Alchemy of Souls (2022–…): Season 2, Episode 7 - Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shadow - full transcript
ALCHEMY OF SOULS
PART 2
If something happens to Yul,
Uk will see red.
He has been suppressing his anger
for a very long time.
But…
if the men from Cheonbugwan harm Yul,
Uk will explode.
I hope nothing happens...
I know where the gambling den is.
Let me take you there.
I also know where the gambling den
in Gaema Village is.
Something might have happened there,
so please stay here.
Yul.
Yul.
Uk.
I am sorry.
Not a single person…
will be able to walk out of here alive.
What is this blood parasite?
It is a creature
that you put in someone's bloodstream.
We put it in So-i's bloodstream,
but I do not know why Seo Yul has it.
Who put that thing in So-i's body?
- Was it Jin Mu's doing?
- Yes.
Yul.
Yul.
Seo Yul was attacked
by mages of Cheonbugwan?
What do you mean?
I just heard from Songrim.
Everyone is panicking.
They must be mistaken.
Why would Cheonbugwan mages
ever attack him?
My lord!
We have a problem.
Yeom-su and our mages were attacked
at the gambling den in Gaema Village.
What?
Why? Who attacked them?
It was Jang Uk.
He single-handedly subdued them all.
More than ten Cheonbugwan mages
attacked Seo Yul.
Had it not been for Jang Uk,
Yul would have died.
Did you say Yul was taken to Sejukwon?
How is he?
Seo Yul's health is in grave danger,
Your Majesty.
If Seo Yul dies,
it will start a great clash
between Songrim and Cheonbugwan.
The blood parasite
is inside his core of energy.
Then you should remove it.
There is no way to remove a blood parasite
that is inside a mage's core of energy.
It will only come out after he dies.
Using his energy
would have surged
the blood parasite's energy,
thus making it painful for him.
He fought in this state.
One can only imagine how much pain
he was in until the last moment.
What do you mean, last moment?
Are you telling me he will die?
Yul.
Please find a way.
We cannot let him die like this.
He must have suffered unbearable pain.
Yul.
Yul's Lantern of Life
is in Seoho Fortress.
SEO YUL
The light will die out if Yul passes away.
Then his father, General Seo,
will immediately come to the capital
to find out the cause of his abrupt death.
The Seo family obeyed
Master Seo Gyeong's commands
and has been protecting Seoho Fortress
along the borders.
If they come to the capital
and clash with Cheonbugwan,
a war could break out.
Seo Il
is your elder brother, is he not?
Please try to dissuade him.
He would never listen to his sister
who has the appearance of Shaman Choi
as a result of the alchemy of souls.
Instead,
you should worry
about how Songrim will react to this.
I have not seen Uk for a while now.
I believe
he has gone to Cheonbugwan.
I have no intentions of dissuading him.
They pushed the heir of the Seo family
to the brink of death.
Cheonbugwan should pay
for what they have done.
I will support Uk.
What will Songrim do?
Uncle.
I am not yet confident
to represent Songrim.
But given what happened to my friend,
I will support Uk as well.
Park Dang-gu.
As the leader of Songrim,
you should protect it.
Master Heo, please take care of Yul.
Gather the mages.
I will go to Cheonbugwan myself.
Seo Yul's death must never
be attributed to Cheonbugwan.
Summon the Unanimous Assembly right now.
We must plead our innocence.
- Yes.
- My lord.
- He is on his way.
- Who is?
Jang Uk is coming to Cheonbugwan
as we speak.
Jang Uk
is coming for me.
Gather all the mages of Cheonbugwan.
Stop Jang Uk from entering Cheonbugwan!
Yes, my lord.
Jang Uk is headed to Cheonbugwan.
Songrim is taking action as well.
Your Royal Highness, what shall we do?
Fire!
Stop! His Royal Highness is here.
- Stop it here, Jang Uk.
- Please move.
Will you keep fighting them?
I do not care.
I will
kill Jin Mu.
To do that,
you will have to kill
all of Cheonbugwan's mages
as well as
all of the royal soldiers.
If they get in my way to protect him,
then I have no other choice.
You are not an exception.
So…
keep hiding behind him,
like you always do.
I am not trying
to protect Jin Mu from you!
I do not want
all your hard work to come to no avail.
I know that the sword in your hands
reflects your grief, hatred, and rage.
Then you must also know
to whom these emotions are directed.
I know it is because of me.
That is the reason
I was uncomfortable with facing you.
To stop yourself
from wielding that sword at the world,
you painstakingly suppressed
and buried all those feelings inside.
I do not want your hard work
to go down the drain.
That is why I am standing before you
even though I know you can slay me.
He is about to attack
His Royal Highness! Fire!
Stop!
From now on, Songrim will support Jang Uk.
We will stand with his decisions
and fight alongside him.
So, Jang Uk,
deliberate carefully
where you point that sword.
If you point your sword towards me
and wield it against me,
then I will have to fight them as well.
I know that you neither like nor trust me.
However,
please do not fall short
of my expectations.
Then I will wait here.
Bring Jin Mu to me.
Cheonbugwan officials may have
harmed Seo Yul,
but they all died at Jang Uk's hand.
We could follow the mages' customs
and drop this issue.
So why
must I take responsibility for Seo Yul?
You must take responsibility
for the blood parasite.
The blood parasite?
His life is at risk
due to the blood parasite
in his core of energy.
Before he died,
Yeom-su confessed that it was your doing.
I only put that blood parasite
in an individual
to keep them under my control.
So I do not know how it ended up
in Seo Yul's body.
Nevertheless,
if Cheonbugwan officials tried to kill him
to keep it a secret,
you must take responsibility
as the Gwanju.
But why did the blood parasite…
Thankfully, Seo Yul is still alive.
If you find a way to save him,
they will not try to kill you.
I do not know.
Jin U-tak was the one who took
that blood parasite from Jinyowon.
I do not know how to control it,
let alone remove it
from his core of energy.
You must find a way.
If not,
Jang Uk will never back down.
Will you be staying here
until Jin Mu comes?
I am waiting
so as to act with deliberation.
Then my target will appear before me.
Is Jin Mu not your target?
Please stay by Yul's side.
I will find a way to save him and return.
You endangered the heir of the Seo family?
Jin Mu, you must take
full responsibility for this incident.
If this causes Seoho Fortress
to take action,
a war will be inevitable.
What will you do?
Look what you have done!
I summoned you all here
so that we could find
a way to prevent that outcome.
How would we know
how to remove a blood parasite
when we have never seen one before?
If Seo Yul dies,
you will also die at the hands of Jang Uk.
You must beg for his forgiveness at once
and sacrifice yourself!
Then at least we can prevent
a war from occurring!
You must do that!
- We cannot have a war!
- Take full responsibility!
Please calm down.
I desperately plead
for your help.
If the blood parasite is from Jinyowon,
then Lady Jin may know how to take it out.
But she has a heavy grudge
against Gwanju Jin Mu.
I doubt she will help.
He will have to beg.
Jinyowon is our only hope.
Ho-gyeong.
Please save your brother.
I have come here
to beg before you on my knees.
What a humiliating sight
for the Gwanju of Cheonbugwan.
I guess you must fear Jang Uk after all.
Jinyowon is not completely innocent either
since the blood parasite came from here.
That was done by Jin U-tak and you.
It had nothing to do with me.
Lady Jin.
If Seo Yul dies like this,
the Seo family will have resentment
toward you as well.
I am not afraid.
Let us say Seo Yul dies,
and my life is at stake.
Do you think I will die alone?
You and I are both from the Jin family.
We must share the responsibility
and Jinyowon must share my demise.
I command Lady Jin
to find a way to save Seo Yul
and make Jang Uk leave.
It is nerve-racking to know
that he is out there.
It suffocates me.
