"There was something formed in chaos, born before Heaven and Earth..."
"...Man follows Earth, Earth follows Heaven, Heaven follows the Dao, and the Dao follows what is natural!"
On Crane Call Mountain, in the Tai Ping Daoist temple, a group of young novice Daoists recited the Dao De Jing along with a Female True Person dressed in a Green Brocade Skirt and wearing a Taiqing Fish Tail Crown. The young Daoists were lost in a fog as they recited, unable to grasp the text's essence. They felt utterly dazed.
One of them nodded off.
A fly whisk promptly smacked him awake.
"Ow!"
The young Daoist clutched his head, wincing.
"You little rascal. You're dozing off during morning prayers—what are you even cultivating for? Go get enough sleep, then come back for morning prayers!"
Verdant Green Maiden scolded him with a reproachful look. The young Daoist heard her and brightened, quickly asking, "True Person, do you really mean it?"
"Of course I do!"
Verdant Green Maiden nodded.
The young Daoist hurried to his feet, clasped his hands in a farewell salute to Verdant Green Maiden, and left.
Seeing this, a few others also started to rise, but Verdant Green Maiden cast them a glance, and they sat back down.
"Don't be shy! If you want to go back and rest, I'll let every one of you."
Verdant Green Maiden smiled as she spoke to the young Daoists.
Those who had just started to get up laughed awkwardly. "True Person, we're not tired. Please continue teaching us. There's still a great deal in the Dao De Jing we don't understand."
"That's right, that's right..."
The others hurriedly nodded.
Verdant Green Maiden sighed softly. "How could anyone understand the Great Dao in a day? You're not Zhang Daoling."
The young Daoists felt a