The East Palace (동궁)

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.

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?

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.

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.

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!

the powerless, before the blade