Find a way to settle this matter,
whether it is by sacrificing yourselves
or offering a solution.
As I said I would,
I have brought Jin Mu.
I believe there has been
a deep misunderstanding.
But as the Gwanju of Cheonbugwan,
I take full responsibility and apologize
for putting the heir
of the Seo family at risk.
No.
You should apologize to Yul, not me.
After curing him.
Of course.
That is exactly
why I have found a way to save him.
Ho-gyeong.
I have persuaded her and found a way.
Here we are
once again.
You have managed to drag me out at last
after causing all this mess.
That is why
you should have told me earlier
when I was asking politely.
So-i was not captured and brought here.
She came on her own
to save Yul, did she not?
So he was the one
she was desperately trying to save.
You know a way to remove
that blood parasite, right?
Yul is dying.
Please help him. I beg of you.
I am not interested
in whether he lives or dies.
I am sorry.
You said you were not interested,
so I tried to grab your attention.
And in the end,
here you are.
I did not have to move from this place.
You were not here to slay me after all.
You were using me to persuade her.
With my friend's life at stake,
my top priority is to save him.
Not to kill someone with the likes of you.
The likes of me?
You should have let me in on this
if you knew in advance.
Then I would not have had
to humiliate myself by apologizing to him.
I would have never suffered
the humiliation of coming here by myself.
You may go now.
Come to Jinyowon,
and I will tell you what the solution is.
You had been obedient
for the past three years.
But you put everyone
in a state of panic simply by coming here.
Cheonbugwan, Songrim, Jinyowon,
the royal family, the Unanimous Assembly,
and even Seoho Fortress.
You sure are incredible.
Nevertheless,
I stopped like you asked me to.
Gwanju.
You should go to the constellation basin
and pray to the stars
that Yul will survive this ordeal
by whatever means.
If Yul does not survive,
you will surely die.
I am sorry.
I should have
immediately let the others know
when I detected that in you.
But all I can do is see.
There is nothing I can do.
Only three breaths.
I cherish all the memories
I had in Danhyanggok.
Do not touch him without permission.
Do you not understand
that he is in a dire situation?
I heard you kept quiet all along
despite being aware of his condition.
Stop interfering and leave.
What was that just now?
Young Lady Heo.
I do not know which medicine
Young Master Seo has been taking.
He had packed up his belongings,
so I brought them all.
Are you looking for his medicine?
Yes.
What is that?
It seems to be
a letter sealed with energy.
I told you not to touch anything
without permission.
I thought maybe he wrote down
the name of his medicine.
I can look at it myself.
You should go.
Was Young Master Seo
the one who sealed it?
I believe so.
I asked him to come to Danhyanggok with me
when he was in pain.
But what was that memory about?
There is no way I went
to Danhyanggok with Seo Yul before.
Young Lady Bu-yeon.
There is a way. We can save Yul!
Is that so?
Lady Jin said there is a way
to remove the blood parasite.
My uncle and Uk have gone
to Jinyowon to speak with her.
My mother agreed to tell Uk
how to remove the blood parasite?
Yes, if Lady Jin helps us,
Yul will be able to live.
Uk will do anything she asks him to do.
He will save Yul at all costs.
I am sure he will.
He should.
At all costs.
The blood parasite is like an insect.
And birds are
the greatest predators of insects.
Jinyowon has the most powerful bird.
The fire bird.
The fire bird is the solution?
It is too dangerous.
It is dangerous, but it is not impossible.
Because we have Jang Uk.
I will do anything you want.
So please tell me how to save him.
In that case, let me ask you something.
You need my help to save him.
If I agree to help,
will you truly do anything I ask of you?
Send Bu-yeon back home.
Then I will help you.
If you refuse,
I will not help you.
In that case,
you will not be able to save him
even if you know how to.
All right.
I will do as you say.
So please help us.
As for Bu-yeon,
I will send her back.
Thank you.
Since you are a witness,
I will trust that Uk will keep his word.
I will help you save Seo Yul.
Thank you for agreeing to help.
The fire bird?
It may be dangerous,
but it is worth a shot.
Dang-gu, go fetch Cho-yeon.
We will need the Jin family's blood.
All right, I will fetch her right away.
You should go to Seoho Fortress.
If Yul's father hears strange rumors,
it will be a headache.
Let him know the details of the situation
and reassure him.
I will tell him
that Yul will live at all costs,
so please save him.
Uk, you have the biggest role.
You must enter Jinyowon.
You will meet someone
who will help you there.
- Do not fight with him.
- Him?
Who is he?
I will enter Jinyowon alongside Jang Uk.
If you argue in there
and awaken the fire bird,
this world will go down in flames.
This will be dangerous.
That is why, Lady Jin,
you must tell Jang Uk beforehand
that he must listen to me.
Come on. Do you think
the Crown Prince will listen to me?
If he does not swallow his pride
and listen to me, everything will fail.
He went to Master Heo himself
and offered to help save Yul.
Could it be because of the turtle?
What turtle?
He is acting like a turtle
and slowly crawling toward me.
Or you could be slowly letting him in.
But Uk…
Will you really be all right without her?
I did expect Lady Jin
to ask for her daughter back
in return for helping us.
If she goes back,
you will not be able to kill yourself
by removing that ice stone.
Just like how you made
those dreadful noodles for me,
I was comforted by someone else too.
That is when her words,
"It is better to die than to do nothing,"
came to mind.
In fact,
it was her way of encouraging me
to do anything I could.
Uk,
who would you save
if Maidservant Kim and I were drowning?
Maidservant Kim.
You should save both of us, you fool.
Yul and Bu-yeon are drowning right now.
And you are planning to give up on her
because Yul is in grave danger.
Since he is in grave danger,
I cannot afford to think about saving her.
That is wrong.
If it is someone dear to you,
you should not think of letting them go
as if you are abandoning them.
I felt bad for keeping her by my side.
It is all…
for the best.
- I heard you went to Jinyowon.
- I did.
Did my mother tell you how to save Yul?
Yes.
That is a relief.
Let me help.
Maybe I could be of use as well.
You have already done
everything you could to help.
Still.
I should do everything I can
until the very end.
You do not need to do that.
Just stay here.
I will explain everything
once it is over.
I am not doing this for you.
He is my friend as well.
I feel indebted to him.
I want to help.
Fine.
You can help.
Let us go.
He chose to let me go.
Let me brief you
on this parasite-removal operation
that Master Heo has planned out for Yul.
A blood parasite
is in the core of his energy,
and it has sucked
all of his torrent of energy.
He can only live if we remove it
and leave his torrent of energy behind.
The fire bird can remove
the blood parasite from his body.
We must remove the blood parasite
with the energy of the fire bird
that is inside Jinyowon
and make it expel
the torrent of energy it has consumed.
But there are two critical issues.
First,
we cannot take him to Jinyowon,
given his state.
And the fire bird cannot
be taken out of Jinyowon either.
Second, it is too dangerous
to break the fire bird's barrier.
So we must use its energy
without breaking down the barrier.
The first issue is
already impossible to resolve.
We can neither move him nor the fire bird.
So how will it get rid of the parasite?
That is exactly why we called you here.
You must enter Jinyowon instead of him.
Me?
This is a water wick
that the Seo family uses
for their Lanterns of Life.
The Seo family fills
their wicks with their energy.
Then they connect their Lanterns of Life
with the core of their energy.
I am going to fill this
with the remainder of his energy.
Then the blood parasite will mistake this
for his core of energy
and enter it as well.
Then we can remove
the blood parasite with this.
Did I not tell you
that it must expel his torrent of energy?
But why
must I be the one to take it to Jinyowon?
That is because the blood parasite
was made with your family's blood.
Pardon?
Why do you think Jin Mu
put the parasite in So-i's body?
He put your family's energy
in the parasite
and put it inside her
so she could open the door to Jinyowon.
