A captive girl offers to play the blind heiress
Captors seek a blind girl matching a portrait; one who can see is about to be killed when she offers to be blind, and is renamed Jin Bu-yeon.
Jin Bu-yeon
Every Alchemy of Souls moment featuring Jin Bu-yeon, in story order. Played by Go Youn-jung.
132 moments · 5h 16m
The cult promises eternal life and a new mission
The cult leader preaches eternal life through the ice stone, then orders the girl who witnessed it to win over Jin Ho-gyeong and bring her there.
Ten years ago: young Bu-yeon finds the ice stone at the lake
Flashback: a gifted girl senses the ice stone under Lake Gyeongcheondaeho, and her jealous father turns on her to seize it.
A kind old woman names a blind, nameless girl Mu-deok
An old woman feeds a blind girl who has lost her memory, offers her a home and gives her the name of her late granddaughter.
A hidden lady slips out of Jinyowon and charms a liquor deliveryman
While the household hunts for a missing young lady, a delivery boy meets a stunning stranger who barters for his liquor and vanishes.
Jang Uk stumbles into a locked room and a strange priestess
Breaking through a barrier, Jang Uk finds a woman piling stones to climb a wall; she begs to leave with him and sees the ice stone inside him.
The prisoner's crime: existing when she should not
Jang Uk refuses to free her, then asks what she did to deserve the room; she says she died long ago and should not exist.
Jang Uk hides from Cho-yeon and helps the prisoner escape
After her sister checks on her, Jang Uk embeds more steps in the wall for Bu-yeon, saying they are guilty of the same crime.
Jinyowon's secret: Bu-yeon's body and an arranged marriage
Cho-yeon learns of a sudden wedding and questions who her sister really is; their mother tells Bu-yeon she will wed but never leave her room.
Bu-yeon hunts her groom and gets Daeho's four most eligible bachelors
Bu-yeon pays an inn madam for news of her betrothed and hears a ranking of Daeho's eligible men, then is chased off as a thief.
Bu-yeon waits at the dock and spots the last bachelor on her list
Bu-yeon accosts strangers hoping for her groom from the Seo family, misses Seo Yul's arrival, and fixes her eyes on Jang Uk instead.
The prisoner reveals she is Jin Bu-yeon and proposes to Jang Uk
Over chicken, the escaped woman names herself as Jinyowon's long-dead eldest daughter, explains her trap, and asks Jang Uk to marry her.
Bu-yeon's unmatched beauty fails to win over Jang Uk
Bu-yeon argues Jang Uk is the perfect husband to defy her mother and insists he admire her face; he concedes she is pretty and walks off.
Bu-yeon's last pitch: come take me away on the full moon
Bu-yeon convinces Jang Uk she is the real Bu-yeon who sees energy, offers her powers, and asks him to come for her before her wedding.
The groom is announced, and Bu-yeon waits with a petal
Uncle Yun-o reveals he will wed Jin Bu-yeon, while Bu-yeon clutches a petal and says she is waiting for her groom to take her away.
Jang Uk comes for Bu-yeon on her wedding night
As the bride arrives at the groom's house and hope fades, Jang Uk appears and Bu-yeon leaves with him, calling him her husband.
Runaway bride Bu-yeon misreads Jang Uk's order to shed her robe
Bu-yeon wants to be carried, mistakes his order to shed her heavy robe for something else, then admits she remembers nothing before Jinyowon.
Jang Uk checks Bu-yeon's eyes and admits why he needs her
Jang Uk looks for a soul shifter's mark in her eyes, dodges questions about Naksu, then says he only wants her powers to deal with the ice stone.
Jang Uk brings Bu-yeon home as his future bride
Bu-yeon sizes up Jang Uk's house, he introduces her to a stunned Maid Kim as his bride-to-be, and tells Bu-yeon to make herself at home.
Maid Kim learns Bu-yeon did the proposing
Lending her old clothes, Maid Kim probes the stranger and is stunned to hear she proposed and that Jang Uk agreed to marry again.
