The sound of a baby's heart-wrenching cries came from outside the house again.

Hiding in my room, I calculated how long it would take to turn a baby into a paper doll.

My sister-in-law wasn't crying like before; instead, she was giving me a foolish grin.

Her ghastly pale face with two red circles on it made her look no different from a paper doll.

The only difference was that my sister-in-law could smile.

Suddenly, the baby's cries outside stopped, exactly after three hundred wails!

Then, I heard my mom ask my brother to catch a big rooster.

Bringing the paper doll to life requires rooster blood as ink!

My sister-in-law suddenly got up and ran out of the house, heading straight for my mom.

My mom stared at her in astonishment, fearing she was there to cause trouble.

"Pan'er, quickly take your sister-in-law back to the house. We're just one step away from bringing the eyes to life. Once we do, your sister-in-law will soon give birth to a baby boy!"

My brother held a big rooster in one hand and a kitchen knife in the other. With a swift cut, the rooster instantly lost its vitality.

Fearing my mom's wrath, I approached to grab my sister-in-law's hand.

My sister-in-law strained her neck and shouted towards my mom, "Mom, let me bring the eyes to life. A baby boy will find his way into my womb that way!"

I widened my eyes in disbelief that these words came from my sister-in-law's mouth.

My mom couldn't believe it either.

"Mom, I'm the one giving birth to the child. Let me handle it!"

My sister-in-law lowered her head and said to me, "Pan'er, don't you want a baby boy in the family? This way, I won't have to suffer anymore!"

My sister-in-law was the only one in the family who had never hit me.

I hesitated, and she broke free from my hand, walking straight to my mom.

"Mom, I've thought it through. I want to give birth to a baby boy. Giving birth to girls is a waste of money!"

"This money-wasting girl is my burden. I'll personally bring her eyes to life, burn this wretched thing, and see if she dares to come back to my womb again!"

My mom looked at her with a complicated expression, "Xiulan, are you really not lying to me?"

"Mom, I've thought it through. I must give birth to a baby boy for the family!"

My mom nodded to my brother, "Babies have souls. Xiulan gave birth to her. Can she really harbor resentment against her own mother?"

I looked at the baby formed into a paper doll in my mom's hands and felt a wave of nausea.

My brother collected the rooster blood in a bowl and handed my sister-in-law a prepared brush.

I quietly tugged at her clothes and whispered, "Sister-in-law, don't bring the eyes to life. It's a major taboo to give life to paper dolls!"

"You'll face retribution!"

I didn't want to see her break a major taboo and end up neither human nor ghost!

Her mental state had already become unstable in the past few months, her face becoming disturbingly similar to a paper doll's.

Unexpectedly, she violently shook off my hand and glared at me as if my words would bring her doom.

"Pan'er, I didn't expect you to be like this. You've fabricated so many lies to prevent me from conceiving a baby boy!"

"You're just trying to ensure there's no baby boy in this family!"

She stared at me vehemently and lifted her withered, branch-like hand to give me a heavy slap.

Her hand was so thin that despite the force, it carried little strength.

But that very slap left me stunned in place.

That's not my sister-in-law!

Alarm bells went off in my head!

The person in front of me was no longer my sister-in-law!

My mom heard her voice and handed her the paper doll.

She kicked me hard in the stomach and yanked at my hair, "You wretch, what are you saying? I sent you to the paper shop to help, and look what you've learned! You dare to give orders to your sister-in-law? Are you tired of living?"

"If you ruin her bringing the eyes to life and she can't give birth to a baby boy, I'll beat you to death, you hear?"

My brother came over and kicked me several times.

"Indeed, a waste of money. If I'd known, I'd have strangled her to death when she was a child! Cursed troublemaker!"

The pain in my stomach was excruciating, and my scalp felt like it was on fire.

I collapsed to the ground, begging my mom to spare me.

I knew that admitting fault would earn me the least beating.

My mom stopped hitting me, likely busy helping my sister-in-law bring the eyes to life, leaving me writhing in pain on the floor.

I turned my head and saw my sister-in-law dipping the brush in rooster blood and bringing the eyes of the paper doll to life.

The baby paper doll's eyes, now painted with rooster blood, had a peculiar eeriness.

And my sister-in-law, with a chilling smile, pulled at the corners of her lips.

In the next moment, a large fire ignited in the yard, and soon, the baby girl turned into a charred lump.

This time, my sister-in-law personally dug out the baby girl's heart, brewed it into a soup, and eagerly drank it down.

She was chanting, "I'm about to give birth to a baby boy, I'm about to give birth to a baby boy!"