So the blood parasite was made
with Cho-yeon's blood.
Once the blood parasite mistakes this
for Yul's core of energy and enters it,
I will put this in Cho-yeon's body
since her blood's energy is identical
to that of the blood parasite.
- Would that not be dangerous?
- All you need to do
is put this in your mouth
and do not open it.
Then…
I will do it.
All right, this is something
you can do even without skills.
You will be fine as long as
you have no blood parasite
- and are not with child.
- Sorry?
Wait.
Young Lady Jin.
Remember that night?
The day we revisited
the house we were supposed to move into.
Maybe…
She cannot do it.
It will be too dangerous
if there is any chance she is pregnant.
You little…
Then do we need to ask Lady Jin to do it?
She must stay outside Jinyowon's door
and make sure the other relics
do not become agitated.
In that case,
I can do it.
But you two are already married.
Will you be all right with it?
We are fine.
There is no possibility of it.
- Not at all?
- No.
Not even the slightest chance.
She is right.
- I am telling you.
- I see.
Then you can be the one
to move his energy, Bu-yeon.
Goodness, we still need to tackle
the second problem.
How can we extract the fire bird's energy
without breaking its barrier?
The barrier of the fire bird is made
with an energy similar to that
of the volcano
where the fire bird was born.
It is made with the energy
of gold weighing 30,000 nyang.
We must create the same energy
with the gold, expand the barrier,
and go inside.
The energy of 30,000 nyang of gold?
Where could we possibly get
that much gold right now?
Sang-ho is gathering the gold as we speak.
We are in a rush,
but I am afraid it will take some time
to gather such an amount.
I have 30,000 nyang of gold.
I also have that much fortune.
I just do not have it with me right now.
No, I have it right now.
It is at Jeongjingak.
What?
Here?
Yes.
I stashed the Crown Prince's rewards
for slaying the soul shifters here.
You just left all of this here?
I had nothing to spend them on
and could not be bothered
to take them home.
I get 1,000 nyang per kill,
so this is definitely
more than 30,000 nyang.
Great.
We are fully ready
to remove that blood parasite.
Let us begin.
Dang-gu and Cho-yeon,
move the gold to Jinyowon.
I will escort Bu-yeon
after she receives Yul's energy.
Yul will no longer have
any energy within him.
I will send all the energy in his core
to the Lantern of Life's water wick.
I can see the blood parasite's energy
moving upward from the core of his energy.
Now.
Open your mouth.
You are carrying
his remaining life in your mouth.
You must never
swallow it or open your mouth.
He only has that much time.
You must return
with his torrent of energy
before time is up.
Uk, I trust you on this.
We will come back
in time.
Let us go.
This is everything
I have rewarded Jang Uk with?
He did not use a single one of them.
Yul will live thanks to him.
We must protect Jinyowon's door
alongside my mother.
Please wait here, Your Royal Highness.
Jang Uk and my sister
will be arriving soon.
Bu-yeon will be here too?
Yes. Please do not argue with Uk.
Do not worry.
He and I share a turtle.
And it is a bright one.
Bu-yeon, why are you here?
Why are you also getting involved?
Have you not told her yet?
She is carrying
Seo Yul's energy in her mouth,
so she cannot speak.
The Crown Prince will be waiting
for you inside Jinyowon.
Go first.
If you do not keep your promise,
I will refuse to help.
I will keep my end of the bargain
and send her home, so…
you can rest assured.
Turtle Shaman?
Why are you here?
Did you find work at Jinyowon?
I am currently working
alongside the Crown Prince...
I mean, with His Royal Highness.
Thank you for waiting,
Your Royal Highness.
That is right.
I am the Crown Prince.
I have been him all along.
Hold on.
Then are you Jin Bu-yeon?
Yes, this is her.
Then she is a Jinyowon priestess,
not a shaman?
Do you know her?
Do you know him?
Then your husband is…
What is going on?
The turtle?
Right, the eunuch.
Him?
So the eunuch you mentioned
was His Royal Highness?
I finally understand
why you took care of my turtle.
Darn it.
His Royal Highness
offered to help save Seo Yul
so that he could save you as well.
I hope that was not
just an excuse he made.
Did you say
His Royal Highness brought this turtle?
He saved it from getting killed.
He is raising something
that is uselessly weak.
I will summon the gold's energy
and expand the barrier
that is surrounding the fire bird's egg.
Then you can catch
the blood parasite
as it escapes the water wick.
And it will come out of her body?
All right.
Shaman, come in.
So Uk was the one who was troubling you?
You must have suffered
more than I thought.
Right, did you find your own room?
I said you can live with me
if you failed to find your own room.
I live in a palace.
I did not lie
about having many rooms, right?
What are you doing? Make the energy surge.
The blood parasite
is moving through her bloodstream.
You need to wait until it expels
all of Yul's torrent of energy.
Hang in there.
It has expelled everything.
We just need to remove it.
Where is it?
Hang on.
Are you all right?
It must hurt a lot.
Let us now go to Yul.
Let us go.
Me too.
You must not break the barrier of gold.
Be careful on your way out.
Let us hurry. We have no time.
Help me out too.
Hey!
We are almost out of time.
Hurry, put it inside his mouth!
Put it inside! Right now!
Hurry!
We did it!
We did it!
We saved Yul!
Goodness, I can feel his pulse again.
Oh, my goodness.
We did it.
- We saved him.
- Yul is alive.
- Yes, we did.
- Good work, Jang Uk.
You did well too,
Your Royal Highness.
By the way,
I cannot believe
you were the husband who troubled her.
Gosh.
How did she mistake you for a eunuch?
We saved a turtle together.
I should invite her to the palace
and let her see the turtle next time.
If you are curious,
feel free to come with her.
The turtle?
Well done.
Thank you.
This letter was one of his belongings.
I should have given this to Lord Park
before he left for Seoho Fortress.
He already left.
I see.
I guess I am late.
Then I should put it back.
The wound from where the parasite exited
could rot.
Apply the ointment
and take your medicine on time.
All right.
I will be fine even after I return.
I am not that dense.
I knew what my mother would ask for
in return for helping you.
She wants you to come back home.
- I agreed to send you back.
- Do not say that.
I am going back out of my own will.
She gave me her word.
She promised not to lock me up anymore.
I have nothing to lose even if I leave.
- But I feel bad leaving you.
- What do you mean?
I promised to help you rest comfortably.
That is why you took me with you.
But I could not do that.
You are still mistaken.
That is not why I took you.
Then…
what was the reason?
You do not need to know.
I have no use for you anymore.
I am fine with you leaving as well.
So do not feel sorry for me.
They say you can miss the brazier
even during the summer.
Can you not just say
that you will miss me?
A brazier during the summer
is just useless.
Who knows?
Maybe I will miss you
when it gets chilly.
Fine.
Your useless brazier has burnt itself
to leave nothing but ashes.
I will disperse in the wind, and you can…
just freeze to death alone.
His torrent of energy is surging
in his core of energy again.
The fire bird's energy
completely banished the blood parasite.
Did you say Jang Uk and the Crown Prince
saw the fire bird themselves?
Yes, Master.
Thankfully, they did not bicker
and kept the fire bird under control.
Yul survived thanks to them.
I had told the Crown Prince
to check on Uk
on the pretext of rewarding him.
And it paid off.
You saved my life once again.
This is different.
I saved you last time to kill Jang Uk.
But this time,
he and I joined hands to save Seo Yul.
In any case,
let me once again give you something
as a token of my gratitude.
This is Jang Uk's constellation plate.
Is that the King's Star?
Correct, Your Royal Highness.
Like Jang Gang prophesized,
it is the star of the late king's son.
The late king's son?
Jang Uk
is the son of the late king
who shifted souls with Jang Gang.
That is why he has the King's Star.