Bu-yeon turns stolen liquor into a wedding toast
Caught swiping liquor, Bu-yeon insists Jang Uk share a wedding drink to seal their marriage and teases him about their first night.
The lantern test exposes Bu-yeon's missing powers
Jang Uk asks her to snuff a Jinyowon lantern that never goes out; she cannot, admitting she lost her powers with her memory.
Jang Uk cuts Bu-yeon's tracking thread and lets her go
As Jinyowon closes in through her tracking thread, Bu-yeon confesses she likes him; Jang Uk severs the thread so she can leave quietly.
A strange water energy prowls Jang Uk's house at night
Someone tracks a damp, strange energy through the sleeping house to its hiding place and drives it off by feeding it a broken Jinyowon relic.
Three days of medicine buy Bu-yeon three more days
Maid Kim says Jang Uk sat by her all night and ordered three days of medicine; Bu-yeon learns why wicked things swarm him.
Heo Yun-ok finds the wanted woman in Jang Uk's house
Arriving with medicine, Heo Yun-ok recognizes Jin Bu-yeon from the portraits and tells her the whole capital is searching, Seo Yul included.
Bu-yeon finally meets Seo Yul and turns him down
Bu-yeon tells Seo Yul he is handsome but her heart went elsewhere last night, learns he was never her groom, and he asks if they have met.
Bu-yeon chooses to go back for her mother's sake
Taken by Jinyowon's people, Bu-yeon asks for three days; recalling why she refused to run, she returns to a tearful embrace from her mother.
Lady Jin binds Bu-yeon to her room for good
Lady Jin says Bu-yeon must be shown as heir but never be seen again, lest anyone learn she has no powers, and reties the tracking thread.
Jang Uk realizes the lantern went out, as Bu-yeon is unveiled
Jang Uk finds his undying lantern dark and recalls Bu-yeon's half-truths, while she is presented as Jinyowon's heir to a startled assembly.
Jang Uk crashes the Unanimous Assembly and claims Bu-yeon as his wife
Jang Uk dares Bu-yeon to snuff the lantern, she does, and he declares her his wife; Bu-yeon confirms the wedding drink before everyone.
Bu-yeon defies her mother before the Unanimous Assembly
Uk and Bu-yeon announce their marriage; Lady Jin calls it a lie and the Assembly threatens Uk, who vows to take her anyway.
Uk produces a 'witness': the baby
Asked to prove the marriage, Uk claims Bu-yeon is with child, stunning the Assembly and dodging the physician's check.
Bu-yeon walks out with her 'husband' as friends gape
Bu-yeon tells her sister her groom has come for her; Dang-gu and Cho-yeon are stunned and the Assembly settles for Uk as son-in-law.
Bu-yeon relights the Jinyowon lantern
Toying with the relic, Bu-yeon turns the lantern back on and a memory flashes; Uk tells her regaining memories will return her powers.
'Do you want us to make a baby?' and Uk's cold condition
Bu-yeon frets over the fake pregnancy, admits she hoped Uk came for her, and he offers help only if she drops that hope.
The tracking thread: Bu-yeon refuses to go home
Her mother pulls the thread sewn into her flesh; Bu-yeon endures the pain and begs Maid Kim not to send her back.
Uk storms Jinyowon in the night to end the thread
As Lady Jin keeps calling her daughter back, Uk confronts her: his wife cannot sleep. By dawn Bu-yeon's pain is gone.
Maid Kim begs Uk to destroy the red bird egg
Uk tells Maid Kim to marry; she asks him to throw away the egg and the jade tied to a dead girl. He keeps them to know she is gone.
Bu-yeon reads the energy of Uk's friends
Meeting Master Heo and Dang-gu, Bu-yeon owns up to the fake pregnancy, sizes up their energy and sniffs out eavesdroppers.
Bu-yeon learns Uk destroyed the tracking thread
Walking her home, Dang-gu lets slip that Uk broke into Jinyowon to destroy the thread while telling her only to endure.
