"Zoroark, how are things going with Deck's case?" Edward asked while looking at the Zoroark before him. There was a hint of contemplation in his eyes. He felt as if it had been a long time since he last talked with Zoroark about Deck's situation, yet he couldn't quite recall the exact details of what had happened.
Still, he remained very curious, because this matter was something he personally cared a lot about. After all, Deck was one of their own, so Edward naturally didn't want to see him being deceived, exploited, or harmed. The problem needed to be resolved sooner or later, and with that thought in mind, a flicker of curiosity surfaced in his gaze.
Faced with Edward's question, Zoroark hesitated for a moment. But she eventually recalled the aftermath of the incident, and she briefly summarized the results for Edward.
Only after listening did Edward finally understand: the case involving Deck had already been settled. Deck had received a sum of compensation because the lawyer presented crucial evidence of his wife's infidelity, and with the adulterer turning himself in, the case was ultimately won. Otherwise, Deck might have ended up in a truly miserable state.
Being cheated on and then still risking having half of your assets taken—now that would have been tragic.
Zoroark went on to describe the scene from back then.
…
Inside the solemn courtroom, the air was so heavy it felt as if it could be wrung into water.
The judge adjusted his glasses, his gaze sweeping across the plaintiff's bench. The man seated there wore a neatly pressed suit, yet his knuckles were bone-white from how tightly he clenched his fists. Meanwhile, the woman seated in the defendant's area kept her head lowered, her long tangled hair covering half her face, as if she wanted to hide herself completely in the shadows.
"The court now delivers the verdict—" the judge's voice was steady and cold, "In the divorce lawsuit between the plaintiff, Mr. Deck, and the defendant, Mrs. Fan, after investigation the court has confirmed that the defendant engaged in improper relations with another individual during the marriage, seriously violating the duty of loyalty between spouses."
The woman's shoulders trembled ever so slightly. Her fingernails unconsciously scraped the edge of the table, leaving faint scratch marks.
"According to Article 79 of the Pokémon League Marriage Law, when one spouse is significantly at fault, the innocent party has the right to request compensation." The judge paused. Deck's eyes lit up slightly—could he actually win?
"The court hereby rules:
One, divorce is granted.
Two, of the couple's shared assets, the plaintiff is awarded 70%, the defendant 30%.
Three, the defendant shall pay the plaintiff mental distress compensation amounting to 50,000 pokedollars."
The man's lips tightened—not with triumphant satisfaction, but with a kind of exhaustion so deep it was nearly numb. He stared fixedly at the tabletop, as if there were something engraved there that he needed to remember forever.
The woman finally lifted her head. Her eyes were swollen and red, yet stubbornly refusing to shed tears. Her gaze brushed past the man, only for a moment, before quickly shifting away.
"If either party disagrees with this judgment, you may file an appeal within fifteen days," the judge announced, closing the case file. The gavel slammed down with a heavy thud.
"Court dismissed."
Rustling whispers rose from the gallery—some shaking their heads, others sneering. The woman stood slowly, picked up her bag, and walked out without looking back. Deck remained sitting, head lowered in silence for a long time.
"After he left the courtroom, he immediately slapped that yellow-haired guy and told him that if it weren't for him, she would've been living a financially carefree life." Zoroark said with a tone of malicious glee.
"Why would that guy turn himself in?" Edward frowned in confusion. To him, that adulterer never seemed like the type who would willingly take responsibility. Since he was already shameless enough to cheat, Edward had never imagined he would confess on his own. But the fact was that he did confess—something utterly ridiculous and unexpected.
"I heard it's because after that guy proudly swaggered home, he discovered his own wife was performing a… multi-instrument blowing concert." Zoroark said, half laughing, half speechless. Edward's expression also turned rather odd.
Well… if that wasn't karmic retribution, then what was?
If you "bull" others, others will eventually "bull" you. People like that yellow-haired bastard, who enjoyed doing things to others, would eventually suffer the exact same pain. Perhaps that shock struck him so deeply that he finally chose to turn over a new leaf. Edward let out a small sigh. The whole ordeal was extremely melodramatic and absurd, yet somehow not surprising. After all, such messy relationship dramas were disgustingly common. This was exactly why Edward never involved himself in other people's love lives—because he knew how revolting these matters could be.
