Gu-cheon.
Are you all right?
There was a reason why the Crown Prince had lured the plague spirits right to us.
A great calamity is about to befall the entire palace.
I apologize, Your Majesty, that seat belongs to…
As you well know, His Majesty's life
currently stands in grave peril.
Your Majesty, that is just not true.
I know that the spirit still wishes to kill the King.
I arrived here already knowing that, Chief Royal Secretary.
There is no one else but me who can take his place on this empty throne.
I am the only one.
It is only I who can save the abundance altar
and the Jongmyo Shrine!
I will save it all!
Mark my every word!
I alone
will protect it all.
I alone will protect it all.
I must…
-Left State Councillor. -Councillor.
Councillor!
-Councillor. -What is happening to him?
Left State Councillor.
THE EAST PALACE
Do you believe what happened in the palace
is tied to the Crown Prince?
Gu-cheon?
Gu-cheon.
Sorry, what did you just say?
That the palace feels off right now. You don't look any better either.
It's because the Crown Prince has grown stronger.
That is why I must seal him in here.
Seal him? Without sending him to the afterlife?
That will be impossible to do now.
Once the plague spirits' souls are devoured, they'll be entangled.
Oh, for heaven's sake.
Don't look at me as though I'm about to die.
You should stop frowning. It makes you look ugly.
You haven't looked yourself since you acquired the gwi-mae's eyes.
Just like the well gwi-mae, you will become--
Are you afraid that if I do this,
I'll lose my mind and kill someone out there?
That will not happen.
Sealing is a more useful method, making it simpler to destroy them.
All I have to do is seal him in here.
And that will work?
The appeasement rite will be very helpful.
If we soothe the souls of the plague spirits,
we can weaken the Crown Prince's powers.
I will walk you back to your quarters. Let us go together.
No need to. Do I look ill to you?
Yes, because you are.
It all comes down to this.
By tonight, this will all end.
That's right. Whether it becomes porridge or rice.
What will you do when this is over and you leave the palace?
Hmm…
Get dead drunk, I suppose.
And sleep for three or four days.
No, I didn't mean like that.
How do you wanna live?
What do you wanna do with your life?
I've never thought about it.
But I will return to the temple.
Really?
You said you hated the head monk there, and yet you wanna go back?
The thing is, about 2,000 yards to the southeast of the temple,
there's a river that runs along a sheer cliff.
Right near there…
is where my mother died.
So even in death, I cannot leave the temple.
I truly am sorry.
In order to solve this case, I, uh…
-I pulled someone in who didn't-- -You're only now beating that drum?
After using me?
You have such a talent for telling someone the meanest, most hurtful things.
And after working up the courage to be honest with you…
Tonight, it will be you who dies.
The one who failed to die with his mother.
The one who should not be allowed to live.
The one who is neither man nor spirit.
Tonight, it will be you who dies.
The one who must die alongside his mother
will be the one to die tonight.
What did the emaciated gwi-mae just say?
Turtle, turtle
Poke your head out
If you do not
I will roast you and eat you up
Is it almost done?
The ritual will begin at the Hour of the Ox.
It's nearly ready.
I have been thinking.
I shall go with you to that realm to help you.
Have I not constantly told you
that if you go in there, you will die?
Don't even consider it.
It's all set.
I'll get going now.
Wait a moment.
Drink this
so your yang energy is replenished.
The ingredients are valuable.
Good heavens. You didn't have to do this now.
You should've given it to me sooner.
Ugh. This medicine is so bitter.
Is there anything I can do to help?
I'm sorry, no.
Princess.
The Crown Prince is after you as well. Don't forget that.
So keep yourself hidden away.
What is wrong?
Earlier today,
I may have gone to see my grandmother.
Why did you go there?
You made her seem like your enemy.
It will take half a day for you to wake up after this.
Why?
-Why? -I don't know. I honestly don't.
The moment I heard the gwi-mae mention that you would meet your end,
my body moved before I was able to stop.
You are the only one in this palace I can trust and rely on. That is why…
I will make sure you don't meet your end tonight.
I will save you, even if that means
sacrificing my own life for yours.
Thank you for always protecting me.
So from now on,
I will take your place in this battle.
The appeasement rite will begin soon.
It seems the shaman has a strategy.
Your Majesty.
Do not make a scene.
I know the Crown Prince is here.
So you did become an ak-gwi after all, brother.
Do not think of interfering.
All of that bitterness you must be feeling.
I understand it myself.
A man who was killed by his own father, it's only natural you'd feel that way.
Brother, stop!
He abandoned me for hearing the voices of spirits, too,
and my mother died because of him, brother!
I hate Father as much as you do! Look at me!
I told you not to interfere.
I will make sure you don't meet your end tonight.
Even if that means sacrificing my own life for yours.
Are you telling me not to do it?
This is the only way I'm able to save the Princess.
She was willing to risk her life for me,
so I must answer that resolve.
Humans
advance towards death from the moment they are born.
No matter what one's status is,
or what kind of person they are,
none of it matters.
At the end of every fate, death is equal to all.
So there is no reason to grieve
or feel wronged by it.
