Kingdom Episode 5 starts with Prince Chang, Moo-Young, Seo-Bi and Yeong-Shin setting up camp in the night.
Things have taken a darker turn since, with the dead becoming more pervasive, and so too, the living that takes the side of the Minister Cho.
While Seo-Bi was out gathering herbs, she was startled by what seemed like a walking dead. She screamed and ran back to camp.
As the group stood ready, a figure came running to them.
It was Magistrate Cho, covered in soil and blood. He survived the boat incident.
He told the group what happened, and that the ship has landed in Seongju, spreading the diseases. Yeong-Shin said that Sangju is close by and the disease will soon spread there.
They made their way to Sangju in haste.
Rumors of weird happenings have been spreading Gyeongsang. An associate is seen informing Lord Ahn Hyeon about the strange disease in Dongnae, that the victims do not stay that.
On hearing that, Lord Ahn Hyeong paused, and stood up. “Get Ready”, he said.
On his way out of the mountains after his mourning, one of Lord Ahn Hyeon’s men stopped him and told him about the ship that he found by the stream.
They went to the ship to investigate and found the area full of blood. Also, they came across the box that was brought over from Dongnae.
Nothing.
There’s nothing and no one. Puzzled, Lord Ahn Hyeon questioned where the injured or dead might have gone.
In another scene, Prince Chang and his party stumbled upon a village in the forest.
They are curiously well stocked with food and goods. The elder said these were rewards from helping out at a party.
At that moment, Magistrate Cho caught sight of a villager with an expensive looking cloth. He ran into the room behind her and discovered the cargo from the ship.
The villagers then knelt and begged for forgiveness. They couldn’t pass on the food when everyone were starving.
The Prince being more concerned about the dead bodies, asked the elder about them.
The villagers answered that they had buried the bodies because they didn’t want animals to eat and desecrate the bodies.
On asking where were they buried, one villager stood up and offered to lead the group to the location.
A group of village men then led the group through tall grass to the location.
They paused, farming tools in hand, and turned to face Prince Chang and the others.
The village men thought that because their crime of stealing government cargo is punishable by death, they might as well hide their deeds by leading Prince Chang into an ambush.
Prince Chang retorts. Finding the bodies are more important as all their lives are at stake. Insisting on the location of the body, he shouts.
A villager replied that they are stepping on them. As each group looked on drew their weapons, the sun began to set.
A growl startled them, and the dead began to animate, rushing forward and taking one villager down. Prince Chang quickly dispatched it.
If you wish to live, raise your weapons and behead them all.
More dead came out from the ground and rushed over to the group.
The ill-trained villagers fell over one after another, while Prince Chang’s group held their ground.
They were quickly becoming overwhelmed to the endless waves of zombies coming after them. It seemed helpless.
All of a sudden, fire arrows rained from the sky, taking down zombies and lighting up the field.
Lord Ahn Hyeon’s men came rushing in. They seem to be well trained and quickly dispatched all the zombies with precision.
Lord Ahn Hyeon and Prince Chang then caught sight of each other.
The scene flashed back to when Prince Chang was little. The flashback shows the bond and history that Lord Ahn and Prince Chang has.
Back to the present, Lord Ahn Hyeon knelled to give respects to the Crown Prince, after all the zombies were dealt with.
Back in the safety of Lord Ahn Hyeon’s residence, Prince Chang reveals the doctor’s notes about his father’s death and of Prime Minister Cho’s evil deeds of using the resurrection plant that led to the epidemic outbreak.
Assuring the Prince, Lord Ahn Hyeon suggested that he first take a rest.
Seo-Bi questions Moo-Young about Lord Ahn Hyeon. She finds it curious that Lord Ahn Hyeon and his men seemed unsurprised and were well skilled to handle the infected.
Moo-Young then asks Prince Chang more about Lord Ahn Hyeon, but he was cryptic in his reply.
Restless, Yeong-shin made his way to a village named Sumang, passing by a war monument. As it appears, the town is nothing but rubble.
A scene revealing Yeong-shin’s mysterious past and his brother was shown. It appears he was conscripted and had to leave his family behind.
Further ahead, he finds a burial ground that probably belongs to the villagers, one of them likely being his younger brother.
The magistrate at Sangju heard rumors that the Crown Prince is in town. Just then, a messenger came and informed him that the Five Armies have left Hanyang and is headed for Mungyeong Saejae.
Beom-pal overhead this and ran to convince Seo-Bi to escape with him.
In an earlier scene, Prime Minister Cho was seen investigating the zombie disease and declared that they need to stop the disease before it spreads. Are armies dispatched to capture the Crown Prince, or to deal with the epidemic?
In a seemingly unrelated scene, a group of pregnant ladies were gathered, housed and fed. Moo-Young’s pregnant wife appears to be there too, and was apparently told to take shelter there in his absence.
In the absence of a functioning King, the Queen declared herself Regent and ordered the armies to contain the disease.
Back in Sangju, the magistrate awaits the arriving army.
They were seen rushing the first gate of Yeongnam, taking positions on the city walls.
As it appears, the western and eastern parts of Gyeongsang are to be sealed and quarantined.
All the major roads and gates leading out of Gyeongsang are to be sealed off to prevent the spread of the zombie epidemic.
The residents of Sangju and all in the area it seems, are left to fend for themselves.
