Gu-cheon.
Are you all right?
There was a reason the Crown Prince's spirit
summoned the pestilent-gwis.
A great calamity will soon fall upon the entire palace.
Your Majesty, that seat is…
His Majesty's life is in peril.
Your Majesty.
-That is not-- -I already know everything.
That the spirit seeks to kill the King.
There is no one but me who can take this vacant throne.
No one but me.
Only I
can protect this palace and the royal house!
Only me!
I alone…
I alone can protect them. I alone.
No one but me…
-Councillor! -Councillor!
-Left State Councillor!
-Councillor! -Councillor.
Councillor, are you all right?
THE EAST PALACE
Could the Crown Prince be connected to what is happening in the palace?
Gu-cheon?
Gu-cheon.
What did you just say?
Something is not right in the palace, but you do not look well either.
It is because the Crown Prince's spirit has grown stronger.
That is why I will seal him here.
Seal him? Instead of sending his soul to the afterlife?
Impossible. He devoured the pestilent-gwis.
Their souls are now tangled with his.
Good grief.
Do not look at me as though I am about to die.
And stop frowning. You look ugly.
You have not looked well since you acquired the gwi-mae's eyes.
Like the gwi-mae from the well…
Are you afraid I might lose my mind and kill someone?
That will not happen.
Sealing a spirit is a hundred times easier than destroying it.
Sealing him away will do.
It will work, will it not?
The appeasement rite will be of great help.
If we soothe the souls of the pestilent-gwis,
we can weaken the Crown Prince's spirit.
I will walk you back to your quarters.
No need. It is not like I am ill.
But you are.
It will all be over by tonight.
That is right. Sink or swim.
What will you do after this is over and you leave the palace?
I will drink myself senseless and sleep for days.
That is not what I mean.
How do you wish to live?
And what do you wish to do with your life?
I have never thought about it.
But I will return to the temple.
What? You said you hated the head monk,
and yet you are going back?
You see,
about four Ri southeast of the temple,
there is a river running along a sheer cliff.
And that is…
where my mother died.
So even in death, I cannot leave the temple.
I am sorry.
I dragged you into the matter of the palace spirit.
-You have nothing to do-- -You have already used me all you wanted.
It is a bit late for that.
You still choose only harsh words, even at the very end.
I finally found the courage to be honest with you.
Tonight, you will die.
The one who failed to die with his mother.
The one who was never meant to live,
neither human nor spirit.
Tonight, you will die.
The one who failed to die with his mother.
The one who was never meant to live,
neither human nor spirit.
You will die.
What did Gosuyeochil say, Princess?
Turtle, Turtle
Poke your head out
If you do not
I will roast you and eat you up
Is it nearly ready?
The ritual will begin soon, at the Hour of the Ox.
It is almost done.
I have given it some thought.
I will go with you to the Realm of Gwi.
I have told you time and again
that you will not last there.
Do not even consider it.
It is all set.
I am heading out.
Wait a moment.
Drink this.
This medicine will replenish your yang energy.
It is made with rare ingredients.
Well, you should not have…
You should have given it to me sooner.
It is so bitter.
Is there anything I can help you with?
No.
Princess.
The Crown Prince's spirit is after you as well,
so keep yourself well hidden.
What is the matter?
Before coming here,
I visited my grandmother's quarters.
Why did you go there?
You treat her like an enemy…
You will not wake for half a day.
Why?
-Why… -I do not know myself.
The moment I heard the gwi-mae say that you would die tonight,
I moved before I could even think.
You are the only one in this palace I can trust and rely on.
So…
I will not stand by and let you die.
I will save you
even if it means sacrificing my life.
Thank you for protecting me all this time.
From this moment forward,
I will take over your duties.
The appeasement rite will begin soon.
It seems the shaman has a clever plan.
Your Majesty.
Do not make a scene.
The Crown Prince is here.
So, you have become an ak-gwi after all.
Do not even think of interfering.
You must feel wronged and resentful.
I understand that as well.
You were killed by your own father, so it is only natural.
Brother!
He abandoned me because I could hear the voices of the dead,
and he let my mother die.
I despise Father as well. Brother!
I told you not to interfere.
I will not stand by and let you die.
Even if it means sacrificing my life.
Are you telling me not to do it?
This is the only way to save the Princess.
She was willing to risk her life for me,
so I must do the same.
Humans.
They move toward death from the moment they are born.
One's status
or character
does not matter.
In the end, death comes equally to all,
so there is no need to grieve
or feel wronged.
No wonder the palace is thick with Yin energy.
So it was you.
Primordial Gwi-mae.
