Chapter 7: Joy for Some, Sorrow for Others

Monday.

The school’s bulletin board displayed the results of the third mock exam for the senior year students.

It showed the top performers in each subject as well as the overall highest scorers.

A crowd of students gathered around the board, whispering and pointing.

“As expected, Cai Yaming, the school beauty, maintained her consistent performance, firmly holding the crown in first place, leading the second by 30 points.”

At the top of the list was Cai Yaming, with a total score of 702 points across all subjects.

This score was definitely competitive for the top three in the entire Xiangnan Province — either the top scorer, the runner-up, or at worst, the third place.

“Huh? Where’s Li Fan from Class One?”

Li Fan usually ranked second, almost always within the top three.

But this time, his name was nowhere in the top ten.

“Here! He actually dropped to sixteenth place—hilarious!”

Many voices sounded gleefully malicious, showing Li Fan’s reputation at school.

Most people first looked at the total scores, then examined the rankings in each subject.

As usual, Cai Yaming was first in all subjects.

But this time, the Chinese language scores showed two names.

“Who the hell is Zhou Chen? He’s tied with the school beauty Cai Yaming for first in Chinese?”

“Don’t you know Zhou Chen? He’s the hero who fought the thug last week, the one all over the school.”

“Why did no one know his Chinese was this good before?”

Zhou Chen glanced at the rankings with a cold smirk.

Daring to provoke him was just the beginning!

Before the class bell rang, Zhou Chen sent out a soul-devouring insect to check on Li Fan’s situation in Class One.

Li Fan’s face was extremely dark; studying had always been his strong suit and part of his pride.

But this time, he never expected to fall from the top three to outside the top fifteen.

He also realized his mental state last week was terrible—there had to be some problem.

Just then, Yang Tong approached with breakfast.

“It’s nothing, just an off day. There are still more than twenty days until the college entrance exam. Adjust your state, and you’ll perform beyond expectations,” Yang Tong comforted Li Fan softly—an tenderness Zhou Chen had never seen in her before.

Heh, this woman has two faces!

Seeing this scene, Zhou Chen only found it amusing and was even more glad that Yang Tong had broken up with him.

Li Fan, still angry, didn’t buy Yang Tong’s gentle words.

“I’m not hungry.”

With that, Li Fan threw the breakfast Yang Tong bought into the trash bin.

Yang Tong felt uncomfortable; she had also regressed significantly this time.

But she dared not show it in front of Li Fan—first, because she didn’t want to offend him, and second, she still needed Li Fan’s help with her studies to strive for a good university.

The soul-devouring insect flew above Li Fan’s head, silently consuming the little soul energy he had regained over the past week.

Soul energy could regenerate as long as the body was well rested.

But Zhou Chen would not let this slide—how could he not retaliate fiercely?

Li Fan had stolen his girlfriend and was flaunting it in front of him—did they really think Zhou Chen had no temper?

He also drained all the soul energy Yang Tong had recovered.

Both their mental states worsened, and neither noticed.

The class bell rang as homeroom teacher Gu Zhaoyue entered Class Two with the exam papers.

It was morning reading time, and Gu Zhaoyue took the opportunity to hold a brief class meeting.

She discussed the mock exam from last week and announced the total scores.

While speaking, she handed out the score lists.

“Cai Yaming achieved first place in all subjects—let’s applaud her!”

“Keep it up, aim higher, and claim the top liberal arts scorer in Xiangnan Province.”

...

Soon, it was Zhou Chen’s turn.

Gu Zhaoyue smiled gently: “This time, the student with the most progress in our class is Zhou Chen, who tied with Cai Yaming for first place in the whole school’s Chinese language exam. Let’s give him a round of applause!”

Cai Yaming looked stunned, finding it hard to believe.

Others also suspected cheating.

After all, Zhou Chen had previously scored 110 in Chinese, which was good, but this time, he scored 148!

This was at City No. 1 High School, where the homeroom teacher Gu Zhaoyue was a top Chinese teacher, and the class average was above 115.

Yet Gu Zhaoyue’s next words made everyone feel this matter was even more absurd—absurd beyond belief.

“In fact, Zhou Chen could have scored full marks this time, but lost two points due to messy handwriting.”

Even Cai Yaming found this unbelievable.

At school, she had always been first in every subject.

But unexpectedly losing to Zhou Chen, whose academic performance had never been impressive, was hard for her to accept.

“Zhou Chen, could you please come up and read your essay?”

“Sure, teacher.”

Zhou Chen confidently stepped onto the podium, his voice strong and clear, reading the essay fluently—a complete transformation from his usual image.

Gu Zhaoyue was increasingly pleased with the student.

For a homeroom teacher, nothing was more satisfying than seeing a wayward student turn around and achieve success.

Especially since she had played a role in it, Gu Zhaoyue felt quite proud.

Finally, she said, “Zhou Chen has a unique insight into the Chinese subject. If anyone has difficulties or questions, feel free to ask him.”

This wasn’t an intentional elevation of Zhou Chen, but his talent in Chinese was truly exceptional.

In some ways, he had even surpassed Gu Zhaoyue herself.

Thus, the mock exam episode concluded.

The senior students once again immersed themselves in intense preparation.

The entire senior year was shrouded by a cloud of pressure, leaving many breathless.

Only Zhou Chen maintained a relaxed mindset, and his rapid review across subjects yielded remarkable results.

---

Sometimes, Zhou Chen released soul-devouring insects to spy on Gu Zhaoyue’s privacy in the teachers’ office.

Of course, excluding when she was in the restroom—Zhou Chen wasn’t that low.

Zhou Chen knew he had developed feelings for Gu Zhaoyue.

But even he wasn’t sure whether his feelings were admiration for an outstanding woman, romantic affection, or simply physical desire.

...

Days passed, and the college entrance exam grew nearer.

For Zhou Chen, everything was progressing favorably.

The mother soul-devouring insect had bred five offspring, all at level zero.

The first insect that had awakened with the mother had reached level one.

Unfortunately, one died, leaving only two level-one offspring.

With seven soul-devouring insects constantly feeding on soul energy, Zhou Chen’s soul strength increased manifold.

At school, he drained soul energy from students he disliked—mainly wealthy second-generation kids and dropouts.

They had no hope for the exam, so Zhou Chen had no qualms about consuming their soul energy—it would regenerate anyway.

He even targeted teachers, but only those lacking professional ethics.

They didn’t take the exams, so poor condition was no big deal.

At night, Zhou Chen frequented a bar.

He showed no mercy to those who drugged, used, or dealt drugs—sending his soul-devouring insects to consume part of their souls.

Though not lethal, it drove them mad.

Zhou Chen felt like a cross between Spider-Man and Iron Man.

However, Zhou Chen acted out of self-interest—the more soul energy the insects consumed, the more they returned to him.

If a soul-devouring insect absorbed the soul energy of an ordinary person, Zhou Chen would gain 1 unit of soul energy.

But if it devoured the soul outright, he would gain 10 units.

What Zhou Chen didn’t know was that the police had launched an investigation into the sudden increase in mental illness cases at the hospital, focusing on this very bar.

Currently, officers were stationed in the hotel’s surveillance room.

But the soul-devouring insects were too small, and the dim lighting of the bar made even blue-light cameras unable to capture them.

Thus, the police shifted tactics, cross-checking bar visitors at night with the times the mental illness cases occurred.

Eventually, they zeroed in on Zhou Chen.

A high school student about to take the college entrance exam, who visited the bar every day but never drank—something definitely seemed off.