Vermilion Sacrifice: The Stolen Womb & Two Mothers’ Kneeling Karma

Chapter 1: The Macabre Heirloom

[Scene: Funeral Home, Thunderstorm]

The undertaker’s flashlight trembles over the corpse’s clenched fist. Xiaoman pries open the skeletal grip—a silver locket spills out, its hinge snapped like a broken jaw. Inside, the engraving isn’t a date. It’s a countdown:

"DAY 365 SINCE THE LIE"

She claws at the silk lining until her nails split. Tucked beneath is a brittle diary page, its ink bleeding through the paper:

“They said her uterus was tissue paper. I knelt in the rain, my forehead splitting against the ER tiles, until they agreed to swap the corpses. Let her think the baby died. Let me raise her as my own.”

Chapter 2: The Attic’s 365-Day Curse

[Scene: Demolition Site, Flickering Bulb]

The attic floorboards groan under Xiaoman’s knees. 365 infant outfits hang like shrouds, each labeled with a date in her MIL’s spider-crawl handwriting. At the bottom of the trunk: A frozen embryo transfer report dated nine months before the “stillbirth”, and a vial of blood labeled “DONOR: LIN XIAOMAN (O-NEG).”

A Polaroid slips out—her husband Chuan, aged 25, grinning beside a fertility clinic sign. The caption reads:

“Mom’s ‘kneeling insurance policy.’”

Chapter 3: The Storm’s Double Betrayal

[Scene: Flickering Living Room, Whiskey on the Rocks]

Chuan slides a document across the table. The surrogacy contract bears his signature—and a blood-smudged thumbprint from his mother. The last page reveals a clause in bold red ink:

“In case of host’s death, surrogate’s biological child shall inherit all lineage rights.”

Xiaoman’s glass shatters. “You knew she carried our baby?”

Chuan’s laugh is ice cold. “Every night I kissed that birthmark on your neck. Now it’s on our daughter’s collarbone.” He taps his temple. “Same spot, Mom. Just like you said.”

Chapter 4: The Cemetery’s Karmic Loop

[Scene: Graveyard, Vermilion Rain]

At the graveside, the girl’s birthmark glows like a coal. Xiaoman’s knees hit mud as the storm unleashes a vision: A corpse-bride in a tattered cheongsam kneels at her own grave, stuffing the locket into a pregnant woman’s open belly. The umbilical cord snakes out—vermilion, and pulsing.

The child’s voice cuts through the rain. “Mommy, why does that lady have your eyes?”

Chapter 5: The Kneeling Redemption’s Twist

[Scene: Broken Virgin Mary Statue, Dusk]

The will reveals a hospital receipt: “Hysterectomy, Patient: LIN, Mrs. (Age 52).” A final letter, its ink blurred by tears, reads:

“I traded my womb for her life. Now kneel in my place, and let her live as the woman I couldn’t be—the one who doesn’t need to kneel.”

Xiaoman tucks the locket into her daughter’s backpack. The zipper catches on the birthmark, drawing a bead of blood.