Long ago, a young man named Wang Qi heard that Mount Lao was home to many immortals. Eager to learn their secrets, he journeyed there at once.
He became a pupil of a Daoist master who appeared youthful despite his great age. For the first month, Wang Qi dutifully went to the hills each day to gather firewood with the others and listened patiently to his teacher's instructions. By the second month, he began to struggle with the hard and tiring life, yet he endured, hoping to learn magical skills. When the third month arrived, his patience ran out. He approached his teacher and said, "I have worked hard for many days. Please teach me some skills now, or my time here will have been wasted."
"What do you wish to learn?" asked the Daoist.
"Anything," Wang Qi replied.
"Then I shall teach you how to pass through a wall." The Daoist taught Wang Qi the necessary incantations. After reciting them, Wang Qi succeeded! Overjoyed, he bid farewell to his teacher and returned home.
Back home, he boasted to his family and neighbors about meeting an immortal and learning to walk through walls. No one believed him. To prove his point, Wang Qi recited the incantations and charged at a wall. Bang! His head struck the wall with great force, and he fell heavily to the ground. His wife helped him up and found a large bump swelling on his forehead.
The moral of the story is that speculation and empty boasts lead only to failure.