In the 1950s after the Korean War, a gentle wandering piper with a limp, Woo-ryong, and his sick young son, Young-nam, are en-route by foot to Seoul through the central Korean highlands when they reach a remote village. The village chief allows Woo-ryong and his son to stay at his house. The piper shows the Chief an English-written note that he says is the name of an American doctor at a hospital in Seoul who can treat Young-nam. The Chief, who tells the piper not to tell anyone else the war is over, agrees but he cannot read English either. Woo-ryong is smitten by a villager called Mi-sook who lost her husband and child in the war.The Piper 2015.
Woo-ryong quickly sees that the village is plagued by rats that do not fear humans and do not fall for traps and poisons. The chief explains he and his people came here when they heard Chinese soldiers were approaching their old village. They hid the village lepers in a cave with the village shaman. But when the Chinese had not reached the village, they returned to the cave but found all the lepers were dead and being eaten by rats. The vicious vermin then invaded the village because it had no shaman to keep them out.
Woo-ryong volunteers to get rid of the rats in exchange for the price of a pig that will help pay for his son’s medical treatment. He spreads a special powder across the village and goes to a nearby hilltop. Checking the wind direction he lights a very smokey fire that smothers the village in smoke. At the same time, Mi-sook, who has been forced by the chief to become the new village shaman begins a purification ritual with bells. Rats start pouring out of the buildings following Woo-ryung’s powder to a cave.
Mi-sook starts to fall in love with Woo-ryung due to his kind nature. The son even starts to call her “mummy”. However, the chief threatens her if she plans to leave the village. He also plots with his son, Nam-soo, to not reward the Piper for getting rid of the rats.