After getting a full update on Deck's situation, Edward quickly lost interest. He lay down on his bed and took a nap, then spent the rest of the day at home playing some games. As for movies and production work, he left everything to his company staff. Edward felt that the team could handle these matters just fine, and the only reason he delegated them was to avoid suspicion.
Recently, Edward had become far too prominent, attracting attention from everywhere. While attention itself wasn't a bad thing, excessive attention could easily lead to misunderstandings—especially from the League. Edward had no intention of challenging or toppling the League, so he decided to "lie flat" for a while, wait for the public hype to die down, and then make his comeback to continue filming. Still, Edward wasn't overly invested in these concerns.
His current life was already more than fulfilling. Spending each day with Q and the others—this was a simple, happy life. But of course, some issues still needed to be addressed.
He planned to use this period of downtime to handle his personal matters. Once the hype faded, he could reappear. Otherwise, he really wouldn't be able to work. The League might start monitoring him daily, and that would be absolutely terrifying.
When a new day arrived, Edward climbed out of bed. He had already taken a six-month break—six full months spent handling Devon Corporation issues and, in-between, and matters involving Ghost Films. But now the heat surrounding him had subsided, and he intended to step back into the world by shooting a new movie. The only question was… what movie?
After thinking for a while, Edward recalled one particular film: A Wicked Ghost. More precisely—A Wicked Ghost 2.
While the first A Wicked Ghost was a childhood nightmare for countless people, the sequel was far less impressive. In fact, many considered it outright trash—a film that sold one idea while delivering something else entirely. It was a complicated situation: the story of Chu Renmei had already been fully explored; her weaknesses, methods, everything had been exposed. Without innovation, there was no way to push the story forward.
That was exactly why Edward wanted to create a new version of A Wicked Ghost 2.
So, he began writing the script. But soon he realized a problem—he simply couldn't recall most of the original film. The movie really wasn't very good, completely unlike the first one, so he hadn't rewatched it many times. With no choice, he could only rely on fragments of memory and adapt the story himself.
The script began on a stormy night.
…
On a rain-battered night, neon lights twisted into eerie colors across the pools of water. Xiao Ming wiped the lens of his camera as a new message popped up on his screen:
"Ad budget doubled. Location set at the Qingshi Bay warehouse. — Director Li"
Dingdang lounged on the sofa reading the script, the strap of her red dress slipping off her shoulder. "I heard that place has been abandoned for ten years. Gives me the creeps." She scrolled through her phone and suddenly stopped. "Look at this."
In the photo, several fragmented statues lay piled in a corner, their weathered faces casting grayish shadows under the moonlight.
At 2 a.m., Ah Biao's video call came through. "The warehouse keeper says he saw a woman in a red bridal gown wandering around the mourning hall!" The camera shook violently. "I swear I recorded it! Wait… what's that sound—" The call cut off instantly.
The warehouse at noon reeked of rust. While adjusting the lights on a ladder, Dingdang suddenly screamed and fell—the hem of her red dress had somehow been torn into three long slashes, like claw marks.
Under the dim red glow of the darkroom lights that night, Xiao Ming soaked the film in developing fluid. Shapes slowly emerged—beside Dingdang's profile was an overlapping silhouette, that of an elderly woman in burial clothes, her neck split open by a horrifying wound.
"What… is this…" Xiao Ming felt his whole body turn cold. Suddenly the developing fluid began bubbling as if boiling. All the faces on the film twisted into the same expression—smiles torn up to the ears. A thunderclap shook the window, and red undergarments hanging on the drying line began to sway violently despite the windless air, their shadows cast on the glass like hanging corpses.
Dingdang disappeared.
Xiao Ming desperately searched the crumbling warehouse, eventually finding half of a broken jade hairpin in a wet corner. When he lifted it under his flashlight, a smear of black blood slowly seeped from the metal.
