20 YEARS AGO
My lady…
I shall make Do-hwa mine.
If she bears a child, know that it is mine.
My lady…
My lord.
Where are you going, my lord?
I heard about Do-hwa.
We were just about to head over.
Why are you here when you should be mourning her?
I came here because this was the only way to change his fate.
What are you doing?
What have you done?
I have blocked his gate of energy.
He will not be able to learn any spells while he is alive.
I forbid anyone from opening his gate of energy!
How could you do this to your son?
My son?
Why would he decide my own fate?
No one even considers him as my true father anyway!
I will find someone.
A master who will open my gate of energy
and teach me how to practice spells.
I will find someone myself.
Then I will take out that sword and break it in two.
I have met a total of 12 masters and have been kicked out every time.
And finally, I have met the master who will change my fate.
I knew the moment I saw you.
You are my master.
Did you find something special about me,
Young Master?
I told you that you have beautiful eyes.
Right, sorry. Only your eyes are beautiful.
The soul shifter's blue mark has bloomed inside them.
So the mark was inside my eyes.
You are going to fight me?
Killing you would be a breeze.
But this is Songrim.
You will get caught.
I am planning to save you.
You will not get caught if you stay by my side.
How should you address me if you want to lie low?
"Young Master."
Jang Uk?
Yes, it is me.
Why are you here?
And who is she?
Right.
She is Mu-deok, my maid.
Mu-deok?
Yul, you startled her. Can you put your blade down?
Right.
Mu-deok, are you all right?
Mu-deok.
I am fine, Young Master.
Good.
Uk?
Hey.
Hold on. Why are you here?
I came to visit the leader. We took refuge here after hearing a fight.
There were intruders. You cannot even fight.
Jeez. Thank goodness they did not spot you.
No.
It was wise of you to hide here.
My maid ran away, so I just followed her, you…
Gosh, that hurts…
Who is she?
What is with that blade?
You…
Were you trying to protect him with that?
I am proud of you.
That is right. Your young master is extremely weak,
so you need to protect him.
Of course.
I ought to protect my young master.
No, that is not true.
I should protect you instead.
What is with the strong grip?
Let go.
Mudeoki! You should not glare like that!
You should look down.
Yes, Young Master.
So you were the one who ran away from me.
Mu-deok, was it?
I am sorry to have startled you.
Are you injured?
Mu-deok.
I am fine, Young Master.
-Has the dust settled? -No.
It is still chaotic.
Soul Shifter Naksu's body has gone missing.
I knew it. They were the Danju's men.
Now, I just need to get out of here safely.
What a pity.
The soul shifter.
Naksu, the Shadow Assassin.
I was always curious about how she looked.
He knows who I am.
I must kill him before I leave.
They must have broken the pine forest barrier and gone out.
So they broke the barrier.
-We will go after them. -It is too late.
Only those of Songrim can break the barrier.
There is a spy among us.
We must ask the Jin family for help.
Naksu's body was in this secret room.
Uk, did you notice anything suspicious while hiding in Jeongjingak?
Suspicious?
No. I was only watching Mu-deok.
Do you think Naksu shifted her soul into another woman's body
and came to retrieve her body?
Can women only shift souls to the same gender?
Not really.
But for everything to go smoothly, I heard they should pick someone similar.
Gender, age, and build. They all need to be similar.
I am only asking because I have not seen her.
Was Naksu thin with short limbs?
Did she have a round face like Mu-deok right here?
What the hell is his problem?
If that was the case, she would not have been nicknamed "Naksu".
Look at her.
What kind of an assassin looks this adorable?
You are right.
I bet she was a monster.
No, she was human.
Let us not belittle the dead, even if she was an assassin.
Master Heo Yeom wants to see you.
Go without me. He dislikes me anyway.
Right. Being here would be safer.
Let us go.
The body was frozen here.
Seeing how there is no rotting smell, your body must still be fine.
Naksu.
That is right.
I am the Shadow Assassin.
Naksu.
I thought long and hard about why you helped me.
Did the Danju send you too?
