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 wind blew cold in the night, leaving Butchie still standing in the same place with no one around her. Quite a few card artisans were moving in her direction, and she could clearly hear their high-speed whistling.

The air was filled with the heavy smell of dust and smoke left behind from the recent explosion. If it weren't for that smell reminding her, she would surely have wondered whether what had just happened was a dream.

Butchie still didn't understand what had happened and why he had suddenly chosen to leave at the last moment. His hand had already been at her throat. He had only needed to twist it slightly, and she would have be dead like that colleague of hers, whose neck had been crushed. When they examined her dead colleague's wounds, the strength of the killer's hands was stunning.

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