Seo Mun-kyung, a merchant in ancient China where polygamy is legal, monopolizes the salt sales business. The magistrate of the province collapse families of Hwa Ja-heo and Hwang Mu-dae through Mun-kyung. When Ja-heo's wife Byung-ah fakes her death and disappears with Ja-heo, Seo is angered. But when he sees Mu-dae's wife Ban Geum-ryun, he is satisfied and this causes Mu-dae to end his own life. Geum-ryun makes Seo's concubines Chun-ae and Kyo-ah lose their sight and she takes Byung-ah to Seo. When Byung-ah has Seo's baby, antagonism and jealousy grows between the two women. Geum-ryun's jealousy kills Byung-ah's whole family and also kills Seo. Geum-ryun chooses to join her husband in death.
A lonely old potter saves the life of a young woman. She is grateful to him, but does not return the love he feels for her. However she feels obligated to marry him. In time, her former boyfriend finds her and takes a job working with the potter until he can convince her to run away with him.
So-dol, serving a prison sentence after being accused of murdering his friend, gets a 7 day leave from the prison when his mother dies. As soon as he and the guard assigned to him arrive in the village, strange events begin to occur. A 5-year old corpse is discovered floating in the harbor and the entire seaweed harvest spoils. So-dal's guard begins an investigation and find that the supernatural is very real in this remote island.
Natasha, an officer at the Soviet Embassy in North Korea, is in love with Seok-bong. But Seok-bong has already planned his wedding with Bok-hui. Natasha grows jealous and threatens Bok-hui to leave somewhere else. Meanwhile Bok-hui's brother, Tae-yeong, is executed after participating in an anti-communist march. Seok-bong is accused of taking a part in the march. Seok-bong starts to feel pessimistic about his communist belief. He tries an escape to the South, but he is captured by the authority and executed.