He has the Gold Plaque and the letter
that the late king
had left behind for him.
He is a dangerous star
who can take your place whenever he wants.
Is that why you told me
to keep my distance from him?
Please allow me to send him far away,
Your Royal Highness.
You must have used up a lot of your energy
while protecting Jinyowon.
Your hair
has become grayer in the past few days.
Cho-yeon.
Prepare Bu-yeon's room for her.
Is she coming back?
Jang Uk gave me his word.
So she will return soon.
Young Master,
is Young Master Seo all right now?
Yes, I wanted to be there when he woke up.
But I left in case my energy
would be harmful to him.
That is a relief.
You did a terrific job
of saving your friend.
What about Bu-yeon?
- Did she go safely?
- Young Lady Bu-yeon?
She did not come home.
I thought you two were in Songrim.
She did not come home?
What is this? Did she leave right away
without saying goodbye to you?
Leave?
Did she return to Jinyowon?
Yes, I promised Lady Jin that I would
send her back to where she belonged.
Did you, now?
I see.
Young Master, give me your hand.
Give it to me.
Darn it! She is not an object
you can send back whenever you want!
I only said that
because that is where she belongs.
She belongs right by your side,
does she not?
She never belonged here
in the first place.
Goodness.
He will never know what he had
until it is gone.
You will keep going back and forth.
Goodness, I hope
he comes to his senses.
She left right away
that day?
Your useless brazier has burnt itself
to leave nothing but ashes.
I will disperse in the wind, and you can…
just freeze to death alone.
Her mother
would not do that again, would she?
I hope…
that makes it easier for you to find me.
I will keep you warm
and help you rest comfortably.
There, now you feel warm.
She left it here.
It would have made
a good excuse to go see her.
I hope she arrived safely.
You can turn off the last lantern.
Since you are
a great priestess of Jinyowon,
use your divine powers to turn it off.
See? I did that.
Yul.
Young Master Seo, are you finally awake?
What happened?
You were unconscious for three days.
You almost lost your life
while fighting Cheonbugwan officials.
What happened to So-i?
Do you mean the girl
you went there to save?
She died.
Lord Dang-gu took her body.
Master Heo and your friends
successfully removed
the blood parasite from your body.
They took it out?
Yes, they did.
Are you finally awake?
You were in grave danger.
Young Lady Bu-yeon was of great help
in getting rid of that parasite.
Had I known it was life-threatening,
I would not have kept it a secret.
I am sorry.
I had no idea
when I invited you to Danhyanggok.
We had agreed to go there.
But we could not go.
Master Lee,
Seo Yul has regained consciousness.
- Master Lee?
- This is Master Lee.
He has been taking care of you.
He knows Master Lee.
He is Master Heo's master.
The "frivolous Yeom"
that you often talked about
was Master Heo?
I found him adorable when he was your age.
Every now and then.
He took care of me
for three years when I was ill.
He is the top physician in Daeho,
so you will recover soon.
Bu-yeon.
Bring Yeom over.
He will be delighted to see Yul awake.
Yes, Master.
You have regained
almost all of your torrent of energy,
so you will recover soon.
If you took care of her for three years,
then you must know her well.
Are you more curious about her
than your condition right now?
That is right. I saved her.
And I will take good care of you now.
Young Lady Bu-yeon
is in Sejukwon right now?
Yes.
Her mother thinks she is still at Uk's,
and Uk must think she is in Jinyowon.
Is it really over between them?
Whenever she left our house,
he would bring her back every time.
She must be in Songrim
waiting for Uk to come and fetch her.
Just let them be.
There he is.
You only appreciate someone
once you feel their absence.
My lord.
How was your trip?
You must be so tired.
I hurried over because I knew
you would be waiting for me.
Goodness. He is watching us.
Come inside.
You should not move around just yet.
Were you already aware
of who she was?
You must know if you saved the body
fished out of Lake Gyeongcheondaeho.
So you recognized her face.
I do remember you saying that
you met her in Danhyanggok as a child.
Does this mean
you saved her despite knowing
who she was?
Seo Yul.
If you are the only one
who knows about this,
then feign ignorance.
Naksu's soul will disappear
from her body soon.
Once the soul of Jin Bu-yeon,
the true owner of that body, awakens,
Naksu's soul will disappear.
What?
I do not understand.
Two souls are coexisting in her body.
But the body belongs to Jin Bu-yeon.
Contrary to my intentions,
everything went according to
Jin Bu-yeon's plans.
She will use up Naksu's energy.
And Naksu will soon disappear.
Young Lady Heo!
Master Heo is looking for you!
All right, Sun-i.
I will be there soon. You can go first.
Yes, my lady.
Is that not Young Master Seo's letter?
Is she peeking at it?
That woman…
is Naksu?
If it is someone dear to you,
you should not think of letting them go
as if you are abandoning them.
She belongs right by your side,
does she not?
It turned off. Did she break it?
It keeps turning on and off.
It must be out of its mind.
I was hoping for this.
I hoped that you would come for me…
despite being of no use to you.
I would be crazy
if I went back for her again.
If you drink that,
it means we are officially married.
Go on. Drink up.
I shall always stay by your side.
Try summoning fireflies.
That is not an easy thing to do, you know.
Get a hold of yourself.
This is driving me crazy.
Mother knows you are here.
She told me to fetch you.
I was going to go today anyway.
I ran into Master Lee.
He had been taking care of Seo Yul,
and I wanted to see him wake up.
Jang Uk thinks you are in Jinyowon.
He will not come here for you.
I know.
Let us go.
I need to return
Songrim's Spirit Plaque before I go.
I left it at Jeongjingak.
Let me go get it. Wait here.
You will be flogged 100 times
if you lose this, you know.
I did not lose it.
What is it?
Do you want me to get punished?
I could not find you in Jinyowon.
Here you were.
Were you looking for me?
Why?
Because the lantern turned off.
And then,
it turned back on.
Lantern? The one in your study?
It kept flicking on and off.
It is out of its mind.
It must be broken.
Throw it out if it is useless.
Right.
It belonged to Jinyowon, right?
Then send it back.
You think I abandoned you
because you were useless, right?
To clear up the confusion,
I should clearly explain
what your use was.
I brought you home
so you could take the ice stone out of me.
I know.
You said it would help you feel at ease.
Right.
I wanted to find peace.
But once it is removed,
I will die once again.
It is not your fault
that you did not know this.
I should have been clear about it.
At first, I did not
see the need to explain.
Later, I could not disclose that
to someone who wanted to protect me.
And what about now?
I said I have no use for you.
What I am trying to say is
that I am very grateful
and sorry.
In that case,
I am glad that I am of no use to you.
I felt awful for being abandoned.
But you are thanking me
and apologizing to me.
So that is why you came.
I heard you loud and clear,
so I will go now.
I cannot wish you farewell, though.
What is it this time?
Do you want me to brace myself
because you could have a change of heart?
I better not see you ever again,
or I will take that stone out of you.
I am not done yet.
I told you the lantern was flickering.
- So what?
- So…
When it is on, I am sane.
It is clear to me
that I must send you back as I promised.
But I go insane when it turns off.
I just pine for you.
That is why I came to see you.
So?
What about now?
If you are upset and want to leave,
I should get a hold of myself…
and let you go.
What was that?
I turned it off.
I wanted to turn it off.
ALCHEMY OF SOULS
PART 2
I knew the moment I saw you.
You are my husband.
"I promise to be a good man."
"Please allow me to marry your daughter."
Just let her stay
with the person she wishes to be with
for a while.
If you do not intend
to fight me over the Gold Plaque,
go to North Fortress, Jang Uk.
I have decided to accept this fight
in order to protect what I must.
I will soon introduce you
to the secret organization.
I shall wholly support you.
Naksu's soul will disappear soon,
and Jin Bu-yeon will take over the body.
