Chapter 71: Turning the world upside down

The massive body of the earthworm stiffened, and the ground immediately trembled and churned.

This giant earthworm had never fully emerged from the ground, only occasionally exposing a section before burrowing back down.

Ye Xi could only judge its immense size from the parts that surfaced intermittently.

In Ye Xi's widening eyes, the soil boiled up like water, and with the falling chunks of earth, the giant earthworm emerged from the ground.

The size of this earthworm far exceeded his imagination.

Its body had a diameter as thick as that of a rhinoceros and was comparable to a full-grown Titan python. Though only its upper half was exposed, it was already over ten meters long.

Who knew how many meters were buried underground?

Even though the giant earthworm had a dull sense of pain, it knew enough to feel the bite and pain when a piece of flesh was torn off. Rearing up its upper body, it opened its mouthparts and faced Jiao Jiao.

Where it had been bitten, yellow blood flowed incessantly.

Compared to the gigantic earthworm, which was as thick as a water barrel, Jiao Jiao seemed incredibly small.

The giant earthworm's ferocious mouthparts opened and closed.

Ye Xi could sense that the targeted Jiao Jiao was somewhat afraid, but it exerted great restraint and darted away into the depths of the jungle.

Jiao Jiao swam swiftly, its black python body drenched by the heavy rain, resembling a black lightning bolt in the jungle.

The giant earthworm burrowed underground, transforming into an elevated earth dragon on the surface, spreading towards the direction of Jiao Jiao.

Ye Xi quickly followed alongside.

The giant earthworm relentlessly pursued through the soil, occasionally revealing a segment of its massive body on the ground.

Although the giant earthworm's body was enormous, it lacked the agility of Jiao Jiao. When it seemed that the giant earthworm was struggling to catch up, Jiao Jiao deliberately slowed down.

Gradually, the giant earthworm was led closer to the spider nests.

The hunting team warriors hiding behind the trees were shocked to see Jiao Jiao successfully luring the giant earthworm.

"Jiao Jiao, after leading it near the nests, leave immediately and avoid touching any spider silk," Ye Xi commanded silently in his heart.

Jiao Jiao hissed a few times in response, indicating it understood.

Ye Xi instructed everyone to hide behind the trees and wait for the right moment.

Under the tense gaze of everyone, the giant earthworm drew closer to the spider nests.

Seeing Jiao Jiao halt, the giant earthworm emerged from the ground, ready to attack.

The gigantic earthworm, nearly colliding with the densely distributed spider silk the moment it surfaced, caused multiple thick strands to appear from two dark holes, entwining around it.

Observing the situation, Jiao Jiao quickly left the area, swimming back towards Ye Xi.

Ye Xi patted Jiao Jiao's head, praising its performance.

Two strands of spider silk entwined around the upper body of the giant earthworm, dragging it underground.

Enraged, the giant earthworm thrashed its body to break free.

In its struggle, it inadvertently touched several fine spider silks. Instantly, several thick strands emerged from the holes, enveloping the giant earthworm.

The giant earthworm, now entangled, grew truly furious. Its massive body and strength prevented the spider silk from dragging it.

However, the giant earthworm couldn't break the spider silk either, as it proved too resilient.

Bending its body, the giant earthworm burrowed back into the ground.

As they watched the giant earthworm's figure disappear beneath the surface, the people hiding behind the trees held their breath.

They knew that beneath the ground lay the spider nests.

...

The soil above the spider nests boiled up like an earthquake, visible to the naked eye.

It was evident how much the giant earthworm was stirring up the world underground.

Suddenly, many tarantulas, the size of small calves, swarmed out of the holes.

Ye Xi tightened his grip; would this plan succeed?

The giant spiders couldn't tolerate their old nest being constantly destroyed by the giant earthworm and couldn't sit still any longer.

Many of the giant black spiders burrowed underground again.

Ye Xi and his group were unaware of the situation underground, only seeing the increasingly violent turmoil on the surface. Once, the giant earthworm's tail emerged from the ground, with several black spiders hanging from it.

The originally orderly spider nests were now completely chaotic.

Many giant spiders, mixed with mud, were unearthed by the giant earthworm.

More and more giant spiders attacked the giant earthworm, attempting to kill the intruder. The giant earthworm, under attack, thrashed even more violently.

Finally, some mummified figures wrapped in spider silk were stirred up from the ground.

Everyone's eyes lit up.

The mummified figures varied in size, some as large as calves, others as small as rabbits.

Three figures wrapped in spider silk were also unearthed, and Huru pointed at them and exclaimed, "Look, aren't those Ling and the others!"

Puta's eyes widened, and he waved his hand abruptly. "Luo and Litu, follow me! The rest of you stay put!"

With that, he dashed forward like the wind towards the spider nests, with the other two following closely behind.

The three of them hoisted the three tightly bound warriors onto their shoulders and rushed back without hesitation.

The soft soil, now churned up by the giant earthworm and drenched by the heavy rain, made it difficult for Puta and the others to run, sinking half of their legs into the mud.

The giant spiders were busy attacking the giant earthworm and paid no attention to these three captured hunters, so they were not pursued.

Puta and the others laid the three bound warriors on the ground.

"We did it!"

Everyone was ecstatic, cheering and jumping for joy.

Seeing Ling and the others wrapped tightly in spider silk, the warriors quickly drew their weapons, trying to cut through the silk.

But the spider silk was tougher than they had imagined; they couldn't cut through it.

"I'll do it!" Ye Xi and Puta said simultaneously.

They glanced at each other, one pulling out a dagger, the other a short knife, and began cutting through the spider silk.

Their weapons were made from the beaks of pure-blooded fierce beasts. Despite the difficulty others faced, they managed to cut through after some effort.

As the silk was cut open, familiar faces were revealed inside, but the three warriors remained motionless, eyes closed.

Ye Xi reached out to feel the pulse of one of them, his palm feeling the pulsing rhythm. "They're alive."

Puta added, "They must have been paralyzed by the giant spider's venom."

All the warriors breathed a sigh of relief.

"These three guys are really lucky, almost like they were given a second chance at life!" A warrior wiped the rain off his face and sat down on the ground.

"Ye Xi, you have quite the brain; who would have thought of such a method?"

"It just came to me suddenly." Ye Xi sheathed his dagger, "They were also lucky; we had that giant earthworm at the cave entrance."

Seeing the discarded spider silk on the ground, Ye Xi thought for a moment and decided to collect it. This spider silk was extremely flexible, a rare find that might come in handy in the future.

The giant earthworm, besieged by more and more giant spiders, could no longer hold on.

The ground above the spider nests ceased its turmoil and returned to calm.

When Ye Xi saw the soil near the spider nests arching and pushing outward, he knew the giant earthworm was still alive.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the giant earthworm was powerful, it had a gentle nature and rarely attacked humans. He felt guilty for instigating it by orchestrating the attack by the giant spider group to save people.

Knowing it was safe now, he felt reassured.

Fearful that the giant spiders would recover and attack them, the hunting team lifted the three unconscious warriors and left the area.

(End of this chapter)