486 Judgment!
When the eldest senior brother spoke, everyone present was shocked.
They all looked toward Chu Cimo.
Chu Cimo tensed his jaw and didn’t deny it immediately.
He had voluntarily left the Valor Gate because of this reason back then.
The eldest senior brother knew his identity and had used it to force him to leave, but now, since Chu Cimo came for the Chu and Shen families, he naturally would not back down anymore.
The fifth senior brother was shocked. “This can’t be true!”
The eldest senior brother sneered. “What? Do I need to present evidence? Haven’t you noticed that he doesn’t even dare to deny it?”
The grand martial uncle also looked toward Chu Cimo. “Is this true?”
The ‘Rooftop Gentleman’ was actually well-known in the capital. Even though he often stole things, most of what he did was rob the rich to help the poor, and he also stood up for justice…
But no matter what, he was indeed a thief!
Chu Cimo lowered his head.
The fifth senior brother understood what was happening when he saw that Chu Cimo didn’t speak.
At this moment, he suddenly realized why this junior brother of his had voluntarily left Valor Gate back then. He had his own pride and believed that he was doing the right thing, so he didn’t want to be bound by Valor Gate’s rules. Hence, he simply left.
All participants of the competition who were standing below also sighed. “He is the gentleman thief? Oh my god, when he was famous in the capital, my sister even admired him…”
“I think the most shocking thing he did was stealing back an antique that originally belonged to China but was stolen by foreigners. He then donated it to the museum for free…”
“…”
But some people had opposing opinions. “But with him like this, it will be even harder for us martial artists in this world, right? We will definitely become the targets of attention in the future!”
“We practice martial arts for both physical fitness and to pass on our ancestors’ legacy. If we all do these lowly things, won’t we be in conflict with the teachings of our ancestors?”
“Valor Gate’s rules are strict. I wonder how they will handle this.”
While the people below were discussing, the grand martial uncle tensed his jaw and looked toward Chu Cimo.
He suddenly spoke, “Regardless of this, you are still the champion. Right now, Valor Gate has issued an invitation to you. Will you accept our invitation to join?”
If Chu Cimo didn’t accept the invitation and continued to roam as a wandering martial artist, then Valor Gate would not take his identity as the ‘Rooftop Gentleman’ into account.
Anyway, in these years, the Rooftop Gentleman had not committed any crimes, so everyone here probably would not reveal this matter and cause someone to catch him.
However, if Chu Cimo accepted the invitation, he would be one of the members of Valor Gate!
Even so, since he had committed theft, which violated the Valor Gate’s rules, he must be judged by the Valor Gate’s court!
The punishment might be a few lashes, verbal reprimand, or even expulsion from Valor Gate by breaking his legs and feet.
The severity of the punishment depended on the judgment of the Valor Gate’s court.
Therefore, the grand martial uncle left this decision to Chu Cimo.
However, Chu Cimo’s gaze did not waver, and he firmly said, “I am willing to accept any punishment from Valor Gate!”
Now that he had grown up, he understood that people couldn’t live recklessly and sometimes, sacrifices had to be made for the family.
The grand martial uncle fell silent, feeling heartbroken for this disciple. He then said, “Have you thought it through? You should know that the court is managed by your second martial uncle, someone who is very strict and follows the Valor Gate’s rules to the letter. You may be kicked out of Valor Gate by him.”
Chu Cimo nodded and replied without hesitation, “Grand Martial Uncle, I am willing to go to court to defend myself!”
The grand martial uncle warned him again, “Once you join Valor Gate, you will be a guilty person. At that time, if you disagree with the court’s judgment, you cannot leave Valor Gate just because you want to. Do you understand?”
“I understand,” replied Chu Cimo.
“Then, will you still join our Valor Gate?”
“Yes!” Chu Cimo answered without hesitation.
A few years ago, he joined Valor Gate to learn martial arts and movement techniques because he wanted to punish evil people in his own way. He indeed made many mistakes and then chose to leave on his own before being discovered by the organization.
But now, the situation was different. Since the eldest senior brother had revealed this matter, Chu Cimo would not have the option to leave by his own will once he rejoined Valor Gate.
However, Chu Cimo still wanted to join because he wanted to break down the barriers between Valor Gate and the four great families. He also wanted to support the Chu and Shen families and let Old Master Bai know that he was truly dependable and that Bai Shanshan could rely on him!
Seeing that Chu Cimo had made up his mind, the grand martial uncle took a deep breath and said, “Good, from today onward, you are Valor Gate’s little junior brother.”
“Disciple pays respect to the grand martial uncle.” Chu Cimo kowtowed to him.
After that, the eldest senior brother stepped forward and stared directly at Chu Cimo as he spoke, “Criminal Chu Cimo, you have committed the sin of thievery while you were in the Valor Gate, come with me to the court for trial now!”
The second martial uncle, who was in charge of the court, was the father of the eldest senior brother.
Chu Cimo knew that he would probably be physically punished for his crime.
He then stood up and followed the eldest senior brother, and the two of them left by car to the Valor Gate’s court in the capital city.
The fifth senior brother became anxious when he saw this and immediately ran to the grand martial elder as he shouted, “Grand Martial Uncle, second martial uncle is too rigid in his actions and blindly believes in what elder senior brother says. Please go and help little junior brother. Otherwise, I’m afraid that he won’t be able to walk out of the punishment hall!”
The grand martial uncle looked embarrassed and said, “It’s not that I don’t want to help, but I promised your second martial uncle that I wouldn’t interfere with the affairs of the punishment hall.”
If he interfered with the punishment hall every time someone in Valor Gate made a mistake, it would be like the punishment hall was nonexistent.
The grand martial uncle was kind and took care of the juniors, so when anyone made a mistake, they would come to him for help.
Because of this, the second martial uncle became angry and demanded the grand martial uncle not to interfere with matters of his punishment hall.
Hearing this, the fifth senior brother became frantic and asked, “What should we do then? The punishment hall is under the second martial uncle’s control. Junior brother is definitely finished! Among so many martial uncles, is there anyone who thinks that junior brother is innocent?”
So what if he was the Rooftop Gentleman?
He never accepted money for his thefts and only stole what he thought he should.
He remembered that the Rooftop Gentleman had once done something—A female celebrity was set up and someone took indecent photos of her in the fitting room to extort her. However, the female celebrity had a strong personality and refused to give in, so the other party threatened to post the photos online.
The Rooftop Gentleman immediately took action and stole back the photos and negatives for the female celebrity, thus avoiding a scandal.
After that, the female celebrity publicly thanked the Rooftop Gentleman on Weibo, and her fans were even more grateful to him.
His reputation was clearly very good and different from the other thieves.
However, the second martial uncle hated him very much.
Because of the Rooftop Gentleman’s appearance, someone reported the case and everyone began to investigate who this person was.
The police even came to Valor Gate for this, and it did cause a lot of trouble for the major martial arts schools in the capital
Because of this, the second martial uncle angrily criticized the Rooftop Gentleman, saying that he was not a gentleman but a thief!
The grand martial uncle had also heard of the Rooftop Gentleman’s deeds, and after thinking for a moment, he suddenly said, “Actually, there is someone who dares to break into the punishment hall to save people.”
“Who?”
“Your little junior uncle!”
Upon hearing this, the fifth senior brother became deflated. “We don’t even know where my little junior uncle is, so how can we contact him? Grand Martial Uncle, are you pranking me?”
The grand martial uncle coughed and suddenly lowered his voice. “Actually, your little junior uncle is in the capital.”
In the capital?
The fifth senior brother was overjoyed and quickly grabbed the grand martial uncle as he asked, “Where is he?”