Allow me to test your divine powers.
Subtitle translation by: Soo-ji Kim
PART 2
If something happens to Yul,
Uk will see red.
He has been suppressing his anger
for a very long time.
But…
if the men from Cheonbugwan harm Yul,
Uk will explode.
I hope nothing happens...
I know where the gambling den is.
Let me take you there.
I also know where the gambling den
in Gaema Village is.
Something might have happened there,
so please stay here.
Yul.
Yul.
Uk.
I am sorry.
Not a single person…
will be able to walk out of here alive.
What is this blood parasite?
It is a creature
that you put in someone's bloodstream.
We put it in So-i's bloodstream,
but I do not know why Seo Yul has it.
Who put that thing in So-i's body?
- Was it Jin Mu's doing?
- Yes.
Yul.
Yul.
Seo Yul was attacked
by mages of Cheonbugwan?
What do you mean?
I just heard from Songrim.
Everyone is panicking.
They must be mistaken.
Why would Cheonbugwan mages
ever attack him?
My lord!
We have a problem.
Yeom-su and our mages were attacked
at the gambling den in Gaema Village.
What?
Why? Who attacked them?
It was Jang Uk.
He single-handedly subdued them all.
More than ten Cheonbugwan mages
attacked Seo Yul.
Had it not been for Jang Uk,
Yul would have died.
Did you say Yul was taken to Sejukwon?
How is he?
Seo Yul's health is in grave danger,
Your Majesty.
If Seo Yul dies,
it will start a great clash
between Songrim and Cheonbugwan.
The blood parasite
is inside his core of energy.
Then you should remove it.
There is no way to remove a blood parasite
that is inside a mage's core of energy.
It will only come out after he dies.
Using his energy
would have surged
the blood parasite's energy,
thus making it painful for him.
He fought in this state.
One can only imagine how much pain
he was in until the last moment.
What do you mean, last moment?
Are you telling me he will die?
Yul.
Please find a way.
We cannot let him die like this.
He must have suffered unbearable pain.
Yul.
Yul's Lantern of Life
is in Seoho Fortress.
SEO YUL
The light will die out if Yul passes away.
Then his father, General Seo,
will immediately come to the capital
to find out the cause of his abrupt death.
The Seo family obeyed
Master Seo Gyeong's commands
and has been protecting Seoho Fortress
along the borders.
If they come to the capital
and clash with Cheonbugwan,
a war could break out.
Seo Il
is your elder brother, is he not?
Please try to dissuade him.
He would never listen to his sister
who has the appearance of Shaman Choi
as a result of the alchemy of souls.
Instead,
you should worry
about how Songrim will react to this.
I have not seen Uk for a while now.
I believe
he has gone to Cheonbugwan.
I have no intentions of dissuading him.
They pushed the heir of the Seo family
to the brink of death.
Cheonbugwan should pay
for what they have done.
I will support Uk.
What will Songrim do?
Uncle.
I am not yet confident
to represent Songrim.
But given what happened to my friend,
I will support Uk as well.
Park Dang-gu.
As the leader of Songrim,
you should protect it.
Master Heo, please take care of Yul.
Gather the mages.
I will go to Cheonbugwan myself.
Seo Yul's death must never
be attributed to Cheonbugwan.
Summon the Unanimous Assembly right now.
We must plead our innocence.
- Yes.
- My lord.
- He is on his way.
- Who is?
Jang Uk is coming to Cheonbugwan
as we speak.
Jang Uk
is coming for me.
Gather all the mages of Cheonbugwan.
Stop Jang Uk from entering Cheonbugwan!
Yes, my lord.
Jang Uk is headed to Cheonbugwan.
Songrim is taking action as well.
Your Royal Highness, what shall we do?
Fire!
Stop! His Royal Highness is here.
- Stop it here, Jang Uk.
- Please move.
Will you keep fighting them?
I do not care.
I will
kill Jin Mu.
To do that,
you will have to kill
all of Cheonbugwan's mages
as well as
all of the royal soldiers.
If they get in my way to protect him,
then I have no other choice.
You are not an exception.
So…
keep hiding behind him,
like you always do.
I am not trying
to protect Jin Mu from you!
I do not want
all your hard work to come to no avail.
I know that the sword in your hands
reflects your grief, hatred, and rage.
Then you must also know
to whom these emotions are directed.
I know it is because of me.
That is the reason
I was uncomfortable with facing you.
To stop yourself
from wielding that sword at the world,
you painstakingly suppressed
and buried all those feelings inside.
I do not want your hard work
to go down the drain.
That is why I am standing before you
even though I know you can slay me.
He is about to attack
His Royal Highness! Fire!
Stop!
From now on, Songrim will support Jang Uk.
We will stand with his decisions
and fight alongside him.
So, Jang Uk,
deliberate carefully
where you point that sword.
If you point your sword towards me
and wield it against me,
then I will have to fight them as well.
I know that you neither like nor trust me.
However,
please do not fall short
of my expectations.
Then I will wait here.
Bring Jin Mu to me.
Cheonbugwan officials may have
harmed Seo Yul,
but they all died at Jang Uk's hand.
We could follow the mages' customs
and drop this issue.
So why
must I take responsibility for Seo Yul?
You must take responsibility
for the blood parasite.
The blood parasite?
His life is at risk
due to the blood parasite
in his core of energy.
Before he died,
Yeom-su confessed that it was your doing.
I only put that blood parasite
in an individual
to keep them under my control.
So I do not know how it ended up
in Seo Yul's body.
Nevertheless,
if Cheonbugwan officials tried to kill him
to keep it a secret,
you must take responsibility
as the Gwanju.
But why did the blood parasite…
Thankfully, Seo Yul is still alive.
If you find a way to save him,
they will not try to kill you.
I do not know.
Jin U-tak was the one who took
that blood parasite from Jinyowon.
I do not know how to control it,
let alone remove it
from his core of energy.
You must find a way.
If not,
Jang Uk will never back down.
Will you be staying here
until Jin Mu comes?
I am waiting
so as to act with deliberation.
Then my target will appear before me.
Is Jin Mu not your target?
Please stay by Yul's side.
I will find a way to save him and return.
You endangered the heir of the Seo family?
Jin Mu, you must take
full responsibility for this incident.
If this causes Seoho Fortress
to take action,
a war will be inevitable.
What will you do?
Look what you have done!
I summoned you all here
so that we could find
a way to prevent that outcome.
How would we know
how to remove a blood parasite
when we have never seen one before?
If Seo Yul dies,
you will also die at the hands of Jang Uk.
You must beg for his forgiveness at once
and sacrifice yourself!
Then at least we can prevent
a war from occurring!
You must do that!
- We cannot have a war!
- Take full responsibility!
Please calm down.
I desperately plead
for your help.
If the blood parasite is from Jinyowon,
then Lady Jin may know how to take it out.
But she has a heavy grudge
against Gwanju Jin Mu.
I doubt she will help.
He will have to beg.
Jinyowon is our only hope.
Ho-gyeong.
Please save your brother.
I have come here
to beg before you on my knees.
What a humiliating sight
for the Gwanju of Cheonbugwan.
I guess you must fear Jang Uk after all.
Jinyowon is not completely innocent either
since the blood parasite came from here.
That was done by Jin U-tak and you.
It had nothing to do with me.
Lady Jin.
If Seo Yul dies like this,
the Seo family will have resentment
toward you as well.
I am not afraid.
Let us say Seo Yul dies,
and my life is at stake.
Do you think I will die alone?
You and I are both from the Jin family.
We must share the responsibility
and Jinyowon must share my demise.
I command Lady Jin
to find a way to save Seo Yul
and make Jang Uk leave.
It is nerve-racking to know
that he is out there.
It suffocates me.
Find a way to settle this matter,
whether it is by sacrificing yourselves
or offering a solution.