No. No one sent me here.
Then why did you help me?
I already told you, but I guess you did not get the message.
You have beautiful eyes.
Do not tell me
you really fell for me.
Do not laugh.
That is the only thing that makes sense.
I do admit repeatedly calling you pretty.
But it was because I desired something.
Which was?
I have been searching for someone who can break this spell to call my master.
And then, I found you.
Naksu.
I want you to be my master.
I heard.
You borrowed the Jin family's ghost Sapsali?
Yes, my lord.
Are you certain that thing is in Songrim?
I am.
A soul shifter is lurking within Songrim.
The son of Jang Gang of Songrim
is asking me, an assassin, to be his master?
What original nonsense.
You will open your pupil's gate of energy and help him master spells.
As your pupil, I will keep you safe and hidden.
We could form a beautiful relationship where we benefit from each other.
-Not interested. -If you do not want to be my master,
you could be my wife instead.
-Would you like that? -Shut it.
I heard you visited many masters and got kicked out every time.
Was it because you were this stubborn?
I could not threaten my former masters since they had no weakness.
But you have a pretty big one.
You cannot get out of here alive without my help.
You will die if they find out who you are.
Is that so?
In that case,
I will just kill you.
How merciless. After all, I helped you.
Sorry that I am so merciless for such a cute face.
I brought you to our house with the Jade Plaque
and to Songrim with the Spirit Plaque.
And now, look where we are.
This is Songrim's secret room.
Once that door closes, we can only get out if someone opens from the outside.
We are locked in here together.
Do not move!
Step on the wrong spot, and the ground will cave in.
Kill me, and you will be killed by the Songrim mages who will enter.
But if you agree to be my master, we will get out of this unscathed.
I do not have the strength to break his gate of energy right now.
He will catch wind of it if I stay here.
I need my sword.
I have become weak due to shifting souls.
I need my sword's energy to open your gate of energy.
Without that,
there is nothing I can do in here.
To retrieve my sword,
I need to go out there.
So stop that.
Did you not hear me?
I cannot do that. I need to wait until it fully closes first.
You! You lied, did you not?
Do not move!
-If you do, the ground will cave in! -Wait!
Grab tightly! You are slipping!
-Where is your face touching? -Shut it!
-Hey! -Hey!
You little…
-That hurts! -It was not intentional.
-It hurts! -Just wait.
Let me go.
By the way, how will we find your sword?
I know who took it. I can find it.
It is too dangerous to get out of Songrim.
We need to stay inside.
Does it have to be that specific sword?
Get another sword with that energy and do it here.
I cannot. It has to be mine.
Let us go out and find it.
I will lure him out and then kill him.
You said you became weak.
I thought you were pretending to be clumsy.
How weak have you become?
The mages are coming.
Stay alert.
Why would I? They are on my side.
Taking sides? Are you seriously that childish?
Why are you talking casually in this situation?
Fine, Young Master.
I will look down.
Look at you.
Who is she?
I am Mu-deok, his maid.
You heard her, right? She is my maid.
You all seem busy. Go on, then.
-Let us go, Mu-deok. -You may not leave.
The leader ordered everyone to gather at the Training Center.
I am not a member of Songrim.
He wants every living thing within these walls
to gather there.
-Uk. -Hey.
What is going on? Why are we gathered here?
They are going to catch Naksu's men who are in here.
Naksu?
One of you
has helped Naksu's men who sneaked in here today.
My lord.
Everyone here knows each other.
On the outside, you all look like those of Songrim.
That is why I asked someone for help.
Lady Jin Cho-yeon of the Jin family has brought Gwigu.
Hello, my lady.
Why is Jang Uk here?
I am not sure.
That must be Gwigu, the Jin family's heirloom.
Gwigu?
-As in a dog? -Yes.
It is a ghost Sapsali that detects sorcery.
There is
a soul shifter among us.
And Gwigu will find that individual.
They look like one of us on the outside.
But Gwigu will find the one who has a different soul within them.
Close all the doors.
