Episode 5 of Song of the Bandits opened some years ago, when Lee Yoon had just witnessed the massacre in Gurye, which left him traumatized. Ever since he had been responsible for all those deaths, he had isolated himself from the rest of the army. During this time, when Lee was having dinner at a restaurant, an explosion took place. Some insurgents from the Independent Army had orchestrated the explosion. Lee Yoon found Hee-shin was one of them, who had taken refuge at the restaurant. Lee Yoon helped her hide herself and let her escape from the clutches of the Japanese army. But before escaping, Hee-shin thanked Lee Yoon for saving her life.
Spoilers Ahead
Did Lee Yoon kill Hee-shin?
The scene shifted to the current timeline of the plot. Choraeng-yi feared that, due to his failure to kill the railway bureau manager, Hee-shin, Lee Yoon would probably punish him, but Lee Yoon didn’t have any intention of killing him. He told him about their entire team’s failure because, when they managed to halt the vehicle, it was found to be empty.
Lee Yoon came to know that the bank manager, Mr. Hwang, had been killed by a gun that Eon-nyeni specifically used. He could surmise that it was, after all, Eon-nyeni who helped the railway manager get the money. He deduced that they might not have gone so far with the money and decided to delve deeper into Eon-nyeni’s associates to know exactly where she might have headed. Lee Yoon managed to get a hold of the man, who had previously been shown helping Eon-nyeni set up a meeting with Mr. Hwang. The man divulged Eon-nyeni’s plan and that she was heading to Changchun via train. Without delay, Lee Yoon and his men headed towards the train, intending to hop on the train on its way to Changchun. However, simultaneously, we saw Lee Gawang had been able to deduce who might be the individual behind stealing the money. As he was aware of Hee-shin’s role as the railway bureau manager, he believed it must be Hee-shin who was working undercover just like her uncle did. Therefore, he decided to halt the train on its way to Changchun to retrieve the money.
Lee Yoon’s men, determined to kill the manager and take all the money, barged into the train. But while Lee confronted Hee-shin, he was stunned to see that it was the woman he had always loved and longed for. He couldn’t bring himself to kill her, but while he pointed his gun at her, the train was halted by the Japanese army. The Japanese army started firing at them, but in the meantime, due to a huge sandstorm, Lee Gawang and his men couldn’t see anyone properly. It helped Hee-shin run away with the money, but in the midst of all this, the passengers fell victim to Lee Gawang’s wrath. Not being able to find anyone or the money, he started ferociously killing all the people coming his way until he found Eon-nyeni and managed to injure her. In the midst of this ruckus, Lee Gawang was also able to spot Lee Yoon, which was something that surprised him. Having believed Eon-nyeni’s words, he’d thought Lee Yoon had been put to death five years ago. However, as he came to know the truth, he managed to capture Eon-nyeni, intending to take revenge on her.
What did Lee Gawang do to Eon-nyeni?
Lee Gawang inhumanly tortured Eon-nyeni. Initially, he believed it was Eon-nyeni who had probably had the money, but after the fellow officers searched the entirety of the train bogies and Eon-nyeni’s belongings, they couldn’t find the money. Lee Gawang realized that the money had been carried away, so killing Eon-nyeni would be pointless. However, he still harbored anger for Eon-nyeni’s failure to complete the task that was assigned to her five years ago. Lee Gawang was almost on the verge of killing her, but eventually, he spared her life, reassigning her to find Lee Yoon and finish him.
On the other hand, Lee Yoon was nowhere to be found. After he spotted Hee-shin on the train and recognized that she was the one who stole the money, he started following her. But Lee’s entire team was worried and decided to head towards Changchun to find him. Sang-gun and Choraeng-yi had an altercation regarding Choraeng-yi’s indifference towards their leader. He wanted to sit quietly and wait for the boss’s arrival, but Sung-gun categorically opposed the notion, saying that it was worth a try to go and find their boss. In the meantime, Choong-soo was called outside, where he found Eon-nyeni had come to pay a visit to him. Probably Eon-nyeni would join Yoon’s team to find Lee Yoon and bring him dead or alive to Lee Gawang.
What happened to Hee-shin?
Hiding from the Japanese army, Hee-shin managed to survive, but Lee Yoon found her by following her every step. Finally, after a while, when Lee confronted Hee-shin, he asked why she was stealing the money. Lee Yoon started searching through her belongings and found a letter that revealed her role as an agent of the independent army, working undercover for the Japanese government. Lee Yoon soon realized his mistake and refrained from killing her. But in order to serve the greater good, he decided to take Hee-shin to her destination to reach the money. Hee-shin’s destination was Changchun, where she was supposed to meet a group of insurgents. However, upon their arrival at Changchun, the scenario seemed to be a little different.
As Hee-shin sat to discuss the construction money with the insurgent leader, Lee Yoon strolled outside. He observed the whole area and found that the place had some doors with bullet holes, giving the impression that this base had been previously attacked. Meanwhile, as the insurgent leader talked to Hee-shin, it didn’t seem like he was aware of the railway construction money at all or had any knowledge about the fact that this money would be needed in order to buy the freedom of Joseon. Hee-shin recognized that this insurgent leader was not who he was supposed to be. So before they could harm her, she pulled out a gun and killed them off. In this shootout, she was also injured, but Lee Yoon took the responsibility to save her and take her to somewhere safe to treat her injury.