As I said I would,
I have brought Jin Mu.
I believe there has been
a deep misunderstanding.
But as the Gwanju of Cheonbugwan,
I take full responsibility and apologize
for putting the heir
of the Seo family at risk.
No.
You should apologize to Yul, not me.
After curing him.
Of course.
That is exactly
why I have found a way to save him.
Ho-gyeong.
I have persuaded her and found a way.
Here we are
once again.
You have managed to drag me out at last
after causing all this mess.
That is why
you should have told me earlier
when I was asking politely.
So-i was not captured and brought here.
She came on her own
to save Yul, did she not?
So he was the one
she was desperately trying to save.
You know a way to remove
that blood parasite, right?
Yul is dying.
Please help him. I beg of you.
I am not interested
in whether he lives or dies.
I am sorry.
You said you were not interested,
so I tried to grab your attention.
And in the end,
here you are.
I did not have to move from this place.
You were not here to slay me after all.
You were using me to persuade her.
With my friend's life at stake,
my top priority is to save him.
Not to kill someone with the likes of you.
The likes of me?
You should have let me in on this
if you knew in advance.
Then I would not have had
to humiliate myself by apologizing to him.
I would have never suffered
the humiliation of coming here by myself.
You may go now.
Come to Jinyowon,
and I will tell you what the solution is.
You had been obedient
for the past three years.
But you put everyone
in a state of panic simply by coming here.
Cheonbugwan, Songrim, Jinyowon,
the royal family, the Unanimous Assembly,
and even Seoho Fortress.
You sure are incredible.
Nevertheless,
I stopped like you asked me to.
Gwanju.
You should go to the constellation basin
and pray to the stars
that Yul will survive this ordeal
by whatever means.
If Yul does not survive,
you will surely die.
I am sorry.
I should have
immediately let the others know
when I detected that in you.
But all I can do is see.
There is nothing I can do.
Only three breaths.
I cherish all the memories
I had in Danhyanggok.
Do not touch him without permission.
Do you not understand
that he is in a dire situation?
I heard you kept quiet all along
despite being aware of his condition.
Stop interfering and leave.
What was that just now?
Young Lady Heo.
I do not know which medicine
Young Master Seo has been taking.
He had packed up his belongings,
so I brought them all.
Are you looking for his medicine?
Yes.
What is that?
It seems to be
a letter sealed with energy.
I told you not to touch anything
without permission.
I thought maybe he wrote down
the name of his medicine.
I can look at it myself.
You should go.
Was Young Master Seo
the one who sealed it?
I believe so.
I asked him to come to Danhyanggok with me
when he was in pain.
But what was that memory about?
There is no way I went
to Danhyanggok with Seo Yul before.
Young Lady Bu-yeon.
There is a way. We can save Yul!
Is that so?
Lady Jin said there is a way
to remove the blood parasite.
My uncle and Uk have gone
to Jinyowon to speak with her.
My mother agreed to tell Uk
how to remove the blood parasite?
Yes, if Lady Jin helps us,
Yul will be able to live.
Uk will do anything she asks him to do.
He will save Yul at all costs.
I am sure he will.
He should.
At all costs.
The blood parasite is like an insect.
And birds are
the greatest predators of insects.
Jinyowon has the most powerful bird.
The fire bird.
The fire bird is the solution?
It is too dangerous.
It is dangerous, but it is not impossible.
Because we have Jang Uk.
I will do anything you want.
So please tell me how to save him.
In that case, let me ask you something.
You need my help to save him.
If I agree to help,
will you truly do anything I ask of you?
Send Bu-yeon back home.
Then I will help you.
If you refuse,
I will not help you.
In that case,
you will not be able to save him
even if you know how to.
All right.
I will do as you say.
So please help us.
As for Bu-yeon,
I will send her back.
Thank you.
Since you are a witness,
I will trust that Uk will keep his word.
I will help you save Seo Yul.
Thank you for agreeing to help.
The fire bird?
It may be dangerous,
but it is worth a shot.
Dang-gu, go fetch Cho-yeon.
We will need the Jin family's blood.
All right, I will fetch her right away.
You should go to Seoho Fortress.
If Yul's father hears strange rumors,
it will be a headache.
Let him know the details of the situation
and reassure him.
I will tell him
that Yul will live at all costs,
so please save him.
Uk, you have the biggest role.
You must enter Jinyowon.
You will meet someone
who will help you there.
- Do not fight with him.
- Him?
Who is he?
I will enter Jinyowon alongside Jang Uk.
If you argue in there
and awaken the fire bird,
this world will go down in flames.
This will be dangerous.
That is why, Lady Jin,
you must tell Jang Uk beforehand
that he must listen to me.
Come on. Do you think
the Crown Prince will listen to me?
If he does not swallow his pride
and listen to me, everything will fail.
He went to Master Heo himself
and offered to help save Yul.
Could it be because of the turtle?
What turtle?
He is acting like a turtle
and slowly crawling toward me.
Or you could be slowly letting him in.
But Uk…
Will you really be all right without her?
I did expect Lady Jin
to ask for her daughter back
in return for helping us.
If she goes back,
you will not be able to kill yourself
by removing that ice stone.
Just like how you made
those dreadful noodles for me,
I was comforted by someone else too.
That is when her words,
"It is better to die than to do nothing,"
came to mind.
In fact,
it was her way of encouraging me
to do anything I could.
Uk,
who would you save
if Maidservant Kim and I were drowning?
Maidservant Kim.
You should save both of us, you fool.
Yul and Bu-yeon are drowning right now.
And you are planning to give up on her
because Yul is in grave danger.
Since he is in grave danger,
I cannot afford to think about saving her.
That is wrong.
If it is someone dear to you,
you should not think of letting them go
as if you are abandoning them.
I felt bad for keeping her by my side.
It is all…
for the best.
- I heard you went to Jinyowon.
- I did.
Did my mother tell you how to save Yul?
Yes.
That is a relief.
Let me help.
Maybe I could be of use as well.
You have already done
everything you could to help.
Still.
I should do everything I can
until the very end.
You do not need to do that.
Just stay here.
I will explain everything
once it is over.
I am not doing this for you.
He is my friend as well.
I feel indebted to him.
I want to help.
Fine.
You can help.
Let us go.
He chose to let me go.
Let me brief you
on this parasite-removal operation
that Master Heo has planned out for Yul.
A blood parasite
is in the core of his energy,
and it has sucked
all of his torrent of energy.
He can only live if we remove it
and leave his torrent of energy behind.
The fire bird can remove
the blood parasite from his body.
We must remove the blood parasite
with the energy of the fire bird
that is inside Jinyowon
and make it expel
the torrent of energy it has consumed.
But there are two critical issues.
First,
we cannot take him to Jinyowon,
given his state.
And the fire bird cannot
be taken out of Jinyowon either.
Second, it is too dangerous
to break the fire bird's barrier.
So we must use its energy
without breaking down the barrier.
The first issue is
already impossible to resolve.
We can neither move him nor the fire bird.
So how will it get rid of the parasite?
That is exactly why we called you here.
You must enter Jinyowon instead of him.
Me?
This is a water wick
that the Seo family uses
for their Lanterns of Life.
The Seo family fills
their wicks with their energy.
Then they connect their Lanterns of Life
with the core of their energy.
I am going to fill this
with the remainder of his energy.
Then the blood parasite will mistake this
for his core of energy
and enter it as well.
Then we can remove
the blood parasite with this.
Did I not tell you
that it must expel his torrent of energy?
But why
must I be the one to take it to Jinyowon?
That is because the blood parasite
was made with your family's blood.
Pardon?
Why do you think Jin Mu
put the parasite in So-i's body?
He put your family's energy
in the parasite
and put it inside her
so she could open the door to Jinyowon.
So the blood parasite was made
with Cho-yeon's blood.
