Why?
A Jiu's hatred and disgust needed no reason.
By the time Zhao Mou asked the question, he already knew the answer.
He was an inadequate older brother. No matter how harsh the circumstances had been, he had failed to protect his younger brother. He was the reason his brother had lost the chance to become a normal person and experience a normal life.
Perhaps this ending had been inevitable ever since they were children?
Trapped in the god's illusion, Zhao Mou thought despondently.
Just as in reality, Zhao Mou had been heavily relied upon by the Zhao family. He had worked himself to the bone for the slightest bit of influence, yet when he entered instances, he still thought of his younger brother, trapped in a dark room, in the dead of night.
He had always been afraid.
Afraid that by the time he brought his brother back, the silence and endless darkness would have driven him mad, or that his mind would have collapsed and the evil spirit inside him would have taken control, turning him into someone else entirely.
He was also afraid his brother would blame him. Why hadn't he moved faster? Why hadn't he climbed to the top sooner and gained the power to protect them both?
For a long time, this had been what drove Zhao Mou to climb higher, and the source of his nightmares.
Even after he really brought his brother back, seeing how utterly different his personality was from those of other boys his age had broken Zhao Mou's heart countless times—
Honestly, people were always calling him an old fox, and most of the "friends" he made were tied to him by mutual benefit. One wrong move, and they'd turn on him and stab him in the back... But he