-Yes, my lord! -Yes, my lord!
Whoever tries to leave this building
will be considered a spy and killed.
You may begin.
The alchemy of souls, a type of sorcery, has one weakness.
There is a gap between the body and the soul.
The evil energy seeps out from it.
And Gwigu can detect that.
Uk, feign ignorance even if I get caught.
-Is this loyalty? -It is my duty.
I do not want to become a laughingstock
once they find out I asked you for help.
Stay right by my side.
No one here will let that thing attack me.
He is a soul shifter! Get him!
I heard soul shifters get petrified when they run wild and lose their energy.
It was true.
We thank you for your great help.
I am sure one day we will ask you for help too.
I see that Daeho's four families have all gathered here.
I heard you are called the Four Seasons.
Seeing you all together makes me happy.
We used to gather often,
but it is our first time after Uk and Cho-yeon called off their wedding.
You little…
I told them to prepare some tea in the reception room.
Please come.
You were here as well.
I heard you were kicked out of Gisan.
Right.
You should stop keeping track of what I am doing.
Everyone was talking about how you got kicked out yet again.
I just happened to hear it.
I see.
Our precious guest here seems uncomfortable around me,
so let me excuse myself.
What a scumbag.
Let us go.
Hey, excuse me.
Did you see my maid?
She is short, thin, and has a round face.
Darn it.
Where did she go?
The spy the Danju had sent here was a soul shifter.
I must find the Danju.
You were not loyal, but you said you knew your duties.
Can you say the same thing about this?
That is exactly why I am leaving you behind.
My original plan was to take you with me and kill you.
I see.
How evil.
I am not the round-faced Mu-deok, your loyal maid.
You are Naksu. The merciless assassin.
You had the chance to kill me when I was bathing.
I even risked my life bringing you here with me.
It is up to you whether to still kill me now
or become my master after opening my gate of energy.
By the way, you have the habit of glaring at others.
Keep doing that, and you will get caught.
Can you see the mark from where you are at?
No.
What about now?
I can see it since I know already.
And now?
I can definitely see it.
But I doubt you will be this up-close with someone often.
Just be careful when you kiss someone.
Come on. I am just helping you out.
Anyone who came that close to me died in my hands.
You could die tonight.
It is the ghost Sapsali.
If that thing attacks you,
will you turn to stone like that guy?
Run.
I will try to save you.
Gwigu's pottery.
It was our family heirloom.
I just wanted to take a look at it.
But what kind of an heirloom is this fragile?
Jang Uk!
We need to talk. Come here.
Uk.
Hey, Uk. Jang Uk!
Uk!
Jang Uk!
Darn it!
Uk!
Gather all the pieces
since I will have to put them back together.
-Yes, my lady. -Yes, my lady.
Jeez.
That is the work of your young master.
So that is how he saved me.
Gosh, that kid.
Last year, he broke off the engagement with the Jin family.
This time, he broke their heirloom.
-Engagement? -Yes.
He called off the wedding with her.
He got kicked out 12 times, broke off a wedding, and now, an heirloom.
What a disaster.
What will you do about him?
Where is he?
He got dragged away.
I am afraid he will face severe punishment this time.
I sent you to Gisan.
Then you were kicked out in less than six months.
Why did you come here tonight?
I heard you were troubled by the news, so I came to apologize.
Is this how you apologize?
Why did you break the pottery?
I was fascinated by it and wanted to take a look,
but it slipped out of my hands.
Had I learned spells, that would not have happened.
I guess I lack the teachings.
Jang Uk!
He also tampered
with the door of the secret room and damaged it.
He definitely did that on purpose. He is just jealous.
I will not let it slide this time around.
Until I say so, I forbid Jang Uk
from moving or talking.
Repent.
Do not worry.
He will not punish him for too long.
He almost died of a cold after he was punished
all night long one day.
Uk's gate of energy is opened just enough to keep him alive.
So extreme cold or heat can be life-threatening.
He cannot recover when he falls ill.
Then open his gate of energy for him. He desperately wants it.
You are his friends.