Hidden inside a real estate company's wooden cabinet, an old journal recorded horrifying events:
"Year 23 of the League. Master Xuan Kui returned home with his ailing wife, Xiao Die. Her illness worsened day by day. At midnight, cries were often heard drifting from the direction of Xiangxi. Though corpse-driving techniques must not be shared lightly, to save his wife, Xuan Kui violated the taboo and stole the forbidden Miaojiang Blood Curse."
The final page was covered in cinnabar incantations that began to glow faintly. Xiao Ming clutched his head as visions forced themselves into his mind—naked men and women entangled in blood-red curtains, an old woman's skeletal hand reaching from under the bed, pressing a talisman into the woman's back.
"They were switching bodies," came the hoarse voice of Old Chen, the warehouse manager, from behind him. The man's clouded pupils reflected Xiao Ming's terrified face. "Every generation needs a new vessel… just like the river water… endless."
As the last trace of sunlight vanished behind the water, faint blue flames floated across the river. Xiao Ming stumbled backward with his camera. Through the lens, Dingdang's red dress could be seen swaying beneath a distant willow tree—yet beneath his feet was only wet stone.
"Don't turn around…" A trembling female whisper brushed against his ear. The camera began recording on its own. In the viewfinder, a woman in a red bridal gown slowly lifted her withered hand from behind Dingdang's back, covering her pale face. Further away, seven figures in burial clothes stood in a row, with the old woman at the front dripping black blood from her neck wound.
Ancient chants rippled across the water. Xiao Ming suddenly remembered the journal's method for breaking the curse. He pointed the camera at his own chest and pressed record with shaking hands.
"I cut with light… I bind with shadow…"
The booming sound of Xuan Kui's dried corpse bursting from its coffin shattered the warehouse windows. The corpse, wrapped in black iron chains and covered in corpse spots, moved with eerie breathing as if something alive squirmed inside its chest. Ghosts of dead villagers rose from the water, marching across the surface, their rotting arms reaching for the corpse.
"By order of the command!"
Xiao Ming hurled the camera into the water, the reflected light forming a radiant blade. The corpse suddenly rang with the sound of clashing metal. Dingdang was thrown to safety by an invisible force, while the seven hanging ghosts were suspended midair by the beams of light, their skin glowing with eerie blue veins shaped like curse markings.
When dawn finally broke, only a blood-stained camera remained amidst the ruins.
The police later classified the case as collective hallucination.
Only Xiao Ming knew… that whenever it rained at night, his camera would automatically record the sound of a woman quietly sobbing.
…
"Hm… something still feels off," Edward muttered, scratching his head. The longer he lived in the Pokémon world, the more he realized how much he had forgotten. Frankly, he couldn't remember many things anymore—his memories from his previous life were over twenty years old, not to mention all those films buried even deeper in time. Only the most impactful movies remained clear; everything else had faded.
But there was nothing he could do about it. The story could be filmed, yes—but reviews would likely be poor. It definitely wasn't suitable as his comeback film. So what should he shoot instead? Paranormal Activity? That might work—as a unique, low-budget film capable of delivering massive box office returns. It was an interesting idea.
Still, he wasn't entirely sure. The harder he tried to remember, the more blurry his memories became.
It was, honestly, a little sad. Edward sighed. "Then what should I film next?"
Suddenly another theme came to mind—deep-sea horror. And indeed, deep-sea fear existed even in the Pokémon world. Many people didn't dare sail far from the coast. In that case, maybe he could shoot a marine horror film. Though most ocean films leaned toward gore, there were exceptions—like the classic shark horror movies.
Jaws.
Jaws was a legendary series—its earliest installments iconic, though later ones had declined in quality. And then there were the ridiculous films like Shark Tornado… but Jaws had the charm of its psychological horror components, leaving behind an enduring place in cinema history.
"Jaws, huh? That might work… except there aren't any sharks here." Edward rubbed his temples. The thought gave him a headache. This world simply had no sharks. Without sharks, he couldn't film Jaws—unless he made it about a Sharpedp. But then people might accuse him of slandering a Pokémon species.
What a hassle.
(End of Chapter)