datong Prefecture Zhang family has been somewhat disconnected, with no outstanding talent in the younger generation, and the experts of the older generation have fallen one after another; now only the family head Zhang Zongyang is left to support it, and they cannot even produce a second Dao Foundation powerhouse.
Under such circumstances, with Shangguan Xiao, who has already reached the Dao Foundation stage, showing willingness to return to the family, the Zhang family is naturally happy.
This is Li Fei's true reliance for daring to come to Datong Fucheng alone this time. The document he showed the city guards during the day was also a travel document issued by the Zhang family for him, with the seal of the Zhige General Academy on it.
Just like what he said to Zhang Shan that night:
When mixing in the underworld, you have to talk about power!
After showing the strength to capture Zhang Shan alive, and now with the Zhang family coming forward, such power is enough to deter Yu Longqing.
"I hate being threatened the most; aren't you afraid that I won't sell the Zhang family's face and insist on killing you?"
Yu Longqing suddenly asked sternly.
As his words fell, the people standing along the shore drew their weapons one after another.
Swish swish swish swish—
A series of sounds of swords being drawn from their sheaths rang out.
Not only that, the exotic beast in the jungle that had stopped suddenly looked up to the sky and roared, emitting an astonishing beast roar!
In the blink of an eye, the monstrous murderous intent swept toward Li Fei like a flood!
Li Fei looked at the other party and said calmly:
"It is said that the Beast King is crazy, but if you were really a lunatic, you wouldn't be able to reach where you are today."
Even if Yu Longqing really lost his mind today and insisted on taking action, there were Zhang family experts responding outside, and he still had a great chance of leaving alive.
"Hahahahahaha—"
Yu Longqing suddenly laughed, "Good, very good!"
"You must live well; I look forward to our second meeting!"
Half an hour later, Li Fei walked out of Renmian Villa.
Not long after he walked out of the villa, a beautiful woman wearing a cheongsam with a graceful figure walked toward him.
After walking in front of Li Fei, the woman bowed and then handed over a gold-stamped invitation:
"Young Master, my Sanniang invites you."
Li Fei took the invitation, opened it, and took a look, finding that there was no time specified on it, so he said to the woman who came to deliver the invitation:
"Go back and tell Sanniang that I will visit in a while."
Upon hearing this, the woman bowed to Li Fei again and then turned to leave.
Soon, the news that Green-Faced Ghost walked out of Renmian Villa safely and was personally invited by the 'Queen' Feng Sanniang spread throughout the entire Datong Fucheng like the wind.
That night, the name of Green-Faced Ghost resounded through Datong Prefecture!
December 23rd.
It has been almost a month since Li Fei returned from Datong Prefecture.
During this month, he practiced diligently every day and dealt with some matters of the Qingyuan City Management Company from time to time.
On this day, Li Fei came to the Lecture Hall as usual to train with Hao Yi.
Not long after training, the Hall Master of the Lecture Hall personally found the two of them.
"Mr. Hao, the investigation team sent from above wants to see student Li Fei."
The Hall Master of the Lecture Hall said cautiously to Hao Yi.
Now the investigation team sent from the provincial capital has returned, but the investigation team sent from Datong Prefecture has remained in Xingcheng; they will only leave after the new Chief takes office.
Now the Datong Prefecture investigation team wants to see Li Fei.
Hao Yi turned his head and glanced at Li Fei: "Then you should go."
He could roughly guess the other party's intention in seeing Li Fei.
Li Fei could also guess it; Shangguan Xiao had analyzed this matter for him before.
"Okay."
Li Fei bowed to Hao Yi, put on his clothes, and left with the Hall Master of the Lecture Hall.
A moment later, the other party brought him to the outside of a guest room and said very politely:
"Student Li Fei, you go in yourself."
"Thank you, Hall Master, for leading the way."
Li Fei thanked the other party very politely, then turned and entered the room.
In the room, two men in black formal suits were waiting, one of whom was Cheng Bi, who had once developed Li Fei into a secret inspector.
Although Gu Zhenhui had stepped down, he had made arrangements before leaving, so Cheng Bi was not only not implicated but was promoted.
Now he is the Helmsman of the Xingcheng Inspection Academy, with a position second only to the Dean, and is already an official of the imperial court!
"Xiaofei, let me introduce you."
