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

When they arrived again at the testing room, the staff looked at Chen Mu in a completely different manner. Each of them was adoring and respectful. No matter where he went, such a person with genuine talent and learning would always be admired.

Xi Ping carefully took out the stack of cards.

That stack of cards was possibly the largest—no, it was definitely the largest batch of goods for that year.

Xi Ping was really looking forward to the craze the folding Yanbo card would stir up. When he thought about that miraculous creation from his own auction house—and born from his own hands—it was hard to suppress his excitement.

He couldn't expect the pile of cards now in his hands to be of the same top quality as the folding Yanbo card. The way he saw it, something like the folding Yanbo card should never exist in quantity.

Numbered Series Cards