How would one translate or understand the word 死鬼 in English?


I'm reading a fictional book which deals with Japanese mythical/fantasy
themes. One chapter describes dead people being resurrected through a complex
operation in which their bodies were reworked and the procedure was referred
to as "死鬼手技" by the man who conducted it.

Could someone help me understand the "死鬼" part? The only thing I can find is a
Chinese definition meaning "devil" and my guess was "dead demons" but what
would "dead demons" have to do with it?




I did a little bit of research, and 死鬼 is not actually a word in Japanese, it
is Chinese. If you google 死鬼とは, you get 中国語辞典 websites like [this
one](https://cjjc.weblio.jp/content/%E6%AD%BB%E9%AC%BC). It means "dead
person" (死人 or 亡き人) or "their spirit" (亡霊 or 幽霊).