Once the blood parasite mistakes this
for Yul's core of energy and enters it,
I will put this in Cho-yeon's body
since her blood's energy is identical
to that of the blood parasite.
- Would that not be dangerous?
- All you need to do
is put this in your mouth
and do not open it.
Then…
I will do it.
All right, this is something
you can do even without skills.
You will be fine as long as
you have no blood parasite
- and are not with child.
- Sorry?
Wait.
Young Lady Jin.
Remember that night?
The day we revisited
the house we were supposed to move into.
Maybe…
She cannot do it.
It will be too dangerous
if there is any chance she is pregnant.
You little…
Then do we need to ask Lady Jin to do it?
She must stay outside Jinyowon's door
and make sure the other relics
do not become agitated.
In that case,
I can do it.
But you two are already married.
Will you be all right with it?
We are fine.
There is no possibility of it.
- Not at all?
- No.
Not even the slightest chance.
She is right.
- I am telling you.
- I see.
Then you can be the one
to move his energy, Bu-yeon.
Goodness, we still need to tackle
the second problem.
How can we extract the fire bird's energy
without breaking its barrier?
The barrier of the fire bird is made
with an energy similar to that
of the volcano
where the fire bird was born.
It is made with the energy
of gold weighing 30,000 nyang.
We must create the same energy
with the gold, expand the barrier,
and go inside.
The energy of 30,000 nyang of gold?
Where could we possibly get
that much gold right now?
Sang-ho is gathering the gold as we speak.
We are in a rush,
but I am afraid it will take some time
to gather such an amount.
I have 30,000 nyang of gold.
I also have that much fortune.
I just do not have it with me right now.
No, I have it right now.
It is at Jeongjingak.
What?
Here?
Yes.
I stashed the Crown Prince's rewards
for slaying the soul shifters here.
You just left all of this here?
I had nothing to spend them on
and could not be bothered
to take them home.
I get 1,000 nyang per kill,
so this is definitely
more than 30,000 nyang.
Great.
We are fully ready
to remove that blood parasite.
Let us begin.
Dang-gu and Cho-yeon,
move the gold to Jinyowon.
I will escort Bu-yeon
after she receives Yul's energy.
Yul will no longer have
any energy within him.
I will send all the energy in his core
to the Lantern of Life's water wick.
I can see the blood parasite's energy
moving upward from the core of his energy.
Now.
Open your mouth.
You are carrying
his remaining life in your mouth.
You must never
swallow it or open your mouth.
He only has that much time.
You must return
with his torrent of energy
before time is up.
Uk, I trust you on this.
We will come back
in time.
Let us go.
This is everything
I have rewarded Jang Uk with?
He did not use a single one of them.
Yul will live thanks to him.
We must protect Jinyowon's door
alongside my mother.
Please wait here, Your Royal Highness.
Jang Uk and my sister
will be arriving soon.
Bu-yeon will be here too?
Yes. Please do not argue with Uk.
Do not worry.
He and I share a turtle.
And it is a bright one.
Bu-yeon, why are you here?
Why are you also getting involved?
Have you not told her yet?
She is carrying
Seo Yul's energy in her mouth,
so she cannot speak.
The Crown Prince will be waiting
for you inside Jinyowon.
Go first.
If you do not keep your promise,
I will refuse to help.
I will keep my end of the bargain
and send her home, so…
you can rest assured.
Turtle Shaman?
Why are you here?
Did you find work at Jinyowon?
I am currently working
alongside the Crown Prince...
I mean, with His Royal Highness.
Thank you for waiting,
Your Royal Highness.
That is right.
I am the Crown Prince.
I have been him all along.
Hold on.
Then are you Jin Bu-yeon?
Yes, this is her.
Then she is a Jinyowon priestess,
not a shaman?
Do you know her?
Do you know him?
Then your husband is…
What is going on?
The turtle?
Right, the eunuch.
Him?
So the eunuch you mentioned
was His Royal Highness?
I finally understand
why you took care of my turtle.
Darn it.
His Royal Highness
offered to help save Seo Yul
so that he could save you as well.
I hope that was not
just an excuse he made.
Did you say
His Royal Highness brought this turtle?
He saved it from getting killed.
He is raising something
that is uselessly weak.
I will summon the gold's energy
and expand the barrier
that is surrounding the fire bird's egg.
Then you can catch
the blood parasite
as it escapes the water wick.
And it will come out of her body?
All right.
Shaman, come in.
So Uk was the one who was troubling you?
You must have suffered
more than I thought.
Right, did you find your own room?
I said you can live with me
if you failed to find your own room.
I live in a palace.
I did not lie
about having many rooms, right?
What are you doing? Make the energy surge.
The blood parasite
is moving through her bloodstream.
You need to wait until it expels
all of Yul's torrent of energy.
Hang in there.
It has expelled everything.
We just need to remove it.
Where is it?
Hang on.
Are you all right?
It must hurt a lot.
Let us now go to Yul.
Let us go.
Me too.
You must not break the barrier of gold.
Be careful on your way out.
Let us hurry. We have no time.
Help me out too.
Hey!
We are almost out of time.
Hurry, put it inside his mouth!
Put it inside! Right now!
Hurry!
We did it!
We did it!
We saved Yul!
Goodness, I can feel his pulse again.
Oh, my goodness.
We did it.
- We saved him.
- Yul is alive.
- Yes, we did.
- Good work, Jang Uk.
You did well too,
Your Royal Highness.
By the way,
I cannot believe
you were the husband who troubled her.
Gosh.
How did she mistake you for a eunuch?
We saved a turtle together.
I should invite her to the palace
and let her see the turtle next time.
If you are curious,
feel free to come with her.
The turtle?
Well done.
Thank you.
This letter was one of his belongings.
I should have given this to Lord Park
before he left for Seoho Fortress.
He already left.
I see.
I guess I am late.
Then I should put it back.
The wound from where the parasite exited
could rot.
Apply the ointment
and take your medicine on time.
All right.
I will be fine even after I return.
I am not that dense.
I knew what my mother would ask for
in return for helping you.
She wants you to come back home.
- I agreed to send you back.
- Do not say that.
I am going back out of my own will.
She gave me her word.
She promised not to lock me up anymore.
I have nothing to lose even if I leave.
- But I feel bad leaving you.
- What do you mean?
I promised to help you rest comfortably.
That is why you took me with you.
But I could not do that.
You are still mistaken.
That is not why I took you.
Then…
what was the reason?
You do not need to know.
I have no use for you anymore.
I am fine with you leaving as well.
So do not feel sorry for me.
They say you can miss the brazier
even during the summer.
Can you not just say
that you will miss me?
A brazier during the summer
is just useless.
Who knows?
Maybe I will miss you
when it gets chilly.
Fine.
Your useless brazier has burnt itself
to leave nothing but ashes.
I will disperse in the wind, and you can…
just freeze to death alone.
His torrent of energy is surging
in his core of energy again.
The fire bird's energy
completely banished the blood parasite.
Did you say Jang Uk and the Crown Prince
saw the fire bird themselves?
Yes, Master.
Thankfully, they did not bicker
and kept the fire bird under control.
Yul survived thanks to them.
I had told the Crown Prince
to check on Uk
on the pretext of rewarding him.
And it paid off.
You saved my life once again.
This is different.
I saved you last time to kill Jang Uk.
But this time,
he and I joined hands to save Seo Yul.
In any case,
let me once again give you something
as a token of my gratitude.
This is Jang Uk's constellation plate.
Is that the King's Star?
Correct, Your Royal Highness.
Like Jang Gang prophesized,
it is the star of the late king's son.
The late king's son?
Jang Uk
is the son of the late king
who shifted souls with Jang Gang.
That is why he has the King's Star.
He has the Gold Plaque and the letter
that the late king
had left behind for him.
