Title: You Aren’t the Only One
Author: jordannamorgan
Fandom: Link Click (Shiguang Dailiren)
Characters: Lu Guang, Ou Yang’s father (“the Master”), others in the background.
Setting: Epilogue to episode 5.5.
Rating: G.
Length: 1,333 words.
Summary: Lu Guang learns the true secret of the “special skill” wielded by Ou Yang’s father.
Notes: This is my personal headcanon regarding Ou Yang’s father. I’ve had this idea about him ever since I first saw episode 5.5, and it was bolstered by his reappearance in season two. Given the effort such a hard-hearted character was willing to make to protect Lu Guang and his friends, I felt they must have forged even more of a connection than their brief on-screen interaction and the boys’ subsequent training with his son-in-law would suggest.



“Hey Qiao Ling, we can use this leftover pork to make dumplings! What do you think?”

In the aftermath of Master Siwen receiving the long-sought blessing of Ou Yang’s father, the scene had somehow devolved into Cheng Xiaoshi and Qiao Ling raiding the kitchen of their hosts to prepare an impromptu betrothal feast. As far as Lu Guang was concerned, it was incredibly rude behavior for guests; yet Ou Yang herself seemed more than happy to approve and even help. Master Siwen also joined in the culinary chaos cheerfully, if somewhat clumsily. From the looks on the couple’s faces, even a simple domestic chore like cooking held an entirely new dimension for them, now that they could look ahead to doing it as truly a husband and wife.

Even so, Lu Guang held himself at a remove from the festive activity. He leaned a shoulder on the kitchen doorjamb, half-watching as Qiao Ling and Ou Yang laughingly tried to mitigate the mess Cheng Xiaoshi and Master Siwen were making, but a part of his mind was elsewhere.

“For having come all this way to stand with Siwen, you don’t appear to feel as victorious as your friends,” the voice of Ou Yang’s father remarked at his shoulder.

Someone else would have been startled by the Master’s silent appearance behind them, but not Lu Guang. Without a flinch, he merely straightened and turned, meeting the old man’s gaze with cool directness.

“…I guess I’m still thinking about that fabled secret skill of yours.”

The Master’s eyes narrowed. He studied Lu Guang for a lengthy moment, and then turned to walk away—with a gesture for the younger man to follow. “Come outside with me.”

His interest piqued, Lu Guang followed him out to the same terrace where Master Siwen’s hopes had been crushed so many times, only to be affirmed at last. The Master crossed to a far end that was shaded by trees and more or less sheltered from view of the house’s windows. There he stopped and turned to Lu Guang, looking him up and down with a scathingly appraising eye.

“You are not a fighter,” he judged tonelessly.

Lu Guang pinkened faintly, his eyes shifting away for a moment in spite of himself. “Qiao Ling would probably say I’m more the brains of the business.”

“There is no shame in that path if it is what you chose.” The Master gazed at him piercingly. “However, even a man who relies on his mind would do well to prepare his body for the unexpected—”

…And what happened next was a complete mystery to Lu Guang. A light seemed to flash before his eyes, and he suddenly found himself sprawled on his back a dozen steps away—with every inch of his body stunned and aching. For a brief moment, he felt as if not only his breath but his very soul might have been knocked out of him.

Meanwhile, the Master stood rooted exactly where he had been. The only shift of his posture was that his hands were now raised in a basic defensive position.

Giving vent to a dazed cough, Lu Guang stumbled to his feet and took a few steps closer once more—although this time he carefully stopped well outside of arm’s reach. “That was your secret skill?”

“No… this is no skill in the true sense of the word. Come here and see for yourself.”

With that, the Master extended his right hand with the palm turned forward… and it glowed with a golden-white light.

Lu Guang’s breath caught. He approached cautiously, gray eyes wide with wonder as he took in the halo of luminance that surrounded the outstretched hand. After a brief hesitation, he slowly reached out, moving as if to place his own palm against the Master’s; but his hand met an invisible resistance that halted it some three inches short of contact. It was as if the light itself was somehow dense enough to block flesh and bone. No matter how hard he pressed, he couldn’t penetrate that barrier any further, and the Master stood completely unmoved.

Then the old man’s fingers stiffened and just barely flicked, and Lu Guang’s hand was pushed back once more—with a force that jarred his arm all the way to the shoulder.

This is…?

…I see now. It’s not a ‘secret skill’ he learned. It’s a power he carries within himself—just like Cheng Xiaoshi and I.

A force field he can project?—Or some kind of telekinesis. Something he can use to release a tremendous amount of force all at once, disguising it as a blow from his fist… but the real truth is that his hand never even touches his opponent at all.

“It’s incredible,” Lu Guang whispered with sincere awe.

“You don’t seem surprised by this,” the Master observed intently, his head tilting and eyes narrowing.

Lu Guang met that scrutinizing gaze just as cannily. “…I’ve had my own reasons to believe there are more things in this world than we can explain.” …And from what I saw when Cheng Xiaoshi fought you during his dive, I honestly had my suspicions even then—but I can’t tell you that.

The light faded abruptly, and the old man dropped his hand to his side with a sigh.

“Now you know the full extent of my hypocrisy. For so many years, I challenged Siwen and my former apprentice to do what was truly impossible for them, because I couldn’t accept giving my daughter to someone who had any less strength to protect her than I do…” Unexpectedly, his gaze fell in a look of regret. “And perhaps I also did it simply out of spite for the world, because this power has given me nothing but bitterness all my life.”

“I don’t understand,” Lu Guang frowned. “The ability you have is—”

“Is useless to me in this day and age.” The Master looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers pensively. “Children dream of having powers that would let them save the world… but we no longer live in an age of heroes. In another time, as a warrior in battle, this ability of mine could have defeated armies; but the truth is, it would now be no defense against the modern technology of war. And even as the master of martial arts that I am, it’s only been a stumbling block in teaching true fighting skills to students who will never be capable of matching me. I can’t challenge them fairly to rise to their strengths when I know I could kill them with the briefest moment of carelessness.” A broken look passed fleetingly through his eyes. “In all this time, there’s been nothing for me to do but hide my power—and to wonder if there are others like me. If I had no way to give it meaning, a part of me has at least wanted to know that… I wasn’t alone.”

Lu Guang remained silent for a long moment, carefully considering. At last he came to a decision.

“There’s something I want to share with you… something you deserve to know. I can give you the answer you’ve wanted for so long. But first, I need your word that what I’m about to tell you will stay between you, me, and Cheng Xiaoshi.”

“I swear it,” the Master promised solemnly, although the first spark of a burning curiosity flickered in his eyes—along with something more. Something that looked suspiciously like hope.

Taking in a deep breath to gather his resolve, Lu Guang briefly closed his own eyes. When he opened them to gaze steadily at the Master, his once storm-gray irises shimmered with a shifting aurora of sky-blue light.

“You see, you’re not alone… and you aren’t the only one to have a power.”

In that moment, the wonder of a man’s entire world being changed was one of the most rewarding sights his gifted eyes had ever seen.

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2023 Jordanna Morgan