We are still too weak to do that.
But no one in Songrim…
No. No one in Daeho is allowed to do that.
Then he is already being punished for his entire lifetime.
You are allowed to have a hot cup of tea.
Young Master.
I will go first and leave you behind.
You are leaving without me?
You are loyal and know your duties.
That is why you took me in, brought me here,
and protected me.
You must know very well that you cannot tell that to anyone.
I will be safe thanks to you.
The people I have met so far only wanted me dead.
You are the first person
who tried to save me.
Even if we meet again and come this close to each other,
I will spare you.
I will send a gift of apology to Gisan
and pay the Jin family a hefty sum for what he did.
Uk made too many mistakes this time.
I had no choice but to punish him.
I am glad you punished him.
Since you have done enough, I will take him home now.
Sure.
Thank you.
-Are you all right? -No, I am not.
Did Mudeoki stop by our place?
Why would she?
Speaking of which, where did she go while you were being punished?
Forget it.
By the way, why did you tamper with the secret room?
The stone door will not close.
I do not know.
-Why did you break the pottery? -I do not…
I said I do not know.
Stop asking me.
Here are the firecrackers you wanted.
They will be able to see them from miles away.
All right.
Why does Young Master Jang want them?
Rumor has it that he was punished severely.
So what is he scheming this time?
It is a secret.
Do not tell anyone about this, okay?
Ju-wol.
He should lie low for now.
This is Songrim's Spirit Plaque.
Are you free to enter there?
Your young master must really trust you.
This is such a precious item.
He wants me to sell it.
You cannot sell something like this that easily.
Is that so?
He said I would be able to sell it somewhere.
But then again,
there is a merchant who purchases black market goods.
But it will not be easy to hook you up.
You will be getting a hefty sum.
Can I have another chicken?
Sure. I will put it on your young master's tab.
Eat up. Eat lots.
Naksu's body may be here, but her soul lives on in another body.
You will also be given new bodies through the alchemy of souls.
So do not be afraid to sacrifice yourselves for me.
-Yes, sir. -Yes, sir.
Fire!
I need my sword.
I have become weak due to shifting souls.
I need my sword's energy to open your gate of energy.
Even if we meet again and come this close to each other,
I will spare you.
-I have no appetite. -Young Master Jang.
Young Master Jang, they caught them.
-Mudeoki? -Why would anyone catch her?
Never mind.
Jin Mu, the Assistant Gwanju of Cheonbugwan,
caught Naksu's men who raided Songrim.
Really?
Jin Mu brought the bodies of Naksu's men into the palace.
We were the ones who caught Naksu.
So I am worried we will become a laughingstock.
Is it true that he spared
none of the men?
He killed them all.
We have no way to track the source of the alchemy of souls.
Jin Ho-gyeong of Jinyowon is here too.
I heard Jin Mu, the Assistant Gwanju of Cheonbugwan,
caught the assassins that Songrim could not.
How did they break Songrim's barrier twice?
There was a soul shifter spy inside Songrim.
Thankfully, the Jin family's Gwigu caught him.
Gwigu?
I would like to see it too.
I am afraid I cannot show you right now.
They made the mistake of accidentally breaking it.
How could you make such a foolish mistake?
My apologies, Your Majesty.
Since Jin Mu made this contribution, I summoned you all to tell you
that I am considering promoting him to Gwanju.
That is not right.
Jang Gang is still the current Gwanju.
For he was given the robe and the sword by the late king,
Jang Gang is the Gwanju of Cheonbugwan.
Furthermore, he has a son, Jang Uk.
Jang Gang…
has been away for decades
using his training as an excuse.
His son, Jang Uk, physically cannot learn spells.
Assistant Gwanju Jin Mu has been the one
to fill in for him.
Your Majesty, the dark soul-related spell
is forbidden sorcery among mages.
And Songrim has always been the one
to keep this under control.
Songrim could have gotten to the bottom of this soul shifter incident
and gotten rid of it all.
But Jin Mu killed every single one of them.
He actually ruined everything.