The stone towers of the Dark Forest
Bu-yeon finds the towers Uk raises for each soul shifter he kills; one collapses, revealing a stone that stirs a memory.
Bu-yeon dodges So-i's soporific trap in the canal
Bu-yeon catches her tail by sensing energy, holds her breath underwater against the drug, and is helped out by an old friend of Uk's.
Two foolish friends lost in Gaema Village
Uk's childhood friend gets them lost and insists he is smart; Bu-yeon prefers a handsome fool, then asks about a blue-eyed soul shifter.
Bu-yeon talks a disguised 'eunuch' into saving a turtle
At a shady cosmetics shop Bu-yeon senses ominous energy and guilts a royal posing as a eunuch into buying a turtle.
Waiting up for Uk, Bu-yeon recovers a memory
Bu-yeon waits to thank Uk for the thread and a memory of a master's promise and order surfaces.
Yun-ok needles Bu-yeon over Uk's absence
Young Lady Heo reveals Uk has been staying away at Jeongjingak and hints Bu-yeon is the reason.
Yun-ok tells Bu-yeon whose jade she holds
Heading to see Uk, Bu-yeon spars with Yun-ok and Sun-i, learns the blue jade is Naksu's and is dared to call him with it.
Uk races to the jade's call and finds Bu-yeon
Uk rushes out when the jade calls; Bu-yeon greets him with a regained memory that the two of them have long liked each other.
The jade's memory is not Bu-yeon's
Bu-yeon proves she saw the egg-choosing memory, then realizes it belongs to the blue jade's owner; Uk admits he is disappointed.
Uk makes Bu-yeon a window to his dead love
The stone tower collapses again; Uk presses the jade on Bu-yeon to learn his lost love's last feelings, and she bitterly gives up hope.
Bu-yeon rages at her 'rotten husband' on the mountain
Left alone, Bu-yeon curses Uk, dares a tiger to eat her, and is met by a swarm of bugs instead before the search party arrives.
A tavern owner warns Bu-yeon about Naksu
Browsing anti-Naksu charms, Bu-yeon is told Naksu will resent her most, and hears of the small, feisty servant girl the owner once knew.
The 'Turtle Shaman' and the eunuch meet again
Bu-yeon scolds the 'eunuch' for abandoning the turtle, confides her husband left her, and he admits he took it home after all.
Where Uk proposed to Naksu
Bu-yeon is told this is where Uk met and proposed to Naksu, begs to hear no more, and then sees a proposal memory herself.
Two foolish friends and a hidden illness
Walking her home, Yul gets lost again; Bu-yeon senses something strange in his body and he asks her to let it slide as a friend.
The Queen's banquet and Maid Kim's dress-up marathon
The Queen schedules a banquet on Naksu's day; Maid Kim gleefully makes the invited Bu-yeon try on outfit after outfit.
'You look pretty. I mean, the outfit does.'
Uk compliments then corrects himself, fusses over her nails, and asks Bu-yeon to show the banquet she is his wife.
Bu-yeon stands up for her sister at the Queen's banquet
Introductions at the banquet; when the Queen moves to send Cho-yeon away, Bu-yeon offers to leave in her place.
Fireworks for the bride, then a deadly twist
Bu-yeon brushes off Yun-ok as fireworks are announced in her honor, but in the back garden she is told the banquet was bait.
The attack at the banquet and the Gwiseo trick
Under the fireworks a soul shifter kills 'Bu-yeon', but she walks in alive: it was Gwiseo, Jinyowon's nail-eating white mouse.
Uk lays 'Naksu' to rest
The plan with Bu-yeon is revealed; Uk chases down the soul shifter and publicly declares Naksu gone for good.
Uk finally mourns Mu-deok at the cliff
At the cliff Uk relives his vows to his master Mu-deok and her confession, and admits he could not cry for her.
Jang Uk wakes beside his bride and draws a line
Uk wakes to find her beside him; she claims credit for chasing off the wraiths so he could sleep, and he lets her stay on her side of a line.
