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

Chen Mu was shocked by what he saw.

There were ten people neatly lined up at the door to his apartment, naked from the waist up and spattered with water and green grass. The thing which surprised Chen Mu was that each of them was carrying a bale of grass over their shoulders which was as thick as two peoples' waists!

They were large bales of gold-mottled grass and constellation leaves! Those were the two kinds of materials for making blank cards which Chen Mu had just ordered, except that Chen Mu's jaw dropped at such a large quantity, as he stood transfixed at the door.

They had very casually tied them into bales with rattan straps as thick as a finger It made Chen Mu's heart bleed to see such valuable gold-mottled grass and constellation leaves so deformed by the rattan straps.

These guys sure are wasteful! Chen Mu mumbled subconsciously.

The House of Chen Lab