Are you unhappy
that Cheonbugwan took the credit?
Songrim was the one who caught Naksu!
And you took credit for it!
We are not here to discuss that.
As for the Gwanju position, we will hold a mage meeting
and make a decision once Jang Gang returns.
Please grant him a different reward.
Jin Mu.
Tell me what you desire.
The people are troubled by this sorcery.
Allow me to burn Naksu's body in front of Cheonbugwan.
As for Naksu's sword…
Allow us to keep it since Songrim has lost it once already.
You may do that.
The best swords of the mages have always been stored
in the Sword Room of Jeongjingak.
But things have changed after that incident.
Jin Mu of Cheonbugwan took Naksu's sword?
Yes. He will burn Naksu's body there too.
She will be there to witness her body getting burned.
Who?
Naksu?
Do you still think Naksu has switched souls?
Are you serious about accepting Naksu as your master?
Forget it.
Pour me some more tea.
You can do that yourself,
lazybones.
Where is your maid, Mudeoki?
I will find her. But first, I need that sword.
Seeing how he got rid of everything that was mine,
he must think I failed to switch souls and died.
I cannot look for the Danju since I do not know who he is.
Find the merchant who is selling a drawn Spirit Plaque,
and you will find me.
I will be waiting.
That is Danhyanggok.
CHEONBUGWAN
I am here for Naksu's sword.
Why would you?
I heard His Majesty allowed Cheonbugwan to keep it.
Since Jang Gang is the Gwanju, it is right for his family to keep it.
Since your father is not here,
it is only right that the Assistant Gwanju keeps it.
Since my father is not here, I, his son, should keep it.
I heard you are searching everywhere for your master.
I would like to take you in myself.
But I cannot defy your father's commands since he was my master once.
Why did he close his own son's gate of energy?
I just cannot fathom it.
The mage's energy flows through this sword.
Someone as ordinary as you will not be able to unsheathe it.
Are you afraid I will do it?
If I unsheathe it, I will be qualified as the next Gwanju.
meaning you will be disqualified from getting that position.
Do not worry.
I cannot unsheathe it for now.
"For now"?
I saw firecrackers coming from Danhyanggok.
Are you sure it was Danhyanggok?
Yes, my lord.
They came from the valley, Naksu's former home.
I am looking for the one with the Spirit Plaque.
Ma'am, they are here.
I guess someone wants to buy it.
The very last room, please.
How could you lose it?
I did not lose it. Someone stole it.
I am certain it was Ae-hyang.
Are you the one who brought this?
I am here to buy the Spirit Plaque.
You have come to the right person.
She is no longer useful.
Kill her to avoid further problems.
You know me, right?
I told you to let me know if someone brought that drawing.
And I did.
She is meeting them upstairs.
So it was Ae-hyang.
We are mages from Cheonbugwan.
We just caught a thief. You can mind your own business.
He killed her.
He thought it was me.
The Danju has cut me off.
Is that truly you?
-Begin. -Yes, my lord.
Cheonbugwan caught Naksu when Songrim failed?
Songrim was pretty much humiliated.
The Assistant Gwanju is over there.
You are right.
So the Danju was Jin Mu,
the Assistant Gwanju of the royal Cheonbugwan.
I am burning.
Just like how my house and parents burned on that day.
I will give you power.
Will you come with me?
Young Master Jang.
As you can see, there is nothing I can do
but watch my body burn.
There is nothing I can do for you either.
I found your sword.
You said you could retrieve your power with this.
Why are you standing still? Pick it up and unsheathe it.
An excellent blade recognizes its owner.
Now, I just need to receive its energy.
You are too weak to handle
and unsheathe your own sword.
You are just as powerless as me.
We are useless.
That is enough. Forget it.
Just go.
I doubt you will be a threat to Songrim, and Naksu is already gone.
Just live as Mu-deok.
I would rather die…
than live like this.
Then be my guest.
This is the grave of the Soul Shifters.
The one who taught me this spell
also disposed of their bodies here.
So this will be
my grave as well.