Uk finds Bu-yeon gossiping at the market
Bu-yeon haggles for a fan and watches a couple brawl over an affair; Uk tracks her down, tells her to say when she is sick, and mocks her bargain.
Jang Uk turns a palace apology into a taunt
Uk tells Bu-yeon to look lovestruck while he flaunts her to the Queen, rejects her plea to shift her soul, and warns her never to touch his wife again.
Uk warms the turtle's water and the Crown Prince overthinks it
Uk warms the cold water for the Crown Prince's turtle; hearing of it, the Crown Prince spirals into imagining what Uk meant by the gesture.
Bu-yeon's promise and Uk's cruel reply
Bu-yeon thanks Uk and promises to stay by his side, but taking his hand stirs a memory and he accuses her of offering herself as a substitute.
The chicken and the dog
Uk tests holding Maid Kim's hand, gets scolded for upsetting Bu-yeon, and offers a clumsy apology about chickens, pheasants and dogs.
Lady Jin begs Bu-yeon to come home
Bu-yeon tells her mother she is regaining her powers and refuses to leave Uk; Lady Jin sees she is in love and demands Uk come apologize.
Bu-yeon delivers her speech to the wrong door
Bu-yeon rehearses a proud plea through a closed door and counts to three, only to learn she was talking to the wrong man.
Uk refuses Jinyowon, then learns what it cost her
Bu-yeon asks Uk to visit her mother and he declines; too late he learns Lady Jin offered to forgive them and Bu-yeon went alone.
Uk shows up at Jinyowon after all
Bu-yeon arrives alone with the gifts, then Uk appears behind her and formally apologizes to Lady Jin.
Uk insists on spending the night at Jinyowon
Uk talks Lady Jin into giving them a room; alone, Bu-yeon misreads his intentions before he asks her to open Jinyowon for him.
Bu-yeon's story of the tall tree
Sneaking through the garden, Bu-yeon tells Uk how she imagined sitting alone atop a tall tree hoping to be rescued, leaving him shaken.
Bu-yeon tells Uk to see her for who she is
Uk accuses her of confusing him; she knows of a tall tree he once promised to climb, and insists that it is her hand he is holding.
Uk and Yul cross paths as So-i lies to Lady Jin
Bu-yeon senses Yul's energy at Jinyowon; meanwhile a captive So-i names one suspect after another rather than give up her secret.
Uk distracts Lady Jin while Yul frees So-i
Uk asks Lady Jin to let him into Jinyowon as Yul and Bu-yeon find the wounded So-i, who tells Bu-yeon she only thinks she is Jin Bu-yeon.
Yul realizes she is alive
Yul understands Bu-yeon was Naksu all along; overwhelmed, he asks her to let him stay a moment and begs her not to tell Uk.
Bu-yeon declares Yul her friend and Uk bristles
Bu-yeon insists she came for her friend Seo Yul, not Uk's, and refuses to go home until Uk gives in and walks her back.
Walking home, Bu-yeon praises Yul and Uk sulks
Bu-yeon recalls meeting So-i and Yul, says Yul would have been a kind husband, then teases Uk to summon fireflies or fireworks.
Bu-yeon's gift for sensing energy and memories
Bu-yeon locates the hidden earthenware and explains she sees others' memories by touching their things, then is told she resembles spring.
Bu-yeon recognizes a memory as truly her own
On the boat Bu-yeon suddenly hangs over the edge, recalling having no strength, and realizes this memory is hers.
The Turtle Shaman and the eunuch trade advice
Feeding the turtle, Bu-yeon and the Crown Prince, whom she takes for a eunuch, swap marriage advice and confessions of feeling like a fraud.
Bu-yeon's Spirit Plaque and the master's creed
Showing off her Songrim plaque, Bu-yeon speaks of a harsh master in words that shake Uk, then vows to grow strong and protect him.
Bu-yeon plans a trip to Danhyanggok with Yul
Bu-yeon wants to see whether the giant tree she remembers is real, and Yul offers to take her to Danhyanggok.