Cheng Bi stood up very enthusiastically and pointed to the man beside him to introduce to Li Fei:
"This is the Inspector of the Datong Prefecture Inspection General Academy, Xia Huan, Lord Xia."
The rank of the Datong Prefecture Inspection General Academy is one level higher than the local Inspection Academy, so although he is an Inspector, Xia Huan and Cheng Bi, the Helmsman, are of the same rank, both being officials of the imperial court.
"Lord Cheng, Lord Xia."
Li Fei bowed to the two of them in turn.
Looking at Li Fei, who was polite and righteous, Xia Huan nodded with satisfaction and said kindly:
"I will also call you Xiaofei; don't be restrained, sit down and chat."
The three of them sat down, with Cheng Bi and Xia Huan sitting opposite Li Fei.
"Xiaofei, we are here this time to announce the commendation for you."
Cheng Bi said with a smile:
"The confession letter you handed over to the Supervision Academy earlier is a very important piece of evidence and clue. Through that letter, we dug out quite a few spies buried by the Meijia Kingdom in our Great Lan Dynasty! In view of your contribution, the higher-ups decided to promote you. From now on, you, this secret inspector, are equivalent to a local fourth-level inspector, and will have corresponding salary and authority!"
Li Fei was stunned.
A local fourth-level inspector is a second-class subordinate official, a level 9 official!
That is to say, Li Fei just delivered a letter, didn't do anything, and just lay down and won all the way, directly crossing the first dragon gate of the officialdom and becoming a level 9 official.
This step, Li Lei had worked for more than ten years before and hadn't been able to reach it, but Li Fei has been a secret inspector for less than half a year and has reached it in one step!
The salary of a fourth-level inspector is not much, but the authority is very rare, and he can find out a lot of intelligence that cannot be obtained outside.
Although he knew that the other party did this to win over Hao Yi and others behind him, Li Fei still didn't expect such a big move.
"Lord Cheng, this..."
Li Fei showed a confused expression just right.
Cheng Bi and Xia Huan looked at each other and smiled.
"Xiaofei, I know you are surprised, but this commendation for you is not only to reward you for the contribution you made earlier, but also because there is a difficult task to hand over to you!"
Cheng Bi said to Li Fei.
"What task?"
Li Fei thought to himself that it was coming, but his expression remained very surprised.
Cheng Bi looked at Xia Huan on the side, and Xia Huan said:
"Xiaofei, the foreigners have planted spies in our Great Lan Dynasty with ulterior motives; this matter is of great importance and involves a wide range of people. Although we have found some suspects, there are still many people to investigate. Next, after you go to Datong Fucheng, we need you to help investigate the case in the dark."
"There are also foreign spies in Wuan University?!"
Li Fei asked in surprise.
He is definitely going to Wuan University when he goes to Datong Fucheng; if the other party asks him to investigate the case in the dark, it can only be investigating Wuan University.
Xia Huan's expression was serious:
"It cannot be determined yet, so you need to go and investigate. Wuan University concerns the foundation of our Great Lan Dynasty and must not tolerate any filth!"
"Yes, I will definitely do my best!"
Li Fei stood up and said seriously.
"Good."
Xia Huan nodded with a smile, "Come, sit down."
"After you go to Datong Fucheng, you will only contact me on a single line, and I have another task to hand over to you."
"Lord Xia, please speak."
"I need you to monitor Green-Faced Ghost for me!"
Xia Huan said in a deep voice.
"Ah?"
Li Fei was truly surprised this time.
"I know that Green-Faced Ghost saved you before, and he also has a close relationship with your aunt-master, but a person like him, using martial arts to violate the ban and ignoring the law, is really too dangerous!"
Xia Huan looked into Li Fei's eyes and said seriously:
"Green-Faced Ghost has already appeared in Datong Fucheng before and will definitely take action in Datong Fucheng later, so after you go to Datong Fucheng, if you have news about the other party, I need you to inform me in time."
"..."
Li Fei was silent.
He hasn't even gone to Datong Prefecture yet, but he has already received the task of monitoring Green-Faced Ghost.
This is hard to comment on.
Seeing Li Fei's silence, Cheng Bi thought he was hesitating and said:
"Xiaofei, your foster father will be the Supervision Chief of the Supervision Academy in the future, and your aunt-master will be the Chief of the Zhige Academy in the future. If they are too deeply involved with a person like Green-Faced Ghost, it is not a good thing! If you take on such a task now, you might be able to help them in the future, or even save their lives!"
