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

Briefly looking through it, everything was there. That let Chen Mu drop the rock from his heart. Nothing was more valuable than that mysterious card he had with him, the true value of which he had slowly begun to understand.

But then he felt a strong retrospective fear since he hadn't provided any protection for the mysterious card's power. Not everyone around was a thief, but if you have something that people want . . . it wasn't something he had only heard said, but he'd seen it himself quite a few times.

If . . . if someone were to look closely at the card . . .

"What happened?" Ning Dong had sharply paid attention to something strange with Chen Mu.

"It's nothing." Chen Mu answered with deliberate calm, while he was secretly awed. He didn't want to reveal any clues.

The Will to Fight