Uk searches her room and argues over who Yul's friend is
Uk hunts for the jade, learns she is going to Danhyanggok with Yul, and the two squabble over friendship before he leaves rattled.
Yul's confession at Danhyanggok
At the place where they first met, Yul recalls how much he liked her as a child and his regret at doing nothing.
So-i is captured as Yul's picnic is cut short
Cheonbugwan mages beat So-i over the missing parasite while her servant finds Yul on his trip with Bu-yeon and tells him she was taken.
Bu-yeon tells Uk about Yul's parasite
Breaking her promise, Bu-yeon tells Uk that Yul is severely ill and she saw a strange energy inside him.
At Yul's bedside Bu-yeon glimpses a Danhyanggok memory
Bu-yeon apologises to the unconscious Yul, sees a strange memory of Danhyanggok, and clashes with Young Lady Heo over a sealed letter.
Bu-yeon insists on helping save Yul
Uk tells Bu-yeon to stay out of it; she says Yul is her friend too and she will help until the end.
Could Cho-yeon be pregnant? Bu-yeon steps in
A warning about pregnancy sends Dang-gu into a panic; Bu-yeon volunteers and flatly insists there is no chance for her and Uk.
Yul's life sealed in Bu-yeon's mouth
Heo Yeom draws Yul's last energy into the wick and places it in Bu-yeon's mouth; she must not open it before time runs out.
The 'eunuch' husband was the Crown Prince all along
At Jinyowon, Go Won meets the shaman he knew and learns she is Jin Bu-yeon, and that Jang Uk is the husband she complained about.
Fire bird ritual drives the parasite out and saves Yul
Uk and Go Won use the gold's energy at the fire bird's barrier to pull the parasite from Bu-yeon, then race back to revive Yul.
The useless brazier farewell
Bu-yeon says she is going home of her own will; Uk claims he has no use for her, and her parting jab stings.
Jang Uk alone with the lantern she left
Uk replays her parting words, finds the lantern she gave him, and remembers her turning off the last lantern.
Seo Yul wakes after three days
Yul learns So-i died and the parasite is gone, and apologises to Bu-yeon about Danhyanggok as Master Lee arrives.
Jang Uk's lantern confession: when it goes out, he pines
Uk finds Bu-yeon at Jeongjingak, explains the ice stone, and admits that when the lantern goes dark he longs for her; she turns it off.
Jang Uk no longer wants to die
Bu-yeon feels the ice stone's power inside him; Uk admits he no longer wants it gone, and she vows never to grant that wish.
Jang Uk rehearses asking Lady Jin for her daughter
Planning to undo the promise, Uk practises his marriage plea; Bu-yeon lets slip her mother's needles and decides to go home first.
Honey biscuits and 'I recognized you first'
Bu-yeon fusses over Uk before leaving and says she knew he was her husband at first sight, echoing an old memory, while someone watches.
Seo Yul warns Bu-yeon: you will hurt each other
Yul tells of a dream of losing someone he cherished, says she will learn who she really is, and asks her to turn a blind eye.
Bu-yeon sees the scar Naksu left on Uk
Watching Uk change, Bu-yeon asks about the sword scar, refuses to visit Danhyanggok, and is moved that he asks her to wait.
Heo Yun-ok exposes the blue mark at the graveyard
At Uk's graveyard Yun-ok splashes a scar-revealing medicine on Bu-yeon; Yul stops her, and Bu-yeon sees the blue marks and asks if she is her.
Bu-yeon's memories return at the Danhyanggok tree
At the tree, memories of her crazy master flood back and she realises she was Naksu, then the body's true owner speaks to her.
Bu-yeon leaves Jang Uk for 'a man she cared for'
Bu-yeon says she remembers a man she hurt too badly to face; Uk, wounded and jealous, lets her go as she leaves for Jinyowon.
Over the wall: Jang Uk's brazier-in-summer goodbye
Uk sneaks into her old room, refuses her 'confused' excuse, and vows to be the brazier waiting until she misses him.
