Chapter 43: Your Wife Is With Me

Originally, Qiao Qiao thought those monsters would force the newborn little monsters to do shady work.
For example, [bleep], or [bleep], or [bleep]—things so unspeakable they couldn’t even be named.
But to his surprise, these monsters had actually kept pace with the times.
“Virtual streamer... Ah, could that ‘Suzuka’ be...?”
One of the Onmyoji, Takeya Kato, suddenly seemed to recall something and blurted out.
Do you, sir, watch as well?
Qiao Qiao glanced over.
Takeya Kato wanted to say something but choked it back, ultimately remaining silent.
His companion, Arima Yamashina, looked equally troubled.
Only Master Xingming folded his hands in prayer, closed his eyes, and began chanting sutras, exuding the demeanor of an eminent monk.
Qiao Qiao secretly checked the channel of the virtual streamer named “Suzuka” on his phone.
He was taken aback by what he found.
Her popularity far surpassed that of the shrine maiden Asano’s channel.
Though she hadn’t streamed for a month, people still chatted in her room even with the screen blank.
He checked the leaderboard for donations.
The top supporter had given over ten million yen.
The ID was simple and direct: “SuzukaIsMyWife.”
“?”
Upon seeing the ID, Qiao Qiao remembered why the name Suzuka seemed familiar.
He opened the Line group chat for the “Tokyo Exorcism Enthusiasts.”
Tonight, it was unusually quiet.
Recently, Qiao Qiao had often just watched without participating and discovered a pattern:
During holidays, almost no one chatted in the group.
But during lectures or work hours, the group would quickly rack up 99+ unread messages.
As a newcomer, Qiao Qiao generally didn’t dare interrupt when the veterans spoke, afraid of exposing his ignorance.
But now, he felt a need to speak up and alert the top member.
[Newbie]: @SuzukaIsMyWife, your wife is here with me.
[SuzukaIsMyWife]: ?
Apparently he didn’t understand.
Qiao Qiao was about to explain further, but suddenly—he understood.
Miss Suzuka had been in Tokyo for half a year, continually exploited by the monster organization.
If she actually knew the group’s top member, how would exorcists like himself ever get involved?
So, Miss Suzuka likely wasn’t the wife of “SuzukaIsMyWife.”
It was more a declaration of affection, like people online jokingly call themselves “your dad.”
Qiao Qiao didn’t ask Miss Suzuka if she knew that member.
Would you ask a young lady, “Is this person your husband?”
Qiao Qiao was certainly not lacking in common sense.
With that thought, he replied again in the group.
[Newbie]: Sorry, I got it wrong. She’s not your wife.
[SuzukaIsMyWife]: ???
At that very moment,
On the second floor of a luxury mansion in Shinjuku,
A gamer stared at the chat record, his mind full of question marks.
Who is this person?
Is he out of his mind?
But suddenly, the gamer was struck by a thought.
He calculated in his mind.
“Oh no.”
He slapped his thigh.
“My wife is missing!”
...
Qiao Qiao then set his phone to silent mode.
He absolutely did not want to star in the classic scene where one’s stupidity is exposed by a ringing phone during a stealth operation.
The four exorcists took two cars, plus Qiao Qiao’s little scooter.
With Miss Suzuka leading the way, they soon arrived at the science park in Bunkyo Ward.
Though called a science park, it was really just a few squat office buildings, all similar in style.
It was the Golden Week holiday.
The park was pitch black.
Originally, Qiao Qiao and the others had wondered if the monsters might be resting at home during this time.
But Miss Suzuka explained that the monsters lived at the company.
She also provided a few streaming room links.
Qiao Qiao and the others checked—
They were broadcasting live.
So even on holidays, the monster organization was still squeezing other streamers dry.
Truly despicable capitalists.
The thought that these young monsters were not only exploited but also forced to smile and please their audience made Qiao Qiao’s hands and feet turn cold, his whole body trembling with rage.
According to Miss Suzuka’s testimony,
The main monsters in the organization were four:
Kumakichi, transformed from a bear.
Saburo, transformed from a wolf.
Hanako, transformed from a cherry tree.
Takabun, transformed from an eagle.
The names were easy to remember.
Qiao Qiao even suddenly thought: if a Japanese person’s name included an animal or plant, could it be a monster in disguise?
The other monsters, Miss Suzuka said, were victims like herself, subjected to exploitation.
He contacted Miss Sakura, who remained at the Shinjuku branch,
And confirmed the backgrounds of the four monsters.
Each was a monster between one and two centuries old.
Arriving at the park entrance, just as they were about to enter,
Qiao Qiao suddenly stopped.
“I think we’d better observe first.”
Qiao Qiao had never fought real monsters before.
He only knew of their strength from textbooks and his supervisor’s stories.
Textbooks described monsters as varied in strength, but generally much harder to deal with than vengeful spirits.
His boss always said monsters were extremely cunning and treacherous.
Facing such a situation,
A rookie like himself rushing in would be nothing but cannon fodder.
Seeing Qiao Qiao hesitate,
Takeya Kato smiled.
He was a regular at the Shinjuku branch, familiar with Qiao Qiao’s reputation.
Of course, he didn’t think Qiao Qiao only took vengeful spirit assignments out of cowardice.
Someone had to do those jobs.
In fact, if Qiao Qiao cleared out the spirits, it freed up exorcists like them to tackle bigger problems.
He simply thought Qiao Qiao had never handled monster-related assignments and was understandably uneasy.
So, he spoke up, adopting the tone of a seasoned hand:
“Qiao-san, don’t worry. We have the advantage now, and we’re just going to check things out, not fight the monsters. There’s no need to be so nervous.”
They planned to pretend to be passersby, set up a barrier in the park, and sense the monsters’ movements.
Otherwise, if the main force arrived and the monsters all fled, it would be a mess.
“Let’s do this.”
Master Xingming, seeing Qiao Qiao’s expression, said,
“Qiao, Yamashina, and Suzuka should stay outside the park. Kato and I will go in. That way, it’s easier to cover each other.”
Master Xingming had been an exorcist for fifteen years, highly experienced.
He felt Qiao Qiao was just a half-year rookie, still a minor.
According to the exorcist association’s rules, the more seasoned exorcists should take the lead.
Both Master Xingming and Takeya Kato were senior to Qiao Qiao.
By both reason and custom, Qiao Qiao shouldn’t be on the front lines.
What kind of senior lets a novice charge ahead while they sit back?
Better to have Qiao Qiao and the less-experienced Yamashina stay here.
At the same time, he was cautious.
If Miss Suzuka was lying and there was a trap,
Qiao Qiao and Yamashina would be able to handle it.
After a brief discussion, they began their operation.
Master Xingming and Takeya Kato, one following the other, entered the science park, pretending to be ordinary visitors.
Qiao Qiao and the others kept watch from a café across the street.
They communicated via Line voice chat.
For the first few minutes, everything was normal.
The two inside the park set up some talismans.
Just as they were about to withdraw,
A gunshot rang out from the voice chat.
Followed by a scream.
Arima Yamashina instinctively stood up.
“...Master Xingming was hit. I—I didn’t see the enemy...”
Takeya Kato’s voice came through, shocked and panicked.
“I’ll go save him...”
“Wait...”
Qiao Qiao hadn’t finished speaking.
Another gunshot.
Takeya Kato’s voice disappeared.