Li Fei was startled when he heard this and looked at Cheng Bi:
"I understand, thank you, Lord Cheng, for the reminder."
Then he said to Xia Huan with a firm expression:
"Lord Xia, I am willing to take on this task!"
"Good."
Xia Huan nodded with satisfaction.
Using Li Fei to monitor Green-Faced Ghost, he felt that this move of his was truly wonderful!
"It's just that it will be at least next September by the time I go to Datong Fucheng."
Li Fei said suddenly.
He has to obtain a spot in the Lecture Hall to go to Wuan University, and this spot will not be decided until next May, and then next September, Wuan University will welcome new students, and that is when he can go to Datong Fucheng.
Xia Huan and Cheng Bi looked at each other and smiled again.
Cheng Bi said to Li Fei with a smile:
"Xiaofei, your identity as a secret inspector cannot be made public, so the commendation for you today cannot be made public either, but the contribution you made must have a public explanation, so the higher-ups decided to reward you with a special admission spot for the Zhige Department of Wuan University!"
Li Fei was stunned.
Special admission spots are usually rewarded by the imperial court to those who have made great contributions, specifically rewarding these people to go to twelve universities for further studies.
However, such spots are hard to come by and cannot be obtained specifically, only by luck, so Li Fei had never thought that he would enter Wuan University through a special admission spot.
"After the new Chief arrives in Xingcheng, he will personally reward you with this special admission spot."
Xia Huan said to Li Fei:
"The new Chief will arrive in a few days, so you can report to Wuan University by January next year at the latest!"
At this moment, Li Fei felt some emotion.
The first goal he set after traveling to this world was to go to the Zhige Department of Wuan University.
He originally thought it would take at least a year to achieve this goal, but now less than half a year has passed, and he has achieved it.
In fact, with Hao Yi's cultivation realm, he could completely continue to guide Li Fei's cultivation.
But Xingcheng is too small, and the resources that can be obtained here are too few.
Only by going to university can Li Fei obtain better cultivation resources and grow faster; this is the reason why he must enter Wuan University.
Datong Prefecture, Wuan University, that is the place suitable for a young man to gallop—
A broader world!
November 28th, 45th year of Hongguang.
These are the last few days of the year.
The new Chief of Xingcheng has arrived.
He brought the command plates and gold seals of the three new imperial officials, Li Lei, Shangguan Xiao, and Cheng Bi, from the Cabinet Center.
With these two things, Li Lei and the others can be considered to have officially become imperial officials.
Besides this, the new Chief also brought Li Fei the special admission spot for the Zhige Department of Wuan University.
With this spot, Li Fei can directly report to Wuan University.
He can walk into Datong Fucheng uprightly in the identity of Li Fei and compete with those proud sons of heaven in Wuan University!
From Xingcheng to Datong Fucheng, it only took him more than five months.
From an ordinary person to a Qi Transformation martial artist, it also only took him more than five months.
Although the journey ahead is still very long, it will surely be very exciting!
On this day, Li Fei finished training with Hao Yi as usual.
"When do you plan to go to Datong Fucheng?"
Hao Yi asked calmly.
"In a few days, I will set off on January 1st next year."
Li Fei replied.
"Hmm, after you go to Wuan University, you can call me anytime if you have any problems with your cultivation. You will cultivate 【Hunyuan Heavenly Gold】 in the future; regarding this Dao Foundation, there should be few people in Wuan University who know more about it than I do."
Hao Yi looked at Li Fei and said so.
Li Fei faced Hao Yi, bowed slowly, bowed deeply, and said in a rare, somewhat emotional tone:
"No matter where the student goes in the future, you will always be my teacher!"
A smile appeared on Hao Yi's serious face, and he stepped forward to help Li Fei up:
"This world is far more exciting than you imagine; go and enjoy your life well and create your own excitement."
Li Fei straightened up, looked at Hao Yi, and nodded solemnly.
He was more certain than anyone else that his future must be a sea of stars!
At this moment, the sun outside the window was bright.
A breeze blew, and an eagle flapped its wings and flew high.
(End of this volume)
PS: Title of the next volume—《Green-Faced Ghost King》
This chapter is a combination of two; I hope everyone doesn't hoard the book. The more people who read it, the more passionate the author will be in writing, and the more I can update every day.
(End of this chapter)
End of Chapter
