Sudhana slowly picked himself up from the ground and gently brushed the black ash from his knees.
He reached up and felt the three rather comical little tufts on his head.
He looked toward Xuanzang and his companions.
Wukong bounded over, threw an arm around Sudhana's shoulders, and brazenly tousled those three tufts with his furry hand.
"Heh heh, my good nephew! Not bad, not bad!"
Wukong teased him. "That new hairstyle is quite distinctive. It suits you perfectly! Much easier on the eyes than that claws-out, fangs-bared look you had before!"
Sudhana rolled his eyes, but this time, he neither struggled fiercely as he had before nor objected to being called "nephew."
He let Wukong rub his head.
After a few chuckles, Wukong put away his mischievous grin.
He pressed a hand onto Sudhana's shoulder, his voice taking on the solemn concern of an elder.
"It's a long journey to the South Sea. Listen to your mother, and don't go showing off or running wild!"
He leaned close to Sudhana's ear and lowered his voice so that only the two of them could hear.
"If you really run into trouble you can't handle, ask a local earth god or mountain god to send word. Your Uncle Sun has friends all over heaven and earth. I'll find a way to help you."
"You're a young man now. Don't start sniveling at every little thing. Protect your mother, and don't make her worry herself sick over you day and night anymore!"
Sudhana felt a sting in his nose at those words, but stubbornly forced it down.
He huffed, lifted his little face, and said defiantly,
"All right, all right! Stop nagging. I know!"
"I won't disgrace you. There's still a long road ahead-who knows which of us will attain True Fruition