He is a dangerous star
who can take your place whenever he wants.
Is that why you told me
to keep my distance from him?
Please allow me to send him far away,
Your Royal Highness.
You must have used up a lot of your energy
while protecting Jinyowon.
Your hair
has become grayer in the past few days.
Cho-yeon.
Prepare Bu-yeon's room for her.
Is she coming back?
Jang Uk gave me his word.
So she will return soon.
Young Master,
is Young Master Seo all right now?
Yes, I wanted to be there when he woke up.
But I left in case my energy
would be harmful to him.
That is a relief.
You did a terrific job
of saving your friend.
What about Bu-yeon?
- Did she go safely?
- Young Lady Bu-yeon?
She did not come home.
I thought you two were in Songrim.
She did not come home?
What is this? Did she leave right away
without saying goodbye to you?
Leave?
Did she return to Jinyowon?
Yes, I promised Lady Jin that I would
send her back to where she belonged.
Did you, now?
I see.
Young Master, give me your hand.
Give it to me.
Darn it! She is not an object
you can send back whenever you want!
I only said that
because that is where she belongs.
She belongs right by your side,
does she not?
She never belonged here
in the first place.
Goodness.
He will never know what he had
until it is gone.
You will keep going back and forth.
Goodness, I hope
he comes to his senses.
She left right away
that day?
Your useless brazier has burnt itself
to leave nothing but ashes.
I will disperse in the wind, and you can…
just freeze to death alone.
Her mother
would not do that again, would she?
I hope…
that makes it easier for you to find me.
I will keep you warm
and help you rest comfortably.
There, now you feel warm.
She left it here.
It would have made
a good excuse to go see her.
I hope she arrived safely.
You can turn off the last lantern.
Since you are
a great priestess of Jinyowon,
use your divine powers to turn it off.
See? I did that.
Yul.
Young Master Seo, are you finally awake?
What happened?
You were unconscious for three days.
You almost lost your life
while fighting Cheonbugwan officials.
What happened to So-i?
Do you mean the girl
you went there to save?
She died.
Lord Dang-gu took her body.
Master Heo and your friends
successfully removed
the blood parasite from your body.
They took it out?
Yes, they did.
Are you finally awake?
You were in grave danger.
Young Lady Bu-yeon was of great help
in getting rid of that parasite.
Had I known it was life-threatening,
I would not have kept it a secret.
I am sorry.
I had no idea
when I invited you to Danhyanggok.
We had agreed to go there.
But we could not go.
Master Lee,
Seo Yul has regained consciousness.
- Master Lee?
- This is Master Lee.
He has been taking care of you.
He knows Master Lee.
He is Master Heo's master.
The "frivolous Yeom"
that you often talked about
was Master Heo?
I found him adorable when he was your age.
Every now and then.
He took care of me
for three years when I was ill.
He is the top physician in Daeho,
so you will recover soon.
Bu-yeon.
Bring Yeom over.
He will be delighted to see Yul awake.
Yes, Master.
You have regained
almost all of your torrent of energy,
so you will recover soon.
If you took care of her for three years,
then you must know her well.
Are you more curious about her
than your condition right now?
That is right. I saved her.
And I will take good care of you now.
Young Lady Bu-yeon
is in Sejukwon right now?
Yes.
Her mother thinks she is still at Uk's,
and Uk must think she is in Jinyowon.
Is it really over between them?
Whenever she left our house,
he would bring her back every time.
She must be in Songrim
waiting for Uk to come and fetch her.
Just let them be.
There he is.
You only appreciate someone
once you feel their absence.
My lord.
How was your trip?
You must be so tired.
I hurried over because I knew
you would be waiting for me.
Goodness. He is watching us.
Come inside.
You should not move around just yet.
Were you already aware
of who she was?
You must know if you saved the body
fished out of Lake Gyeongcheondaeho.
So you recognized her face.
I do remember you saying that
you met her in Danhyanggok as a child.
Does this mean
you saved her despite knowing
who she was?
Seo Yul.
If you are the only one
who knows about this,
then feign ignorance.
Naksu's soul will disappear
from her body soon.
Once the soul of Jin Bu-yeon,
the true owner of that body, awakens,
Naksu's soul will disappear.
What?
I do not understand.
Two souls are coexisting in her body.
But the body belongs to Jin Bu-yeon.
Contrary to my intentions,
everything went according to
Jin Bu-yeon's plans.
She will use up Naksu's energy.
And Naksu will soon disappear.
Young Lady Heo!
Master Heo is looking for you!
All right, Sun-i.
I will be there soon. You can go first.
Yes, my lady.
Is that not Young Master Seo's letter?
Is she peeking at it?
That woman…
is Naksu?
If it is someone dear to you,
you should not think of letting them go
as if you are abandoning them.
She belongs right by your side,
does she not?
It turned off. Did she break it?
It keeps turning on and off.
It must be out of its mind.
I was hoping for this.
I hoped that you would come for me…
despite being of no use to you.
I would be crazy
if I went back for her again.
If you drink that,
it means we are officially married.
Go on. Drink up.
I shall always stay by your side.
Try summoning fireflies.
That is not an easy thing to do, you know.
Get a hold of yourself.
This is driving me crazy.
Mother knows you are here.
She told me to fetch you.
I was going to go today anyway.
I ran into Master Lee.
He had been taking care of Seo Yul,
and I wanted to see him wake up.
Jang Uk thinks you are in Jinyowon.
He will not come here for you.
I know.
Let us go.
I need to return
Songrim's Spirit Plaque before I go.
I left it at Jeongjingak.
Let me go get it. Wait here.
You will be flogged 100 times
if you lose this, you know.
I did not lose it.
What is it?
Do you want me to get punished?
I could not find you in Jinyowon.
Here you were.
Were you looking for me?
Why?
Because the lantern turned off.
And then,
it turned back on.
Lantern? The one in your study?
It kept flicking on and off.
It is out of its mind.
It must be broken.
Throw it out if it is useless.
Right.
It belonged to Jinyowon, right?
Then send it back.
You think I abandoned you
because you were useless, right?
To clear up the confusion,
I should clearly explain
what your use was.
I brought you home
so you could take the ice stone out of me.
I know.
You said it would help you feel at ease.
Right.
I wanted to find peace.
But once it is removed,
I will die once again.
It is not your fault
that you did not know this.
I should have been clear about it.
At first, I did not
see the need to explain.
Later, I could not disclose that
to someone who wanted to protect me.
And what about now?
I said I have no use for you.
What I am trying to say is
that I am very grateful
and sorry.
In that case,
I am glad that I am of no use to you.
I felt awful for being abandoned.
But you are thanking me
and apologizing to me.
So that is why you came.
I heard you loud and clear,
so I will go now.
I cannot wish you farewell, though.
What is it this time?
Do you want me to brace myself
because you could have a change of heart?
I better not see you ever again,
or I will take that stone out of you.
I am not done yet.
I told you the lantern was flickering.
- So what?
- So…
When it is on, I am sane.
It is clear to me
that I must send you back as I promised.
But I go insane when it turns off.
I just pine for you.
That is why I came to see you.
So?
What about now?
If you are upset and want to leave,
I should get a hold of myself…
and let you go.
What was that?
I turned it off.
I wanted to turn it off.
ALCHEMY OF SOULS
PART 2
I knew the moment I saw you.
You are my husband.
"I promise to be a good man."
"Please allow me to marry your daughter."
Just let her stay
with the person she wishes to be with
for a while.
If you do not intend
to fight me over the Gold Plaque,
go to North Fortress, Jang Uk.
I have decided to accept this fight
in order to protect what I must.
I will soon introduce you
to the secret organization.
I shall wholly support you.
Naksu's soul will disappear soon,
and Jin Bu-yeon will take over the body.
Allow me to test your divine powers.
Subtitle translation by: Soo-ji Kim