The Night of the Tiger

"Wax on, wax off"

"The Karate Kid"

People who read this blog will probably know that I am of the opinion mystery fiction doesn't need to be realistic to be great. In fact, many of the best mystery novels I have read the last few years utilize distinctly unrealistic elements, from time travel to spirits, alchemy, magic and parallel worlds. That doesn't mean they are not well-written and planned, fair play mysteries though. The books with supernatural elements I have read in fact are often pour much more effort than stories with "normal" settings to ensure they are providing a fair play puzzle plot and therefore usually feel more well-planned too. Many people seem to think that "realistic" is a prerequisite for a mystery story to be fair, logical consistent or even satisfying, but that's of course a very limited view on what mystery fiction is and can do.

Momono Zappa's Rouko Zanmu ("Dreams Are All That Remain To The Tiger Who Has Grown Old", 2021) features a theme I hadn't seen used in a mystery story before: wuxia fiction. People in the West probably best know the fantasy martial arts genre through films like Chrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and... I guess Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, but it's probably not a genre you'd immediately associate with mystery fiction, and I definitely think it earns bonus points for the original idea alone. Set in medieval China, Rouko Zanmu introduces us to 23-year old Shion, a young woman who has been trained in martial arts by her elderly master Ryou Tairyuu, an accomplished martial artist who is especially well-versed in the arts of internal qi, allowing him feats like walking across water for extended distances. Shion is Tairyuu's only disciple and has been trained by him since her teenage years, so she is quite shocked when her master tells her that he has invited three martial artists and that he'll convey his ultimate art to one of them. Shion doesn't quite understand why she isn't the one to inherit the art, though deep within her she fears that Tairyuu knows Shion and Tairyuu's adopted daughter Renka are lovers and that that's the reason why she will not be conveyed the ultimate art. On the designated day, the three guests arrive at their home: Gaku Shouten is a childhood friend of Tairyuu and they trained under the same master, making them "siblings", Sai Bunwa is a fellow disciple of the same martial arts school, and Imon is a warrior-monk whom Tairyuu became acquainted with many years ago. On the first night, the three martial artists are treated to a feast, after which Tairyuu retreats to his special dojo: the octagon building stands on a small island in a large lake, and the only way to reach the island is either with the one single boat, or by walking across water, but the distance to the island demands so much mastery of internal qi that only Tairyuu and his disciple Shion can manage this feat. The following morning however, Shion finds her master's dead body in the dojo, and due to the snow around the lake, she quickly deduces that the murderer must be someone on the premise. She brings the three martial artists to the island, and declares she will find out who the murderer of Tairyuu is and avenge her master. Which is easier said than done perhaps, because Shion's been under the weather since the morning, and has not been able to harness her qi in any way, making it impossible for her to fight back against any of the three skilled martial artists who can easily walk across walls, throw qi-guided projectiles or enhance their bodily strength. But with her master dead, Shion has no choice but to avenge her master despite her current state,  but which of these three could have made their way on and off the island and murder her master?

Rouko Zanmu is the 2021 debut novel of Momono Zappa (yes, he's a fan of Frank Zappa) and the winner of the 67th Edogawa Rampo Prize, and I have to say, this is a very unique book. It is less a mystery novel with wuxia elements, but really a fusion between the mystery and wuxia genre, with equal importance. So some parts of the story feel a bit "off" when looking at them from a "mystery point of view", but I am familiar enough with the wuxia genre to know those elements are pretty normal for a wuxia story, so I think that people who mainly read wuxia fiction, with no particular interest in mystery fiction, can also enjoy this novel and see it as a fair fusion between the two. There's plenty of talk about martial arts, about schools, and bigger themes like honor, fighting for the country, internal politics and Chinese history, and of course extensive parts that detail fights using fantastical martial arts where qi is used in various forms, but it's definitely the core mystery of Tairyuu's death that drives all of this.

And as an impossible crime, Rouko Zanmu definitely has its unique features. The impossible death of Tairyuu essentially revolves around two problems. One is access to the murder location: the only boat on the lake was found moored at the island on the morning, meaning the boat was not used by the murder to return to the lakeside house after killing Tairyuu. But how did the murderer make it across the lake? Interestingly, the story shows that theoretically, anyone could "walk over the lake" because mastery over one's internal qi allows a person to walk across water for extended periods. But the story is clear by stating that both Tairyuu and Shion are prodigies in that regard and that only they can walk that long a distance across water, and futhermore, Shion's been feeling sick all this time and is unable to harness her internal qi herself. The other three martial artists on the other could not possibly have walked that distance across water as they are not that talented when it comes to using internal qi. The second problem regarding Tairyuu's death is the fact he was poisoned to death... which again is basically impossible: a master of internal qi can theoretically not be poisoned, as their body will automatically work to counter-act the poison and at the very least, ensure consumption will not be fatal either by physically countering the poison's effects on the body, or automatically make them throw up. The fact Tairyuu is dead, and the boat is found near the island, indicates a person with intricate knowledge of internal qi is involved with this, but between Shion, Renka and the three martial artists, only Shion herself would come remotely close to that profile. And she's quite sure she didn't kill her master. Another mystery is the motive behind Tairyuu's death, as he was about to convey his ultimate art to one of the martial artists, so why would he be killed before such a thing happened?

It's in fact the motive which becomes a central focus of the investigation, which by the way feels pretty tense as everyone is locked up with each other in the dojo with Tairyuu's body, and Shion is willing to give her own life if necessary to kill the murderer. It's this focus on the motive where you can feel the wuxia elements strongest, as we dive deeper in the backgrounds of all the characters and here's where all the wuxia tropes come alive the most, with backstories that are intertwined with actual Chinese history (Southern Song dynasty), with character histories that revolve around mentor-disciple interactions, their reasons for being martial artists and much more. It's here where the story becomes something much "bigger" than the isolated dojo setting and where the mystery side of the story feels a bit sidelined, though much of what is mentioned here is actually intricately involved with the true motive behind Tairyuu's death. The impossible crime element on the other hand feels a bit... I wouldn't say underdeveloped, but it was handled rather more swiftly than I had expected and it did take a long time for the story to focus on that part of the mystery for a longer time/more intently. The solution is, as you may expected, unique to this novel, as it does only work in a wuxia world where people can control their qi and can walk across water and do other feats like that, but the solution, while a bit simpler than I had expected, is clewed and signalled fairly, and works perfectly within the unique context of this book, so it is quite satisfying as a proper wuxia impossible crime. Again, I think that had this been a book that was more obviously "mainly a mystery novel, with wuxia elements" I would have wanted to see like "one extra step" to really make it impressive, but as I feel this book really tries to strike an even balance between the two, I think Rouko Zanmu works perfectly fine and provides an entertaining read that focuses equally on mystery and wuxia.

Rouko Zanmu is definitely not the kind of mystery story you're likely to come across often, and for some, the wuxia elements might even feel too alienating, but I think it's definitely worth a read, especially if you're like me and the moment you heard it was combining these elements you started to get excited, imagining all the possibilities. On a very personal level, I think I would have preferred if this novel was balanced more in the favor of the mystery side, but that's not really a complaint about this book: it strikes a surprisingly fair balance between the mystery and the wuxia elements, and whatever you're looking for in this book, it's likely you'll walk away a satisfied reader.

Original Japanese title(s): 桃野雑派『老虎残夢』