The King of Spiritual Touch is the demon ruling the River That Reaches Heaven in Journey to the West. At Chen Family Village he receives an annual sacrifice of one boy and one girl in exchange for favorable weather. Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie disguise themselves as the chosen children to stop the custom and confront him at the temple.
The demon escapes into the river, arms himself with a nine-petaled bronze hammer, and fights Wukong and Bajie beneath the water. He later freezes the river, lures Tang Seng onto the ice, and captures him when the surface breaks. His underwater refuge and control of the river make a direct rescue difficult.
Guanyin finally arrives with a fish basket and reveals that the demon is the goldfish formerly kept in her lotus pond. After listening to scripture, it had gained power, stolen away, and used a lotus stalk transformed into a hammer. Guanyin catches it in the basket and takes it home. The child sacrifices, river battle, and hidden origin in Guanyin’s pond define the character’s role.