Bu-yeon takes the Jinyowon Plaque to face Jin Mu
When Lady Jin sends for the plaque, Bu-yeon pulls rank on Cho-yeon to go herself, remembering Jin Mu as the man who trained and killed her.
Bu-yeon stands before Jin Mu as Jinyowon's heir
Bu-yeon arrives with the plaque, refuses to surrender it, and offers to prove her returning divine powers to Jin Mu.
Jin Mu's test: retrieve the plaque from Gwido
Jin Mu throws the plaque into the sorcerers' prison Gwido; despite Ho-gyeong's fear of the wraiths, Bu-yeon promises to bring it back.
Inside Gwido, Jang Uk sees the marks in her eyes
Bu-yeon is daunted by the vast prison; after a long silence Uk appears beside her and asks about the marks in her eyes.
Bu-yeon shows Uk the blue marks in her eyes
Cornered in Gwido, Bu-yeon admits she is a soul shifter whose soul belongs to someone else; Uk hides it and claims the right to stand that close.
The turtle leads Uk to the door of Gwido
The missing turtle turns up and a door to Gwido appears; Bu-yeon later admits she opened it herself and regrets what Uk saw.
Go Won confesses his regret over Naksu in Gwido
Searching for the plaque, Go Won asks for the blue jade back, then admits he wanted Naksu and is ashamed; Bu-yeon tells him to hurt, then let go.
Uk asks whether they should simply stay in Gwido
Alone with her, Uk explains why he must not recognize her, wonders aloud about staying together, and answers that it would be wrong despite the longing.
Bu-yeon traps Jin Mu with an empty ice stone
In Gwido, Jin Mu thinks Bu-yeon will help him claim an ice stone, but it drains him instead, and he realises who she really is.
Bu-yeon waits to fade as the turtle finds the plaque
Bu-yeon resolves to stay in Gwido until her soul vanishes so Uk need not slay her; the turtle then brings her the Jinyowon Plaque.
Yul tells her the Songrim tragedy was Jin Mu's doing
Seo Yul reveals Jin Mu controlled soul shifters, so the massacre was not her will; she refuses to accept it as an excuse.
The Assembly turns on Uk's ice stone
Bu-yeon reports Jin Mu's fate; the officials realise she could remove Uk's ice stone and vote for it, and she agrees to obey.
Uk finds his merciless master
Uk leaves to hunt the last soul shifter and finds her; she accuses him of using what is between them, and he says he already let her go.
Uk keeps the tree promise and they play house
Uk explains why she waited on the tree, finally carries her, and they tease each other over chestnut rice and a thrown knife.
Master Lee decides the two of them must marry
Refusing to watch one hunt the other, Master Lee announces he will end their current relationship by being witness at their wedding.
Four names, and she chooses Cho Yeong
After a mix-up over which way to face, Master Lee lists all four of her names; she picks her birth name, and he links light and shadow.
The wedding of Jang Uk and Cho Yeong
Over the wedding drink, echoes of their past promises play out before Master Lee declares them husband and wife.
Atop the tree, Uk admits he always knew her
Looking out over the world, Uk says he recognized the girl with the blue marks in her eyes from the very start.
A month of tomorrows and a promised last love letter
Uk refuses to count the days left; she promises a sign when her final memory returns, and Master Lee thinks of Seo Gyeong's unsent letter.
Her last love letter: the final memory
Uk sets the yin-and-yang jade aside; the sign she promised comes back, and her last memory answers how she felt in their final moment.
Seven stars send the fire bird to Uk at the lake
Bu-yeon wakes the fire bird atop the constellation basin and the seventh star guides it to Uk at Lake Gyeongcheondaeho, where it vanishes.
The light gets its shadow back
After the fire bird disappears, a voice returns the shadow to the light that saved the world.
Carried up the tree forever, then a cat as big as an elephant
Uk is still carrying his wife up the tree as promised; they bicker about training before going after a huge escaped cat.