So this is why the palace reeks of yin energy.
Was all of this you,
Supreme Gwi-mae?
I will comply with what you are asking.
In return,
I request the power you hold
so I can save the Princess.
How much longer, Your Majesty?
End this!
I, the sovereign, placed you, the powerless, before the blade
in an attempt to stop the plague.
Without your consent,
I tore apart your fates.
And yet, I was unable to stop anything.
All that reaches me now
are your cries, filled with rage and grief.
This sin won't be washed away.
It can't.
These words are not spoken in the hope of forgiveness.
If you wish to…
you may take my life this very instant.
But if life is still granted to me,
those remaining after your deaths,
the parents,
the siblings,
the children,
every stranded family…
I will care for each one.
I do this as a promise for the people of my nation.
And as for this sin that I could not repay in this life,
I will repay again and again in the afterlife.
So let go of your resentment…
and move on.
Lay down your ties to this world…
and depart now…
for the other side.
I waited for the plague spirits to depart.
It cannot end like this. It mustn't.
Is your wish to kill your father so important?
As for me…
I suffered my whole life constantly believing
that I killed my own mother.
I thought I would turn into an ak-gwi if I died,
and I forced myself to keep on living so I wouldn't become what you are.
Why would you go so far as to become an ak-gwi like this?
I wanted to be King.
But none of it matters anymore.
If this palace will not have me as its King…
Be it that everyone here…
…who live within these walls…
…and those beyond it will all die soon.
I will kill the lot.
All this time, I've tried to avoid obliterating souls if I could.
You cannot get rid of me.
If you obliterate someone's soul,
then that karma will make you an ak-gwi as well.
I have always known that.
However, the curse won't break,
and the Princess will die if I don't kill you.
From the moment I met Mother Gwi-mae,
I was ready to become an ak-gwi!
It is finally over.
Chief Eunuch Kim!
Your…
Gu-cheon!
I will give you all the yang energy I have left to give.
So you can go back.
No. Gu-cheon, wake up, please.
Gu-cheon.
Take my yang energy.
Please take it.
You cannot die like this.
I will not let you go.
Don't die.
Gu-cheon.
I believe that is enough.
Since this is it,
why don't we have some fun?
If my soul is just going to be devoured by a gwi-mae, then I would rather…
Your Majesty.
There have been no further reports of plague victims.
The appeasement rites have all concluded without incident,
and the public sentiment has already recovered dramatically.
I understand.
You may be dismissed.
Your Majesty.
All of the strange occurrences that happened here
have finally disappeared.
Let us go.
However,
it is said that the Queen Dowager,
who has withdrawn to her private residence,
is no longer of sound mind.
And how is Prince Iksang?
He is being discreetly investigated
for summoning shamans and using them to commit sorcery
to harm you and the royal family, Your Majesty.
Very well, then.
You may be dismissed.
It has been three days.
Princess.
Should we not give up now and lay Gu-cheon to rest?
Last time, we thought he was dead as well.
Yet he survived that.
Even if it is Gu-cheon…
Everyone is saying he is dead, are they not?
You can stop crying.
He is not dead.
See what you've done?
You've even made her cry.
So please stop boiling inside, and return to yourself at once.
If you cannot find your way back to me,
ring the bell so that I can come and find you myself.
Ggeomeoksali.
That is a special one. It's a Ggeomeoksali.
It latches to the living, not a place, and completely depletes their yang.
The living, not a place.
He is alive.
About 2,000 yards to the southeast of the temple,
there's a river that runs along a sheer cliff.
Right near there
is where my mother died.
So even in death, I cannot leave the temple.
Please…
I knew you would be here.
It's all in the past now.
You can leave the palace if you'd like.
You can escape now.
So please,
do not stay here alone!
Come back with me.
You once told me you were living without purpose, unable to die.
Then live.
You can live like a spirit still among us.
Just live!
Are you listening to me at all?
Apparently, your life mattered more than anything, Gu-Cheon.
You told me that!
Did you think I would be glad about what you did?
That you met your end to save me?
You bastard.
Come back this instant, Gu-cheon, or I'll drag you out!
You're crying again.
So you managed to return to us.
Have you prepared to leave here yet?
Yes, Your Majesty.
However,
it's quite the send-off you have made for me.
I take it you have no intention of letting me go easily.
I am aware of a few matters.
Matters that you experienced here in the palace that you shouldn't have.
You know far too many secrets now.
Secrets about the palace and myself.
Stand up.
They say one changes entering the outhouse
and when they leave it.
You must know, your word weighs very little, Your Majesty.
Is there something else you can see?
I can see
the souls of the departed King and of the countless Princes
who will never ascend to be Kings.
You may leave.
Are you freeing me?
Only time will tell.
He won't change his mind and kill me now, will he? Mm?
Why are you still standing there?
You can't still be attached to the palace.
Are you leaving too?
I've decided to come with you.
Huh?
Why would you?
You went out of your way to help me settle my affairs.
It's my turn now to help you.
Heavens above.
It will be very hard.
Don't whine to me later about how hard it will be for you.
Let us go.
THE EAST PALACE