Upon hearing that Bulguksa Temple is recruiting the finest craftsmen to build the Dabotap and Seokgatap pagodas, Asadal leaves his beloved wife, Asanyeo, and travels to Seorabeol. Devoted entirely to finishing the Seokgatap pagoda, he neglects his health and collapses from exhaustion. He is rescued by Guseul, and through this connection, she begins to fall in love with him. Meanwhile, after waiting three years for her husband to return, Asanyeo travels to Seorabeol to find him. After a difficult journey, she reaches the temple but is turned away by the gatekeeper, who tells her to wait at a distant pond for the day the pagoda's shadow appears in the water. On the day the pagoda is completed, Asanyeo sneaks into the temple and, seeing Guseul and Asadal joyfully together, misunderstands the situation and drowns herself in the pond. Asadal, arriving shortly after, follows her into the water.