Young Master Jang, how long should we keep this place closed?
I am done now.
What is wrong with Mudeoki?
She seemed out of it.
I am just worried.
She was heading toward Lake Gyeongcheondaeho.
Lake Gyeongcheondaeho?
I would rather die…
than live like this.
Then be my guest.
Mu-deok!
Darn it…
SEJUKWON, SONGRIM
You are in Sejukwon.
Master Heo Yeom's infirmary in Songrim.
Thanks to you, I could come here even though I was once forbidden.
Your eyes are probably sore. I put in some eye drops.
He said the blue marks in your eyes were like bruises.
These eye drops will lighten their color.
Put them in regularly.
I unsheathed this before.
I definitely did.
I know. I saw it.
But you are still too weak.
You could only do it thanks to that lake's energy.
I had regained my power inside that lake.
I should go back there.
Then what? Will you live underwater like a fish?
I felt a surge of energy underwater.
That is how I regained my power.
That is it.
Someone who has energy as powerful as that lake
should push out the energy within me.
And who exactly? Will you be searching for a master too?
Do you think there is anyone that powerful, to begin with?
Even if there was, would they want to help you?
You are Naksu, an assassin who shifted her soul.
What?
Uk came to Sejukwon?
He came to treat his maid who was injured.
He barged in.
His maid?
Mu-deok, was it?
How bad were her injuries
that he would come all the way here himself?
I have only heard of Sejukwon.
It sure is an incredible infirmary.
There are all sorts of medicinal herbs.
And poisonous ones too.
I am sure these eye drops will make your eye color faint.
Lie low and live as Mu-deok.
This is all I can do for you.
You are wrong.
I want you to be my Lake Gyeongcheondaeho.
You said you risked your life many times for me.
Do it one more time.
It will be pretty painful.
What did you put in here?
One of the poisonous herbs.
I am betting everything on you.
So I hope you will survive.
If you do,
I will be your master.
Uk!
What is wrong? Uk!
Uk!
What is wrong with him?
He ingested poison.
-Poison? -What poison?
His heart will stop in six hours.
What poison was it?
It will be too late by the time you find out
and concoct an antidote.
There is only one way to save him.
Open his gate of energy
and remove the poison with both of your energy.
-What? -What?
Open his gate of energy.
Or else, he will die.
Yul…
Uk ingested poison.
They say he's going to die.
-What? -Mu-deok was the one who gave it to him.
But she will not say what kind of poison it was,
so my uncle is torturing her right now.
What was the poison?
Keep going.
-She could die, my lord. -Uk is dying.
We must find out what it is in the next two hours.
Young Master Jang.
Young Master Jang…
Open his gate of energy.
That is the only way.
We are running out of time!
Please…
Please save Young Master Jang!
-My lord. -How is Uk?
Did something happen to him?
Master Heo Yeom removed the poison.
Young Master Jang is safe.
-Did he concoct the antidote? -No, my lord.
He opened the young master's gate of energy.
Young Master Jang, are you awake?
Am I alive or dead?
You barely made it out alive.
Master Heo saved you
by opening your gate of energy.
He opened it?
Mu-deok that lunatic
would not tell us what kind of poison you took.
So he had no choice but to do that to remove the poison.
I am betting everything on you.
So I hope you will survive.
Where is Mu-deok?
Mu-deok…
Mu-deok!
Mu-deok.
Both of us could have died.
You are…
You are really crazy.
So you survived…
my pupil.
That is right.
I almost died thanks to you.
My crazy master.
Uk has opened his gate of energy in the end.
Since I survived as promised, I will serve you as my master.
In order to become the best mage, you must go through several steps.
You are worse than what I had expected.
We were looking at Yul.
Mu-deok asked me to come.
That girl, Mu-deok…
She seems to be hiding something.
I am in love with you!
Young Master! The prince has come to see you.
There is another sword here that you cannot unsheathe.
It will not bode well for me if I lose that sword as well.
It cannot be helped.
Whoever wins shall take the sword.
Subtitle translation by: Soo-ji Kim