I will give you
whatever you want.
In return,
grant me your power
so that I can save the Princess.
How much longer, Your Majesty?
To stop the pestilence,
I first placed you, the powerless, before the blade.
Without asking your leave,
I shattered your fates.
And yet, I was unable to stop anything.
All I hear are your resentful wails.
This is a sin that can never…
be washed away.
I do not mean to seek forgiveness.
If you wish…
you may take my life at once.
Yet if my life is spared,
I shall embrace those left behind by your deaths.
Your parents,
siblings,
children,
and all your kin.
I shall care for them until the very end…
as the parent of this nation.
And for this sin I could not pay for in this life,
I shall answer for it again and again in the afterlife.
So let go of your lingering resentment…
and move on to the afterlife.
Now lay down that heavy burden
here in this world…
and pass on…
to the other side.
I have been waiting for the pestilent-gwis to leave.
It cannot…
It cannot end like this.
Do you wish to kill your father that much?
You see…
I have been tormented all my life, believing that I killed my mother.
Fearing that sin would turn me into an ak-gwi,
I have forced myself to live on so that I would not become like you.
But why would you go so far as to become an ak-gwi…
I wanted to be King.
But none of that matters now.
This palace, where I cannot become King.
Those lowly subjects.
Those within the palace…
and those beyond its walls…
I will kill them all.
Destroying your soul was the one thing I wished to avoid.
You cannot destroy me.
If you destroy someone's soul,
you will, in turn, become an ak-gwi as well.
I know.
But if I do not kill you,
the curse will not be broken, and the Princess will die.
From the moment I met Primordial Gwi-mae,
I was prepared to become an ak-gwi!
It is all over.
Councillor!
Chief Eunuch Kim!
Your Majesty.
Gu-cheon!
I will give you all the yang energy I have left…
so go back.
Gu-cheon, please wake up.
Gu-cheon.
Take my yang energy.
You cannot die like this.
I will not let you go.
No.
Gu-cheon.
That is enough.
Now that it has come to this,
let us go all out.
I have already become an ak-gwi.
Rather than let a gwi-mae devour my soul…
Your Majesty.
There have been no further reports of the pestilence.
The rites in each region concluded without issue,
and the unrest among the people is settling.
Very well.
You may leave.
Your Majesty.
All the strange calamities in the palace over the past few days
have ceased.
Let us go.
However,
the Queen Dowager, now at her private residence,
is not of sound mind.
How is Prince Iksang?
He is under secret investigation
for summoning a shaman to perform rites against Your Majesty.
Very well.
You may leave.
It has been three days.
Princess.
Perhaps it is time to give up on him.
We thought he was dead last time,
and yet he woke up, did he not?
Even for Gu-cheon…
Everyone is saying
that he is dead.
Do not cry.
He is not dead.
Look.
The child is crying.
So please stop troubling us any further and return now.
If you cannot find your way back…
then ring the bell so that I may find you.
Ggeomeoksali.
That one is called Ggeomeoksali. It is no ordinary creature.
It attaches to the living, not places, feeding on yang energy.
The living…
He is alive.
About four ri southeast of the temple,
there is a river running along a sheer cliff.
And that is
where my mother died.
So even in death, I cannot leave the temple.
Please…
I knew you would be here.
It is all over.
You can now leave the palace
as you wished.
So
do not stay here alone
and come back with me.
You said you were living without purpose, just existing.
But live on.
You may still live like a spirit.
But live on!
Are you listening to me?
You said that your own life mattered more than anything, did you not?
Did you think I would be glad…
if you threw your life away to save me?
You wretch.
Come back at once before I drag you out myself!
Princess.
Good grief.
So noisy.
You are crying again.
You made it back.
Have you made all your preparations to leave?
Yes, Your Majesty.
However,
this is quite a grand send-off.
So you do not intend to let me go so easily, do you?
I know what you went through…
in secret here.
And you know
far too much about the palace and about me…
do you not?
Rise.
People change
once they get what they want.
Your promise meant little, Your Majesty.
Are you seeing something again?
The spirits of past Kings
and the countless Princes who never became King linger here.
You may leave now.
Are you sparing me?
We shall see.
He would not suddenly change his mind and kill me, would he?
Good grief.
Why are you still standing there?
Have you grown attached to the palace?
Are you going somewhere?
I am coming with you.
What?
Why?
You went out of your way to help me settle my affairs.
Now it is my turn to help you.
Goodness.
It will not be easy.
Do not whine to me later about how hard it is.
Let us go.
Goodness.
THE EAST PALACE
Subtitle translation by: Yun-hee Jang