Half-step Purgatory

Durin stroked the black cat on the armrest of his chair, sitting on the black leather sofa. Through the glasses perched on his nose, his gaze passed over the long table in front of him and settled on the man kneeling on the carpet:
"I understand, you've made money in Naples, your business has been very successful, and you've led a happy life. You've had those secret police, friends in both the law and the underground, and even the Royal Family speaking on your behalf."
"You don't need a friend like me, I know that. You're afraid of owing me a favor, and you don't want to get involved in troubles."
"But now you come to me and say, 'I beg you, Mr. Durin of the Corleon family, please help me seek justice, so that my life and my family will not suffer and sink into despair.'
Yet, in your eyes, I was nothing more than a second-rate artist involved in movies and music. Even at the brink of death, you still show me such disrespect, not even willing to call me by my title... Keeper of Secrets."

Durin's Diary

The old man didn't have a good meal—other than drinking in silence, he did nothing else but occasionally study Durin intently.


"You, like your grandmother, have your own opinions. To tell you the truth, I truly regret that you won't return to the family. However, the Mo family I know is from two centuries ago. The current Mo family... to me, they are somewhat unfamiliar; they don't even acknowledge me as their ancestor."


"Is it simply because 'those not of our race must have a different heart'?" Durin asked with a smile.


"Perhaps," the old man sighed in reply. "The Old Man informed me of your situation when you came back this time. The Mo family... they really are no longer the family I once knew."


Chapter 204: Peanuts and Wine