Fang Xiang

This is both a work of science fiction and an exploration of the meaning of life, love, literature and art. Brainpower is no longer the main ingredient for being human in this far distant future world.  Spirituality, physical balance, and diligence all come together as integrity for Chen Mu, the Card Apprentice.  The cards which Chen Mu masters in his own scrappy way, distill all the powers of the cosmos –  human and nonhuman –  into something that is not a book, not technology, and neither art nor magic, but is these and more.  Learn about these strange cards, which can embody everything you might imagine for the future of technology, but also a future beyond technology which promotes the best, and sometimes the worst, from mankind’s past.

The Card Apprentice

The girl called Sister Phoenix caught up huffing and puffing, yelling, "Where do you think you're going, little fellow?"

Ya Ya laughed, but she couldn't figure out how Sister Phoenix could be interested in that parvenu. Still, he could be high-class to be able to dress like that, she laughed to herself.

Her gaze suddenly turned toward Chen Mu's wrist apparatus. She abruptly started to laugh, and couldn't stop once she'd started, just holding her belly and laughing to the point that she couldn't stand up.

This kind of tinkling laughter set off an explosion in Chen Mu, who was already on the verge of exploding. As furious as he was, he kept calm, coldly staring down the two in front of him.

"Ya Ya, what are you laughing at?" Sister Phoenix was a little unclear about what was going on.

Holding her stomach with one hand, and pointing at the apparatus on his wrist with the other, Ya Ya was still bursting with laughter.

The Seductresses